The Dog Ate My Wallet

Article

what i’m reading: new keyboard edition

There will only be capital letters today where word auto inserts them for me. I have a new keyboard and am having issues with the shift key. I figure I’ll get used to it eventually, but I don’t have time to argue with it today.

I did actually have some chance to read blogs this week, amazingly enough, despite the crazy at work.

This week, I also started taking an online course through coursera. Luckily for me, American debt project agreed to take it with me, so I have a buddy to help keep me motivated. Speaking of motivation, this week, she paid off her car! There really is nothing like the feeling you get when you pay off a major debt. Congrats, my friend!

I missed this post last week, so you’re getting it today. Over at average joe’s money blog, the other guy posted about old savings bonds and how long they collect interest for. C has some bonds that were given to him as a child. Time to dig those out and see if it’s time to cash them in. thanks, other guy.

I’ve written about how my budgeting skills have easily translated into the skills I need to take better care of my health. Bog of debt takes an even more direct path between managing finances and health.

Brave new life was once a member of the yakezie challenge. He was in my first ‘group’, an een though he decided yakezie wasn’t right for him, I still love going and reading his stuff. This week, he writes about something I’ve seen first hand in my family- the retirement identity gap. It’s a problem I’m concerned about facing myself, in 30 years or so. What about you? Is your work a major part of your identity?

This that and the mba was one of the first new to yakezie blogs I featured here. It’s always nice to go back and check in. this week he has a handy post on things you need to know before applying to an mba. And remember, school isn’t always the solution to your problems.

There weren’t any brand new challengers over on the yakezie forum, so I returned to the handy dandy list of all members and challengers and had c pick a letter. That’s how this week I get to meet just another girl with a blog. Her latest post isn’t super recent, but who needs recent when you’re taking a trip down memory lane? I love the pictures of her with her grandpa. I have some similar ones lying around.

Date: 29/09/2012 Author: Erin Shanendoah Category: Round Ups Bookmark: Permalink

Article

Crazy Couple of Days

I thought, even as I was on my way home from work today that I would write a real post. When we were headed back from the dog park at 6pm, I still thought I was going to write a real post. In fact, up until about three minutes ago, I thought I had the energy to write a real post. But, I don’t.

This is how I survive the crazy- I surround myself with cuteness.

I’ve spent the last two days trying to help the directors of my department come up with over $XXXk in cuts. If we had expected this, it would have been one thing, but when I left work on Tuesday, our department was under budget by $XXk. I arrived Wednesday morning to an email from our VP asking us to cut over $XXXk (and, I don’t get to count the $XXk I was under budget toward the money I now have to cut from the budget). And, oh, by the way, you need to have your cuts input into the financial software by Thursday at 5pm.

So guess what I’ve spent the last two days doing? Providing budget reports to my directors (oh, and having to format them because our financial software spits them out in a way that is nearly indecipherable to people who don’t use it all the time), and then meeting with them individually and as a collective to decide our department strategy. As of tonight, we haven’t closed the gap completely, but they’ll get to meet with our VP tomorrow and argue about that.

So, it has been a stressful couple of days. I like my work, and I am good at what I do, though I made some stupid copy and paste mistakes (more than I find acceptable) as I was trying to get information to my directors quickly enough to give them time to make some decisions. While I work well under pressure (I am a procrastinator), I do like to have enough time to proof my work and not send spreadsheets with bad information.

To go along with that, this week I started taking a course through Coursera. I figured that if I’m going to write about how I think this is the future of education here, I should at least try it myself. I am thrilled that American Debt Project is taking this course with me.

And really, what could be cuter than a wagon full of puppies?

There are 6 8-12 minute lectures to watch this week and I’ve only made it through 4 of them. Tomorrow should be a pretty down day at the office (directors meet with the VP, I can’t make any more changes in the financial software until next week), so I’m hoping to watch the final two on my lunch break.

And now, the season premiere of Big Bang Theory is on, so I’ll leave you with this article from Liz Weston about Money Lessons from Our Pets.

