The Super Bowl Pick

And now we reach the end.  Super Bowl weekend.  It’s awfully quiet.  The main storyline of the week has been the lack of hype for the game. 

 

Vegas did a pretty good job with this line.  It opened with the Steelers giving 6.5 or 7, and hasn’t moved. The sports yak world seems to think this game will come down to the Steelers D vs. the high-scoring offense of the Cardinals.  I agree with TMQ on ESPN.com who says the game will be won between the Cardinals D vs. the Steelers offense.  Can Cardinals slow down Willie Parker, and contain Big Ben? 

 

Steelers (-7) vs. CARDINALS

I’ve gone back and forth for two weeks.  I can write a bunch of stuff here about offenses and defenses, but you’ve probably heard it all before.  Here is the rationale for my pick. 

 

As long as the Cards can keep it within 14 by the start of the 4^th quarter, they have a chance to cover or push.  If it’s close, I have less confidence in the Steelers ability to cover.  The Cardinals are designed to score points quickly.  The Steelers are not.  Kurt Warner has played in two Super Bowls and played well in both.  Big Ben has played in one and didn’t look very good against Seattle.  Seven is a lot of points for two teams that I don’t think are that far apart in talent.  Plus the Cardinals have the whole “we are way further than anyone thought, and still nobody believes in us” thing. 

 

Pick:  Cardinals

 

I also really like the under.

 

Conference Championships:  2-0

Playoffs:  6-4

Getting Your First Job 101 – Interviewing

 Ok, so now you’d dropped your resume, and you’ve been pre-selected for your first interview.  The first interview lasts 30 minutes.   A natural thought progression is:  I’ve got 30 minutes to wow this person, so I’m going to just talk, talk, talk about all the ways I’m perfect for them.  This is a poor way to interview. 

 

There are three types of interviews.  The case based interview asks you to apply some basic knowledge to work through a problem for the interviewer.  This is supposed to show how well you reason through things.   The behavioral interview is designed to see how you react to certain situations.  You’ll know you are in one of these if you start getting questions like, “Tell me about a time when you were a leader…”  Finally, there is what I call the ad hoc.  That is where the interviewer has no real plan, and just plans on reviewing your resume and chatting with you. 

 

You may or may not know going in what kind of interview you are going to have, but it really doesn’t matter.   Answer any questions completely but succinctly;  don’t babble or ramble.  If the question can be answered with a “yes” or “no,” that’s a fine answer.  Try to speak in a conversational tone.  Keep everything positive and professional.  For example, if they ask about a time you worked through an issue with a classmate, don’t talk about how you threatened to kick somebody’s ass to get your way. 

 

Regardless of the type of interview, there should come a time when the interviewer asks “Do you have any questions for me?”  This is a critical turning point in the interview.  At least 50% of the people will say “Nope.”  That is the wrong answer. 

 

As soon as the interviewer asks for your questions, he is allowing you to control the interview.  You are calling the shots now. You should grab this opportunity as soon as it presents itself.  And, if you have done your homework and really want the job, you should have questions.   And these questions should serve at least one of three possible purposes:

1.       You genuinely want to know the answer.  This sounds painfully obvious, but many people don’t ask questions for fear of looking stupid.  This interview is as much for your education as the companies.  If you want to know, ask.

2.       You want to the answer to point to a perceived strength you have that other candidates might not.  For example, let’s say you interned at a similar company the previous summer.  You might ask:  “In your experience, have candidates that have interned at similar companies, such as XYZ, had an easier transition into your organization?”  If the interview says “yes,” then you can say something like “I thought my internship at XYZ would pay off.”  There is nothing wrong with highlighting your strengths for the job. 

3.       You want to show that have researched and have some understanding of the company or industry. 

 

If you do this correctly, your interviewer with think that you are really interested, you are qualified, and/or you actually know about their business.  Plus, if you ask questions and engage in conversation with the interviewer until your time is over, the interview will almost always end on a positive note.  People LOVE to talk about themselves, especially to people who seem interested in what they do every day.  This is so simple, so effective, and you’ll be amazed how few people actually do it. 

