Is a Culinary Degree Worth It?

Today’s post was inspired by Chelsea Fagan’s article 3 thoughts I've been having about money. She writes about her uncomfortableness with the personal finance community and middle-class privilege, but the line "why the f*** is a woman in as prosperous a country as America six figures in debt for a Bachelor’s degree in the first place?" resonated with me. She goes on to write:

And what can we do, politically and personally, to ensure that more people do not end up in the same situation, rather than simply explaining the best and most efficient ways to crawl out of it?

I immediately decided to write about Alyssa, a line chef working at Huertas in NYC, who I learned about in my latest read Generation Chef: Risking It All for a New American Dreamwritten by Karen Stabiner.* Alyssa owed close to $80,000 in student loan debt incurred while she attended CIA in Hyde Park, New York. She paid for her entire bachelor’s degree with student loans; at the time she thought the degree was essential because she hadn’t gone to college. She was well-paid for a line cook at $13 an hour – most New York City line cooks earned an hourly rate of between $8 and $12. Making ends meet after her loan repayment’s temporary reduction expired became impossible.

She ended up moving back to her childhood home in Southern California to live with her mom. Her first food job had been at a restaurant on the Disneyland property in Anaheim. She hoped to return to one of the Disneyland restaurants. They paid well and offered sizable benefits. She figured with no rent and no food costs she would be able to make a sizable dent in her debt in two to three years.

Other annual salaries mentioned in Generation Chef:

Sous Chef $36,000-$38,000

Jonah (restaurant owner) $50,000.


Is a culinary degree worth it?

The chefs featured in the article Chefs Weigh In; Is Culinary School Worth It? say it is not. Jonah, Huertas’ owner, describes culinary school as a “parochial” experience and is wary of graduates, although he feels hiring Alyssa was an exception.

Then there are articles like this one: Surprising jobs with $100K salaries -- after only a two-year degree. The #1 career on the list is pastry chef.  I was touting the earning potential of pastry chefs, to a friend when she brought me back to reality. Her niece made $11 an hour as a pastry chef only because she worked for another family member. After that restaurant closed, the niece moved to Denver where she now works at a popular restaurant earning $9 an hour frosting cakes and cupcakes.

Then there is the 14-year old daughter of an acquaintance who dreams of going to culinary school and becoming a pastry chef. Her father’s advice: become a software engineer, work in Silicon Valley earning $200,000 a year for 20 years, then retire and open a bakery as your second career.

*In Generation Chef: Risking It All for a New American Dream, Stabiner follows Jonah for a little more than a year as he fulfills his childhood dream of opening a restaurant. His journey isn’t for the faint of heart; despite all his planning and positive reviews, he faced staffing shortages, $700,000 of debt, failed liquor license approvals and not enough customers. If you have dreams of someday owning your own restaurant I recommend reading Generation Chef for a reality check.


What do you think: is a Culinary Degree worth It? 

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Life of the Party by Bob Kealing

I have to admit I had never heard of Brownie Wise prior to reading about Bob Kealing’s book Life of the Party: The Remarkable Story of How Brownie Wise Built, and Lost, a Tupperware Party Empire on Blogging for Books.

What is this book about?

Long before Martha Stewart, Mary Kay and other celebrated mavens of domesticity, there was Wise, the face and genius behind the iconic Tupperware Party. In “Life of the Party: The Remarkable Story of How Brownie Wise Built, and Lost, a Tupperware Party Empire,” we learn the remarkable story of how she built — and abruptly lost — a Tupperware Party empire.

My Thoughts:

I love a good historical business book and Life of the Party is a good one. It begins a little slow as we learn about Earl Tupper (Tupperware’s inventor), Wise’s early years and her life before she was promoted to sales manager. Once Wise moves to Florida the story becomes more interesting and I found the last half of the book which includes her rapid rise as the face of Tupperware and her eventual demise fascinating.

I also thought it was interesting to learn Tupperware’s home party division made their home in the Kissimmee/Orlando area of Florida long before Disney moved in. Florida was still quite racially-segregated in 1951, but land was cheap and it was thought it would be easier to convince salesman to combine family vacations with business seminars saving the company money.

Brownie Wise was an astute business woman ahead of her time, but if you are looking for a how did she do it type of book you will most likely be disappointed. This book is more of a “what she did” type of book than a “how-to.” Though there are snippets of business and marketing lessons scattered though-out.

I like this one on recruiting that could still be used today:

If she (a potential Tupperware dealer) isn’t eager to devote enough time to her first training, you should not appoint her. Beware of the applicant who thinks she doesn’t need thorough training. The odds against her are huge. (Pg. 76.)

Bottom Line:

I recommend if you are interested in business history, reading about business and career women, the 1950’s, trends in business and of course Tupperware and the home party concept.

Life of the Party: The Remarkable Story of How Brownie Wise Built, and Lost, a Tupperware Party Empire would also make a good selection for a business book club.  Bob Kealing remained unbiased when he described what happened to Brownie Wise, which in my opinion could lead to a great discussion.

Have you heard of Brownie Wise? If you've read this book, what did you think?


"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

Note, some of the links included in this post are affiliate links.

The Year of the Counter Offer

When I meet a recruiter, I always ask how business is. This week at a local networking event I was surprised to learn 2016 is the year of the counter offer.

This recruiter, who works for a national placement agency, told me recruits are receiving and accepting the counter offer so often (more frequently this year than ever before) her firm has named 2016, “The year of the counter offer.” Seeking new employment as a way to force an employer to give you a raise is so popular this agency is calling it a trend.

