One of my favorite blogs, Get Rich Slowly, has a great post by a guest writer Lilly from The Honest Dollar.  Read the whole article here.

Summary points (I recommend reading the whole post here)

• 401k Match
• Employee Referrel Program
• Ask for a better 401k
• Improve your skill set

Non Cash Rewards 

• Ask for more vacation
• Ask for a flexible work arrangement - telecommuting / flextime
• Volunteer within the firm

The following example comes from Lily’s full post that you can read here, but I thought it was worth embedding.  She outlines how to give yourself a $20,000 raise on a $60,000 a year salary.  She calls it the Virtual Raise.

Virtual Raise Example From Lily 

On a $60,000 salary, in a single year:

• You can get $1,800 by getting the maximum 401(k) match if you company matches 50% of employee contributions up to 6% of salary.
• You can get $1,500 for referring a candidate who is later hired by your company. (Payouts vary, but the number seems reasonable given going rates in technology, nursing, and chemical engineering.)
• You can get $11,000 more out of a 401(k) contribution of $10,000 this year if you manage to lower your investment cost by 0.5% per year for the next 20 years by convincing your company to cover administrative fees or offer lower cost funds.
• You can get $5,000 in tuition reimbursement. Of course, you also get the benefit of additional education and accreditation.
• You can get the equivalent of $1,200 in salary if you get one additional week of paid vacation.
• You can get priceless career opportunities by expanding your network through volunteering opportunities within your firm.

What do you think?  Have you tried any of these techniques?  Does it work?

Thanks

justin

Chip MacGregor who blogs about the publishing and writing industry has some great advice on how to get serious about your writing career.

I really needed this advice before I wrote my first book back in 2006.  He has a list of 10 items that would have helped me and will help you now jump start your writing career.  The one tip that I feel is most important is dedicating specific time to write, everyday.  If you are like me, life is jammed packed with way too much activity.  The very thought of writing a book, a daily blog post, or even a weekly article can be daunting.  However, if you dedicate a consistent time every day or every other day you will be amazed at how much writing you can actually get done.  Chip talks about how he chose to write for two hours every morning from 6AM - 8AM.  If he didn’t write at that time of the day he would have never wrote anything.  I love the idea of waking up at 6AM to write but for some reason my body doesn’t seem to function very well before 7AM.  Then it takes my brain another hour to wake up.  I would say by 8AM I am ready to write but not before that.  Can you write before 8AM?  Do you like the morning time or evening for writing?

The same idea can be said about blogging.  I have really determined for 2008 to get serious again about my writing and blogging.   If I don’t set aside a few minutes everyday to consider what I am writing or blogging about it will never get done.  I have never been diagnosed with A.D.D. but I sometimes wonder if I don’t have it.  Therefore it can be hard to focus on writing or finishing a post.  The phone might ring, an email will ding, a new text message has arrived, etc…  You know exactly what I mean.  If it isn’t one thing it is another.  However, if we are serious about our blogging and writing career we must try and push through the distractions to actually get some work done.

Hop over to Chip’s blog to read all about his great post in getting serious about your writing career in 2008.

I received this email the other day from a colleague and was quite intrigued to say the least.
——–
Hi Justin,

I just joined NotchUp’s private beta program and wanted to share it with you.

NotchUp is a new way to manage your career. Instead of YOU having to sort through hundreds of job postings, NotchUp enables top companies to find you and pay you to interview for available jobs. It’s 100% free to join and use.

If you’re happy at your job, and don’t want to look for anything new, you want to be on NotchUp.

There are two ways to become a NotchUp member: 1) You can apply for admittance to the network and wait for acceptance, or 2) You can be invited by a current member and start using NotchUp immediately. Because I invited you, you can join NotchUp without having to apply.

NotchUp is in private beta right now - to access the site, the username is launch, and the password is interview.

Click here to register for NotchUp and create your NotchUp profile. If the link doesn’t work, you can copy and paste the text below into your web browser:

http://www.notchup.com/beta1/?q=start/invite/7f1ca3a27c35f5ce72d9678c25c7219c

It takes less than five minutes to register and create a NotchUp profile, and it’s the best time investment you’ll make all year.

The current NotchUp private beta site is password protected.

Please enter launch for the user and interview for the password when prompted by your browser

———-

I checked it out and it seems that this start up company is actually going to help people get paid to interview.  In fact the response has been so overwhelming that they already had to shut down their original server and move to another one.  If you read this before 7PM EST the service might not be up and running yet.  I saw it yesterday afternoon and it was working.  In fact they told me I should charge a company $200 to interview me.  Why hasn’t anyone thought of this earlier?  What do you think about this?