 

There are just a couple extra quick tips:

1.       Once you ask your question, let the interviewer complete their answer.  Constantly interrupting can be worse than asking no questions at all.

2.       Be ready for any answer, and don’t have all your questions follow a progression that requires a certain answer to set of answers. 

3.       Don’t be in a hurry to get all your questions asked.  Sometimes you run out of time.  That’s okay – Just asking 1 or 2 good questions puts you ahead of most candidates.

Getting Your First Job 101 – Pick Companies

On the 10 year anniversary of my entry into the job market, I’m got to thinking about how much I know now versus how much I knew then.  Boy, was I green and naïve.  So, on the off chance that somebody out there is actually reading the blog, I figured I’d share some information and few opinions for job seeking college seniors.  [I’ll probably split this up in to several installments.]  In case you are wondering if I’m pulling this out of my ass, I’m not.  I have worked for a couple large and a couple small companies, and been involved in hiring decisions in both at the experienced and college level.

 

There are two primary camps when it comes to college recruiting:  the rabid and the apathetic.  Neither is perfect.  The rabid tend to waste a lot to time and energy, but the apathetic are, in a word, pathetic.   Seriously, if you are a college student, drunk, stoned, or otherwise killing time by reading this blog and willing to take only one piece of advice from some guy you’ve never met:  Unless you are definitely going to graduate school, you absolutely must participate in your college’s career planning program.  You’d be crazy not to.  It’s free and it’s the only time in your life multiple employers will be coming to you to give you a job.  If you wait until after you graduate to start this process, it’s going to take you several hours to accomplish what you can accomplish in 1 hour during on-campus recruiting.  Seriously, do it.  You can always turn down an offer, but you can’t accept one you didn’t get.

 

The next question is what kind of job you want.  If you’ve spent years studying history, sociology, or some other liberal arts major, you may not know where to start.  If you have no clue your industry, then start with where you’d like to live.  Sound silly?  Look, there are 168 hours in a week.  If you work 50, sleep for 60, you’ve got 58 hours in which you are going to be doing stuff in some place.  Whether or not you are going to like living there is key.  Career is important, but so is enjoying your non-working time.  Trust me, when you start working, you’ll find fun time is more important than you ever thought it would be. 

 

If location is a non-starter, look at starting salaries and determine a floor that works for you.  Maybe you have some interest in being a Congressional aide, but there’s no way you are willing to sacrifice the standard of living or debt to do that job for the roughly $25K per year.  Ideally, you want to make enough money to live a lifestyle that doesn’t require you to go in the hole.

 

One last thought:  Don’t over think this.  You are not committing for the rest of your life.  First jobs typically last 3-5 years.  As long as you are an at-will employee, you can quit whenever you want. 

 

Once you’ve got your preliminary work in order (resume complete, industry/location/pay level targeted) it’s time to decide the companies where you are going to send a resume.  Here are some FAQs for this step in the process:

 

Q:  To how many companies should I apply/drop a resume?

A:  In this economy, I’d cast as wide a net as possible.  Remember, a job is probably all that separates you and moving back in with your parents.  Unless you really value your mom’s cooking or like watching daytime TV, I’m guessing something short of your dream job will be acceptable.  Also, you can always opt out of the process with a company at any time, but you can’t opt in at a later step.  You would rather be the one saying “no” then sitting on the sidelines.  Just like you probably had a safety school or two, have several safety jobs.

 

Q:  What if I’m really interested in company, but I don’t meet one or more of their qualifications, such as my GPA?

A:  I’d send or drop my resume, and then call the HR representative and explain to him all the reasons why you are interested in their company, but that you are below one of their thresholds.  If it makes sense, explain why you miss one of the qualifications.  If it’s something like GPA, maybe you had a bad first year but have been pretty solid since then.  Then ask if you can be considered for an interview.  If the HR rep says “no” but you want a shot at this company badly, try to contact an executive (preferably an alumnus) and explain your situation to him.  Network with other alumni to get the right person and contact information.  The worst thing that will happen is they will blow you off.  If they do, screw them.  But I think you’ll find in many cases, they will appreciate your interest, and will give you an interview.

 

 Q:  I know what I want to do, but all the starting salaries in that industry are so low?  I’m not sure I can live on so little money.