She stated despite the great recession having ended a few years ago, many companies continue to be apprehensive about the economy, are reluctant to convert temporary employees to permanent and have not given employees a decent raise in years. Millennials who accepted jobs below normal starting salaries are tired of waiting for a fair wage and are using the counter offer as a salary negotiation tool. 

Companies are well aware of how much it costs to hire and train a new employee:

According to Zane Benefits:

Some studies (such as SHMR) predict that every time a business replaces a salaried employee, it costs 6 to 9 months’ salary on average. For a manager making $40,000 a year, that's $20,000 to $30,000 in recruiting and training expenses.

But others predict the cost is even more - that losing a salaried employee can cost as much as 2x their annual salary, especially for a high-earner or executive level employee.

I learned this the hard-way after one of my employees left last year. I now realize it is cheaper in the long run to figure out how to keep employees rather than having to endure the time and cost of recruiting and training someone new.

If you do threaten to leave your job be aware of the potential risks:
 
You may not receive a counter offer:
You or your position may not be as valuable to your employer as you think it is. Also, some employers think everyone is replaceable and have a policy to never give a counter-offer. 

Accepting the counter offer could hurt your reputation:
Most employers have good memories; from this day forward you may be known as the employee who resigned to get a raise.

My company has this employee – he actually accepted a counter offer on two separate occasions. When he was seeking a promotion last year he came very close to not getting it because of reservations as to whether he was management material. Similar to my friend who is known as the 4:00 and she's out of here employee, he is known as the counter offer employee. As he struggles to adapt to his new management role, several managers site his counter offer history as an ignored warning sign.

You are burning bridges:
I accepted the counter-offer when I was in my 20’s. Very similar to the scenario above both a co-worker and I accepted counter-offers after finding new jobs with the same placement firm I referenced above. We had both been warned of the disadvantages of accepting the counter-offer (if we are unhappy now, we will most likely be unhappy six months from now just better paid). We both had liked our jobs, but needed and thought we deserved more money. In both cases, our employer matched our new salary as an incentive to keep us. Unfortunately, a year later we were both out of a job when our entire department was relocated to Chicago. My co-worker regretted her counter-offer decision as she struggled to find another new job. I never regretted mine because I easily found a job on my own, but the agency I had worked with never worked with me again. I am sure there was a "don't work with" note attached to my file.

You may be fired in the future:
If our entire department had not been downsized, I wonder if our jobs would not have been in jeopardy in the future. Assistants were hired for both of us shortly after our counter-offers were put in place without our permission or request. My co-worker’s assistant didn’t work out and left a few months after she was hired. I struggled to keep mine busy (would you train an unwanted assistant to do your job). He was the first person to leave when the department lay-off was announced.

My recommendation:
My company’s economist projects 2016 as a year of slow but steady growth, but 2017 to be a year of contraction. My recommendation is instead of 2016 being the year of the counter-offer make it the year your find a great new job especially if you have a few years of experience. If you wait and are underpaid, underemployed or your company still hasn’t hired you permanently you may be stuck in an undesirable work situation for several years to come.

Have you ever accepted a counter offer? Was it a good decision?

Does Everyone Over 40 Long For a New Career?

One of the first things I noticed upon meeting my new physical therapist was how unhappy he was in his job.  He began his career as a self-employed physical therapist specializing in workman’s comp injuries. His primary client had been a large factory in the Milwaukee area.  His days had been long since he had to cover all three shifts, but the pay was excellent.  Then in the early 2000's the factory was sold. The new owners had stringent business insurance requirements he was unable to meet. His contract was terminated and he was replaced by a large company.  He was offered a job with this company, but declined.  He questioned the educational background of their therapists and the salary he was offered was insulting.

He spent the next year working with his two small remaining accounts and trying to secure new business, but Milwaukee had lost numerous manufacturing facilities since 1986 and the ones who remained were not looking for a physical therapist.  Eventually he closed his business and accepted a position as a staff therapist with a company affiliated with one of the local medical providers. That was where he was working when I met him.

A lot has changed since my therapist graduated in 1986:

Around the end of the 1990's, a bachelor's degree in physical therapy was slowly replaced by master's and doctorate physical therapy degrees. My therapist who holds only an undergraduate degree was grandfathered in. He tells me his company recently hired a new graduate with a master’s degree.  He points to her and tells me she doesn’t know any more than he does.  She earns an annual salary of $55,000 while he currently makes $75,000. He also has a 401(k), is eligible for state unemployment if he finds himself downsized and has medical insurance. He had had none of these while self-employed.

What he doesn’t like about his job:

He always has to be on.  He has to meet and talk to patients all day while his ex-wife who works as a financial analyst can just sit and stare at her computer when she doesn’t feel like working.

He is now billable and has to track his time hourly. He works with 24 different patients at all times.  He has to have vacation time approved in advance. He can’t just take an afternoon off on a nice day or not go in the day after a holiday if he doesn’t feel like it.

He can’t drink a soda while working with a patient. His new company told him this is rude.  To do so he would have to offer them a beverage as well and they are not in the beverage serving business.

His job is boring.

Every day is the same.  Of his 24 patients three of them usually have elbow tendinitis – my affliction. The treatment for tennis elbow is always the same. 

I suggested working with people in their homes; thinking he might enjoy that more.

He said that would be much worse and more boring than his current job.  You then work with the elderly and your job consists of, “See you again on Wednesday Betty be sure to squeeze the bag of beans when I’m gone.” At least in his current job his patients usually get better.

I asked if he had to maintain continuing education. 

