As a former Director working within the Financial Services Division of a vast multi-national Information Technology (IT) corporation, I was extensively involved in pre-sales presentations and responses to Request for Proposals (RFP’s). Invariably after several meetings with a myriad of executives and department managers, a formal presentation of our products and solutions was scheduled. In coordinating this presentation to the financial institution, we endeavored to ensure that key decision makers affiliated with the purchasing decision were available and would be present.

When preparing our executive presentation, a vital element incorporated was our Value and Mission statements. We emphasized how our values, culture, and vision coincided with the strategic vision and mission of the corporation. The genesis of this overlap in cultures was typically based on direct comments from the institution’s CEO - information which was typically accessible on the corporate website. This segment of the presentation included a photo of the CEO (if available), and selected quotes.  This piece was highly targeted to reinforce and emphasize how our strategic vision corresponded with the values and foresight expressed by the CEO, resulting in a mutual common bond.

Many of the attendees were not even aware of the information we shared about their institution along with comments from their CEO. Invariably, this information had a significant and sobering impact on the attendees. In a highly competitive sales and marketing situation, every resource should be uncovered and exploited to your full benefit. In a pivotal situation, ‘Name-dropping’ doesn’t hurt! After the presentation, we were commended by our resourcefulness and advised that our competitor’s did not take the extra effort to uncover and incorporate this level of discovery in their presentations.

In many regards, a job interview is similar to an executive presentation. Taking the extra time to perform your ‘due diligence’ on the company and CEO will pay dividends during the interview process. You have the unique opportunity to distinguish yourself by communicating to the interviewer why you are well suited for the position. Similar to a presentation, you differentiate yourself by emphasizing how your attributes, values, and qualities align with statements from the CEO.

Predicated on the size and type of organization, a comment from the CEO is typically accessible on the corporate website. Just a casual, subtle comment such as — “I noticed on your website that Mr. or Ms. stated - “ … ,  which clearly coincides with many of the same qualities, values, and ethics which I have listed in my Profile and, demonstrated throughout my career”. An example to reinforce your analogy is always helpful. If comments from the CEO are not available, excerpts from corporate Vision and Mission statements will suffice.

All too often, navigating the corporate website to uncover the required information can prove a bit tedious. As with most companies, ‘About Our Company’ (or similar verbiage) is a lightly shaded link located at the very bottom of the corporate home page. By clicking on this link, significant content is displayed with nested links such as: ‘A Message from our CEO’, ‘Officers and Directors’, ‘Annual and Quarterly Reports’, and ‘Corporate Profiles’. Recent corporate presentations are even posted for viewing and serve as an excellent source for updates on corporate activities. With a bit of tenacity and diligence, a wealth of invaluable corporate, and specifically, CEO information is available to bolster your insight and personal image with the interviewer. Take the time to capitalize on this information to reinforce your connection with the company.

To summarize, in your quest for a job, by exploring easily accessible information on the CEO (and corporation), you fortify your image and clearly differentiate yourself to the interviewer. You ‘leap-frog’ candidates who, although equally as qualified, were not as resourceful as you are. Record your discovery notes on a pad which you may ‘tactfully’ reference during the interview process. Comparable to the corporate presentation, when strategically marketing yourself, your intent is to impress, and,  have a positive impact on the interviewer. Do not forget the follow-up email to reinforce why you are the candidate of choice!

Even companies thought to be bulletproof from layoffs, such a Google, have had to reduce their workforces in this long, deep recession. The Obama Administration says it’s going to get worse before it gets better, with unemployment rising above 10% before it inches back down later in 2010. The reality is that there is no such thing as job security any longer and basically everyone should have a healthy dose of concern for their livelihood, that is unless they are independently wealthy and don’t really need to be employed. For the rest of us though, worrying about making house payments, putting food on the table, and gasoline in the family car, angst is rampant. So where is the happy median of a healthy concern for our jobs as opposed to being stressed out to the point of it causing major health problems, including depression?

