We have all heard about diversification when it comes to our investments.  Most people tend to believe that putting all your eggs in one basket is a highly risky approach to doing things.

This could apply on several levels. First, in terms of diversification among asset classes. For most of us, it’s probably not the best idea to be investing 100% in stocks – or bonds, or any other asset class.  Even if you did diversify well, you probably wouldn’t want to put all your money in one particular investment in an asset class. For example, within stocks, you wouldn’t want to put all your money into one particular stock – diversification within asset classes is important too.

All this being said, I think we can agree that for the average person, investments ought to be effectively diversified. But what about income?

There is regular chatter among many personal finance bloggers about the value of diversifying income streams. But I wonder this: among most mainstream (non-PF Blogger) folks, why is diversification of income not seen as being as critical as diversification of investments?

Think about it – most people will not put all of their investments into one particular company.  Sure, there are some who don’t believe in the concept of diversfication vs. investing in what you know, but that’s not super common. By default, if people have a 401k, they’re probably invested in many different companies by virtue of having mutual funds.  Or, if they own a home, they might have some equity in place. Perhaps they have bonds, or cash. Either way, it’s highly unlikely that their investments are tied up into one single company.

However, when it comes to income, many people seem to view it differently. Frankly, I used to be the same exactly way until the last year or so.  This meant looking at a job as THE source of income. Without a job, there’s no income.

Realistically, that’s probably the case with most people, I’d assume. It’s the way our society seems to be set up. However, this mindset seems to lag the sophistication we collectively have about diversification of investments. Shouldn’t income be diversified too?

If the primary source of people’s day to day money needs is their income – while savings are for retirement and other longer term needs – then it seems to make sense that income should be protected. This can happen by having a great career, but even then – you could be at the mercy of your employer, your industry, or economic conditions.  So, why not diversify income sources?

Again, while many personal finance bloggers think about this, I wonder why this concept of income stream diversification isn’t has seemingly top of mind as investment diversification?

Recommendation: let’s consider it to be essential to have multiple sources of income.

If we wouldn’t invest all our savings in one company, why invest all of our income potential in one company? Let’s really take action and work on multiple streams of income in the New Year!

My Questions for You:

Why do you think it is that many people might be hesitant to invest all their money in a particular company, but will totally depend on an income stream coming from one company in employment?

Are you taking action on generating an income stream that’s different from your day job?

Integrity is priceless. Most of us value ours, and choose to deal with others who also have it. This extends beyond personal relationships into business dealings as well.

This edition of the Squirreling Gone Wild series covers a time when promises were made about an upcoming bonus at work.  A number of folks got excited about it! However, things didn’t go quite as planned – for the employees who were so excited. This included me.

Background

This occurred at a job I had in the 90′s. It was at a job not long after college, where I started in an entry-level position. The company was probably not a household name, but it was fairly prominent within it’s market.

Anyway, a group of us entry level people had been working a ton of extra hours. Now, we knew that there would be a period of time where this would be expected, but we were asked to work extra days and longer hours for more time that originally communicated to us.  Mandatory Saturdays made for 6 day weeks for some time, and it wasn’t fun. We were getting paid very little, but I was of course committed to working hard and getting whatever experience I could out of it.

Met some good friends there too. That tends to happen when you’re in an entry-level position with a number of peers at about your age.  We got through it with a lot of joking around about the circumstances.

The Carrot

After this period of mandatory Saturdays and extra workload dragged on longer than we expected, there came word of a potential bonus in the works.  We had worked really hard, so this was a nice incentive for a group of younger, hungry people out of college.  This bonus was the proverbial carrot dangled in front of us, as an incentive to continue working hard.

So, we were happy and proceeded to get that extra boost in motivation. We were under the impression that there would be a bonus, but there was no specific date given. Just words indicating that it was being worked on, the exact timing isn’t certain yet, etc.  Yet we just assumed that of course, it would happen.

As time went on, we started to wonder when the bonus would come.  We had poured our energies into our work, thinking that we were going to be appreciated and rewarded for our efforts – especially since we were told so. There was a spike up in motivation that they got from the group as a result of the expectation of the bonus. Yet where was the bonus? After a while a sick feeling began to take hold that we weren’t going to get one. It seemed unfathomable.

Finally, we got an email which addressed the topic. It had been months, but we were also separately told a date: November 1st. What a magical date, that November 1st would be!

The aforementioned email had a reassuring  comment that we have not been forgotten.

The Squirreling

November 1st came and went without a bonus. At this point, it was exasperating.

