Oracle of NY

Lessons Learned - Extreme Job Hunting

I've made The Wall Street Journal as an extreme job-hunting expert:

Joblessness transformed Joshua Persky, James A. Williamson III and Peggy Greco into experts about extreme job-hunting tactics....and could provide a playbook for countless unemployed Americans. Mr. Persky learned to become a multi-faceted entrepreneur. Mr. Williamson discovered why personal networks matter. Ms. Greco recognized the importance of targeted marketing.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204660604574375060814195286.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

Economic Forecast for 2010

In honor of the upcoming 1st anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse on September 15th, I am giving a synopsis of my past year and an economic forecast for 2010 based on my personal experience.

Last year, when Lehman Brothers collapsed, I had already been an unemployed investment banker for almost nine months. However, as a poster boy for the economic crisis, I was known around the world as the "Face of the American Economy," "Sign of the Times" and the "Sandwich Board Guy."

It seemed as thought the economy was going from bad to worse, and I pretty much gave up on finding a job in New York City or even in the USA, so I started looking abroad.

Within days, at the request of a Japanese doctor who had seen me on Japanese television, I was planning a trip to Yokohama to interview for a position as manager of a private cancer research and treatment clinic. Coincidentally, at the same time, I was contacted by a recruiter in New York City concerning a Sr. Manager Valuation and Corporate Finance position at a large accounting firm. The hiring manager was looking for a valuations professional who could write.

During October, I went through a series of rigorous interviews.

In late October, I flew to Yokohama to meet Dr. Tetsuji Okuno, but as soon as I arrived, I received the offer from the accounting firm in New York City. I accepted the offer, had a wonderful and inspirational experience in Yokohama - but returned to New York and started working on December 1st.

As 2009 rolled around, I was personally ecstatic to be back at work after nearly a year of unemployment, but the economic and work environment was severe. People from around the world were congratulating me for my inspirational story of perseverance and reaching out to me for job-hunting advice. With a literary agent asking me to write an inspirational book about my experience, along with practical job-hunting advice, and restructuring decimating my group at work, I left the accounting firm to focus on writing, inspirational speaking and consulting.

My book is written. My agent is generating interest from publishers in the USA and abroad. I've sold a few job-hunting advice articles to Reuters and efinancialcareers.com. I've been marketing my consulting services and am on the verge of getting some work. I even have an exciting job lead and may be able to  unify all my activities. Furthermore, my publicity continues to grow as my story continues to inspire people and generate interest at home and abroad.

As for 2010, I can tell you one thing for sure, with unemployment at these levels in the USA and Japan, "Fasten your seat belts, we're in for a bumpy ride!"

If you are looking for a job:
1. Be creative.
2. Be open to change.
3. Get professional help.
4. Rewrite your resume.
5. Identify your brand and sell it.
6. Don't give up.
7. Get your family on board.
8. Be patient.
9. Lower your expenses as much as possible.
10. Do what you need to do to keep your spirits up (exercise, eat right,
meditate and/or pray). Don't lose hope!

Identify Your Brand and Sell It

You may not think of yourself in terms of a brand. I didn't either. However, personal branding is an important element in marketing yourself to prospective employers. A personal brand can make you easily recognizable, emphasize your best skills and traits, give you a competitive edge, enhance your reputation, and enable you to efficiently garner attention, expand your network and reach your goals.

I just had my second job-hunting advice article published by efinancialcareers.com and look forward to writing at least a few more:
http://news.efinancialcareers.com/newsandviews_item/newsItemId-20926

 

Conclusions from a Year of Crisis

Chairman Ben Bernanke at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's Annual Economic Symposium, Jackson Hole, Wyoming:

Since we last met here, the world has been through the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. The crisis in turn sparked a deep global recession, from which we are only now beginning to emerge.

As severe as the economic impact has been, however, the outcome could have been decidedly worse. Unlike in the 1930s, when policy was largely passive and political divisions made international economic and financial cooperation difficult, during the past year monetary, fiscal, and financial policies around the world have been aggressive and complementary. Without these speedy and forceful actions, last October's panic would likely have continued to intensify, more major financial firms would have failed, and the entire global financial system would have been at serious risk. We cannot know for sure what the economic effects of these events would have been, but what we know about the effects of financial crises suggests that the resulting global downturn could have been extraordinarily deep and protracted.

Although we have avoided the worst, difficult challenges still lie ahead. We must work together to build on the gains already made to secure a sustained economic recovery, as well as to build a new financial regulatory framework that will reflect the lessons of this crisis and prevent a recurrence of the events of the past two years. I hope and expect that, when we meet here a year from now, we will be able to claim substantial progress toward both those objectives.

Be Open to Change

When looking for a job, especially in economically challenging times, it helps to be open to change.

Taking my own advice, I can now add eFinancialCareers.com to the list of my writing credits along with Forbes Blogging Network and Reuters Blog.

http://news.efinancialcareers.com/newsandviews_item/newsItemId-20816

TALF Extension

From the Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department:

The Federal Reserve Board and the Treasury Department on Monday announced that they approved an extension to the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) and that, at this time, they do not anticipate any further additions to the types of collateral that are eligible for the facility.

Conditions in financial markets have improved considerably in recent months. Nonetheless, the markets for asset-backed securities (ABS) backed by consumer and business loans and for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) are still impaired and seem likely to remain so for some time.

To promote the flow of credit to businesses and households and to facilitate the financing of commercial properties, the Federal Reserve and Treasury approved extending TALF loans against newly issued ABS and legacy CMBS through March 31, 2010. Because new CMBS deals can take a significant amount of time to arrange, the Federal Reserve and Treasury approved TALF lending against newly issued CMBS through June 30, 2010.