Date: 27/09/2012 Author: Erin Shanendoah Category: On the Job Bookmark: Permalink

Article

Ditching the Contract

Leaving a Long Term Relationship When we bought our first house, we got absolutely no reception at our new home on our AT&T cell phones. So, we switched to Sprint, which did have coverage in our house. We have been with Sprint ever since- so, 8 or 9 years with the same cell phone company, and the majority of that time on the exact same plan. In fact, we didn’t change our plan until we added the MIL to our account a little over a year ago. In order to add someone, we had to upgrade to a current plan vs our old grandfathered in one.

Before adding the MIL, we were paying about $75/month. After the MIL passed (which allowed us to remove her from our plan with no hassles) our bill became $90/month. This was for 700 shared minutes (an amount we never came close to using) and very limited texts- something I did go over on occasion.

Still, given what our friends with smart phones pay for their cell service, it seemed like a pretty good deal. But the truth is, C has wanted to switch to a pay as you go plan for a long time. There were two reasons he didn’t when he last got a new phone (and therefore reactivated his contract).

One was that it was an emergency replacement of the phone. Junebug had destroyed his previous phone, and considering he was on unemployment and actively job hunting at the time, we didn’t really have time to do a lot of research into pay as you go services. We needed to replace the phone the same evening it was destroyed.

The second was the cost of leaving me on our plan with Sprint, since my contract wasn’t up. A contract for a single line is not that much cheaper than a contract for two lines, and we just did not see much (if any) savings at that time.

But it’s now three years later, and finally, both of our contracts with Sprint are expired. We knew this was coming up and we planned for it, did our research, and were prepared to switch both of us to a pay as you go plan. Last week we got our new phones. As of yesterday, our numbers were ported (my contract wasn’t up until Saturday, so we waited until Monday to officially switch) and we’re good to go on our new plan.

Boost We started our research into pay as you go with Boost Mobile, partly because they do the most advertising, but also because a friend has the Boost Unlimited plan and, after 18 months of on time payments, he only pays $35/month for unlimited talk/text/data on his smart phone. If C and I wanted smart phones and data, we could have gone to Boost and started at $100/month for the two of us (only $10 more than we were paying, but getting a lot more) and every 6 months, our payments would have gone down $10 until we reached $70/month for the two of us.

That would have been a great deal if we thought we needed unlimited anything. But again, between the two of us (especially now that the MIL has passed) we don’t even get close to using 700 minutes a month. C uses less than 100 most of the time. I text a few times a week, but certainly not enough to need unlimited texts. Plus, C very much doesn’t want a smart phone. All he wants out of a phone is the ability to make and receive calls. (Though he also finds texting convenient occasionally.) And while I was flirting with the idea of a smart phone, I still didn’t see the need for an unlimited plan.

Outside that structure, Boost’s per minute/text charges were higher than most other places we’d seen.

Net10 Next we looked at Net10. We looked at them because they actually have phones and “minutes” for sale in our local grocery store. They had some good deals on nice phones, so we took a look. If I had decided to go with a smart phone, I would have gone with Net10. They have a $25/month plan for 750 minutes/texts/data packages. That’s $10 less than the best price at Boost and would have been much more along my usage patterns. (Their unlimited plan was also $50/month, but without the ability to lower the price via on time payments.)

Their other packages were okay, but nothing really jumped out at us.

PlatinumTel C then looked at PlatinumTel. PlatinumTel had a promotion going on where if you bought their $100 year long plan, you got a free last generation non-smart phone (LG Rumor, for those who care). Since we were switching carriers, we were going to need new phones anyway. The $100 plan charges you $0.05/minute, $0.02/text, and $0.10/megabyte. There’s also a $0.50/month federal tax. The “minutes” never expire, but the plan is only good for one year.

Still, if C had a ton of money left on the card after a year, we could buy him another 90 day card for $10, and he’d still have access to whatever was left over from the $100.

I did some hard thinking and decided while I LOVE the look of the HTC smart phones and I like the idea of them, the truth is, I also really like not being connected when I’m not at home. Sure it would be nice to tweet or post a FaceBook status update from the RollerDerby bout, but I’m fine not doing that. And I’m more than fine not having my phone chirp at me every few minutes with updates from other people. Being able to get directions or look places up might come in handy once every few months, but not more often, and we could just do what we do now- call a friend at home (often roomie J) to have them look something up for us.

