I'm hearing something interesting from my career center and the media: the poor economy means more jobs are available. This sounds crazy at first because we usually associate a recession economy with less jobs, but its true. Companies are holding off hires while we all watch the economy. That means some of the positions that are usually filled by the "hiring seasons" in the early fall of the academic year might be open.
Check out your best career job postings, and don't forget experience.com. Once you pick a position, check off the regular application tasks like researching the company and drafting a cover letter. Then, network it. I bring it up nearly every time because its important, if not essential, to getting a job.
The goal of this networking and application, like all other job search strategies I've mentioned, is to get your resume out of the pile and land the interview. There are tons of interview tips out there--you can find them at your career center or with a simple Google search. Here's one thing easily overlooked: the handshake. Watch this to learn some more.
This is part of a complete series on corporate etiquette. Feel free to browse the whole series and check back here; I'll highlight the best picks in a few different important areas. They call it corporate, but in reality these tips are great for anywhere you want to advance your career or personal life.
Finally, a CNN story caught my attention today: Credit card debt up to 315% and few pay on time.
Read this story to learn about the sad state of credit in America. I love credit cards because they offer the ultimate convenience, are a necessity for some (important) purchases, and actually pay me to shop! I did a lot of research for my first card and recently applied for my second. I'll share my findings and some more recent tips for credit cards in a later personal finance update.
Bad economy, good jobs?
Career Search: The plan from the beginning
I'm in that place where I don't think anyone wants to be: Everyone has jobs or plans and I'm still looking. My goal is to work in Washington, D.C. in the public finance sector. First, I was mostly interested in economic consulting and similar positions. Now, with the excitement of the 2008 presidential election, I'm looking for a political position. I've worked on my search for the entire year but now I've got concrete ideas of what I want to do. Now the real search starts.Today, I'll introduce the first steps of the plan. Stay tuned for the next steps--I'll keep them general so they're easy to apply, and you'll also hear about them from my experience.
I'm starting out by locating interesting positions and organizations. The best place to start is regular job listings. For that, start with experience.com, especially if they are linked with your on-campus career center. In addition, find some industry-specific sites. In the public sector search, the Brad Traverse list (http://www.bradtraverse.com/) is one of the best. The only problem is it's subscription based: $10 to join and $5/month. I signed up because the listings are fantastic, but there are other options without costs. Once I've narrowed this list down to 5-10 options, I'll draft some cover letters and start the application process. More to come on this in the future.
At the same time, I'm working on my network. To effectively make contact, seek out people who can provide information and connections. For me, I'm starting with the people in the office where I interned last summer. Ask people to help you, be reasonable, and don't take it for granted. People want to help--find them through alumni contacts, parents, professors, whatever. Just find them.
Now, here's how to expand the network. You've made contact but what can that do? Ask your contacts if they have any contacts. Specifically, ask them if they have connections to anyone in the positions you are interested in. Be sure to let everyone in this process know that you are not asking for a job, but how to get one. Finally, if you're successful, you'll have a network of contacts stretching to a number of individuals who went down the same path you're starting out on. Contact those individuals and ask them for help: They know better than anyone else how they got their job.
UPDATE: Bush signed stimulus bill into law
Bush signs stimulus bill; rebate checks expected in May - CNN.com
The stimulus bill mentioned here last week became law. Check out the CNN coverage.
Unfortunately for most students, you need to earn at least $3000 to get a rebate check. The checks are expected in May--even though you don't get one, the day the check arrives would be a good day to ask your parents, grandparents, friends, and family for that new iPod you had your eye on.
The in (it's the best way)
Congressional offices, and private lobbying firms involved in public policy rarely travel around the country for on-campus recruiting and often don't even post jobs in the traditional places. Timing is one important reason: when a Senate committee or a federal agency needs a new staff member, the time is now. Consulting firms hire in waves and often the government can't wait.
Based on my experience as a Congressional intern and my current search for employment in the public sector in Washington, D.C., I'll be including many tips about the public finance job market. I'll start with just one basic tip: network.
I'm sure you've heard it over and over again from your career center, but for this type of position I have to stress it. For starters, many Congressional offices and government agencies completely lack a human resources department. Instead, another employee takes on the additional task of hiring interns or seeking applications for a full-time position. Whoever that person is has other work and definitely wants to efficiently run the search for people. Your goal: make this person's job easy.
Seek out a connection to DC, whether its through your parents, family friends, neighbors, or professors. Network yourself to an interesting position and when you apply, the busy employee coordinating the intern or job search already has an idea about you based on your connection. You don't need to have a CEO dad or mom who went to law school with the Chief of Staff for your Senator. Those connections certainly won't hurt, but a good conversation with a professor and persistent follow-up will get you the same results.
Playing With the Economy
Up first, a look at the current situation with the potential recession and possible government actions. With my interests in the public policy aspects of the financial world, I've been paying close attention to the proposed economic stimulus package, which took the first step towards reality today when it passed the House of Representatives. This type of bill has a potential for tremendous impact nation-wide, and for that reason, the bill is interesting in the corporate and personal finance worlds. Simply put, the proposed bill would provide a tax rebate of $600 to individual taxpayers and $1,200 to married couples filing together. In addition, all parents would receive a second rebate of $300 for each dependent child. For businesses, the bill would allow more tax deductions for investments. Finally, the bill includes additional provisions designed to ease restrictions on new and refinanced mortgages.
These measures all sound fantastic and might be just what we need. But, from the economics perspective, I can't help but think about the signals the bill sends. After telling people for years to "save, save, save," this bill says "You didn't? No problem." Every public policy has trade-offs and an overwhelming majority of our elected officials believe the advantages of this bill outweigh the potential signals about saving, and I trust they understand the implications of bailing the economy out through tax rebates and business incentives. The Senate takes up the bill in the near future and changes in that body could lead to a possibly longer-than-expected ride to our checks from the government. In the most general sense, I think we all agree we need taxes--at least at some level and in some form. But if this gets passed, I'm sure everyone will enjoy getting money from Uncle Sam more than the usual giving. It could be a nice change of pace.
Let's Go
Welcome to the Experience.com Finance Blog. I'm Aaron and I'll be talking about all things finance. I'm a senior economics major at Washington University in St. Louis. My hometown is Champaign, Illinois and I'm a huge college basketball fan. Even though it's not their year, Illinois Basketball is my favorite.
I spent 2.5 years as a civil engineering major in the engineering school before I found my real interests in economics. Specifically, I'm interested in the public aspects of economics. I'll have a strong focus on public finance, but that doesn't exclude the personal and business aspects. In fact, more times than not, public policy is interesting itself and in application to the real world.
Finally, as a senior, I'm looking for a job. My goal is to work in Washington, DC for in an exciting position with an exciting organization; I'm not too picky. It should be especially interesting in this presidential election season. Hope you enjoy the news, opinions, analysis, and job search stories and tips.