The Board will continue to monitor financial conditions and will consider in the future whether unusual and exigent circumstances warrant a further extension of the TALF to help promote financial stability and economic growth. The Federal Reserve and Treasury had previously authorized TALF loans through December 31, 2009.

Unemployment by the Numbers (cont.)

From the U.S. Department of Labor:

In the week ending Aug. 8, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 558,000, an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 554,000. The 4-week moving average was 565,000, an increase of 8,500 from the previous week's revised average of 556,500.

The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Aug. 1 was 6,202,000, a decrease of 141,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 6,343,000. The 4-week moving average was 6,259,250, a decrease of 27,750 from the preceding week's revised average of 6,287,000.

Economic Activity is Leveling Out

From the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC):

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June suggests that economic activity is leveling out. Conditions in financial markets have improved further in recent weeks.

Household spending has continued to show signs of stabilizing but remains constrained by ongoing job losses, sluggish income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Businesses are still cutting back on fixed investment and staffing but are making progress in bringing inventory stocks into better alignment with sales.

Although economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time, the Committee continues to anticipate that policy actions to stabilize financial markets and institutions, fiscal and monetary stimulus, and market forces will contribute to a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth in a context of price stability.

The prices of energy and other commodities have risen of late. However, substantial resource slack is likely to dampen cost pressures, and the Committee expects that inflation will remain subdued for some time.

In these circumstances, the Federal Reserve will employ all available tools to promote economic recovery and to preserve price stability. The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.

As previously announced, to provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets and to improve overall conditions in private credit markets, the Federal Reserve will purchase a total of up to $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and up to $200 billion of agency debt by the end of the year. In addition, the Federal Reserve is in the process of buying $300 billion of Treasury securities.

To promote a smooth transition in markets as these purchases of Treasury securities are completed, the Committee has decided to gradually slow the pace of these transactions and anticipates that the full amount will be purchased by the end of October. The Committee will continue to evaluate the timing and overall amounts of its purchases of securities in light of the evolving economic outlook and conditions in financial markets.

The Federal Reserve is monitoring the size and composition of its balance sheet and will make adjustments to its credit and liquidity programs as warranted.

North American Leaders

From the Joint Statement by North American Leaders in Guadalajara:

Promoting recovery from the current global economic crisis is a priority for each of us. By working together, we will accelerate recovery and job creation, and build a strong base for long-term prosperity. We look forward to the coming G20 Summit in Pittsburgh and will join efforts to ensure that the G20 continues to advance effective global responses to the crisis, including working to strengthen international financial institutions that are vital to assisting countries to restore economic vibrancy. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) plays a crucial role in mitigating the effects of the crisis in the Americas, particularly for the most vulnerable citizens of our Hemisphere. We support an accelerated review of the IDB to ensure it has sufficient short-term lending capacity.

Our integrated economies are an engine of growth. We are investing in border infrastructure, including advanced technology, to create truly modern borders to facilitate trade and the smooth operation of supply chains, while protecting our security. Building on these investments, we will work together to strengthen the resilience of our critical infrastructure, which transcends borders and sustains the well-being of our communities and economies. We will cooperate in the protection of intellectual property rights to facilitate the development of innovative economies. We commend the progress achieved on reducing unnecessary regulatory differences and have instructed our respective Ministers to continue this work by building on the previous efforts, developing focused priorities and a specific timeline.

Independence and Accountability

From the Financial Crisis Advisory Group (FCAG) report on standard-setting activities following the global financial crisis:

To develop standards that are high quality and unbiased, accounting standard setters must enjoy a high degree of independence from undue commercial and political pressures, but they must also have a high degree of accountability through appropriate due process, including wide engagement with stakeholders and oversight conducted in the public interest.

Convergence of Accounting Standards

From the Financial Crisis Advisory Group (FCAG) report on standard-setting activities following the global financial crisis:

Because of the global nature of the financial markets, it is critically important to achieve a single set of high-quality, globally converged financial reporting standards that provide consistent, unbiased and transparent information, regardless of the geographical location of the reporting entity.

Limitations of Financial Reporting

From the Financial Crisis Advisory Group (FCAG) report on standard-setting activities following the global financial crisis:

Although effective financial reporting provides indispensable rigor and transparency to the market, investors, analysts, regulators and others cannot rely exclusively on the information it provides.

All users should recognize the limitations of financial reporting: it provides only a snapshot in time of economic performance, and cannot provide perfect insight into the effects of macro-economic developments.

Financial reporting is also dependent on the generation of reliable data by well-functioning markets that have proper infrastructure, and the use by financial institutions and other business entities of proper processes for price verification and other aspects of the valuation of assets and liabilities.

Effective Financial Reporting

From the Financial Crisis Advisory Group (FCAG) report on standard-setting activities following the global financial crisis:

Financial reporting plays an integral role in the financial system by striving to provide unbiased, transparent and relevant information about the economic performance and condition of businesses. Effective financial reporting depends on high quality accounting standards as well as the consistent and faithful application and rigorous independent audit and enforcement of those standards.

Financial reporting is of great importance to investors and other financial market participants in their resource allocation decisions and to regulators and other users. The confidence of all these users in the transparency and integrity of financial reporting is critically important to global financial stability and sound economic growth.

Where regulatory standards differ from accounting standards in ways that could have significant effects on financial reporting, the effects of those differences should be disclosed in a manner that does not compromise the transparency and integrity of financial reporting.