I am trying to land an interview with the founders so stay tuned.  Check out their site for more details.

Unless you have been living under a rock you are aware of the apparent slow down in the US economy and the shockwaves that it is sending around the world.  The Dow opened up in a nosedive today but has since rebounded as I write this post.  The fact of the matter is the economy and the stock market fluctuate everyday.  One-day earnings are good and the next day they are not.  One day the interest rates are cut and the next day they rise.  Today business is booming but tomorrow unemployment might rise higher than it ever has.  The economy, business, our career, our lives all have ups and downs.  There isn’t anything we can do about it.  Solomon was right on the money when he said there is nothing new under the sun.

I am not going to write this article today hoping to give you some economic insight and reassurance.  My brother is majoring in international affairs and national security at the University of Pittsburgh.  When he goes on and on about the economy and world affairs I often find myself yawning through the speech because it begins to bore me to death.  However, that doesn’t mean I am not interested in it and glad that someone is thinking about these issues.  I am also glad that it isn’t me.  Even though I am not an economist I do have common sense.  My common sense tells me to not get so excited about the down turn in the economy and the stock market.  These things happen and will continue to happen; simply because the economy is slowing down, and yes we might go into a recession does not mean that your employer is going to walk into your office today and hand you a pink slip.  Could it happen?  Yes, but it won’t happen because your boss was watching CNBC and heard the news of a recession and decided to start taking preventive measure by firing you.

Here are a few things to keep in mind since the mainstream media is constantly talking about recession, recession, and more recession.

Every industry is different: The trucking industry is down today because the homebuilders industry is down.  On the flip side the software industry is booming and so is telecom.  In certain sections of the country manufacturing is still going strong while the car industry limps along.  The education and government sectors cannot find enough qualified workers to fill their seats.  The ups and downs of life have always been there, why do we act like this is something new?

Anita Bruzzese over at 45 Things.com has a great post on “Recession Proofing” your job.  Here are a few items she suggested, I recommend reading the entire post for more detail.

Keep Your Butt in the Chair – Now is not the time to slack off.  Now is the time to step it up and show your company that you care and want to see them succeed.  I agree.
Reach out – she suggests reaching out to other departments and learning from them about what is going on in their world so you can stay ahead of the game.  Another way to put it is to make sure you are reading the writing on the wall.  If your company is talking about closing offices, losing big clients, etc… you might want to consider redoing your resume.
Network Like Crazy – all of those industry meetings you have been attending, or should be attending, will now begin to pay off.  If you have developed a good network of people you might want to consider putting your feelers out there to determine what is going on in the marketplace.
Be on the cutting edge – I love this idea.  The people who are on the cutting edge will not be left behind.  Have you been reading the trade publications for your industry?  Have you been reading and contributing to blogs in your industry?  All of that effort won’t be in vain when you need to switch jobs.  All of that effort will add to your networking efforts because those are the people you need to be talking with when you need to jump ship.

Great post Anita, I think you are right on the money.

I would also add…

• Consider hiring a career coach before you do lose your job
• Call the college you graduated from and talk with their career center.  These offices can be a great resource when you are considering a new job.
• Take a step back and consider what you are doing for a living.  If you are unhappy in your current role now might be a great time to go back to school or take some time off to find what you are truly passionate about.
• Understand the business you are in and make sure you are trying to read the writing on the wall before they read the writing on the wall to you by telling you to pack up your office and be out by 5PM.  That is never fun.

Here’s the bottom line.  Simply because we might be headed for a recession does not mean you are going to lose your job.  If you do lose your job there are a number of factors that went into this decision.  CNBC doesn’t have as much impact on your boss’s decision as it might seem.

What do you think?  Do you agree with my assessment of the situation?  Do you agree with Anita over at 45 Things? Tell us what you think by leaving a comment.

Well I think I have finally found a theme that I like.  Thanks to Derek Punsalan over at 5thirtyone.com.

What do you think?  Post a comment to let me know.

Justin

The following article is an exert from my book The 7 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Graduated. Get your copy today

My mother raised my identical twin brother and me as the best as she could, and she tried to instill in us the ability to make right choices. She seemed strict at the time but now I know it was for the right reasons. Unfortunately for us, my mother couldn’t’ be there for every stupid decision I made.