I, too, decided to go with the $100 plan from PlatinumTel.

Now, it’s very possible that I will use all $100 in less than one year, but even if I go through it every 6 months (and my guess is closer to 9 months) that’s still only $200/year for me and $100/year for C. Cell phone service for $300/year.

Savings and Flexibility Now, remember up top when I mentioned paying $90/month with Sprint. That’s $1,080/year. We’re saving almost $800/year on our cell phone service. That’s enough to buy C a tablet and me the new light-weight laptop I’ve been coveting at CostCo. Not that we’re likely to get either of those things, at least not anytime soon, but the savings is ongoing. And, if we don’t like our service or have some other problem, even if we changed our minds today, we would only be out $200. Sprint charges about $350 for breaking your contract.

That means that in addition to extra cash in our budget every month, we have also gained flexibility. No more waiting 2+ years to be able to make a change to our phones or our service. Plus, we’re not tied together. If I decide I really want/need a smart phone sometime soon, and C wants to stay with what we have, there are no issues. I’m free to find the best deal, regardless of who it’s through.

Never Going Back I have to say, I’m thrilled with going to a pay as you go plan. I doubt we will ever have a cell phone contract again. Sure, if we ever get smart phones, we might have to pay for them out of our pockets, but the savings we’re getting by not being on a contract would more than cover that over the life of the phone.

For those who have to have a specific type of phone or just the latest and greatest phones, a pay as you go plan might never be an option, but that’s a choice. It seems to me that most people I know could save a lot of money just by ditching the contract.

Date: 25/09/2012 Author: Erin Shanendoah Tags: at&t, boost, cell phones, net10, pay as you go, platinumtel, smart phones, sprint Category: Everyday Finances, Lessons Learned Bookmark: Permalink

Article

Sunday Evening Post #62

Day	Amount	Place	Category
Tuesday	$10.00	Adoption	Misc
	$19.25	stamps	Misc
	$200.00	New Phones	Bills
	$21.50	Rx	Medical
Thursday	$38.75	CostCo	Groceries
	$63.00	Saffron	Eating Out
	$53.50	Gas	Car
Friday	$48.50	Safeway	Groceries
	$15.00	Qdoba	Eating Out
Sunday	$84.00	Gas	Car

I don’t feel super well today. Not really certain why, but I’ve had a headache all day and pills have not helped.

It’s been a pretty okay wee. Our contract with Sprint is finally up, so we decided to go with pay as you go phones. (Post about this on Tuesday). So while I don’t normally post things here that come in the “Bill” category, we figure this $200 will be all we pay for the next 6 months or more.

I have really been rethinking my goals and what I want to do not just with my blogs but with my writing and creative projects in general. I have some kind of crazy thoughts running around in my head that I hope to be able to share here once things get a little more firmed up, as it has definite personal finance implications.

We are over half way through 2012. I revised some of my goals because life took some turns I wasn’t quite planning on when I came up with them.

1) Be paid for publishing one piece of fiction

Submissions so far: 2

Responses: 1 rejection 1 acceptance

The anthology I had a piece accepted to is now available to buy on Amazon. It’s called Conquest Through Determination.

2) Pay All Adoption Expenses in Cash & Still Pay for C’s College Out of Pocket

We’re doing good here. This was helped tremendously by getting 3x as much in life insurance from the MIL than expected. Our savings is still growing, and we’re in really good shape

3) Attend FinCon12. Pay for the trip with money from allowance/side projects saved/earned BEFORE the conference starts. Goal: $600

FinCon was awesome. Not all of the money came from allowance/side projects, but it was still easily affordable, so I’m calling this a win.

4) Become a member of Yakezie (6 month anniversary is Jan 21)

I did not make Epsilon class. My Alexa ranking had gone too high. I think there will be one more class this year, so we’ll see if I can get my numbers back down to under 200k. I need to join the teams again, as that helps tremendously. And now that we’re done with all the house stuff for the adoption, I should have more time to participate.