He does and he likes doing that, he enjoys learning something new and his employer pays him for his time while he is out of the office.   He then got up and left.  When he returned he said he had just signed up for a day of CPE.

If he could have a do-over what would he do?

He’d be a TV reporter, but at 45 he thinks he is too old for TV.

At our last appointment he said he thinks everyone longs for a career change after age 40. It is hard to know at age 18 what you will make you happy when you are 40. 

As for me, I kind of think I would have preferred a career as a physical therapist rather than as an accounting manager, but I choose accounting, so I am making the best of it. As to everyone, I am sure many people do long for a new career.  I heard my company's President make two comments in the last week about not being happy with his career choice - running the family business.  He is 47 and at one point wanted to be a lawyer or a politician. 

Do you think everyone over 40 longs for a new career?

How Not to Feel Trapped? Advice from Andre Agassi

One of my coworkers, I will call him Frank, is trapped in his job.  He is approaching 70 and forced to continue working to pay for his wife’s medical expenses. His wife has been bedridden for several years due to M.S. Frank is loud, abrasive and intimidating.  His constant complaining brings his entire department down.  Frank is also at the top of the list of employees my company hopes to force into retirement with our software conversion.

I read Andre Agassi’s book Open: An Autobiography earlier this year for my savvy reading challenge.  While thinking about my new series staying relevant over 50 I couldn’t help, but think of Andre Agassi.

The surprising thing you learn early in Agassi’s book is he hated playing tennis.  From an early age when his dad bought a fire breathing dragon contraption that shot tennis balls out of its mouth he hated tennis.  Tennis was his dad’s dream not his own.

Andre thinks a lot about what he can control in tennis and in life:

I tell Perry that I having no choice, having no say about what I do or who I am, makes me crazy.  That is why I put more thought, obsessive thought, into the few choices I do have – what I wear, what I eat, who I call my friends. (Pg. 66)

I obsess about the few things I can control and racket tension is one of them.  (Pg. 13)

The time has come.  I need to take control of my money.  I need to take control of my F***ing Life. (Pg. 114)

I find peace in his claim that perfectionism is voluntary.  Perfectionism is something I choose, and its ruining me, I can choose something else. (Pg. 189)

And lastly, his life and his tennis (he was losing a lot) didn’t improve until he chose tennis:

I play and keep playing because I choose to play. Even if it’s not your ideal life, you can always choose it. No matter what your life is choosing it is everything. (pg. 359)

Agassi also began using the money he made from tennis to make a difference. In 2001, Agassi opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a tuition-free charter school for at-risk children in the area. According to Wikipedia, he personally donated $35 million to the school.

Do you feel trapped in your job?  According to Forbes, 52.3% of Americans are unhappy with their work.

From time-to-time I too feel trapped in my job.  My husband retired last year and ever since we’ve been bombarded with unexpected bills; ranging from helping a family member, to dental and medical expenses to a new vehicle for me. Plans of early retirement continue to get pushed further into the future.  

What can I do?
I can change my attitude and choose my job. I can remember why I decided to become an accountant – I thought it would be a reliable and lucrative career.  And be grateful that for the most part my career has been both.  I can try to stay present at work instead of writing blog posts in my head all day and I can help others.

From time to time I ask Frank how he is managing and he breaks down and tells me not good. That he never lets his wife see his anger or his fear.  I listen and suggest he look into signing his wife up for Medicare (she is 68) and a supplemental plan – and don’t judge why he hasn’t done this already or why our HR manager hasn’t suggested this.

I also find it helpful to leave work at a reasonable time, go to the gym and use my vacation days.

Frank has to choose his job too.  He has made the decision to continue working until his finances are under control and in the process has become difficult to work with.  Management will only put up with a difficult employee so long. If he truly wants to meet his goal he will have to change his attitude.   

Do you feel trapped in your job? How do you cope?

Please Note, I am an Amazon Affiliate

New Series: Staying Relevant over 50

It is official – my company will be converting our client-server business software to a new cloud based system later this year. The contract was signed this week. My boss and I knew our company’s owners would decide to make the conversion someday, but we thought (were hoping) it wouldn’t be quite so soon.

After the announcement was made, one of our company owners told me both my boss and I spend too much time entering and manipulating data.  There are more important things we should be working on. He also mentioned that 50% of our employees would not embrace this change and was hoping some of the curmudgeon’s would retire. (I wrote more about this in my post Do software conversions force older employees into retirement?)

My immediate reaction was skepticism and a fear of the unknown.  How will my job change?  Will I have enough work to do if the reports I spend hours creating are automatically produced?

Fortunately, I was comforted by Peter Thiel’s book Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future. He writes:

Americans fear technology in the near future because they see it as a replay of the globalization of the near past.  But the situations are very different: people compete for jobs and for resources; computers compete for neither. (pg. 141)

And

Computers are far more different from people than any two people are different from each other: men and machines are good at fundamentally different things.  People have intentionality – we form plans and make decisions in complicated situations.  We’re less good at making sense of enormous amounts of data.  Computers are exactly the opposite they excel at efficient data processing, but they struggle to make basic judgments that would be simple for any human. (pg. 143)

I wish my company’s owners would read this quote:

The most valuable businesses of coming decades will be built by entrepreneurs who seek to empower people rather than try to make them obsolete. (pg. 141)

It appears my job’s focus in the future will be on interpreting data which I do enjoy, rather than creating spreadsheets which I must admit at times can be mind-numbingly boring. I need to remember

Worry and regret never solves tomorrow’s problems and only drains away energy from today. James Altucher

This post is the first in a new series I am implementing called, “Staying relevant over 50.” A few years ago, I read a statement claiming advertisers don’t market to the over 54 age group because this group is no longer relevant.  My ultimate goal of this series, other than providing relevancy suggestions and tips, is to prove these advertisers are wrong.

