Career Aspects of Personal Finance

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Career Aspects of Personal Finance

• Chapter 2

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Merging Your Career Choice With Your Personal
Goals

• Realize that what you study in college may drive
  your career for the next 40 years
  
• Is it more important for you to do something you
  enjoy or
  
• Is it more important for you to make money
• Maybe you can accomplish both

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Money and Financial Security

• For most of you, your wages/salaries will provide
  the bulk of your income until you retire
  
• You job will be the source of your retirement
  contributions
  
• You job will be the source of other benefits such
  as health insurance, disability insurance, etc.

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Other Issues

• Job satisfaction
• For many people, this is more important than
  income
  
• Intellectually challenging, pleasant work
  environment, friendly coworkers
  
• Social contribution
• Desire to contribute to society

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Variables That Affect Your Income Potential

• Education
• Those with bachelors degrees earn almost twice
  as much as high school graduates
  
• Gap has widened in recent years
• People with higher education levels experience
  lower unemployment levels
  
• However, college costs have risen at a much
  greater rate than inflation

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Figure 2.1 Relationship Between Educational
Level and Income
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Figure 2.3 Unemployment and Education
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The Importance of Continuing Education

• In many occupations, you are financially rewarded
  for advancing your education
  
• Nursing, teaching, engineering, etc.
• Other occupations require annual continuing
  education to retain licenses
  
• CPAs, real estate agents, etc.
• Continuing education programs are available at
  most community colleges and other higher learning
  institutions
  
• Designed for working adults
• Often scheduled at night and on weekends
• Many employers offer tuition reimbursement and
  release time

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Figure 2.5 Average Starting Salary (by
bachelor's degree)
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Occupations Earning Patterns

• Should not just consider the starting salary for
  an occupation
  
• Some occupations pay more at the starting level
  but others may have higher salary potential

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How to Choose a Career

• Take a personal inventory
• Examine future outlook for jobs
• Measure career potential
• Consider the benefits of preparation for an
  occupational cluster
  

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Take a Personal Inventory

• Define your career goals
• Explore your career interests
• List your skills and special talents
• Check out your campus placement center for
  information and personality tests
  
• List your educational background and try to apply
  it to the job market
  
• Analyze your likes/dislikes from previous jobs
• Explore your hobbies and personal interests

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Web Links

• Game that attempts to match ones individual
  interests and skills with similar careers
  
• http//career.missouri.edu/modules.php?nameNewsf
  ilearticlesid146

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Help is Available from Career Counselors

• Career counselor will interview, test, and
  counsel clients about careers
  
• Interview and testing process may take several
  days to complete
  
• Tests measure career-oriented abilities
• Verbal
• Computational
• Mechanical
• Social
• Sales
• Supervisory
• Personality dimensions

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How to Measure Career Potential

• Changing career scene requires that you focus on
  the following
  
• The industrys growth prospects some industries
  are expected to grow much faster than others
  
• The occupations growth prospects careers with
  greatest potential are those with economic
  growth, not worker attrition

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Figure 2.6 Projected Employment Growth by Major
Industry Division
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Figure 2.7 The Ten Fastest-Growing Industries
20022012
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How to Measure Career Potential

• Job location a depressed area will offer fewer
  career opportunities
  
• Certain geographical locations offer better
  prospects for specific occupations
  
• The employers growth prospects financial
  soundness of company
  
• Recently, many large companies have downsized
• Most experts believe growth in jobs will be
  created by small- and medium-sized companies

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Prepare for an Occupational Cluster

• An occupational cluster is a group of related
  jobs
  
• Example If you get a degree in finance, you
  could work in banking, investment management,
  brokerage sales, real estate, or financial
  analysis
• Makes you more marketable in todays changing job
  market
  
• The broader your skills, the more employable you
  are

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Prepare for an Occupational Cluster

• Request assignments in other areas of your
  organization
  
• Sign up for training opportunities even if it
  does not relate to your current assignment
  
• If you choose an advanced degree, you may be
  better off broadening your knowledge rather than
  deepening it

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The Self-Employment Option

• Self-employed workers make up about 7 of todays
  workforce
  
• Some experts believe this will rise rapidly in
  the next decade
  
• Outsourcing has become more common
• Half of all businesses do not survive for two
  years
  
• Earnings can be erratic from year to year
• Health-care expenses and taxes can be more if you
  work for yourself

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Working at Home A New Employment Trend

• Advances in technology have made this easier for
  both employees and employers
  