Current ranking: 267,247

Back up a little bit.

5) Make money from my blogs.

AdSense earnings: $28.81 at the end of August, with $0.25 made so far this month. (They won’t send me any money until I hit $100.)

One of the things that FinCon really brought home for me is that I’m not actually in this for the money. For now, I’m leaving the AdSense blocks up, but they’re getting moved further down the page. I’ll keep tracking, but making money isn’t why I blog.

6) Be healthier

I didn’t walk twice every day this last week, but I did most days. During the crazy budget season, I really need that break mentally and physically. Today, C set up the recumbent bike in our basement for me, so I have an easy way to exercise come the yuckier weather.

I’m doing well on the diet and still losing weight. In fact, I might be losing weight a little too fast. I may need to eat a little bit more during the day. I often end up a couple hundred calories under my target each day.

Date: 23/09/2012 Author: Erin Shanendoah Category: Uncategorized Bookmark: Permalink

Article

What I’m Reading: Azeroth has Reclaimed Me Edition

I actually read a few blog posts this week. Not many, mind you, but some. Work world is still crazy. Our top candidate for the Director level position accepted our offer so that’s great, but I’m about to have a job open for an Associate Director position that I’ll be leading recruiting for, as well. (Luckily, this time, we have an awesome internal candidate in mind- let’s hope she’s interested.)

In addition, I’m in budget land until mid-October, with multiple rounds to go. There’s a chance we’ll have to let people go. At the same time, I’m busy preparing case studies for some of our departments that prove we need more bodies, not less. It’s a bit crazy making.

So what do I do when I’m going crazy at work? First, this is exactly why I have my bulletin board filled with pet pictures in the office. I take a moment to just look at the cute faces. Second, I take my walks. Twice a day I get up from my desk and go take a 10 minute walk. It’s great for both physical and mental health. And thirdly, I come home and kill things.

You read that right, in the last couple of weeks, C and I both re-upped our WoW accounts. Yes, we will almost certainly get the new expansion when it’s released next week (though we may not pre-order). Yes, it’s a time waster, but it’s an activity that we can do together (and with J) that acts as a great stress reliever, exit from the real world. Will we still be playing a month from now? Maybe, maybe not. But for now, we’re back on Azeroth.

And now that you’ve heard my confession, on to the few things I did read this week.

At American Debt Project, there’s going to be a change in focus. We had a chance to sit down and talk at FinCon, and it was fabulous. For both of us, the real take away from the conference was to really evaluate what we were looking for out of our blogs, and what value we were trying to give our readers. I love the new direction.

Daisy at Add Vodka has also been doing some evaluating of her life. And she’s realized that she’s perhaps not actually sending the messages she wants to be in her work life, instead. So now she on a mission to Teach People How To Treat [Her].

Aloysa (the A theme goes away after this, I promise) from My Broken Coin has a great post about how to marry your equal– as in the person who will be your equal partner in life going forward. This has nothing to do with social class, earning capabilities, or even education levels. It’s about finding the person who balances you out in all the important ways. If you can’t tell, I’m with her 100%.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Mr. Money Mustache, he gave a talk at FinCon about creating your own cult. His group of Mustachians is certainly growing. I do not agree with everything he says, but if you’re interested to find out what he’s all about, this Reader Case Study is a great introduction.

I try to stay away from politics here. Which is funny because I don’t stay away from them in real life at all. I am very opinionated and I will happily tell you who I am voting for, why I am voting for them, and what keeps me from voting for the other person. Given that this current election has the economy as a major focus (and it should) I have considered writing a post about it. But I don’t need to. Because Sandy at Yes, I am Cheap has done it for me. Guess what, no matter how much money you have, no matter how much (or little) you pay in taxes, You’re Getting Government Subsidies & Entitlements, Too.