A:   This is a big decision step in process.  The question you have to ask yourself is, “If I get this job, am I willing to make the lifestyle decisions , and maybe even incur some credit card debt, to do it?”  And I stress lifestyle decisions because the last thing you want to do is go $50K in the hole on credit cards to find out that interior design is not your cup of tea.  Only you can answer this question.

 

Q:  Due to the economy, my school has fewer companies than ever before, and hundreds of resumes for every job?  What can I do to get noticed?

A:   Quite simply, have a resume that addresses the companies stated needs.  Typically every company has a job description and list of qualifications, such as GPA, in every job posting.  If possible, tailor your resume to sound like the answer to the question.  If the description says “work in a team environment,” have items in your resume where you talk about working in a team environment.  If there is a qualification, like GPA, that you meet, make sure it’s on the resume.   Also, make sure your resume is bullet pointed, to the point, and otherwise easy to comprehend in 30 seconds, because that’s about all the time somebody is going to spend on it.  Avoid paragraphs and long sentences or narratives.  You want to make your resume as easy to pick as possible.  This may involve tailoring your resume to every job opportunity.  If you are in a very competitive environment, you gotta do what you gotta do win.  Remember, it’s a job or back to mom’s house.

 

Q:  One company that I’m interested in said they’d respond with an interviewee list by a certain date, but we are a week past that date and no one on campus has heard anything from them.  What should I do?

A:  Call the HR point of contact, or call the company, ask for HR, and ask what’s going on.  One myth is that companies, particularly large companies, must be organized in how they recruit.  Trust me when I tell you that is false. I once worked for a Fortune 500 company whose HR department was an unmitigated train wreck.  The company in question could be late for any number of reasons, but there is nothing wrong in calling to follow up when a posted date for anything is missed.  The same goes for any step in the process when a deadline is missed.  Give them a day or two, then call to find out what is going on.  And in case you are worried about being a pest, I’ve never heard of anybody losing an offer because they simply called to find out what was going on, as long as they were courteous and professional.

 

Next time I write about this, I’ll talk about how to nail your interview.

Conference Championship Weekend

Well, that sucked.  Nothing like backing up 3-1 with a 1-3.  It’s kinda like backing up that birdie with a triple bogey.  I feel like I did the best job predicting one of the losses (Ravens @ Titans) because, if the Titans don’t have 30 turnovers, they likely win that game.  But, enough complaining.  The past this the past; the future is now.

 

Eagles (-3.5) vs. CARDINALS

I can absolutely forgive Vegas for not giving the Cardinals a ton of credit.  If Jake Delhomme has even an average game, the Panthers have a real shot of winning.  The Eagles have won two tough games on the road, including a victory over the reigning Super Bowl Champs, and looked fairly impressive doing it.  This was a good Vegas line.  I mulled it over all week.

 

Ultimately, I think the Cardinals have 3 things going for them:

1)      They are at home, on a fast track, with no worries of weather issue to slow down their passing game.

2)      They have an experience QB who will be ready for every blitz the Eagles throw at them.

3)      They Cards are playing with house money.  They’ve already gone twice as far as anybody thought. 

 

And it was #3 that brought me over the Cardinals side.  Philly is an older team.  Yes, many of their guys have been in this spot before.  But if you listened to them talk this week, the theme was “you don’t get too many shots like this, and we definitely won’t get many more.”  Regardless of the result for the Cardinals, their season is a success.  And not many people think they can get to Tampa.  They have nothing to lose.  And nobody thinks they can get to Tampa.  For Reid, McNabb, and crew….the pressures on, and, regardless of being 9-5-1 and needing a minor miracle to even get into the playoffs, they are expected to win this game. 

 

I’m going with the high powered offense, the nobody-believes-in-us, and nothing-to-lose Cardinals.

Pick:  Cardinals

 

STEELERS (-5.5) vs.  Ravens

As soon as this line was posted Sunday night, I liked the Steelers to win, and have seen nothing this week to change that.  The reasons are simple:

1)      Finally, Willie Parker looks like the old Willie Parker

2)      Ben missed about 3 throws that could have made the Chargers game ugly earlier.  And his 3^rd down performance was quiet impressive.