Sarah Burgard, a sociologist at the University of Michigan, in an article published by LiveScience says “In fact, chronic job insecurity was a stronger predictor of poor health than either smoking or hypertension in one of the groups we studied.” She goes on to say that “Based on how participants rated their own physical and mental health, we found that people who were persistently concerned about losing their jobs reported significantly worse overall health in both studies and were more depressed in one of the studies than those who had actually lost and regained their jobs recently.”

How can this be? When you think about it, the stress of the insecurity about the next paycheck, medical benefits, retirement plans - all tied to our jobs - has to take a toll on us. Everywhere you turn today you see family, friends, and colleagues either out of work or in fear of a forced career change and it’s the major focus in much of the media we see. If you get laid off or otherwise terminated from your employment, at least you know where you stand and you can channel your anxiety into action to network and search for another job. Not that this is without its’ own stressfulness but at least the uncertainty and helplessness of waiting for the ax to fall is relieved.

In the US, the average savings rate as a percentage of income is lower than the rest of the industrialized world. This leaves us vulnerable in light of job cuts - especially now with 6.2 people competing for each available open position. Most workers lack the wherewithal to maintain their standard of living when hit with a job loss and go through the (sometimes) long process of securing a new one. It will take you an additional month on average to find a new job of equal pay, for each $10,000 of income, e.g. if you make $80,000 it will take eight months to find a replacement position. This includes getting your resume together, networking, the search, getting called back, the preliminary interviews, the final interviews, checking references, making the offer, you accepting the offer, and actually starting the new job. This could be a painful period with meager unemployment benefits.

What happens to your job performance if you are at unhealthy stress levels, which weaken the immune system leading to physical illness and even depression? Your work suffers. You are not upbeat and motivating to your subordinates, teammates, and even customers. You probably have more sick days. This lack of positive contribution can even be your downfall - setting yourself up for a target in the next round of layoffs and can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes, the insecurity you feel in your job can cause you to lose it.

What can workers do to remove themselves from this vicious cycle? Start by always having an up-to-date resume and keep an eye open for your next position. Be forward thinking so that you are cognizant of your standing with your employer and the market position of your company, so that you can be proactive and make a change if need be. Help create a healthy work environment in your job where teamwork is encouraged and satisfaction is achieved. You should add value to each task you undertake. Always take the opportunity to continuously re-educate yourself and network with the people in your industry and community who have knowledge and offer guidance. Keep pace with new technologies. Religiously build your savings account for a potential rainy day; that will add a great deal to your security. Being overly dependent on a company can destroy your ability to take risks or make changes when you know they are necessary. You need to prepare for the future by putting these practices in place. This will be your security going forward.

Why is this question important?

One of the most important career and life-planning activities you can engage in is finding your own definitions or models of success. This is vitally important for a number of reasons: If you haven’t done this, how do you know what’s best for you? How can you make career decisions if you aren’t crystal clear about how you define success? How can you be happy if you don’t know when you’re successful?

If this question is relevant to you right now…

There is never a bad time to discover and be clear on your definition of success. Today’s economic realities make the timing even better. If your career hasn’t gone according to plan, or even if it has, reexamine what it is you actually want. Doing so can make you a lot happier.

Successful — on Whose Terms?

If you haven’t taken the time to define it, success has already been defined for you. You’re already following models of career and life success. The question is whether they are your own, or ones you inherited. One of your greatest career challenges is identifying goals and definitions of success that are true to you rather than ones you inherited from family, society and other outside forces. Your current model of success may or may not work for you. The important thing is understanding your assumptions and questioning them.

If you follow a path to success that isn’t your own, you may achieve your goals, but when you arrive at your destination, you may not feel successful or fulfilled at all.

Keep in mind that your existing job may hold the key to your happiness. For example, if you were to discover that making your customers happy was the one thing that defines and inspires you, what would that do to your focus and state of mind?

Choose Your Own Definition of Success

You have the power to reaffirm existing models or adopt new models of success. All it takes is some honest thinking, clarity of purpose and the discipline to stay true to your values in the long run.

Accept There Are Always Alternatives. The very fact that so many of us have not questioned the paths we are on speaks to a lack of awareness or acceptance of alternate paths. There have never been more options or valid ways of defining career and life success.