Now, keep in mind that we weren’t making much money, so the bonus wasn’t going to really be all that much money anyway. But at the time, it was kind of a big deal, and even if irrational – people thought they were going to get this money.

One guy who had quit had talked about demanding receipt of his bonus.  It caused some laughter among those hearing about it. Another guy, who was really nice guy but a hard luck person, kept on saying that they’ll probably give it to us. He seemed to think that these things just take time in some cases.

Wishful thinking. We never got the bonus.

Yes, it never happened! In fact, they never gave us a detailed explanation. Again, all kinds of rumors floated about the bonus ended. Whatever the case, substantiated or not, these rumors just fueled the disappointment people had.

Now, I can admit that actually did get some very good experience there, and worked with some pretty cool people. A group of us that were friends would constantly joke around about the bonus. Have to say, we handled it pretty well at the time. What else could you do, but laugh? And leave, which we all did. We could still get in touch on November 1st and crack a joke asking if they got their bonus today.

Might as well laugh about it, right?

My Questions for You:

Have you ever been misled or burned, expecting money but never receiving it?

Have you heard of situations where people didn’t get paid for a service or product?

While this example happened some years ago, how would you handle it if it happened today?

In order to make money, we generally have to work. For us to make a lot of money, we generally have to be willing to work more hours. That’s a common view, and one I don’t necessarily disagree with. I’ve been known as someone who’s worked some super long hours at times, includes late nights in the office when need be.

That said, is there a point where too much work can be a bad thing?

It might be perceived as being bad to say, and almost lazy to proclaim. However, forging ahead with tons of hard work to bring in money may be harmful to people in the long term. This appears to be the conclusion of a recent study, which was summarized in this New York Times article.

The specific, noteworthy finding is that those people who work 11 or more hours per day were clearly more likely to develop heart disease over a 12 year period of time than those who work 7 or 8 hours per day. In fact, those working the excess hours were 66% more likely to have a heart attack or even die from one.

There’s something to be said for moderation. For many of us, it’s just not possible to get something for nothing. This applies in many aspect of life, and it looks like that might be the case in terms of working long hours, too. The chronic stressors related to taking on that significant level of work might lead to health problems. For some people, it’s like robbing from Peter to pay Paul.

I know that many people might dismiss this notion of regular 11 hour workdays being unhealthy. Well, hey – that’s what the study does seem to indicate though!

As I said earlier, I’ve had many instances in the past where I worked long hours. I mean, I’m talking stretches of 70 to 80 hours per week. I felt like a warrior doing so, going out to battle and bringing home the prize of a great performance review and a chance at a promotion. The reality is that this is bad for one’s health makes me wonder what I did to myself during those times.  Of course, I have to say that it’s not entirely surprising that this isn’t good for us. It’s just not as sustainable the older you get. Not just in terms of energy level, but family responsibilities as well.

A recent post on Financial Samurai discussed the topic of hard work and the 40-hour workweek. It was a great discussion, and one of my own comments was that nobody is entitled to be be rich. It has to be earned, and expecting riches while not putting in the necessary work is a sign of entitlement.  Many people who complain about having to work a 40 hours week (when younger and healthy) and then complain about not getting ahead financially might be expecting to get something for nothing. Or, perhaps more accurately, they’re expecting to get something of value by not giving enough value in return.

Which is what I said a few paragraphs above about working tons of hours. To do that, and expect the same level of health and family life, may not be totally realistic. Kids do need parents to be present and attentive.

My takeaways are:

1. Life is clearly about choices. If you don’t want to work, don’t expect wealth. Of course, if you want to push your mind and body by working long hours to get even more wealth, you might be trading some health for it. Sleep is important for wealth creation, as we’ve discussed here before.
2. Maybe it’s all really about time management. Instead of regular 60 hour weeks, perhaps it’s better to learn to be efficient with regular 45 hours of work.
3. If one is doing what he or she truly, absolutely loves to do and has some flexibility in where and when work can be done, maybe the work will cause less stress. Thus, the impact might not be the same as with other jobs. Who knows, maybe there’s something to that?

Please share: what do you think?

The following is a guest post from Gumtree.com

With few well-paying fulltime jobs going around, plenty of part time jobs are up for grabs to anyone willing to take them. More and more people have been picking up second jobs to supplement their income since the global credit crunch kicked in, and for those who work freelance having a secondary job can almost be a necessity. You should think carefully before taking the plunge into a second job though and there are a number of elements you should take into consideration.