3)      The Ravens played a very physical game last weekend, while the Steelers pulled most of their starters in the 4^th.

4)      If the Ravens get down early, I’m not sure they have the offensive firepower to come back.

 

I’ve doubted them all year, and I doubted them last week.  But I think the Steelers are going to Tampa.

Pick:  Steelers

 

Last Week:  1-3

Playoffs:  4-4

We are a Whinny Bunch #1

I would argue there are two effects to the exponential growth of the “news” industry due to expanded cable/satellite capacity and the interwebs:  1) Treating  just about everything as it’s a news-worthy crisis, and 2) Providing a vehicle to for people to whine.  And judging from a daily viewing of the news channels and sites, my Lord, are we a whinny bunch.  So, I’ve decided to add a new segment to the blog where I examine the mundane crap the average American whines about. 

Before, we get to it, let me share my perspective on life with you.  There are bad things in this world.  People have problems.  They are sick.  They are poor because they don’t have a choice.  They live in crappy places and have little hope of doing better.  And I have nothing but compassion for those people. The rest of us, a vast majority in the United States have things pretty good.  Really good in some cases. So why all this complaining about mundane crap?  Every day is another day closer to the end of your life – you can choose to be miserable or you can choose to enjoy life.  Up to you.   Without further ado and in honor of our recently completed holidays, I give you our first whine:  Holiday Stress.

I do recognize the holidays pose two areas of legitimate stress, so let’s address them now.  If you feel sad because you are lonely or if you are upset because you are broke and can’t get your kids anything for Christmas, fine, you have a legitimate worry. 

Everybody else – get over yourself.  Seriously, I’ve hear everything from being stressed about seeing your family to being stressed about what to buy to being stresses about the debt that comes after all that Christmas shopping.  Are you kidding me?  There are 19 year old American men getting shot at in Iraq, and we are fretting about what to get you sister who already has everything.  No wonder the rest of the world hates us.

Here’s a tip:  If spending time with your family stresses you out, shorten or eliminate your visit.  Work or school is always a solid excuse.  If shopping stresses you out, end the gift exchange with people.  On this front,   you will be amazed at the reception.  Many people will be all for it.  Look, it’s fun to buy Christmas toys for kids.  It’s decidedly less fun to buy snowman dish towels for your mom.  We waste a lot of time and money in this country buying useless crap for people simply to check off the “bought them something” box.  Just because you always have doesn’t mean you always have to.  If it’s too much, eliminate it. 

There are several things an adult has to do.  Most people have to work to make a living.  If you have kids, you have to raise and care for them.  But, for some reason, adults in this country have some weird sense of obligation around things that are not required.  It’s Christmas, I have to buy presents.  I might not be able to afford them, or enjoy doing it, but I have to because if I don’t, people will think I’m weird, poor, whatever.  Who cares?  Life is short.  If you don’t like or it hurts you to do it and it’s not an absolute must, drop it.

NFL Divisional Playoffs

I feel pretty good about going 3-1 last week.  The Falcons played a terrible game against the Cardinals, so what are you going to do.  I had a pretty solid read on the other games.  I said the Chargers-Colts would come down to the last possession (it did), I said the Ravens-Dolphins could get ugly (it did), and I said that Jackson couldn’t handle the Eagle’s blitz packages (he couldn’t.) But, the Wild Card week is done and now it’s time to move to the Divisional Round.

 

TITANS (-2.5) vs. Ravens

My take-away from the Ravens victory over the Dolphins was how the Ravens offense was not very impressive.  Did you know that the Dolphins had the 15^th best defense during the regular season?  And against that mediocre defense, and with 4 turnovers, the offense only scored 20 points.  (1 turnover was returned by the defense for a TD.)  And if you watched the game, the Ravens didn’t really move the ball smoothly.  It was not an offense to inspire confidence.

 

Now the Ravens are back on the road against the leagues 7^th ranked defense.  I’m not sure they’ll score 10 points.  Of course, the Ravens have their #2 defense with them, and that’s what makes this one a tough call. Flacco and company can score 7, the defense can score 7, and they can win this game 14-10 without a problem.  This one’s tight.  In the end, I’m going to take the team who is at home, coming off the bye week, with a more experienced quarterback.