Examine Your Path. Do you love what you do? Do you do fantastic work as a result? Does your work complement your personal and family life or detract from it? Are you excited about your vision of the future? Is this your best use of your precious gifts and time?

Create Some Quiet, Introspective Time. Ask yourself these questions:
What makes me happy? How do I feel? What do I want? And then, answer a question from the coaching school CoachVille.com, “I know how successful I am by how (fill in the blank).” The answers to this question will point you in the right direction. You can have several definitions of success as long as they don’t contradict each other.

Refine Your Responses. Ask yourself “why?” and “is that what I really want?” after each response to the statement until each rings true. For example, if your first response was, “I’ll know I am successful when I am a millionaire,” ask yourself why you want to be a millionaire. You might, for example, find out that success for you is to have the freedom to use your time as you wish, or the ability to travel or be rid of financial worries. This process may lead you to make other decisions in your life that will help you reach your goal.

Test Your Responses with People Who Know You Really Well. Do they ring true?

One definition of success that puts this philosophy into simple words comes from American author Christopher Morley, who wrote:

“There is only one success — to be able to spend your life in your own way.”

Being clear about how you define success will reap immeasurable rewards.

At a recent networking meeting of fifty to sixty senior executives, all VP and C level, which included a mix of all corporate functions the following question was asked: “How many of you are in sales?” Only about 10% raised their hands, until someone flippantly yelled out, “We are all in sales.” The rest of the group then caught on and hands starting going up. Still, only about 50% raised their hands.

The moderator then followed-up with, “OK, what are you doing to demonstrate you are really in sales? For example, what books on sales have you read, how do you consciously incorporate sales into your search, how many have taken sales courses, courses on closing, written your resume with sales or marketing in the forefront of your mind, et cetera?” Then he asked, “Anyone in finance and accounting, such as controllers or CFOs?” A few raised their hand.

His next comments brought the point home when he said, “So if I’m a sales professional, say a VP Sales and I’ve done a budget, I suppose I’m qualified for your job. I shouldn’t need any training, don’t need to read any books on accounting. I just say, ‘I’m a CFO’ and that makes me a CFO.” Of course the group was snickering and laughing at such a silly statement. Yet they could all be sales people without any training. Isn’t that equally as ridiculous? What they were really saying is, “When in-transition, everyone is in a sales role.” However, being in a sales role doesn’t make you a salesperson.

Most candidates don’t really know what it means to be a salesperson. They intellectually understand the concept, but don’t know how to take the concept and put it into practice. Transition requires a candidate to change their perspective. Candidates have to understand that whether they call it sales or not, whether they are comfortable with it or not, they are not just in a sales role - they are a salesperson. They have moved out of their comfort zone and into a sales and marketing environment. Even salespeople don’t seem to grasp this concept while in-transition. It is for this reason that we recommend getting a sales and marketing consultant to assist you.

Just saying you are something doesn’t make you that. You need to learn how to become a salesperson. This includes, prospecting, overcoming objections, what a sales presentation is, know your competition and why you are better, identify why you are different for all the rest, having a sales pitch and so much more. You need to read a few books on sales, attend a sales training webinar or course, practice your sales presentation, and get prepared just like a true professional sales person does. So please stop saying you are in sales and go out and become a salesperson.

Salary negotiation begins as soon as you hear about a job and decide whether or not it is for you. You need to find out the salary being offered for the job to make sure that you are paid appropriately. Then, as you land the first or second interview, you need to watch out for these salary negotiation blunders that could doom you to the lower end of the pay scale:

1. Start talking about your salary too early in your job interview. Your prospective employers need to decide if they want you around first. That said, you need to ask about the pay early enough to make sure that you aren’t wasting your time or their time.

2. Forget to look up the salary range for the position. You can’t negotiate if you don’t know how much the company will pay. Knowing the highs and lows can help you find out if the job is right for you, and you’ll also get some wiggle room during the negotiations.

3. Be modest. If you deserve this money, you need to brag a little. But there’s a difference between bragging and exaggerating. Simply mention what you have done in the past that indicates you should be paid more.

