10 Tips for Finding a Job in Today’s Economy

It seems like whenever you turn on the news, or look through a newspaper, there are stories about the ongoing unemployment problem in this country. In fact, just a few weeks ago it was reported that the number of Americans who are receiving food stamps rose to a record 40.8 million in May. To assist taxpayers across the country looking for employment, I have put together the following list of tips for finding a job in today’s economy.

1. Make Goals

One of the hardest parts of job hunting is the amount of perseverance it requires. In order to keep motivated, set goals to strive for on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. For example, your daily goal might be to send out 5 resumes, or your weekly goal might be to go to at least one interview. By keeping yourself motivated you can stay focused, and encouraged to keep working towards your goal.

2. Get Aggressive

The job market is competitive right now, and if you want to stand out you have to work hard. Be aggressive in your job search by calling back potential employers and making sure they know you want the position. Then, always send thank you notes after every interview. Above all, stay positive, a good attitude will keep your mind sharp and impress potential employers.

3. Online Resources

The Internet can be used as one of the most powerful tools in your job search. Create profiles on online job search sites, and look for jobs in your area. You should also check the job section on classified sites such as CraigsList.org on a daily basis.

4. Resume Tips

Having a resume that is too general will give the impression to potential employers that you are not really that interested in the specific position they are offering. You should always modify your resume before sending it in for consideration, so that it is relevant to the open position. You do not want recruiters to think that you send the exact same resume to every listing you see. It also helps to write a new cover letter for each application.

5. Work on your Skills

There are some skills that need to be learned on the job, however while you are looking for employment you should consider building up some of your relevant skills. If you are unfamiliar with Microsoft Office then check out an online tutorial or pick up a book from Amazon.com. Any extra skills you can add to your resume will help set you aside from other job candidates.

6. Phone a Friend

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 70% of jobs are found through networking. If you are serious about job hunting then you should call and email your friends and family members to see if anyone knows of a vacant position.

7. Use Social Media

Another great way to get the word out that you are looking for a new job is by participating in social media communities like FaceBook or LinkedIn. Just be sure that you do not post any questionable materials to your profile, as recruiters often Google the names of candidates, and you do not want your online presence to reflect an unprofessional image of yourself.

8. New strategies

Regularly checking the same job sites or the same newspaper could get you stuck in a rut. Therefore, you should try looking for job openings in new places whenever you have a chance. Maybe pick up a less popular newspaper or start a profile on a different job site.

9. Enlist Some Help

If you have been on the hunt for a while, you might want to enlist the help of a job placement agency. Run a search on Google for job placement help, and you should be able to find a few local agencies. However, you should always be cautious and avoid scams that make you pay excess fees for equipment, or invest in a pyramid scheme.

10. Nail the Interview

In the past you may have come to an interview expecting to answer a few questions, and leaving it at that. Not in this economy. Before you go in for an interview you should always research the company, and prepare a list of questions to ask the person conducting the interview. Preparation is the key, and if you look well prepared it will help you stand out from the list of applicants.

Play Your Cards Right

Entrepreneur.com posted a great article earlier this week explaining that although financing a business on credit may be risky, it can also be very rewarding. The author interviewed me a few months ago and I am even quoted in the beginning of the article. Check out the except with my quote below, or read the full article on Entrepreneur.com.

Many entrepreneurs are prepared to swap sweat equity and personal savings for a successful start. But what if all that is not quite enough

Shannon Cumberland ran out of options but still needed money to pour into her handmade botanical candles. "We all know it's very hard for a new business to get a loan," says Cumberland, who started Rosy Rings in her kitchen with financing that came from maxing out five personal credit cards. It was a risk that paid off. The company now manufactures approximately 250,000 candles per year with anticipated revenue of more than $2 million for 2009.

Roni Deutch, better known as the "Tax Lady," took a similar gamble when she started her practice in the garage of her one-bedroom condo and maxed out all her credit cards for advertising on local television. "Spending money on marketing your business is not optional. The exponential growth my law firm experienced from using my credit cards to pay for advertising made it all well worth it," she says.

With 75,000 inquiries for service per year, Deutch's card-hopping bootstrapping days are long over, while Rosy Rings' success still depends--to some extent--on plastic. "We're a seasonal business, and given the current lending environment we're still utilizing credit cards to build inventory," Cumberland says.