How do you recommend staying relevant over 50?

Please note I am an Amazon Affiliate

Becoming Savvy at 53

Tomorrow is my 53rd birthday.  I like setting goals on my birthday; my New Year's resolutions are usually long forgotten, so my birthday is a good time to reassess and come up with new goals for the remainder of the year.

While brainstorming goals for this year, I reread my birthday post from last year. I had a little chuckle over the title, “Career Reinvention at 52,” thinking that didn’t work out so well. But as I read the post, I realized every word still applies to my life today except my retirement goal has been pushed out another year.  I still work too much – probably more this year than last as I struggled to find at adequate replacement after my employee resigned.  My workouts became fewer and fewer until I dropped my gym membership altogether and my diet has gotten worse. The good news is my company has approved an additional hire for my department, so hopefully my work load will improve in the future.

I would still like to retire early from my job and spend my time doing something more rewarding.  My plan last year was to follow James Altucher's The Ultimate Cheat Sheet For Reinventing Yourself. He says it takes five years to reinvent yourself.  Here is his recommended five-year plan:

• Year One: you’re flailing and reading everything and just starting to DO.
• Year Two: you know who you need to talk to and network with. You’re Doing every day. You finally know what the monopoly board looks like in your new endeavors.
• Year Three: you’re good enough to start making money. It might not be a living yet.
• Year Four: you’re making a good living
• Year Five: you’re making wealth

In my 52nd year, I planned to read everything and start to Do.  Altucher claims reading 200-500 books are equal to one good mentor.  I finished 19 books last year and have to admit many of them were largely forgettable, so as I begin my 53rd year I am still at step one of the reinvention cycle.    I’ve always been a late bloomer, so for my 53^rd year my goal is to

Become “savvier.”  I plan to do this by continuing my goal to read 200-500 books.  Only I hope to pick better books.

I am also adding Altucher’s suggestion to get your idea muscle in shape.  To do this he recommends coming up with 10 ideas a day.  As you do this the muscle will grow, you will be able to come up with more ideas and the ideas will get better.

What books have helped you become savvier?

Stop Using the Fax Machine if You Want to Appear Relevant

This morning I read a great post from Bob Lowry of A Satisfying Retirement. Bob recently read Graeme Thomson’s book George Harrison: Behind the Locked Door a biography of George Harrison. In his post, Lowry writes about the similarities he shares with Harrison. Here is the parallel Lowry makes between his career and Harrisons:

My tie to this story and his life? For the last 6-8 years of my radio consulting business did not evolve. I stayed with the same message, the same ideas, and the same approach that had proved so successful for me through the 1980's into the mid 90's. Even though my industry had changed dramatically, I stopped learning and listening. I didn't change my message or my methods. As a result, my business slowly slipped away until, in the same year that George Harrison died, I found myself faced with retirement, several years before I would have felt financially more secure. I had been passed by. I had stopped changing and found my approach irrelevant.

This post got me thinking about how to stay relevant in the workplace. My company has lost several employees this year to early retirement. When asked why they were leaving, they all responded the same way; their jobs were too stressful and they felt they couldn’t keep up with the changing technology. They weren't forced to retire, but I did hear grumblings about them and their failure to embrace change in meetings. Some managers had recommended phasing these employees out. Fortunately, other managers knew their value and protected them.

How do you know you are becoming irrelevant?

You still use the fax machine:
Last week during a meeting with our bank’s relationship manager, she recommended we stop receiving wire confirmations via fax. This service was costing our company $15 per fax while an email confirmation was free. This led to a conversation about how the fax machine was obsolete, expensive, inefficient etc. Our bank account manager has even contemplated removing his fax number from his business card. He only gets a couple of faxes a month and they are credit confirmations. I immediately knew why this was happening. His clients hadn’t updated their credit reference sheet which still listed fax numbers. (I may be one of them).

My former employee who despised and fought change with a passion was the only employee in our department to still use the fax machine on a regular basis. Every time I walked past the fax machine I’d pick up her faxes then drop them off at her desk. Her replacement refuses to use the fax machine. She also dislikes voice mail and instructs almost everyone who calls her to email her in the future.

You can’t find files after you save them:
Recently my company transferred our computer's data to a new server. During the process our IT manager complained about one of our employees, “She never takes classes to improve her skills or learn better ways to do her job.” His gripe: she didn’t know how to use windows and hadn’t been saving her Microsoft files to the server. I knew right away what she was doing wrong, since I used to do the same thing. When saving files that had been emailed to her she just hit save rather than moving the files to her documents folder and then saving them. My former employee from above used to do the same thing and I and my co-workers were constantly helping her find her files.

After this conversation I suggested our outside computer consultant conduct a class on windows for our administrative staff. He wasn’t keen on the idea saying everyone younger than 45 would be bored. Since most of the employees that struggled with windows have now left the company, this class is now on hold.

If you struggle with windows I suggest you take a class. They offer them at most tech schools, also some libraries and employment agencies offer them at minimal cost or for free.

You are still using the original version of your company’s software; new employees are no longer trained on this software and it doesn’t have the latest software enhancements.
All of the employees who retired early were using the old, outdated version of our company’s software.