4. Make it up as you go. Don’t go into the interview thinking you can just throw numbers around. An employer wants to get as much for his money as possible, and, if he thinks he can hire you at a low salary, then he will.

5. Get personal. You don’t know these people yet, so you don’t want to say you need a certain salary or talk about your money situation outside the office. A potential employer wants to know about how your skills and experience will fit with her company. Unfortunately, you may not be the only one who needs the money, and employers will not be hiring based on that information.

6. Aim low. You might really, really want a job, and you are willing to say that you will work for less. No one likes desperation, and, if the economy bounces back, you will find yourself in a bad position because it will take a long time to make as much as your peers. You don’t want to demand an outrageously high salary, but you should be paid appropriately for the work you do.

7. Ignore the big picture. Consider everything the company offers. If they propose a salary lower than you expected, but you get to work from home, you may get to keep more of that money since your transportation costs will drop. Or, they may give you a high salary with a bigger contribution to health-care expenses, leaving you with less.

8. Take the first offer without thinking about it. The first offer might be the best offer, but you don’t know that. If you have done your research regarding the salary range, you may be able to ask for more if the offer is on the low end.

9. Talk about salary on the phone. Many employers like to know your salary range off the bat, and they might schedule a preliminary phone interview. Discuss the salary range, but don’t give away numbers until you meet the potential employer in person. You might win the employer over enough to get a bigger paycheck.

10. Forget cost of living. For career changers, anyone moving to a new city or anyone within arm’s reach of a dream job, you may want to accept the job right away. However, you need to determine your budget for the area where you plan to live or think about downsizing if this job means a pay cut. You may love your job, but you will have trouble with the bills when you don’t put the basics first.

The effects of redundancy are far reaching. When an employer decides to lay off staff the impact of the blow ripples out and touches not just the employee but also family, friends and communities. How it might affect you depends largely on your own frame of mind, your resources and your support network. You can take control of the situation by having a plan of action and in this article we’re going to explore some of the elements that you might include in such a plan.

Be Prepared

If you’re gainfully employed wit no imminent threat of redundancy you might be wondering why you should be reading this article, but as the recent recession has reminded us even the largest and most powerful companies are not immune to the economic forces and the financial winds of change that blow through our economies from time to time. What would you do if you were told that your services were not longer required?

You can offset the impact of redundancy by having some kind of contingency plan. For some this might include taking out insurance against loss of earnings, but most of us are reluctant to pay out every month when we live hand to mouth, spending almost every penny we earn. Besides, how good is the policy? If you opt for this route check the small print and make sure that you will indeed receive what you think you’ll be getting if the worst comes to the worst.

Instead of a financial insurance policy you could consider what other skills and abilities you have. A little effort now and again to maintain these skills and to keep them fresh could mean that you have them at your disposal if you find yourself out of work. This could be anything from maintain your HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) license, brushing up on a foreign language, adding to your IT skills, or many other abilities that cost little to gain and which could act as your fallback policy if your current employer shows you the door. Adult education and evening classes are a great way to expand your knowledge and skill set.

Keep your CV (Resume) up to date and ready for use at all times as you never know when you might need it. The effort of updating it when you’re feeling low having been told your services are no longer required will be even greater, so having it ready for use on that fateful day will save you time and effort. Keep track of your financial outgoings using a simple spreadsheet so that you can see at a glance who you have to pay, when, and how much. A household budget plan is a good thing to maintain whether you’re in or out of work.

Bad News
It stands to reason that the impact of being handed notice of redundancy will be proportional to one’s financial, emotional, and mental status. For most it is time of stress and anxiety that’s up there with divorce, bereavement, and serious illness. It takes time to absorb the shock as it shakes you, your life, and the lives of those who depend on you. For many of us our occupations define who we are so redundancy can seem like the loss of part of our identity. Our jobs are also tied in with our social network and being made losing them can remove us from our network or break the network up.

Take Action

Once you’ve overcome the initial shock of being laid off it’s time to take action. The act of doing something about your situation will help to restore confidence and it will make you feel that you’re still in control of your life. Your first task will be to review your finances and take stock of what assets and responsibilities you have. If you don’t have assets or other income to cover the cost of your outgoings then see if there are any areas in which you can economize. Your home is the most important thing so your rent or mortgage payments must be met, but do you really need that TV subscription service, or those magazines?

