Myths On Money

Anybody who happens to be job hunting right now might be interested in something I just read. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a new trend in resume creation and distribution. It’s called a website resume. Basically, you contact a service, and they create a resume for you that has it’s own url. you can put text, pictures, links, and (in some cases) graphs and even videos! It sounds pretty cool to me. Plus, if you are on a social networking site such as LinkedIn you can connect your web resume to your profile there and let all your contacts know your qualifications.

The Journal tested four different web resume services, and reported on their quality, ease-of-use, and probable effectiveness to potential employers. I thought it was very interesting that the best resume site was also the one that was completely FREE. Here’s what the Journal had to say about the winner: VisualCV.

We were impressed by how easy VisualCV, a free service, was to use and by the wide array of colors, fonts and backgrounds. You can choose to have your information automatically transferred from your LinkedIn account, and like the other services, you can cut and paste from your resume. We really liked the clean presentation of Web links to our work and how we could download the site into a PDF version. It’s also possible to upload images, video, audio and almost any document. Though phone customer service is available, we didn’t need it because the site was easy to set up.

The Journal called upon the services of a professional recruiter to give her opinion of the various sites. Here’s what she had to say:

Ms. Johnson said VisualCV.com was far and away the best of the four sites. “It has a clean, clear, crisp layout,” she says. From an employer’s perspective, she felt it is easy to follow, and a visitor isn’t left wondering what to click.

One last point to remember, though, is that technology will never trump the power of personal impression. Here’s the Journal’s conclusion:

So while technology is wonderful in many respects, in the case of Web r�sum�s, we think tradition trumps fancy Web sites. Though the sites aren’t difficult to design, they won’t necessarily give you a leg up over other job candidates and might even be a hindrance if not properly executed, as Ms. Johnson pointed out. When it comes to a r�sum�, says Ms. Johnson, substance trumps style, so fancy Web sites aren’t a substitute for knowledge, skills and abilities. In this challenging environment, she adds, a Web-based version, such as one from VisualCV.com, and a thorough LinkedIn profile, is a smart complement to a paper r�sum�.

To read the entire article, visit The Wall Street Journal online.

You really can become debt free. Whether you are struggling to make it to the next paycheck, wanting more to retire, desperate to stop the collector’s phone calls, or just want to find a peaceful night’s sleep, you can find the financial help you need right here to become debt free. Once you become debt free, your wealth becomes free to grow rapidly, and you can rest well at night knowing your family is secure.

That’s why I designed this website: to provide you with everything you will need to know and have in order to become debt free and find financial freedom. If you want to rid your life of the stress of a tight family budget, get real debt help, and find true financial freedom, then you are in the right place. You can find plenty of free help and free blog posts for you to use to help you find relief. And, if you can’t find the answer you are looking for, feel free to ask a question.

“Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for – in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it.”
- Ellen Goodman

Prepare to be EXCEPTIONAL.

The complexity of the current credit crisis we are facing can be daunting. Understanding how the credit crisis happened can be even more daunting than understanding what the crisis even is.

But I have to tell you that I was blown away by this video by Jonathon Jarvis. He breaks down the crisis so simply and cleanly that it makes perfect sense. Plus, the visualizations are fantastic, and make it fun to watch. It’s a smidge on the long side, but trust me, it’s worth finishing.

This video answers all of the following questions:
What is the credit crisis?
What caused the credit crisis?
What is a sub-prime mortgage?
What is a credit default swap?
What is a collateralized debt obligation?

Check it out. You will not be disappointed.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

I have recently been reading a book about how to communicate more effectively in every aspect of our lives, and found that one of his points in regards to communications really hits home for our personal financial situations.

The author makes the point that our decision making processes are fundamentally emotional, and that it is not until after we have made a decision based upon our emotions do we actually start to find facts to support our decision. He emphasized that, in order to make a sale, the salesman must first pass the emotional gates in our minds and establish trust, and then once the emotional test has been passed, the deal is as good as done.

I thought about his premise. Could all our decisions really be emotional, not factual? After some thought, I figured that he was right. If cars, for instance, were purchased solely on the basis of fact and logic, then very few large trucks would ever be sold, and very few sports cars would ever be sold. Why? Because these vehicles look their best when viewed emotionally and not logically. Logically, for example, you could drive a Corvette, but go no faster than the rusted out VW Bug that’s blocking the lane. Logically, a spacious SUV could tow a trailer almost as well as the huge truck. Logically, these vehicles cost more to buy, drive, and insure, and yet they continue to be sold in large numbers. Why? Because they have great emotional appeal. Sports cars look great and sound great, and can be a lot of fun when you mash the gas pedal. The truck looks tough and rugged and powerful (an image that rubs off on the driver!). These are emotional arguments for these vehicles.

Once the vehicle has been purchased, then come the logical arguments. A family member is moving, and suddenly the huge truck looks like very logical and wise purchase. The Corvette rushes down the freeway at 120 mph, getting you to your destination in less time. These factual supports for the emotional decision come after-the-fact. The truth is that while the truck is useful sometimes, how often do you haul tons of dirt around or tow a 50 ft trailer? How often do you need to drive 120 mph, and how often could you even make it through traffic at that speed?

This post is not anti-truck/sports car. The point is that, whether we like it or not, our emotions play a critical role in our purchasing decisions. If we all made decisions based purely on fact, then the only people who bought large trucks would be those people who need to use the power and size and utility of a truck on a regular basis, and everybody else would drive small hybrids and rent a truck on the occasions when it would be needed. From a purely factual standpoint, it would be cheaper for the large majority of people.

This introduces what I will conceptually call “Buyership”. Does buyership sound like a made-up word to you? It should because it is. I made it up. Coined it myself. Salesmanship embodies the techniques for prompting a sale. Buyership is just the opposite of salesmanship. It is dedicated to recognizing when we are under the influence of salesmanship, and for finding escape from that influence so that we can make sound financial decisions. We will develop the principles of buyership in future posts. For now, just remember to be careful of your emotions when considering a major purchase. With each decision, try to set your emotions aside for just a few minutes and give serious consideration to the facts. Make sure you give the facts a chance to speak for themselves. They may not change your emotional decision. And that’s fine. But make sure you have at least considered the facts before you commit, because if you don’t then you are not in full control of your finances. Your emotions are. And sometimes our emotions can get carried away, and before we know it, our finances have suffered. Enter your decisions by giving consideration to both your emotions and the facts so that you can retain control of yourself and your spending.

http://yourrelationshipsaver.com