• With fewer commuters, there is less traffic
  congestion
  
• California promotes telecommuting for this
  reason
  
• Frees workers from drudgery and expense of
  commuting
  
• Givers workers more time for work and personal
  commitments

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Sources of Career Information

• Use the library
• Career guidance and placement center on campus
• Can provide detailed information about
• Specific industries and firms in your areas
• List of where recent graduates are employed
• Helps you network
• Handles on-campus interviews

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Electronic Sources of Career Information

• Many employers advertise on the Internet
• Many career-oriented Web sites
• Posted job opening as well as the ability to
  submit resumes
  
• Most are free

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Web Links

• Career-oriented Web sites
• http//www.careerbuilder.com/
• http//www.careers.org/
• http//www.employmentguide.com/
• http//www.jobweb.com/
• http//www.jobstar.org/
• http//www.americasemployers.com/
• http//www.monster.com/
• http//www.careers.wsj.com/
• http//www.jobhuntersbible.com/

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The Job Search

• Many people procrastinate with their job
  searches
  
• However, should start early in the fall of the
  year they expect to graduate
  
• Employers like applicants who are
• Well-organized
• Prepared
• Informed

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Where to Look

• Start with relatives, friends and acquaintances
• Campus career planning and placement office
• Set up a placement filecontains interview sheet,
  transcripts, references
  
• Job service centers
• Private placement agencies (headhunters)
• Professional associations
• Newspapers and trade publications
• Direct solicitation of local employers

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The Effectiveness of Job Search Techniques

• Many job search techniques are relatively
  ineffective
  
• About 2/3 of all jobs are found by people using
  informal methods
  
• Networking
• Personal contacts
• Direct employer contacts
• Most job openings are in the hidden job market
• Havent yet been advertised or are created for
  individual job seekers

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Table 2.1 The Five Least-Effective Ways of
Finding a Job
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How to Write an Effective Resume

• Resume personal data sheet listing your
  employment qualifications
  
• Aimed at convincing potential employers that you
  are right for the job
  
• Should contain at a minimum
• Identification
• Job objective
• Background

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How to Write an Effective Resume

• You may have gained valuable skills in the past
  that can be transferred to another job
  
• Dont forget about volunteer experience
• Use a straightforward, factual presentation
  style
  
• Try to limit to one page
• Adjust margins, font size, spacing
• Print on good-quality paper
• Appearance is important
• Be professional

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How to Write an Effective Resume

• Resume formats
• Chronological lists work and educational
  experience in chronological order
  
• Functional highlights important job skills,
  etc.
  
• Targeted focuses on a specific job target and
  lists your qualifications as they relate

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Cover Letters

• A cover letter is a letter attempting to sell
  yourself to a potential employer
  
• Tailor each cover letter to the job for which you
  are applying
  
• Address it to a specific individual
• Limit it to one page
• Always send your resume with a cover letter
• Even if submitted electronically

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Cover Letters

• Should contain three elements
• Attention-grabber
• Selling yourself
• Explain what you offer and summarize your
  background
  
• Call to action
• Ask potential employer to call you or say that
  you will be calling them

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The Job Interview

• Face-to-face meeting with prospective employer
• First impressions are made
• Prepare in advance
• Learn about employer in terms of size, products,
  locations, philosophy, etc.
  
• Approach interview with self-confidence
• Stress your qualifications
• Only talk about weaknesses if interviewer brings
  them up
  
• Try to minimize their effect
• Listen carefully to interviewer and respond as
  directly as possible

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The Job Interview

• Ask interviewer questions about company and job
  position
  
• Interviewer will be influenced by
• Your ability to express yourself
• Your enthusiasm
• Your posture and dress
• May have to take an aptitude text
• Unethical to sign up for an interview for
  practice

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Deciding on a Job Offer

• If you receive a hiring interview, you must
  decide if job matches your
  
• Career goals
• Financial goals
• Work environment goals
• Many job applicants find themselves having to
  choose between multiple job offers

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Salary and Benefits

• Should expect a competitive salary
• May be able to tactfully negotiate a higher
  salary
  
• Dont look at just the numbersconsider the whole
  package
  
• Work environment
• Advancement opportunities
• Potential top salary
• Fringe benefits
• Health insurance
• Group life insurance
• Reimbursement for educational expenses
• Retirement plan

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Reentering the Workforce

• Employers want evidence that your knowledge and
  skills are current
  
• Try to keep your skills current by
• Taking part-time volunteer jobs
• Working on freelance projects
• Taking refresher courses