If you think that you won’t be able to meet all your financial obligations then contact those which you won’t be able to pay and inform them of the situation. Show that you take your situation seriously, that you want to meet your obligations, but you need time. Most companies will help you by offering an extended payment plan which will lessen the monthly payments. It’s far better to keep people informed and show willing rather than ignore the letters and reminders. You have to face up to the situation and the longer you leave it, the worse it will become, so tear open those brown envelopes and start calling the senders asking for more time to pay.

Ask For Help

Pride is a double edged sword. Taking pride in our achievements and identities is harmless if not healthy, but if our pride prevents us from asking for help when we need it then it becomes a handicap. For example, some people cannot face the prospect of claiming unemployment benefit or social welfare payments. It’s understandable given the impersonal and depressing process that needs to be followed in order to qualify for payments, but remember it’s your money. As a tax payer who has paid the State both Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions every month while in employment you are perfectly entitled to ask for some of that money back - it’s your money! The trick is to accept that it’s probably not going to be a pleasant experience but as with any dirty job the sooner you roll up your sleeves and get it on with it the sooner it will be done and put behind you.

Debt counseling services are another place to look for support if the financial going gets tough. They have plenty of advice, freely given, for those having difficulty meeting their commitments. They don’t judge or patronize, and they look for answers that are of genuine help in finding a way out your own financial maze.

Keep fit and stay healthy by eating a balanced diet and taking light exercise a few times a week. Don’t mope about the house. Instead, take a walk in the fresh air, in the local park, or about town. This will help to lift your mood on some of those grey days when the gloom descends. Stay in touch with friends and keep yourself busy by visiting free resources like your local library. Your community may have more to offer than you realized while you were in work and without the time nor the inclination to find out. Consider offering your services free of charge as a voluntary worker as this will make a positive impression on anyone considering you as a new employee.

Redundancy needn’t be disastrous and you can lessen its impact by being prepared and putting your emergency plan into action if the day ever comes.

Of all the topics that people hear time and again, first impressions often are high up on that list. The reason is because it really is one of the most important things people consider in the business world. There are many ways you can create a first impression to land the job, deal or project that you want. One of the best ways you can accomplish this is by being on time. Whether you have an interview scheduled or a business meeting scheduled, make sure you are on time or even a few minutes early. One mistake many people make with this is being too early. You need to realize that the person you are meeting set aside that time, so you should respect their time and show up at the scheduled time.

If you are looking to create a good first impression in the business world, whether it is because you want a job or to land a project, you need to follow a few tips. One great tip is to use the actual name of the person you are talking with. Not only does this show that you are listening to them, it also has been proven that people like to hear their own name. It is a great way to convey a personal relationship with any person, even if you only have known them for five minutes.

Another great way to create a good first impression is to have a positive attitude. If it is a job interview you are dealing with, you need to go into it as positive as you can. This includes smiling. Regardless of how many interviews you have gone on without getting a job offer, you cannot let your current interviewer know that. When you take on a negative attitude with someone you just met, they will assume that you always have this attitude. It is not something that an employer wants in an employee. You also have to be a good listener. This shows that you respect others and can wait your turn to speak.

As much as people would like to believe that people do not judge others, they have to realize that they do in the business world. If you do not get along with someone the first time you meet them, that person is unlikely to select you for the project they are heading. Teamwork is a huge part of the business world, so project leaders are more likely to select people with whom they can get along, rather than a great worker who cannot follow orders. Because of this, it is important to create a good first impression when it comes to all of your business dealings.

I came across an attention-grabbing quote attributed to Billie Burke. She said, ‘Age doesn’t matter-unless you’re a cheese’. I can vouch for the accuracy of her observation when it comes to cheese (and red wine), but I’m assured by those who’ve tried, that, when it comes to getting a paid job commensurate with one’s skills and interests, age really does matter.

