Money Makes the World Go Around
I recently observed Liza Minelli’s stellar performance in the movie version of Cabaret. The musical is set against the backdrop of Pre-WWII Berlin - yet another show with a sad theme set to a catchy soundtrack. The Cabaret song “Money” came to mind during a Dallas CareerConnection meeting I attended this week. Several unemployed job seekers shared their dollar stretching “survival stories” after having maintained a reasonable standard of living in spite of being unemployed for over a year.
To provide some background before giving away the strategies… “CareerConnection is the oldest and largest career management and networking organization in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex”. Close to 200 people attended the general session I observed this week. The group meets weekly on Tuesday mornings at the Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church (which is massive by the way). Lisa Miller, the warm and energetic Executive Director, refers to herself as “Chief People Officer.” It was fitting! I could tell that she was quite the connector in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
Weekly Meeting Agenda
9:00-10:00a.m. - New Member Orientation (The initial fee for membership is $30 plus an additional $10 a month)
10:00-11:00 – Announcements (including new placements, leads, connections)
11:00-noon – Outside Speaker(s) and presentation by one of nearly twenty industry/job function or geographic-focused (CMGs) Career Management Groups
Noon- (and some other days) – CMG-specific networking meetings
I started to felt a lot of positive energy emitting from this crowd once the announcements started coming in. That makes it sound like I was attending a revivial, but it really wasn’t that dramatic. During the ten o’clock hour, several members shared their job success stories and countless others raised their hands to see if anyone in the room could connect them to a company or industry of interest. The responses to this reach out were numerous – almost every request was met with a response. This certainly reiterated my theme from a previous blog entry, that even if you are unemployed you can still help others (and be helped in return). A number of DFW area companies post jobs and seek candidates through this organization and these openings were shared aloud during the hour.
The best perk that comes with membership (in my opinion) is having the opportunity to join one of the functional area/industry or geographic Career Management Groups. Those tied to industry or job function include: Accounting/Finance, Architects/Designers, HR/Org. Development/Training, Journey of Faith, Marketing, Legal/Attorneys, Non-Profit, Project Management, Real Estate, Sales/Bus. Development, Supply Chain Management, Technology, and Engineering/Telecom. The geographic groups represent Arlington, Lewisville, McKinney/Collin County, Tarrant County, and Uptown.
“Survivor” was actually the theme of this meeting and during the 11:00 hour Architect/Designer CMG enhanced their delivery with torches, costumes, natural-looking signage, and even a safari scene in the PowerPoint deck! While, fun and engaging, I couldn’t help but wonder if the effort placed on the presentation may have been better spent on the job search. That said, the group offered a clever list of cost-cutting tips, the comprehensive impact of which allowed several individuals to keep their homes and sacred belongings. While those of us with steady employment should probably be stimulating the economy with our earnings, there will probably come a time when each of us could benefit from the advice shared by the group:
Cost-Cutting Survival Tips
- Make a budget and stick to it.
- Watch your electricity bill – unplug surge protectors and any device when not in use.
- Cut your car insurance – tell the company that you are unemployed and they will often reduce your bill (it could save you 10-20% for the year – sounds like a Geico commercial).
- Move your cash to a free checking account – sometimes the new bank will make a deposit for you!
- Ask your credit card companies if they can do anything to reduce your accrued interest or late fees. According to the presenters, not all credit card company employees are ruthless, greedy scumbags.
- Raise the temperature in your home – every degree can cut your bill by 10-20%
- Buy name brand clothes at wholesale clubs like Costco (they mentioned Sam’s, but most of you know that I despise all things associated with Wal-mart).
- Purchase used household items from Goodwill or on E-Bay. One of the speakers was featured in a Dallas Morning News column because he bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner at Goodwill for $12. Apparently they retail for $499. Talk about let’s make a deal!
- Cut coupons (watch for double coupon days) and buy food in season. It is cheaper and tastes better anyway!
- Bundle your bills when possible (e.g. cell phones, landline, internet, and cable all through one company). Negotiate for a lower rate. I would add that one should think about foregoing cable, but I can understand if the E Network gets your motor running and you need it.
- If you do not have health insurance and need care, visit a CVS Minute Clinic.
- Contact the pharmaceutical companies directly to ask if they will comp your meds because you are unemployed. The speaker did this and now receives all of his drugs for free! I almost fell off my chair when he said this – as did most of the room. He had to repeat himself twice.
- Work outside your home during peak times of day when you would have to usea lot of gas or electricity. Libraries offer free internet and computers you can use to assist you with your job search. Enjoy their free A/C!
- Strategically plan your errands so that you can minimize the amount of gas used.
- Take a defensive driving course to reduce your auto insurance premium.
- Sign up for focus groups – researchers often pay in cash!
- My favorite tip: Buy your shoes at the $9.99 store. Apparently you can get designer shoes at this price if you have an eagle eye and learn when new inventory arrives. Only in Dallas, right?
The demographics of the group ranged from recent graduate to retiree and covered a wide range of racial, ethnic, and geographic diversity. After a woman with a thick British accent shared that she had recently moved to Dallas from Kansas in search of a job in corporate finance, I decided that they had most of their bases covered. Even though the group meets in a church, I believe that CareerConnection is a completely secular organization. Either way, it was clear that all are welcome. I would advise anyone unemployed or looking to make a career transition to visit at least once.
Career Blunder “When job seeking, you’re always on the clock”: A few years ago, I met a student through the recruiting process who I’ll refer to as Olivia. She also happened to live in my building. Olivia had a great personality, but unfortunately her low GPA prevented her from securing a competitive internship opportunity with my firm. We agreed to stay in touch regarding future full-time opportunities. One night, I ran into Olivia in the elevator. She was so intoxicated that she could barely stand up straight. Once she recognized me, a series of belligerent unrecognizable words came out of her mouth. I quickly exited the elevator and filed the experience away. Several months later, when Olivia resubmitted her resume for full-time employment I remembered our little elevator encounter and put her resume in the “no” pile.
Moral of the Story: Dallas is a big city, but not that big (and neither is any other city, for that matter). You never know who you might run into and where you might run into them. If you’re a job seeker (or frankly if you are ever going to be a job seeker) you must always be on your guard, and not just with regard to your blood alcohol level!