You don’t know how to use pivot tables in excel:
A few weeks ago one of my gym buddies, who works in health care, approached me at the gym to tell me she had started using pivot tables and that she loves them. “Hmm… pivot tables doesn’t that have something to do with graphing.” She told me this knowing I’m an accountant and assuming I used them. I said something like great! Then went back to my workout. Afterwards I found an 8-hour class offered by my professional organization on pivot tables and considered signing up, but it is offered the same day as my scheduled doctor’s appointment. You know what a hassle it is to reschedule doctor's appointments, so I didn't sign-up. Someday my department will be filled with 25-year olds whispering behind my back, “She doesn’t know how to use pivot tables.”

Speaking of irrelevant, I still have blogspot in my blog’s URL:
How long have I been blogging? Too long to not have my own domain name. I have an excuse though – I want a domain I can continue to grow and work with throughout the remainder of my blogging career. This year I’m trying out different topics other than work and careers to see what I am comfortable with. With this post – on relevancy – I feel I’m one step closer.

How do you stay relevant?

Do You Feel Successful?

 

One of my employees resigned this month.  As we were going over her exit paperwork she blurted out, “I never felt successful here.” I was flabbergasted, “What do you mean you WEREN’T SUCCESSFUL HERE?” She had been an exemplary employee and extremely successful. 

“I couldn’t keep up with the paperwork. I’d go home every night and worry about the piles of un-posted invoices. I never felt successful.”

This employee had worked at our company for twelve years as an Accounts Payable Associate. She managed the payables for eight of our stores. Invoices came in daily.  Having ALL of the invoices posted at any one time was an unattainable goal.  She would never be 100% caught up. 

Several times over the last couple of years, she’s complained about her piles of unfinished paperwork and I’ve always discredited her concerns especially when she suggested hiring additional staff.  As long as she had the previous month’s invoices posted (and she always did) by the time I closed that month’s financial statements I considered her keeping up.  Instead I would recommend more efficient ways she could perform her job.

A few weeks ago, just the two of us were in on a Saturday, she took this as an opportunity to discuss her workload and our company’s plans to build a new store this year.  This would mean even more work for my employee.  I again discussed the changes she needs to make in her position to take advantage of technology and become more efficient. I offered to help her. She still uses an outdated version of our accounting software that does not support some of the new features required for her job. She asked if we would consider hiring additional staff.  I again told her no.

The following Monday she resigned. She plans on working for her son at his business.

This employee hates change with a passion and pushes back when our company requires her to do so, but this does not mean she wasn’t successful.  As she was about to leave for good I asked her to come into my office, but was interrupted by our company’s President so I included him in my conversation.  I told him she hadn’t felt successful at our company and the two of us rattled off all the reasons why she was a success.  I could count on one hand the mistakes she had made.  She never voided checks while her predecessor would hand my boss several voided checks daily. We received more returned checks mailed to the wrong vendor in one day under her predecessor than during the entire 12 years this employee worked at our company. Our President chimed in with how she got along with everyone (he feels this is more important than her accuracy).  He thanked her for handling all of those irate payable vendors during the recession with such diplomacy and pleasantness.  He then told her if she ever decided she wanted to come back he would find a spot for her. 

I hope she left feeling like a success. 

Personally, I currently feel more successful than I have in the past.  My husband’s semi-retirement at the end of last year has freed-up my time so I can devote more of it to work without worrying about cleaning and errands.  As much as I complained about the work conference I attended last month, I returned with new ideas and new energy. I’m also happy with my current blog challenge to live healthy on a budget.  I had been floundering in search of a niche that feels like my purpose and think this may be it.

How about you?  Do you feel successful? Why or why not?

How to Maximize Your Mentor Relationships By Femme Frugality

I'd like to welcome Femme of Femme Frugality as my guest poster today. Femme is a personal finance blogger who writes about money saving for students, brides, parents and Pittsburghers. She  shares how she maximizes her mentor relationships for greater career success:  

 I work in a field where mentorship is not only highly valued, but an essential part of your career path.  Without it you never learn the ins and outs, you never learn the skills you need to succeed in your field, and you never build the connections needed to land employment.  Over the course of my career I have had mentors come in many forms:  boss, peer, professor, and, of course, the traditional role of a designated mentor where their entire goal was to work with me to better prepare me for the next step in my career.

Through all of this, I’ve learned some major lessons about the best ways to maximize the benefits of your relationship from the mentee’s side.

Learn to Love Feedback

Feedback is the biggest and most obvious benefit of having a mentor.  Learn to love it!  It can be uncomfortable to hear you faults and inadequacies, but the entire reason your mentor is there is to help you grow and improve.  That is impossible if you are not receptive to their feedback.  Don’t get defensive.  Don’t break down and cry.  Recognize that they want you to succeed, and that the best way for them to help you do that is to correct your mistakes.

You know you have a great mentor when you’re hearing positive feedback from them, as well.  There will be things you’re doing right, and they will recognize them.  Recognize it in yourself, and allow it to build confidence, but not to the point of arrogance.

Constantly Be Improving Yourself

If you get all that feedback, and then do nothing with it, you’re wasting everyone’s time.  Practice the skill during your off hours, even if it’s something as simple as how to handle specific conversations.  One thing I’ve tried to do over my career is seek out workshops that target my areas of weakness, and attend every last one of them.  One of my first bosses told me it was why they sent me out on difficult assignments.  “I see you going to all these workshops, trying to improve yourself as much as you can.  You’re new, but I’d rather send out someone new who’s trying to get better every day than someone with decades of experience who’s been treading in muddy water all these years.”

That was powerful to me, and has helped me never become complacent about where I stand.  In twenty years you’ll still see me continuing my education, because there is always, always, always something you can be learning and improving.

