It’s not hard to find statistics indicating that our skills at personal financial management are, shall we say, not well developed. Our levels of debt and over-consumption are huge, and this all was firmly established before the economic nosedive. The American savings rate going into the current recession, as everyone now knows, was practically non-existent. This was a dramatic decline from the 1950s to about 1980 when we saved on average 8% to 10% of income. And without some savings ethic, it’s hard to imagine a personal wealth management plan of any long lasting worth. Especially now, when the only semblance of “savings” for many of us lately has been in the form of 401Ks and home equity, both of which are about as rock solid as a pile of sand.

Collectively, we are all learning some harsh, but necessary, financial literacy lessons. Encouragingly, since September, our savings rate has increased to the point where we’re now being told we’re saving too much and that if we don’t spend more the recession will be longer and deeper. We are also coming to grips with the fact that typical American levels of consumption are probably not sustainable for the near future. So all of this raises a question. Does it have to take a major recession for us to learn how to be really smart with our money? Is the younger post-Millennial generation, now in middle and high school, going to be able to enter their spending years smarter regarding credit and savings than previous generations? Let’s hope so!

In order for our kids to have any chance of becoming financially literate there needs to be a commitment from educators, legislators, and other stakeholders to see that effective financial literacy programs are made available for students. And one critical component of any such program must be in career development. When students are taught about the principles of savings, investment, responsible use of credit, and checking account management there is a much greater chance of student buy-in if the instruction takes place within the context of each young person choosing a career that fits their interests and personalities. Think of it, would you want to be told to solve a bunch of abstract financial word problems on par with, “If a train leaves Philadelphia at 2:00pm traveling 80 mph and another train leaves New York at…” You get the picture, irrelevant and boring.

Now in contrast, imagine putting kids through a process in which they are told that each of them has promise and a unique set of developing interests and capabilities with which they should each get in touch. And further that their individuality can have a match with a career that can make life fun and interesting. With such an introduction, students can look at how the money earned from these careers can best be used to finance a reasonable and sustainable lifestyle.

I’m not just hypothesizing here. I’ve seen it happen as an educator. Career development is the most effective gateway to financial literacy for youth.

Of course, the biggest challenge is to get schools to even bother with teaching financial literacy at all. Abstract and impractical math concepts still seem to dominate and hold more value in math education than teaching kids how to be clever with finances. As for classes in economics, the concern seems to be much more to teach macro-economic principles than to cover the more practical basics of financial education.

However, for those schools and states that get it, teaching career and finances in tandem is a great service for the ones who will be in charge of the economy when we’re old and gray.

Let’s say that you are an individual who is either out of work and desperate to get back into the workforce or just plain sick of your current job and want something that is a better fit for your personality. You have talked to friends and family, you have read career advice pieces on Monster and the like, you have lain awake at 3:00 am trying your best to think of what to do, while also trying to tamp down the fear and insecurity demons. However, you start each day pretty much in the same unsatisfied and unfulfilled place. Finally, you decide that you need some help. The big question of course is, where do you turn for help? 

I had a useful and stimulating conversation with a New Hampshire staffing and recruiting expert recently and we found ourselves fleshing out what could be considered a comprehensive career development service. We were discussing this in the context of outplacement, the practice whereby an employer offers job search assistance to laid off employees, but I think the basic concept can apply to any of you in the situation described above. This total career package would consist of two basic parts, one a personalized career direction builder, and two an effective staffing service that places you in an appropriate position based on your work in the first part. Let’s look at some details:

As I mentioned in last week’s blog I have been struck recently as to how vague and non-targeted many job seekers can be in searching for work despite this being a time when competition is fierce, and you must be ready to present yourself in the best possible light. Therefore, the first part of this total career package is designed to delve deeply into a self-assessment out of which emerges a confident and purposeful job candidate. This requires you to honestly explore your most dominant personality traits, strengths and weaknesses, and to analyze successes and failures from past work or education experiences.  

If done with a competent career professional, who you trust to have your welfare as their chief priority, then you are prepared to construct the essentials that you need to enter the job search fray, such as a polished elevator pitch, a rich and pointed resume, confidently delivered cover letters, and the poise that comes from knowing exactly who you are and what you want. 

So, you’re ready to slay a dragon. Now what? Here’s where a great staffing agency comes in. Their job is to make the actual fit by matching you with real positions that they know are available. In trying to satisfy their organizational clients with the best possible candidates, recruiters complete the total career package by placing well understood candidates with openings that satisfy all stakeholders, the proverbial win-win.

The staffer picks up where the coach leaves off. They complete painting the candidate picture with an efficient skill assessment and then facilitate opportunities for employers and potential employees to evaluate each other. If necessary, they may even offer some needed training to better prepare the candidate for the positions that are available.

Imagine having career assistance that covers both areas, customized development and competent staffing. You know you need an edge and a purposeful approach to succeed at getting that right job for this time. A total career package may be just what you need. 

The New Hampshire statewide job fair on April 9, which resulted from a collaboration among WMUR television, Southern New Hampshire University, and the NH Department of Employment Security was one wild ride. Three to five thousand attendees were expected. By late morning 10,000 attendees had arrived, exceeding the capacity of the Athletic Center at SNHU where the fair was held. Of the 140 or so vendors which had set up shop, allegedly 1500 jobs were available. This event concretely demonstrated the current poor condition of the NH labor market. It’s deeply impacted by unemployment.