Continued at Entrepreneur.com…

Leadership Advice for Current and Future Executive Women

Earlier today I came across this helpful article on one of my favorite blogs, the Glass Hammer, with leadership advice from various executive women. Being a woman in the business word can be difficult, to say the least. Fortunately, the bloggers at the Glass Hammer have gathered some simple and straightforward advice. Check out a clip of their article below.

Get Really, Really, Really Good at Your Job.
“I didn’t chart my career out,” said Sutton, “but I always had a good view of what I loved doing and what the next career step might be.” Sutton started her career in finance as a clerk with Wachovia and worked her way up through the organization over 35 years, until she left to establish the banking business for Morgan Stanley. She added, “I’ve given advice to people I’ve mentored that if you are too focused on the next step, you are not going to do a very good job in the job you are in. And I’ve seen that over and over again. Get really, really, really good at the job you are in because if you are and you’ve mastered it, you will move from the next role to the next role to the next role, but if you look too far ahead, you probably won’t… People who seem to be really successful are great operators. They get in the business and understand the business.”

Be Comfortable With Ambiguity.
Said Smith, who, after 14 years of brand management and executive roles at Kraft Foods, was brought to Avon by Andrea Jung to help her transform the company: “We are all taught that great leaders set the strategy and then set everybody off marching. But, right now, nothing is more important than a general agile leader who is comfortable with ambiguity. Let’s face it - it is going to be a bumpy and fascinating ride. We need people who are nimble and agile in their thinking who are, to some degree, comfortable with figuring it out as they go along. We [at Avon] look for people who can handle change, who can handle the curve balls…understanding that you can’t possibly have it all figured out and being open to that. Also, people that can communicate and inspire. That’s always been important in leadership but now more than ever because you have to communicate and be really transparent and take people along on the journey, to say, ‘This is uncharted territory but this is where we are going.’” Sutton agreed, adding that even her job at Morgan Stanley, which was created for her, changed shortly after she joined the company. “What I was hired to do changed in 6 months and that shifted because the environment changed. [But it was OK because of] the belief I could make a difference.”

Think of Your Career as a Jungle Gym Rather Than a Ladder.
Moderator Pattie Sellers advised the audience of MBA women: “Don’t think of your career as a ladder, think of it as a jungle gym. If you think of it as a ladder, you won’t have the peripheral vision to enable you see the lateral opportunities and especially today when you don’t know what the hot job is going to be tomorrow. You’ve got to keep yourself open and you’ve got to swing to the opportunities that come along.” Smith agreed, “I believe the greatest plans are restrictive instead of instructive. Figure it out as you go along. The only guiding principle I’ve had is to insist that my life and work have passion and purpose. When I think about the pivotal jobs I took [like her move to Kraft’s Callard & Bowser-Suchard to handle the then-unknown Altoids brand for Kraft or the jump from being Group Vice President and President of the U.S. Beverages and Grocery Sectors in Kraft to Brand President for Avon], they really made no sense on paper.” She continued: “Just go into everything saying – I’m going to be inspired and I’m never going to settle and go where that takes you. ” And Sellers added, “I’m struck by women on the Fortune’s Most Powerful who’ve taken lateral moves or even taken downward moves because they wanted to expand their experiences. And that’s what pays off in the long term.”

Municipal Bonds Are Worth A Look If You Can Handle The Risk

From USA Today.com:

Q: How do I go about adding municipal bonds to my portfolio?

A: Lending money to cities, states and local government agencies used to be a good move for investors in high tax brackets. That's made municipal bonds attractive investments for years.

By buying municipal bonds, investors looking for income not only received regular payments, they got excellent tax savings. The income paid by municipal bonds is typically exempt from federal taxes and often exempt from state taxes, if the investor lives in the state issuing the debt.

The whole muni bond market suffered a body slam during the credit crunch. Now, investors have become increasingly concerned about the ability of states and local governments to pay their debts.

This wasn't much of a concern before, since most local governments offered investors insurance to cover the possibility of default. But many bond insurers have been crippled by mortgages losses, so the value of the insurance has diminished.