A familiar message I hear at numerous gatherings of baby boomers (the first of whom made it to sixty in 2006), is that there is a use-by date when it comes to regaining meaningful employment: age does matter. This same group of disillusioneds can site many examples to show that achievement doesn’t have a use-by date. The achievements of Pablo Picasso, Clint Eastwood, Sir Francis Chichester, Leopold Stokowski, John Glenn, Coco Chanel, and Sophia Loren serve as inspirational role models. When it comes to re-entering the ’salt mines’ or ‘happy factories’ of their choices, however, I’m assured that it pays to heed Lucille Ball’s advice and lie about your age.

So vocal was the majority claiming that age matters, I thought I’d check out their claim for myself. I recently celebrated my fiftieth birthday for the tenth consecutive year, so I felt qualified to put to the test Billie Burke’s assertion that age doesn’t matter.

I checked through the weekend press and selected a job that I knew I could do blindfolded, standing on one leg, with one arm tied behind my back. I assembled all the information I needed-resume, selection criteria, and referees who were world-recognised leaders in the field relevant to the position being sought-devoted several days to tailoring an application, passed the completed document by an expert in executive recruitment, and delivered the application online so that the document reached its target long before the advertised closing date.

During the weeks leading up to what I regarded would be a certain call-up for a short-list interview, the planets aligned resulting in the Government-of-the-day, the Opposition, the Unions, the media, and social researchers all agreeing that the Country was facing a skills shortage that could be addressed, in part, by those who possessed those skills re-entering the workforce. It seemed that everyone whose opinions mattered thought that retiring retirement would be good for Australia and for Australians. Billie Burke’s observation was looking accurate.

BLUSH! I never made the interview short list. When my ‘dear John e-mail’ arrived (a standard, impersonal one, that I assumed was bcc’ed to all those who failed to make the cut), I revisited my application, the selection criteria, my list of referees, discussed the outcome with those who were aware of my project, etc. Could it be that Billie Burke got it wrong after all?

My next step was to (very politely, of course) ask the recruiters for feedback on my application. My enquiry received the standard ‘there were people better placed than you’ and ‘the selection panel has made its decision and that’s all there is to it’. I’ll never know whether or not age was a factor in not making the short list. Recruiters, or course, could never acknowledge that ‘age’ was a consideration (while my resume never mentioned ‘age’, it divulged that I’ve been married to the one lucky person for thirty-five years and have three beautiful adult ‘children’.) Even though the recruiter did not attend my recent birthday bash, he or she would have been able to make an accurate guess that if I wasn’t over the hill, I was probably climbing it.

This exercise in futility taught me three valuable lessons.

The first lesson is that Billie Burke got it wrong-as have politicians and all those who feed off them. When it comes to gaining meaningful, paid employment, age does matter. It’s OK for Mae West to say, ‘You’re never too old to become younger’, but try telling that to the recruiters who are making it increasingly difficult for older people to return to paid employment of their choices. We have a long way to go if we are to practise what we preach about the multi-benefits of having highly motivated and enthusiastic older people in the workforce.

The second lesson concerns the potential damage to the self-image of the person dealing with being told that he or she is past their use-by date. Many participants in the ageing process-that’s you and me-would agree with George Burns’s observation: ‘You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old’. When it comes to employment via the standard process, however, chronological age is the only determinant of age. Even though it’s impossible to feel a number, recruiters possess an incredible skill that allows them to tell when you’re number’s up-without even meeting you.

The third lesson is that the employer (the one who pays the recruiter and who had probably hoped to get the best person for the job) may never really know what it missed out on. Providing the recruiting agency is able to show that it followed its brief, complied with legislative requirements, and deals with requests for feedback from those who missed the cut, why should selection bias be an issue? Old farts have had their time in the sun: it’s time to move on. How embarrassing for a recruiter if he or she short-lists an experienced person who makes the recruiter’s favoured choices look second-rate-definitely not good for business. From the recruiter’s perspective, saving face (especially when it’s their face) is far more important than finding the best person for the job

If you’ve chosen to re-join the workforce in a paid capacity, all is not lost. There are two positive and productive steps you can take. The first step is to be aware that it’s not what you know or who you know; it’s who knows you. Recruiters are only marginally better than a waste of your time-unless of course, they know you. Devote some time and energy to identifying who knows you and can help you in your quest for employment. Make these people your starting point. The second step is to search out positions that look as though they are being advertised by the employer. Throw your hat into the ring for those positions. In this way, you can be reasonably sure that a wise and lucky employer (one who is worthy of a person of your unique qualities) would jump at an opportunity to meet with you and discuss an item of mutual concern-namely, securing the best person for the job on offer.