Build Personal Relationships

It’s good to be professional, but build a personal relationship with your mentor within that context.  You’re likely spending a lot of time together if you’re getting feedback about your performance, so there should be plenty of time to ask about their weekend, the kids, the wife, hobbies, etc.  I’m not suggesting you become a creeper, but have conversations that real people would have with each other.  Not only will it help build your bond and trust with each other, but that bond and trust will help you later down the line as you need references and networking.  Your mentor can become one of the most important connections in your career.  Build a positive relationship now so that you’re not just begging for a favor down the line.

Keep In Touch

If you do need a favor down the line, you’re going to have to be able to reach them.  I’ve lived a fairly transient life, and while I’ve kept in touch with a majority of my mentors, there is one that I regrettably did not.  Life got really busy for the both of us.  People moved, phone numbers changed, emails got lost in the shuffle.  I regret this professionally, but also on a personal level as I really valued that personal relationship we had built.

When you are keeping in touch, don’t just contact them when you need something.  Keep them updated when you reach professional milestones, being sure to thank them for their huge contribution to your career.  When something new happens in your industry, ask them their opinion on it.  When you’re wondering how they’re doing in general, shoot them an email asking them just that.  Don’t flood their inbox, but be in touch often enough that they remember you exist, and that they know you remember them and all they have done for you.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions

During your mentorship, don’t be afraid to ask questions.  It’s why you’re there.  If something comes up that makes your scratch your head, or a situation arises that makes you question ethical bounds, be sure to get their advice. 

After your mentorship concludes, don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Things come up in everyone’s profession that will make them think twice about an upcoming decision or recent reaction.  Going to them when these things happen will not only benefit you via their advice.  It will show them you view them as an expert, worth drawing knowledge from even after the conclusion of your formal mentorship.  It’s also a good way to keep the lines of communication open, keeping in touch.

In a nutshell, everything I’ve learned has come down to total humility, a good work ethic, and building and maintaining relationships.  Be eager for feedback, even when it’s “negative.”  Use it to identify areas where you can actively improve, and then go do the things you need to do in order to make those improvements.  Ask questions when you don’t know the answers, and build a strong enough relationship that it will last for the long haul.  I’ve been so lucky to have such great mentors; I truly consider them some of the best people I’ve been lucky enough to have in my life, in any capacity.  And I feel so lucky that these relationships have turned into something deeper: friendships built on professionalism and respect.

Life Coach Interview: Q & A with Siobhan Sudberry

Welcome to another edition of the savvy career interview.  Today we have Siobhan Sudberry, a professional life coach, who shares her be free journey:

 

 

What is your career history?
I’ve worked in Corporate America for 15 + years, and held many roles; Mortgage Underwriter, Senior Credit Analyst and Advertising Sales Rep just to name a few. I have a BA in Business Information Systems and MBA in Marketing Communications. I’ve been coaching for about 5 years and recently decided to pursue it full time.


How did you decide to become a life coach? This is a good question… I’ve been coaching in my spare time for about 5 years or so while working full time.

I’ve always been a very optimistic, positive, encouraging and motivating person. If someone would say to me that they want to achieve a goal, I immediately start asking the “right” questions and hold them accountable to what they said they wanted to pursue.

While working in Corporate America, I was feeling unfulfilled and unhappy, so when I was laid off due to a permanent site closure, I jumped at the opportunity to fulfill my passion and purpose full time.

What kind of experience and preparation helped you the most?
I read a lot! So I’m reading all I can as it relates to coaching, self-development and entrepreneurship. I’ve also taken courses and seminars related to my business.

Would you recommend this same path to someone starting out today? Why or why not?
Honestly, I recommend that people pursue whatever they are passionate about in life. If that’s life coaching great, if not find out what you’re passionate about and do that. I’m a firm believer that we were all put on earth to fulfill a greater purpose in life and it’s up to us to figure out what that is and live it.   

What do you like best about your work?
I love that I’m living out my purpose in life, that I am helping women all over the world discover and fulfill their passion and ultimately be free. I love that I am working for myself and defining my own success.

What is your biggest headache?
Honestly, I have no headaches. I am truly having fun and enjoying my life.


What are the important personal qualities or abilities necessary for a person to be a successful life coach?
I think in order to be a successful life coach you have to be able to ask the right questions and help your client dig deeper. You have to challenge your client to get out of their comfort zone and be open to another way of thinking.

How many hours do you work each week?
Wow… a lot. LOL! I honestly have no idea, but I work a lot on my business.

What do you wish you would have known before becoming a life coach?
I wish I would’ve pursued my passion sooner in life. I wish I would have understood that I am good enough and I truly have a gift to inspire others.

Are there any books you suggest reading, training courses that would be beneficial or professional organizations aspiring life coaches should consider joining?
Read all you can. Not necessarily life coaching specific but any self-help and business related book. You should always be perfecting your craft.

Favorite books:

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson

How much can a life coach expect to earn?
A life coach income can vary depending on what type of services you offer. The income is limitless, but you have to be willing to do the work to get your desired income.  

Are there any scams, pitfalls or phony opportunities to watch out for?
So far I haven’t experienced any of the above-mentioned, but I’ll keep my eyes open.

If someone is considering hiring a life coach what should they be looking for?