Pick:  Titans

 

PANTHERS (-9.5) vs. Cardinals

Not many people thought the woeful Cards would even be around this weekend, and nobody thinks they can touch the Panthers.  The Cards played terrible on the East Coast this season, and one of the star players is banged up on questionable.    To top it off, the high flying offense is going to face a kickoff temperature in the 40s and possible rain.  It looks like an impossible task. 

 

And it may be.  But I just can’t lay 9.5 points here.   I could easily see a scenario where the Panthers dominate the whole game but the Cards get a junk TD late to cut the margin of victory to 9.  It’s hard to justify laying almost 10 points during the regular season.  In the playoffs, it’s ever harder.  I think the Panthers likely win the game, but I’m taking the points.

Pick:  Cardinals

 

GIANTS (-4.5) vs. Eagles

Everybody is jumping back on the Eagles bandwagon, but let’s not forget that, even with a pick-6 last week, the Eagles needed a 70 yard screen play to put away the not-very-good Vikings.  The Giants B-team lost to the Vikings on a last second field goal just two weeks ago.  I fear the junk TD here,  or a close game the Giants win by 3, especially considering the kick-off forecast of 50% chance of snow and 31 degrees.  But I think the Giants are the better team.

Pick:  Giants

 

STEELERS (-6) vs. Chargers

I’ve gone on record all year saying that don’t think the Steelers are legit.  There is just something about them that looks off.  Been doesn’t look sharp, Willie Parkers looks a step slow, and that O-line looks weaker than normal.  But, they managed to win more than they lost, won the North and a first round bye, so that was an increasingly hard argument to make. 

 

Big Ben has laid some stink bombs this season, most notably against the Colts.  He’s been banged up all year and is coming off a concussion so bad he had to wheeled off the field.  Now he’s going to suit up against a defense that is suddenly full of confidence after taking the arena league-like Colt offense to the woodshed.  Put all that together, and it’s just not a pretty picture.  Combine that with a Chargers team that has looked very solid down the stretch and I think 6 is too many points here.  If it’s a straight pick ‘em, I’m thinking harder.  If you give me 6, I’m taking the Chargers.  I don’t think there too much separating these two teams at this point.

 

Pick:  Chargers

 

Last Week:  3-1

Nothing Noble about Overpaying

As media outlets discuss the situation of the Big 3 automakers in Detroit, one argument I’ve hear offered up is that we should help them because they have paid good wages with good benefits to their employees, and the automakers shouldn’t be punished for taking care of their employees.  This argument is so colossally stupid that I don’t know how anybody with a 10^th grade education can make it with a straight face.

First of all, the Detroit automakers are suffering for several reasons, and over paying labor is only one of them.  I’d say that not adjusting the a changing marketplace and making crappy cars that screwed people out of thousands of maintenance dollars are probably two bigger reasons they are suffering.  But the wage argument has the underlying assumption that it is somehow noble to overpay your employees, as if management, and not a labor market, determines wages. 

At its core, this is not hard problem to understand.  Basically the Big 3 cannot sell enough or charge enough to cover their expenses, and the big chunk of those expenses are wages, some of which top $70 per hour for line employees.  Because of the overpayment and overpromises, these three companies are having a long, drawn-out death.  It’s a death that is going to leave thousands of people without work, and without any paycheck or health coverage.  Thousands of people are going on the dole to be supported by everybody’s taxes.  Still think it’s noble?  If they had stood up to the union, and adjusted their wages and benefits years ago, they would be in a much better place today.

Which brings me to a point that nobody discusses;  America’s two-faced approach to capitalism.  We love the variety of choices and low prices competition offers us.  But then we turn around and badmouth the cost and wage controls that are necessary to compete in a competitive marketplace.   We hate the fact that English isn’t the first language of cashier are McDonald’s, but we love that a McMuffin costs $1.50.  We say “ship those Mexicans home,” but we love that they will mow our lawns for $20 in 100 degree heat.  We cry that our manufacturing jobs go overseas as we brag about buying two end tables for $30 at Target.  You can’t have one without the other.  If McDonald’s suddenly decided that they were going to pay everybody $50K per year, they’d have to charge $8 for a McMuffin.  Are you going to buy that the $8 McMuffin?  Me neither. 