The result? Yields on municipal bonds are attractive, but only if you can handle the higher risk. Gone are the days when you could blindly buy a municipal bond and assume even if things went badly you could get your money back.

To show you just how turned around the muni bond market has become, consider the Vanguard Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt Fund Investor Shares (VWITX). The fund, which owns a basket of muni bonds maturing in seven years on average, is yielding about 3.4%, exempt from federal taxes.

That's an astounding yield if you consider the after-tax yield for a person in the 25% tax bracket is closer to 4.5%. It's even more impressive if you consider that the yield on 10-year Treasuries is just 3.0%.

Does this mean you should consider muni bonds? Clearly, if you understand the risks it's hard to argue with the yields. Just remember, though, that you can't just blindly buy single muni bonds anymore. If you're buying individual bonds you must take the time to understand the municipalities' demographics, tax trends and fiscal position.

The alternative is to buy a mutual fund that does the work for you. One place to start looking is USATODAY.com's Mutual Fund Screener. You'll find the funds under Fixed Income - Tax Exempt by state and by maturity, long, short or intermediate.

10 Tips for Other Attorneys to Market Themselves Better Online

I am always taken aback when I come across an attorney who is not a part of the online marketing game. A huge portion of my law firm’s clients come from online outreach. To help some of my fellow attorneys boost their business and their name brand awareness, I have put together my top 10 tips for other attorneys to help market themselves online.

1) Create an Avvo.com profile

Avvo is a Web 2.0 property completely dedicated to lawyers, law advice, and lawyer reviews. This is a great place to strut your stuff and show others how much you know about the law. Answer questions, review other’s advice, and make a free profile for yourself and your practice.

2) Maintain a blog

Writing—and most importantly, maintaining—a blog is a great way to both give helpful advice and generate high quality customer opportunities. You can either put an actual blog on your site, or sign up for a free blog service such as Blogger.com. However, once you start the blog, it is important to make sure you do not forget it and post at least one entry every week.

3) Create social community profiles

Having a profile on social communities such as MySpace, FaceBook, or LinkedIn will help you connect with both other lawyers and potential clients. Keep the page professional though, and be sure to have all of your contact and business information on the pages.

4) Answer questions on advice sites

Becoming a notable legal expert is just a click away. By answering questions of potential clients looking for guidance, you are becoming regarded as a trustworthy expert in your field. There are tons of advice sites out there, but I would suggest starting off with Yahoo Answers, LawGuru.com, and Avvo’s advice section.

5) Send out e-newsletters

Sending out an e-newsletter is a great way to let clients, potential clients, and business colleagues know what you are currently offering. It is also a great way to monitor what people find the most intriguing. By adding a few tracking parameters to any hyperlink in your email, you will know which articles are the real attention grabbers.

6) Network, network, network

There are plenty of great ways to network with other professionals to get the word out about your services. One very helpful and easy way to network is to join your local chamber of commerce. If you do not have time for an extra monthly meeting, there are always more networking events available, do not pass too many of them up! When you do go to a networking event, bring a pocketful of business cards, a well-practiced pitch, and a friendly smile.

7) Google yourself

Do you ever "Google" a person or a business to see what kind of life or business they run? Well, do not hesitate to think others will do the same with your name and business. Make a habit of routinely "googling" yourself and your business, and see what comes up.

8) Refresh your website

In order to get online visitors to become clients, your site needs to be fresh and modern. If your site design is more then two years old, then you should probably consider having it redesigned. Web design is constantly evolving and you want to make sure your site’s design stays current. Additionally, you will also want to keep your site updated with blog entries, news, pictures, advice, etc. so that users know you are making a strong effort to be active online.

9) Stay in touch with clients

Keeping in touch with former clients will always benefit you in the future. Always collect your clients full contact information (including their e-mail address) so that this will be possible later down the road. You can use a list of client e-mails to send out an occasional "new tips" article, or news about your firm. Even if they do not need your services at that time, they may know some one else who does.

10) Regular press releases

Using free press release sites online to get the news out on your firm and your lawful opinions is a great marketing tactic. Create several "articles" of advice, news, and helpful hints to post on the sites later on. Press release sites always have an about section for your firm and website link. Ideally, you should try to draft and release at least one press release per month.