A life coach should…

Hold you accountable

Challenge you to get out of your comfort zone

Provide you with tools, support and resources

Inspire and encourage you to be better

Motivate you to get started and take action

Is there anything else you would like readers to know about yourself or your career?
I am truly walking in my purpose, which is to inspire, motivate and encourage women like me to pursue their passion in life. Continue to follow my journey on being free…

Where can we find you?
Website = www.befreeproject.com

Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest @befreeproject

Reinvention Challenge in Review – My Three Most Powerful Words

It has been one month since I began my reinvention challenge on my 52nd birthday - I decided it was time to make a change in my life and reinvent my career. To do so I implemented James Altucher's five year plan:

In year one you are to flail and read everything and just start to DO.

 

I am happy with my first month’s progress. Here are my results:

I ruled out two ideas I had been contemplating:

Food Blogging:
I am interested in food and healthy eating while my husband is the real cook in our home and a foodie. I had seriously been considering creating a food blog with my husband until I attempted to read Dianne Jacob's book Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Blogs, Reviews, Memoir, and More (Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Blogs,). I realized writing about food is hard and not for me. In addition to food writing Norine Dworkin-McDaniel informs us in my post's comments writing about music and dance are also hard which is good to know.

Moving back to the country:
My husband, an avid fly-fisherman, has tried to talk me into purchasing property in western Wisconsin; the area of my youth for several years now. Reading Melissa Coleman's book This Life Is in Your Hands: One Dream, Sixty Acres, and a Family Undone about her parent’s experience with homesteading reminded me of growing up on a farm. Living in a rural area is incredibly isolating and raising your own food is hard work. At this stage of my life I prefer to live in a more urban setting and to vacation in a country setting. There will be no homesteading in my future.

The Savvy Career Interview:
I decided to make my career interviews a regular series. This month I interviewed Adrian of Adrian's Crazy Life about her corporate career. She provided a realistic inside look into what working for a large corporation is really like.

I also read a few great career reinvention posts around the Web:

Margaret Manning shares 11 Things I Wish I'd Known Before Starting a Business After 50. This post is packed with insight for anyone looking to start an on-line company.

Catherine Gacad realizes she wasn't born to be a mom. She was born to be a career mom.

Jennifer Ludwigsen quit her corporate job this month to become a freelancer. She has completed her first full week at home and shares 10 Surprising Facts About Working From Home.

What I didn’t accomplish:
I accepted a review copy of Katie Botten’s book The Professional Woman's Guide to Giving Feedback Since one of my reinvention goals is to improve my communication skills I am excited to read this book. Despite it being a short book, only 50 pages long, I did not find time to read this book in August and am adding it to my September to-do list.

What else is on my agenda for September?
I am happy to be co-hosting the Travel the World in Book's Readathon September 1-14, 2014 with Mom's Small Victories and Lost in Books.  I challenged myself to read 50 nonfiction books that take place in 50 different countries other than my own over the next five years when I announced the Travel the World in Books Challenge. The readathon should give me the incentive to get started on this challenge. I’ve made a tentative list of the books I plan to read during the readathon and know for sure one will be a reinvention book.

The readathon is a great chance to explore our world by reading books set in other countries or by authors from countries other than the one where you live. If you are interested in participating please head over to Tanya's site to sign up:

Keeping with the diversity in book's theme I will also be joining Aarti's a more diverse universe challenge. The rules for this one are simple.  All I have to do is read one book written by a person of color during the last two weeks of September.

 

Revelation of the month:
In a post on Laurie Reuttimann’s site she writes about her friend Gregory Ng who believes that your personal brand comes down to 3 words. She then asks what are the three most powerful words you could use to describe yourself?

I put a great deal of thought into mine and came up with the three words that best describe me TODAY. They are:

Accountant, exerciser and reader

I was surprised the main words I use to describe myself is accountant since I'm not sure I want to continue working in this capacity – but then I did spend most of my life studying to be or working as an accountant. Perhaps I can find a way to blend the areas of my accounting career I enjoy into my new career.

It will be interesting to repeat this exercise in a year to see how and if my three words change.

What are your three most powerful words? What are your goals for September?

Corporate Career Interview

Have you ever considered a career in corporate America? Wondered what it would be like working for a large company? What it takes to be successful? Then you’ve come to the right place.

Today Adrian of Adrian's Crazy Life shares her career story while providing valuable insight into working for a corporation in today’s savvy career interview:

How did you get started working in corporate America?

Working in an office was the last thing I wanted.  I wanted a career in the performing arts, but one of my music teachers so squashed my dreams that I made a complete right turn, dropped all my music classes, and started taking computer classes instead.  I started at Kodak’s Corporate offices as a photocopy clerk and a receptionist when I was about 18.  I’m 53 now and I’ve worked pretty much continuously since then. 

What is your career history?

Even though I’ve worked for my current financial services company for 23 years, before that, I worked at a ton of different places.  I always had some kind of clerical or finance job, but I worked at Rockwell, Allergan, Rite-Aid, DeLorean, Coca-Cola, a real estate firm, a pharmaceutical company, all sorts of places.  Some were very small and some were the largest companies in the world.  Some of them I’ve quit, some I’ve been laid off, and some I’ve been fired from.  It’s been an interesting career. 

DeLorean was funny because all the executives had company cars and they were all these identical silver chrome cars, so they had to number the parking spaces, so each of them could find the correct car every night! 

What kind of experience and preparation helped you the most?

Nothing special, really.  My mother insisted I take a typing course in High School.  I disagreed bitterly with her at the time, but I can type 75 WPM, so I guess it came in handy.  I took a couple of very early programming courses, but the rest is pretty much self-taught.  I think it’s important to just have the idea that there is always a way to get what you want.  Even if you don’t think so in the beginning, if you are determined and stick with something long enough, you’ll find a way through, under, or over that obstacle to get what you really want. 