Remember:  a company that behaves in a non-competitive manor is just sowing the seeds of its own demise.  And then nobody gets paid. 

What Am I Missing?

I’m the first admit I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I feel like I’m missing something when I read about the current recession.   I know things are economically bad, but I keep hearing about Armageddon and actual numbers don’t seem to back that up.   It reminds me of when it snows 4 inches and news stations freak out and talk about how the weather has created a dangerous or life-threatening situation.  It’s four inches of snow, not biological warfare. 

 

Again, I’m not an business expert, but let me share how my bachelor degree holding mind reads the following article from CNN Money:

 

Title:  “Stores to tell how horrible holiday was”

 

Oh, man.  Horrible is a pretty powerful word.

 

“Most of the 35 retailers whose same-store sales are tracked by Thomson Reuters are expected to report monthly declines.”

 

Yeah, okay.  That’s not really a surprise to me.  I’m assuming that same-stores sales mean same store revenue for the December 2007 and 2008.  It was well publicized that stores were offering massive discounts to lure in buyers.  Given the discounts, I’m guessing if people just went shopping for the same kind of items they bought in December 2007, they would spend less money.  Hence revenue should be lower.  Right? 

 

“Retailers have struggled with slumping sales all year and the situation worsened as the economy weakened further heading into the fourth quarter.”

 

You know, I made this point a few blog posts ago, but I think it merits mention again.  Every Christmas I can remember has had numerous retailers missing expected sales numbers.  They’ve been missing them for years.  Maybe there is something other than the bad economy going on here.  Using myself as an example, I avoid the mall like the plague, and doubly so during the holidays.  The lines, the pushy people, trying to find a place to park – it’s all the fun of the airport the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  If I have not managed to negotiate some sort of “no gift” agreement with you, you are likely getting a gift card that I purchased on the interwebs.  I set foot in a mall as an absolute last resort.  But enough about me.

 

“Sales tracker Thomson Reuters expects December same-store sales for the 35 retailers it tracks will have dropped 1% for the month. That would be weaker than the 0.5% gain logged a year ago.”

 

Um…okay.  So if I read this correctly, the average retailer of the 35 tracked had 1% lower revenue than December, 2007.  I understand that healthy businesses grow, and costs tend to increase, but, if I understand this correctly, a store that sold $2M in December, 2007 sold $1.98M last month.  I’m actually surprised that decrease isn’t much lower, especially considering the deals everybody offered.

 

“Although sellers slashed clothing prices by as much as 80% to lift pre-Christmas store traffic and sales, it still wasn’t enough to draw out reluctant shoppers.”

 

Ok, I’m no mathmagician, but if I’m selling widgets that sold last year for $100 for $20, and only take a 1% hit on revenue, I’d say I didn’t a pretty good job of hitting the price point necessary to hit my revenue numbers.  At those prices, you basically sold just under 5 times more product than you did a year ago.

“We’re looking at companies who still have lots of cash and have reduced their inventory as opposed to those with the best holiday sales,” Beder said.”

 

So you are saying that companies that operate more efficiently weather economic slow-downs better than those who don’t .  Makes sense to me.

 

“Having appealing merchandise is important,” he said. “Consumer spending hasn’t died, consumers are just spending less. So the winners are also whoever is taking more market share amid smaller levels of purchases.”

 

AH-HA.  That makes sense.  People are a little thriftier, but they are still buying clothes, so you better have clothes people want.  I can see that.

 

The article goes on to say Walmart actually saw a 2.8% increase in sales, likely because people trimmed holiday spending and were looking for bargains. 

Again, I’m not trying to say the economy isn’t down.  It is.  But two things stand out to me:

·         I’m not sure those number add up to “horrible” based on my novice knowledge.

·         Maybe there are some other factors going on here.  Maybe some of these guys just have crappy clothes, or less and less people are going to the mall to buy.  Maybe the interwebs are stagnating their sales.  They’ve been missing Christmas sales expectations long before AIG tanked.