And now we’re at the point of the weekly roundup where I introduce a new Yakezie challenger. This week, it’s Heather and her blog Becoming Me (great title). We pay property taxes via escrow on our home, but not on the MIL’s condo. Those we pay directly (which is good because the mortgage holder is going through bankruptcy and this way we don’t have to watch the escrow account like a hawk to make sure they don’t “accidentally clear it out- but enough about us). We could pay monthly, but it’s really just easiest to pay two times a year. We keep money in the rental account to cover it. Heather also pays her property taxes individually, but sometimes, things just go wrong- this time while she was at FinCon. Will Taxes be the Death of [Her]?

Date: 22/09/2012 Author: Erin Shanendoah Category: Round Ups Bookmark: Permalink

Article

What Are They Selling?

Have you seen this Levi’s commercial? I love beat poetry, so I do like just listening to it, but C has actually watched it and came away asking me- What are they trying to sell?

There are some images of people in jeans, but quite a few women in dresses, men in casual suits, etc. The poem makes perfect sense for the brand, but the images aren’t of Levis. How does that make sense?

My response was that Levis no longer needs to connect their product to their name. Everyone knows that Levis are jeans. What the company is trying to sell now is their overall brand, an image, an idea.

That makes sense, right?

Well, imagine my surprise when, looking for the video for this post, I found this NY Times article that says that Levis is now making dresses and nondenim items.

So the ad is trying to connect the Levis brand name to their new products, but I have to wonder, how many people are actually getting that message. I certainly wasn’t.

Date: 20/09/2012 Author: Erin Shanendoah Tags: advertising, go forth, levis Category: Advertising Bookmark: Permalink

Article

Nail the Phone Interview

Back in May, a fellow poster on a message board I frequent was looking for some advice to give his wife on her first phone interview. That was not a big deal, but some of the responses from people just blew my mind.

This post is adapted from the advice I gave there (click here to read the whole thread), and is the second in my series about applying for (and getting) a job. You can read the first entry here.

A Phone Interview? Let’s start with what a phone interview is and is not. It is an interview. It takes place over the phone. It is NOT a video conference. For some reason, people seem to think that your phone interviewers will ask you to Skype either during or right after the phone interview. They will NOT. If they wanted to do an interview by Skype or other video chat method, that is what they would have arranged with you. They didn’t. They asked for a phone interview. That means your interview will take place by phone and phone only. So relax, no one is going to suddenly ask to put you on video to find out that you stayed home from work for this and are still in your PJs.

What You Need To Know Now that we’ve gotten the confusion about what a phone interview is cleared up, here’s what you need to know when you are being asked to schedule the phone interview. Is this an HR screening or an actual interview with the hiring manger/team? If it is with multiple people, who are they? What are their titles?

Feel free to ask this if it isn’t volunteered. Or, if you forget to ask and the person who scheduled the interview doesn’t automatically send you that information (I do), send an email or call back and find out. It shows initiative on your part.

And just so you know, it is not rude or unprofessional or even uncommon to have a phone interview with multiple people. For our hiring process for the director level position, there were three or four of us on phone call, depending on schedules.

Also, make sure you have a contact number in case something comes up at the last minute or you do not get the call.

Be Prepared

Go to the restroom 15 minutes before the interview is supposed to start.

Let your friends and family know not to call you around that time, or if that’s not possible find out what number (or at least what area code) the call will be coming from, so that if another call does come in around the time the interview is scheduled, you can know not to answer it.
If you are calling into a conference call, make sure to call in a couple minutes early, just like you would show up at a location a couple minutes before the interview was scheduled to start.
In either case, if the call hasn’t come, or other people haven’t joined the conference call within 10 minutes after the scheduled start time, reach out to your initial contact. You can do it through email, or by calling the contact number you made sure to get when the interview was scheduled. (If you won’t be near a computer, you should have this number written down and with you.)
We actually decided to stop moving forward with a candidate after confusion about whether it was a conference call or us calling her, even though we thought the message had been clear. We made this decision not because we could not get ahold of her during the scheduled interview time, but because she never attempted to contact us- not until we sent her a note saying we would not be moving forward. Her response was “but you never called”- well, neither did she, nor did she email.

On the Phone If there are multiple people on the phone and they have done phone interviews before, they should be good about identifying themselves each time they speak. They know very well that you can’t see them and do not expect you to learn everyone’s voices.
If they don’t mention, you might want to ask if they are all in the same room, or calling from different locations. It’s important to know if they can see each other or not, because it does change the dynamic and the timing.