The news stories about the day and recent labor stats are dramatic enough, but my impressions are based on having volunteered to work at the fair and to see first hand who was walking through the door. I was one of six (yeah, count ’em six!) professionals who were available for resume review and who were ready to offer advice on how to best navigate the fair. The number of people desiring such assistance was huge. We could have used twice the number of volunteers for this work. We worked very hard with minimal breaks seeing as many people as we could. Although I didn’t keep a tally, I estimate that I saw about forty people that day for some intense one on one consultation. And nearly everyone had a sad story. As I write this on the weekend after, I still feel the emotional pull of the situations I encountered. They ranged from the uneducated, ill prepared with children to care for to the deeply experienced professional whose rich resume is intimidating hiring managers because of its message of over-qualification. Although displayed at various levels of intensity and desperation, the personal loss of self-reliance came through with all of the individuals with whom I spoke.

Another thing struck me quite clearly with most of these folks. It was the lack of clarity and directness they were able to communicate about what they wanted. This came through both with those who did not have and never have had a resume despite being old enough and with adequate work history and experience to have one. Here’s how I picked it up. As a fair attendee sat down for help I’d ask something to the effect of, “So what are you hoping to do?” This was before looking at their resume. In most cases, I got vague, open ended, and definitely unrehearsed responses. This then became my starting point for the interaction. “Let’s talk about developing your two-minute pitch”, I’d say.

When searching for work at any time, but especially now, it’s imperative that you be able to describe clearly who you are and what you want. Fearing that by restricting yourself to too narrow of a job-type, by thinking you may be closing too many doors, is keeping too many of you from specifying what you really want. You are not positioning yourself well if you are essentially saying to organizations, “I want a job. I’ll do anything.” You’ve got to decide in advance what kind of jobs both appeal to you and for which you are best suited.

Then, when confronting an appropriate recruiter make the two-minute pitch for the job that is available. Describe exactly the type of work you are excited about getting and back up your vision with the best description of qualifications you can muster, be they from your temperament or your skill sets. Script what you should say and rehearse it. Become comfortable and confident with a brief yet succinct and powerful delivery of what you are seeking and why you deserve it. This self-pitch should also, by the way, be reflected in the lead professional summary section of your resume.

Your chances of finding a decent job right now and for the foreseeable future are hard enough. Not being prepared to market yourself only keeps you in the crowd of job seekers, not standing apart from it.

Here in New Hampshire this week, one of the biggest job fairs in recent history is being held. A statewide job fair which is a collaboration of the state Employment Security Office, Southern New Hampshire University, and Manchester television station WMUR is attracting about 130 businesses and God knows how many visitors. This is going to be big for an obvious reason… the state employment picture stinks, relatively speaking, and is not expected to improve anytime soon. Although the NH unemployment rate is still below the newly released national figure — the non-seasonally adjusted rates are 8.9% for the country and 5.9% for the state — the amount of employment insecurity hasn’t been this high since the recessions of the early eighties and nineties, respectively.

People will go to the fair most likely for one of two reasons. They really want to get hired for a job or they want to check out who is hiring in case something interesting comes up. I’d like to address the first reason. If you are unemployed or in a job that you can’t stand and want out you should approach this and any job fair with a plan. Now this plan assumes one big important thing, that is you have determined what industry you want to work in. Random job hopping is not a career and that will be picked up by employers who want to hire serious candidates. If you haven’t yet determined a career path chances are that a job fair is not going to help a whole lot. At best, attending one puts you in the second “just checking it out to see what’s out there” category.

However, for those who have decided on a particular career direction, then approaching this event strategically will be your best approach. I could give you an overwhelming ten-point prep plan that would probably leave you stressed and feeling inadequate, but instead I’ll leave you with my three biggies. Here should be the main elements of your plan:

1. Have a really well done current resume prepared that is targeted for the industry in which you want to work. Resumes are not trivial. They brand your identity and are your best marketing tool. They should highlight a positive work style profile, your qualifications, and your significant accomplishments much more so than a dry generic objective, your past work history, and previous responsibilities. Most resumes I see have this reversed.

2. Research the companies with which you want to make an impression. The list of those attending Thursday’s fair can be found at http://www.wmur.com/money/19003060/detail.html. Do your homework and find out as much as you can about their mission, culture, internal and external economics, and hiring practices. Work your network and the web to wring out as much information about them as you can. When speaking with their reps at the fair let slip in your knowledge about their organization.

3. Develop a two minute “Elevator Speech” about what you hope to do. Imagine that you are on an elevator ride with a hiring manager from a company you’d really like to work for and they say to you that they have a position they’re hoping to fill. They then ask you to tell them about yourself. You’ve got two minutes, go! Can you pitch yourself succinctly, coherently, and effectively in two minutes? If not, you need to work on a script, and practice it to death.

Of course, being prepared with these three tactics won’t mean much if you haven’t taken care of the givens such as not showing up in sweatpants and looking insecure. Try looking and sounding as good as you can. Have the confidence that comes from knowing that you’ve got a great resume, a well rehearsed elevator speech, and knowing a lot about the organization that you’re talking to and you’ll do fine.

I’ll be at SNHU on the 9th. I hope to meet many of you. Best of luck!