Billie Burke was rewarded for her quip when her audience showed its appreciation. But we’re being conned. When it comes to securing meaningful, paid employment, age does matter.

When I was a manager with Time-Life, one of my best sales reps relished going on job interviews at the same time he was employed with us.

And he freely and openly discussed them with me, which goes to show that I didn’t mind.

I trusted him to put in his shift the next day, and to come back from his interviewing forays with juicy intelligence about what my fellow employers were offering.

Cary had a lot of advantages as he bounced from one interview to the next:

(1) He had a good job, already, which was his security. So, he could come across as not-needy, having role-distance to a process that others, especially the unemployed, take so seriously and personally.

(2) He could interview them, and do a thorough job of it, because he was relieved of the need to sell himself. Without any genuine interest in bolting from Time-Life, he could be the boss in those chats.

(3) If something truly exceptional came up, an irresistible opportunity, he could seize it.

Perhaps the greatest advantage was proving that the grass wasn’t greener down the block, that he had a great thing going right where he was.

The problem for most job seekers is very similar to what most people face when they negotiate. Suddenly, they’re without wheels and they need to buy a car. They do a little research and visit a car dealer, who negotiates every day.

If you’re suddenly without a job, you are that car buyer; inexperienced in the cut and thrust, the give and take of negotiating the best deal for your services. Just as when you utterly must have a car that is the worst time to bargain.

When you absolutely must get a job you’re in the worst position to negotiate.

Apply The Law of Large Numbers to your job search, which says if you do enough of anything you’ll get good at it, and do more and you’ll become a pro. Surpass even that amount of experience and you’ll become a legend, which was where Cary was headed in his quest.

Specifically:

Set as many interviews as you can, and methodically go on each and every one.

Takes notes afterward, especially of questions that you heard repeatedly or which threw you off your poise.

And above all, try to interview while you are employed, if possible. As you may have heard elsewhere, it also makes sense to keep on interviewing even after you have been offered a new post.

Cary had lots of fun. I could see that, and vicariously, I did too, and we both learned a lot.

Now, isn’t that a great way to “employ” yourself?

A CEO is a very key person in a given organization. It will require somebody with some top-notch skill in the management to be given such a premier role. A very competitive CEO will also like to be in a place where he or she will be in a position to make an impact.

CEO careers are sensitive and every CEO would like to get a good deal in a competitive environment. CEO careers will entail signing of very stringent performance based contracts, and have a couple of other responsibilities that will make their life much more difficult if things are not working well. Poor performance of organizations has brought an end to many CEO careers since the performance of a given company in most cases is basically equated to the performance of CEO.

If you are choosing a company to work for as a CEO, you will need to evaluate the following:

Job description

At times, people may argue that a CEO may not require having specific job description. A lot of people argue that you can hide the CEO responsibilities under the banner of ‘being in charge of the overall administration’. As a CEO, you should not commit to signing a contract that is not specific. There are companies where the executive authority is shared, perhaps together with the vice president or the board of directors. You should well be aware of the administration structure. A lot of CEO careers have been terminated because of some misunderstanding coming in the end when a problem crops up and the CEO is asked to shoulder the responsibility.

Human resource policies

As a CEO, you will need to be well aware of the policy that the company has with regard to the human resources management and decision making process. You will need to know the position of an employee in relation to the contribution in the company.

A good company must not have poor staff-management relations. You will need to check if there are some rigid structures in the organization that ought to be done away with. Check whether there is any rigidity that will also prevent you from doing what is the best for the company. CEO careers do not thrive well where they are not able to have freedom to do their duties without fear of censorship.

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