But the number one thing on a phone interview is do NOT be afraid of silence. The one thing I’ve really found is that people tend to talk more on phone interviews than they otherwise would. You have to remember that the person/people on the other side of the line don’t have any more visual cues than you do, so they need your silence in order to know you’re done answering the question and that it is safe for them to talk. And if they are all in different rooms, people may take a moment before they say anything to see if any of their colleagues have something to say.
However, it’s pretty much guaranteed that at least once during the conversation, you and one of the interviewers will start to talk at the same time. When that happens, you should stop talking and wait for the interviewer to ask you to continue with what you were saying, but make sure to keep that point short and sweet.

Even if there is only one person on the phone with you, remember that person has to be taking notes, so again, be comfortable with silence.

You Survived When the interview is over- thank everyone, just like you would at an in-person interview. Ask what the next steps are, if that information isn’t volunteered, again, just like you would if you had met face to face.

Phone interviews are getting more and more common, and if you ever want to move and have a job lined up in advance, you’re going to have at least one. The important thing is to remember the advice that Douglas Adams gave the world- Do Not Panic. Prepare just as you would for any other interview, and remember, silence is nothing to be afraid of.

Date: 18/09/2012 Author: Erin Shanendoah Tags: interviewing, job search, phone interviews Category: Interviews Bookmark: Permalink

Article

Sunday Evening Post #61

Day	Amount	Place	Category
Monday	$31.75	Mud Bay	Pets
	$53.75	Safeway	Groceries
	$90.00	CostCo	Groceries
Tuesday	$348.50	VW Service	Car
Thursday	$30.00	Medical Copays	Medical
	$14.75	Safeway	Groceries
Friday	$15.00	Medical Copays	Medical
	$31.50	Pet License	Pets
Saturday	$16.50	WoW	Allowance
	$69.00	Shoes	Allowance
	$96.75	CostCo	Groceries
	$17.50	Safeway	Groceries

It has been a crazy week here. I was very glad to have Monday off to recover from FinCon12 and get some of our needed shopping done, since I knew C wouldn’t do it while I was away. Of course, that meant I had a short work week for a crazy week at work.

I am hopeful that Monday we’ll be making an offer for the director level positions we’ve had open for a year, and that at least that one item can get off my list. We’ve also had a brand new position approved by our work force planning committee and this week, comp finally came back with a suggested pay grade. That means I get to start the hiring process for that position.

We also started budget season at work this week- which wouldn’t be bad except that we’ve been on a spend rate plan for the last 4 years and everyone- including the finance department, got about 2 weeks notice that we’d be having a budget process this year. There have been technical issues combined with short notices, and I’m helping out with another area under our VP because it’s the unit I did budget for for 5 years and they just got transferred to our VP and have no budget person of their own. I’m going to be back in deep on Monday morning.

To go along with all of this, C has been sick- as in almost having an eardrum burst sick. So he’s on meds and is not super useful around the house.

In good news, we have a friend moving up to the Seattle area who has stayed with us a few nights this week. On Friday, he got a job. Not a great job, but it’s better than nothing. And his wife had two interviews on Thursday, so we’re hoping she’ll have something soon, too. It will be really nice having them up here.

On Friday, we had a mini BBQ and then 6 of us sat around and played Last Night On Earth (it’s a zombie board game). That was actually a really nice way to end my week.

Today, I haven’t even gotten dressed. I’ve sat around and watched football. And it’s been heavenly. C is feeling better and is making us a roasted bell pepper soup for dinner.

We are over half way through 2012. I revised some of my goals because life took some turns I wasn’t quite planning on when I came up with them.

1) Be paid for publishing one piece of fiction

Submissions so far: 2

Responses: 1 rejection 1 acceptance

The anthology I had a piece accepted to is now available to buy on Amazon. It’s called Conquest Through Determination.