Snowball Story
On one particular day, my brother and I were hanging out with some of the older kids in the neighborhood. As some of you know, when you hang out with the “older kids” it usually results in problems. Now they had this fascination with the woods that sat next to our house because it over looked a very busy street. They were particularly fascinated with throwing snowballs from the hillside down onto the cars driving by at 30 mph. For those of you who have never had the opportunity to launch a snowball off a hillside on to a moving vehicle when the snowball hits the car it makes a thunderous explosion. It also tends to upset the driver of the car, as you can imagine, as they zoom by, quite unassumingly. When we would all gather in the woods to throw the snowballs I always dismissed such requests to try it for myself. There were always a few who were eager to throw the snowballs at the cars but I would never give in. However, on this particular snowy morning I gave in. The small group of us walked into the woods that morning to do what we had done many times before. This time however I was the one who was going to be throwing the snowballs.
The Choice Was Made
As we walked to the top of the hill I could see my breath and heard the crunch of the fresh snow under our boots. As I picked up the snow, it was easy to pack since it was a wet snow the night before. As I packed the snow into the perfect round snowball I heard the car coming up the street. As it began to come into sight I reared back and threw with all my might. As I threw the snowball down the hill toward the approaching car it was as if everything went into slow motion. I watched the snowball get closer and closer with everything still moving in slow motion. The thunderous BOOM awoke me from my motionless haze. The snowball hit the unsuspecting pickup truck right on the windshield. Of course, as soon as this happened all of my friends ran because the truck came to a screeching halt and came up our hill to find who did this to his truck. I learned a very important lesson that day about ethics. When you are the one who is guilty all of your “older friends” automatically disown you as a stranger whom they have never met before. As this very angry many came up the hill he got out of his truck and found us and he was not happy. Needless to say once he found us, my friends all ratted me out as the culprit. This burley man spoke to my mother and she promptly grounded me from all activity for a very, very long time.
Choices Still Matter
The reason I tell you this story is to illustrate the point that ethics is a series of choices. You can choose to be ethical because you choose to do what is right and make right choices in your life and in business. However, just like my snowball story I made a bad decision that landed me in one heap of trouble. Are there decisions that you are making on a regular basis that in the future could cost you your career? Your family is counting on you. Your employees are watching you. Your choices still matter. You aren’t invincible. One day your choices will catch up with you. I don’t believe in karma but I do believe that unrighteousness won’t last forever. No one is perfect, I certainly don’t claim to be. However, it is healthy for us to do a introspection some times to ensure that the road we are on isn’t leading to professional and possibly personal destruction.

George Ambler over at The Practice of Leadership has a great post on the value of having a mentor.

The word mentor is defined simply as a Guide. George offer’s the following benefits of having a Guide in our life:

* …a guide has been there before
* …a guide has more experience than you
* …a guide shows you the way
* … a guide keeps you away from dead-end trials
* … a guide helps you steer clear of the quicksand

I personally have benefited from having mentors / guides in three areas of my life:

* Career
* Family
* Faith

I don’t feel we are designed to function on our own. The more we can talk with people who have gone before us the more we can learn from them and hopefully not make the same mistakes they have.

Internship Mentors

In the area of career development, a mentor can have a huge impact on the life of a young intern. If you are mentoring a college students during their internship at your company you might not realize how much of an impact you have on them. These interns are truly looking for guidance and advice on what to do during the next phase of their life.

Questions To Ask An Intern

* Are they going to work at your company after their internship?
* Is the work you are having them focus on worthwhile?
* Are they gaining valuable knowledge during their internship?
* Are they able to put into practice what they have learned in the classroom?
* Are they making friends in the office?
* Are they working enough hours?
* Are they going to earn academic credit during their internship?
* What can we change about our internship program to make it a better experience?
* As a new person to our company, how do you like our corporate culture?
* Would you tell your friends about our company to ensure we have quality people working for us in the future?

Hopefully you are giving them meaningful work and valuable projects to let them prove their value. Make sure you are doing your best to give your interns a valuable experience because if done right you will help propel the career of the next world-changer.

Feedback

As a mentor one of the most important things you can do with your intern is give them consistent feedback. The more feedback the better. A young student is use to receiving feedback in the form of grades, video games, and friends. In fact some young people who don’t receive any feedback can wrongly think they aren’t doing a good job because they haven’t been told so in about two hours. I know it is a bit absurd but we must remember the type of person you are hiring. If they need more feedback we should try to give it too them.