I do think that a college degree is over-hyped.  I hear so many people saying that they want to go back to school to do this thing or that thing.  I say, just find an entry-level spot doing it and work your way up from there.  School is such a tremendous expenditure of time and money and it doesn’t always pay off.  I know so many people who have a degree in something and work in a completely different field.  Almost no one in my family has a degree and we are all doing just fine. 

Would you recommend this same path to someone starting out today? Why or why not?

I don’t know.  It was kind of hit and miss, really.  I didn’t have any particular plan in mind, but things worked out pretty well – each job would be slightly better and pay more than the one before.  It was pretty tough sometimes.  I’ve had some really bad bosses and some really good ones.  I think I’ve stayed where I am for so long because I have good bosses and I’d be worried about getting with a bad boss again.  A 40 hour week is a long time when someone is making you miserable. 

I think the tough part was that I never felt like I could take a break, even when I had my children.  I had a brief maternity leave and then I needed to get right back to work because we had bills to pay that weren’t just going to disappear because I had a baby to take care of.  But it worked out just fine.  I found great babysitters and family members to watch my 3 sons and my bosses were always very good about allowing me flexibility to spend some time home with them.  And I would make the most of what time we did have.  I did a lot of homeschooling with my youngest, even while working a full time job.  I had him reading by age 4 and doing math and all sorts of stuff.  I would carry flash cards in my purse and we would listen to Spanish tapes in the car.  I even had special placemats at mealtimes and educational posters all over the walls.  It was really fun and rewarding for both of us.  And all 3 of my boys have turned out awesomely, so I guess it worked out very well. 

What do you like best about your work?

I am a button-pushing fool.  I love to do stuff with computers, particularly spreadsheets and huge databases.  A lot of my job is finding errors on phone bills and trying to find better ways to save money on our telecom services.  Being able to dig deep into the data and really understand it has helped me to do a good job with that.  Over the years, I have probably saved the company around five MILLION dollars, all by myself.  I definitely earn my keep! 

What is your biggest headache?

Office politics can be kind of tricky.  I can be outspoken sometimes and I’ve stepped on a few toes.  I have to learn to kind of keep to myself and focus on the work sometimes and not offer my opinion as much.  Friendships at work can be kind of interesting and sometimes it has a very “High School” feel with cliques, and teacher’s pets.  I try to stay positive and not get a lot of energy to negative stuff or negative people. 

What are the important personal qualities or abilities necessary for a person to be successful working in a large corporation?

Wow, good question!  Technical skills are important, but not nearly as much as interpersonal skills.  You have to be able to get along with people and be able to articulate your ideas well.  Being reliable is huge.  I am a complete stickler for meeting deadlines and keeping commitments, and many people aren’t.  If you get a reputation for being flaky and undependable, you aren’t going to do well.  Deliver what you promise – every time! 

How many hours do you work each week?

It depends.  I’m salaried, so I have a bit of flexibility and we also get one or two telecommute days per week, which are like gold!  But I average at least 40 hours in most weeks and up to 50 or so when I’m working on a big project.  I also do a lot of volunteer work and have been named one of my company’s top volunteers for the last two years, so I work probably another 20-30 hours a month as a Scout leader and helping with my son’s youth group. 

How has your work or company changed over the years?

It’s shocking to realize how much the technology has changed over the years.  Desktop computers simply didn’t exist when I started and when they came out, we would have like ONE that the whole department would share.  I literally found a switchboard that I’ve actually USED in a museum.  That’s just freaky.  Typewriters have gone completely extinct in my lifetime.  I can’t remember the last time I saw one.  I don’t know if someone starting out in an office today would know how to use one, yet they used to be in every home and every office.  You wonder what technology will be like 20 years from now? 

I see you have a passion for organization.  I have written before about my messy desk at work.  Do you have any suggestions to help me become more organized?

Part of it is understanding WHY your desk is messy.  Here’s a big secret – my desk is messy too, but it’s an organized messy.  I’m a very visual person and if I put work out of sight, I am likely to forget about it.  So I have different zones on my desk for different steps in my process.  If it needs to be logged in, it goes here, if it needs to be input, it goes there, if it needs research, it goes into this pile.  You have to respect the style that works best for you, but if you can set a time for even 5 minutes a day to organize yourself and maybe even make a quick to-do list, you’ll get a lot more done in a lot less time, and you’ll be able to lay your hands on any paper on your desk in 2 seconds.  I’m not there to have a pretty desk, I’m there to get stuff done! 

Is there anything else you would like readers to know about yourself or your career?

I guess I would say don’t believe everything people tell you.  People say you can’t get a good job without a college degree – bull!  You can’t do a good job of raising your children if you work – bull!  Women can’t get ahead in the workplace – bull!  I know a lot of smart and determined women who do just fine.  Look at the real situation and decide for yourself, and if you really want something, don’t let anything stand in your way.  And life is too short to put up with bad bosses – if you’re unhappy somewhere, there is a better place for you.  Put all your energy into finding it – rather than wasting your time putting up with some jerk who doesn’t believe in you.  I will work my heart out for someone who appreciates me, but someone who is critical and too controlling, they aren’t going to get my best effort.  Remember that if you are the boss. 

Where can we find you?

I’m always hanging out over at Adrian'sCrazyLife.com.  I’ve been blogging and posting several times a week since 2007.  Mostly organizing and financial tips with some parenting ideas and a hint of crafty stuff thrown into the mix. 
 

*Part of Financially Savvy Saturdays on Femme Frugality and brokeGIRLrich*