2) Pay All Adoption Expenses in Cash & Still Pay for C’s College Out of Pocket

We’re doing good here. This was helped tremendously by getting 3x as much in life insurance from the MIL than expected. Our savings is still growing, and we’re in really good shape

3) Attend FinCon12. Pay for the trip with money from allowance/side projects saved/earned BEFORE the conference starts. Goal: $600

FinCon was awesome. Not all of the money came from allowance/side projects, but it was still easily affordable, so I’m calling this a win.

4) Become a member of Yakezie (6 month anniversary is Jan 21)

Current ranking: 266,109

It’s started going back down!

Thanks this week to Len Penzo dot Com and Budgeting in the Fun Stuff for linking over here.

5) Make money from my blogs.

AdSense earnings: $28.81 at the end of August, with $0.18 made so far this month. (They won’t send me any money until I hit $100.)

6) Be healthier

Weight was up after FinCon, but that was to be expected. It wasn’t enough that I am worried about it.

I haven’t gone over my calorie count any day this week, and for the most part, I’ve gotten at least some walking in every day. On the interview days, it was harder to fit in, but I needed it.

Yesterday I bought myself some new athletic shoes. I don’t know if Sketchers no longer makes the balance ball shoes or if DSW just no longer carries them, but these have normal soles.

In an odd turn of events, my new shoes are NOT men’s shoes. They’re actually women’s. Easy Spirit makes size 11 shoes that fit me and are quite comfortable. I’m looking forward to many walks, and possibly some NIA in my new shoes.

Date: 16/09/2012 Author: Erin Shanendoah Tags: goals, tracking, weekly spending Category: Sunday Evening Post Bookmark: Permalink

Article

What I’m Listening To

There isn’t a What I’m Reading post today because, honestly, I haven’t read anything this week. Between doing the interviews for our Director position (hope to make an offer on Monday) and the start of the budget season at work, I haven’t had the energy for much more than a game of Bejeweled or two by the time I get home.

For the record, I actually love this part of my job. I am GOOD at it. But it does take a lot of focus. I honestly couldn’t get through it without Pandora. Which is why, this week, you’re getting links to six artists I listen to on a regular basis.

To make it even more money related, they are all artists for which we own more than one album (except in the case where there is only one album), and we have seen them all live, some multiple times. Music is what gets me through the day. So I hope you enjoy this look into what I’m listening to.

We’ll start with Cracker. Of the bands you may have heard of, I think we’ve probably seen them live the most times. Brides of Neptune is a little different from most of their stuff, but who can resist being chased my monkeys?

BOWI is the local band up here that we love. We have probably seen them live more often than anyone else, but that’s because we can just head on down to the pub on a Friday or Saturday night, get a good dinner, and C can have a nice cider and listen to them play. This is their one “country” song. It’s a cover, but I think it really works for them.

Let me just say this about Concrete Blonde- we went to their 20 Years of Bloodletting tour, and Johnette sounds exactly the same live as she does on the CD. She’s absolutely amazing.

When the band LIVE broke up, there were some issues about who got to use the name. Most of the band went off and formed a new group called The Gracious Few. You want old style southern rock? This is the band for you. Now, the issues are settled and the band has the name LIVE back, so I don’t think there will be any more Gracious Few albums, but we’ll always be glad we got to see them in concert.

Every morning at FinCon12, I got up and walked 2 miles. I am very proud of myself. What kept me going that whole time? I set my mp3 player to Flogging Molly, and I was set. Flogging Molly remains one of the best acts we have ever seen on stage and their energy is just amazing. Believe it or not, this is one of their slower songs.

And finally, we come to LIVE. LIVE is our favorite band. Sharing their music is what first brought C and I together. We have traveled to see them three different times, including once when they were the opening act and we left before the headliner came on (really confusing the security guard). While I love almost everything they’ve done. I’ve selected this video of their song Overcome because it was also used as a tribute to the emergency workers of 9/11.

Date: 15/09/2012 Author: Erin Shanendoah Tags: exercise, fincon12, music Category: Round Ups Bookmark: Permalink

Article

Get Your Resume Noticed (and read)

We have had a director level position open in my department for over a year now. This week, we were finally able to bring in 4 good candidates for in person interviews. We expect to make an offer next week.