More Meetings

Often, when a young person enters the workforce they have a tough time migrating to a zero-feedback environment. During their internship try and schedule regular meetings to talk about progress and offer them feedback, good or bad. I know it can be tough to schedule more meetings but the more often you can meet with your intern the more likely you are going to give them a good experience and in turn they will produce higher quality of work.

Being a mentor is not a small job. If you are one, or become in the future please take the time to think about what you are about to do. Try and work with the intern as much as possible because you never know what type of results can come from a good mentor / mentee relationship.

Here you go, 20 pieces of random advice on job searching.  If you have your own advice on job searching please add it on the comments page.

Thanks

Justin

1. Moster.com ins’t the only place to find a job.

2. Most people find a job via networking not blasting out their resume to hundreds of job descriptions

3. Finding a job truly is a divine experience.  So many factors have to come into place in order for you to land a job.

4. Nine times out of 10 the door you think will lead to a job won’t.

5. One time out of 10 will lead to the job you never saw coming.

6. When you are new to job searching meet with a career counselor to help you develop your job search tool box.

7. What is your job search tool box?  Resume, cover letter, references, web site, portfolio, etc…

8. Use your personal and online network to look for a job.

9. Does anyone still use the classifieds?

10. Are you on Linked In yet?  Not only do they advertise jobs but you can use it to search for people at companies you might want to work for.  Once you have made a connection with them you can ask them about job openings.

11. Take down all of your encriminating photos from your MySpace and Facebook.

12. The first three - five years of your career needs to be spend learning as much as you can about your choosen career.

13. Find a mentor within your current employer.

14. Don’t be average, but innovative

15. Innovative employees are invaluable.

16. If you are still in college or high school, real life work experience matters more than text books.  Get as much real world experience as possible before you graduate.

17. Consider doing a job shadow before you graduate.

18. Be an intern and love it.  It might just be your best way into your profession.

19. Take an unpaid internship; suck it up, millions others before you had to do this.  It’s called paying your dues.

20. Start to collect business cards, they will make you money.

More lists like this to come on job searching.  Stay tuned.  If you have your own list of job search advice, post it under the comments section.

As some of you reading this post know, I recently left my first professional job at the Pittsburgh Technology Council. I was there five years, and thoroughly enjoyed my time at the organization. In fact, I was an intern with the Council before they hired me on full time back in 2002. They took a chance on me which I will be forever grateful for.

Since leaving, I am beginning to live my goal of being self-employed. My first and well only client is EduLink Inc. I am doing business development work for them; working with school districts, colleges, and municipalities. We offer them database management solutions.

Now that I have officially been self-employed for a whole two weeks I thought I would share with you what I have learned so far.

1. Businesses pay way too many TAXES!
2. Health insurance is expensive no matter which plan you chose. Be grateful to your employer if they pick up a large portion of the monthly premium. To match the health care coverage I left behind at the Council would cost close to $1,000 per month!!! (By the way, government health care is not the answer either.)
3. The freedom to work with multiple companies at one time is liberating.
4. Any new business I land for EduLink or in other ventures will happen as a result of NETWORKING not cold calling or cold-emailing.
5. Office supplies are taken for granted at every corporation. Ironically enough staples, tape, paper clips, post it notes, and pens do not grow in cubicles. Someone had to actually order those items for businesses to use. Weird huh?
6. IT professionals within corporations are grossly unappreciated. When you are your own tech support you will quickly realize this.
7. Macs really can be used as a business computer, much to the chagrin of every Microsoft-centric IT professional in the world!
8. Self-motivation only happens when you love what you do.
9. It takes time to start anything new.
10. Nothing happens over night, even in the private sector.
11. Someone can make the switch from the non-profit or government sector to the private sector and succeed.
12. Your parents / spouse / siblings / friends will always be cautious when you leave a “safe and secure” job to step out into the great unknown of entrepreneurship. Mainly because they care about you and don’t want to see you fail.
13. People are jealous of people who succeed.
14. You really can invest without a 401K or pension.
15. IKEA is a great place for office furniture.
16. LegalZoom.com makes forming a corporation very easy.
17. Your accountant will be your new best friend and maybe even your lawyer…. nah, on second thought, let’s just stick with your accountant.
18. Business expenses are far reaching – another reason why your accountant will be your best friend.
19. The greater the risk the greater the reward – thanks Richard David
20. Not all technology entrepreneurs get out of bed at noon and work until midnight.

I am sure there is more items I could add to this list but this is good for now. If you have taken the plunge into self-employment or entrepreneurship drop me an email; justin at justindriscoll.net