Now that I once again have a job, a friend asked me to put together some tips based on my 9 months (11 months, if you want to go back to last May) of recent job searching. Here’s the list of tips for job hunting. Come back on Friday for a list of interviewing tips. Tailor your resume to the job. Use phrasing or industry words from the job posting in your bullet points. Almost everyread more…
Since May 2013, I have spent six months working, and almost nine unemployed. Two of those months were last summer, but I have had almost seven straight months of not working as of right now. Was this intentional? Not by any means. It never occurred to me when my boss and I made the mutual decision for me to leave my last position that I would spend this long not working. I have been struggling withread more…
I have now been unemployed for longer than I have ever been since I was an undergraduate. I am doing my best to learn from the experience the same way I would learn from other experiences. One of the first things I am learning is that I need to set a schedule for myself. My life works better if I have a schedule. Getting into a routine makes me more productive overall. As part of havingread more…
Way back in April of 2013 (you know, when I was posting regularly here), I wrote about the Financial Side of My Layoff. Sadly, only 8 months later, I am writing about the financial side of losing my job, again. While being in a job for 6 months and then being told you are not the right fit is a huge blow to the ego (or at least it is for me), financially, I am actuallyread more…
“Don’t sweat the small stuff” has become a mantra for a lot of people. I don’t necessarily disagree with the sentiment, but I’m here today to say that sometimes it helps to pay attention to the little things. This is a lesson I am learning from being a parent. (Who knew having kids was such an education?) Because our daughter (formerly referred to as SP- small person, henceforth referred to as Pop Tart) comes to usread more…
Yesterday, our good friend Joe from Stacking Benjamins and The Free Financial Advisor hit a major milestone- 365 days in a row of running. First, I want to congratulate Joe on the accomplishment. Doing any specific activity every day for a year takes dedication and resolve. Joe may go by the moniker “Average Joe”, but average he is not. (I would also like to think I deserve a little credit for inspiring him to do thisread more…
I was going to post something else today, and this happened… I was on my way back to my office from a meeting when my cell rang. I answered it. It was from a very nice gentleman at the after school program we are signing SP up for. He wanted to pass on some information to me about needing to contact the district transportation office about her change in bus route after school and to askread more…
Welcome to The Kid Ate My Wallet (KAMW) Parenting Guide, a place where I talk about some of the financial challenges of being a parent and trying to navigate them without feeling like you should be watching your child’s bowel movements to see if any loose change is making its way out. This is not a guide for raising your kids. Trust me, if I could create an owner’s manual for kids, I’d be so richread more…
This rant was inspired by a comment left on this post over at LenPenzo.com. I even wrote a snarky reply comment, something I don’t usually do. Sorry, Len. I get the student loan crisis. I really do. I graduated with my BA in 2000, and thirteen years later, I still owe 82% of what I borrowed (though I also made some choices post-graduation that have led to this). And I only seriously borrowed for aboutread more…
When I was going through the hiring process for my current position, we hit a little snafu with the references. You see, my former company, in its decision to do three rounds of layoffs (I went in the second round- the management round), also decided to really push the organizational policy of “don’t provide references”. Managers were told not to provide references and to refer anyone who asked to HR, which would only give them datesread more…