As the Operations and Administrative Programs manager for my department, I have been heavily involved in this process. It’s really the first time that I have been involved in the hiring process from beginning to end, being part of all steps along the way. I have learned a lot from this process as well as having small parts in other hiring decisions over the last 2 years in my department.

Here is a basic primer of what I have learned about the initial application process. (Be aware that I am not an HR professional and the below are my opinions, and my opinions only. Other people may disagree.)

1) The lower level the position, the more important the cover letter.

When you’re applying for an Admin position, you need something to differentiate yourself. There are literally hundreds of people applying for the position, and they are all likely just as qualified for the position as you are. In that sense, a cover letter matters. You get to show off your writing skills and your understanding of what the hiring manager is looking for. Do not go generic. Write each letter specifically for the company and the job description you are applying to.

By the time you are at the director level, though, the cover letter isn’t as important. In over a year of having the position open, we probably had less than 20 qualified people apply. In this case, it’s much more important to have your resume reflect what the position requires.

2) Four page resumes are never okay

Unless you are in academia or a research position where it is accepted practice for your CV to mention EVERYTHING (especially any publishing credits), no one really wants to read a four page resume. And maybe that’s the clue. If your industry wants CVs, then have something as long as you need. If you are submitting a resume, please keep it short.

I honestly prefer one page resumes, but by the time you are looking at director level positions, two pages are often needed to be able to show the majority of relevant experience. But you should know how to limit things to relevant experience. You do NOT have to include your entire work history. I include about 10 years on mine. But if you have 20 years of experience in a field, you may want to include all that history. Still, when you’re applying for the director level position in a department, while you may want to show that you started in an entry level position in that field, you do not need to list all your duties and accomplishments. Just list the job and the dates.

Remember, the person who is reading your resume has a ton of other things they need to get done. Give them what they need to know in the most efficient way possible.

3) Don’t include references unless they are asked for

This is mostly to avoid accidental use of paper. Until the hiring manager is ready to make an offer, they won’t even look at your references. Their goal is to make a hiring decision based on your experience, not who you know.

Still, we all know that who you know can often get you the interview (if not the job), and I have no issues with people using their contacts to get their foot in the door. If you know someone who works in the department or whose name would be known to the hiring manger (and their opinion would actually sway the hiring manager), you have two options.

The first is to write a cover letter and mention that that person perhaps suggested you apply for the job, or something along those lines. However, having the name in a cover letter may not insure that your resume makes it through an automated application system.

The way to get your resume in front of the hiring manager is to reach out to your contact and let them know that you applied for the position. If they really do believe you would be a good candidate for the job, they will mention it to the hiring manager (or the person who does the first look at resumes). This will also mean that if the system doesn’t auto send your resume through, the hiring manager will ask about it and get it forced through the system.

At the same time, make sure you are not only qualified for the position, but that your resume reflects that. We had a manger who spoke up for someone who applied. We had their application forced through the system based on her recommendation. But the resume showed almost no experience in the field for which we were hiring. In fact, the person didn’t have either of the certifications the position required.

When the manager called me to ask if we had taken a look at this person’s resume, I had to tell her that what we got in no way indicated the person was qualified for the job. I did it as nicely as possible, but she put herself out there, put her reputation on the line for this person who did not put their best foot forward. Guess who is never recommending that person again.

To sum up- differentiate yourself, keep it short and sweet, and don’t abuse your contacts. It seems simple, but lots (and I mean lots) of job applicants don’t seem to know it.

What are your tips for getting your resume noticed (and read) by a hiring manager?

Date: 13/09/2012 Author: Erin Shanendoah Category: Interviews, On the Job Bookmark: Permalink

Personal Finance in a World of Excuses

what i’m reading: new keyboard edition

Crazy Couple of Days

Ditching the Contract

Sunday Evening Post #62

What I’m Reading: Azeroth has Reclaimed Me Edition

What Are They Selling?

Nail the Phone Interview

Sunday Evening Post #61

What I’m Listening To

Get Your Resume Noticed (and read)

Find Out More

1. My Sites

Amazon

2. Blogroll

Yakezie