Before you even consider looking for another job, you should first check your contract for any existing employment. Many contracts have clauses that may prevent you from taking a second job with anyone who could be seen as a competitor or might require you to receive written permission from your current employer.

Once you’re sure of your position with your current employer, you might want to take some time to consider just how lucrative a second job might be for you. Many people forget to take tax into account when chasing a second job and are disappointed with the size of their paychecks as a result. Taking a second job might even push you into the next tax bracket, which could actually bring your overall take home pay down. You will also need to be careful that you don’t overpay tax if you don’t fall into the next tax bracket – merely having a second job can make the tax office whack emergency codes on your tax account and the money lost to this can be difficult to recoup. If you are in receipt of working tax credits or child tax credits you may lose these if you take a second job, so weigh up the costs and benefits carefully.

If you have a family you should also take the time to consider how you taking a second job is going to affect them. Does this mean you won’t be able to see children as much, or take them to afterschool clubs and activities? Will your relationship with your spouse suffer? Unless you have no choice but to take a second job, you might find that there is a richer reward to be found in investing in your family than in another job.

A second job can bring massive rewards and can make a huge difference to you and your family’s lives, but take care to consider all your options before jumping in head first.

Change is one aspect of life that’s a constant.  When you think about it, very little stays exactly the same in our society.  Things evolve in one way or another, some fast and others very slowly and incrementally.  Along those lines, the workplace is always changing too.  Over the years, things have changed in many ways in the workplace, making it different than it was even a half generation ago.

Today, the workplace continues to evolve. I recently came across a piece from US News that discusses trends at work that will impact us in our day-to-day professional lives as we try to make and save money. we try to Here are the trends they identified, along with my comments:

1. Flexibility Abounds.  I agree with this, as I’ve seen companies show a bit more flexibility in this over the years. In past days, it would have been unheard of to offer flexible hours or even occasional work from home arrangements. Today, such situations are not at all uncommon, and even the norm in certain organizations. This is a trend I like!  One thing that wasn’t noted in the article, however, is that flexibility goes both ways here. Companies often expect more flexibility as well, as technology makes you more accessible.  With smartphones, email can be checked anywhere and at almost any time. If you’re not doing it, your colleague might be currying favor with the boss by being flexible. Anyway, when you net it all together, I think flexibility can be a good thing when managed well.
2. More People Are Working For Themselves.  To some degree, the barriers of entry to entrepreneurship have been lowered.  Get a domain name, host your site somewhere, and you’re in business!  No need to have a storefront! I think it’s important for people to focus on the most important sources of revenue first, but the way things are trending, I think that the pursuit of multiple streams of income - even if you’re trying to make extra money on the side - can be important. Plus, lifetime employment is a relic of a prior generation.
3. Not Sticking With One Job For a Lifetime.  I know people of a generation older than me that spent 25+ years working for the same organization. Among the long-term friends I have, I can only think of one person who has kept the same job for the last 10 years. Most others have had at least 2 during that time. Some have had 5 or more during that time frame, easily.  This is just the way it is now. Personally, I like long-term loyalty and am not opposed to the concept, but the velocity of change in business has just increased significantly it would seem.
4. Work-Life Balance is a Priority  I agree with the article, in that more workers – particularly younger ones – are expecting work-life balance. I have seen that in my experience, working with a guy 25 years older than me at a prior job who seemed shocked that any guy would want to leave work by 5:00pm to see his young child.  I have a perspective that’s perhaps more aligned with GenY workers than even my those in my own group, Gen X.  Anyway, I do think this is important to workers these days. However, with a tougher job market within the last few years than in prior decades, employers have the power back in their corner. It’s harder to make such demands on employers when they see tons of qualified candidates wanting jobs with limited openings.  So, while many of us value balance (while still working very hard, of course), I’m not sure that now is the time for pushing boundaries for many people.
5. Personal Branding is All the Rage.  I tend to agree with the article. Personally, I think Linkedin has really taken this to a new level. Your online professional brand is right there, in a centralized place for anybody to see.  Also, your social media activity can be viewed online quite easily.  The tools are available to build a great personal brand, but they’re also there to derail your personal brand. Make wise decisions!
6. Long-Term Unemployment Could be Here to Stay.  Have to agree on this one, unquestionably. Things do change, but at least for the the foreseeable future, there will probably be plenty of people unemployed for 6 months or longer – which is the timeframe that is used to determine long-term unemployment.  The implication here, from what I see, is to ratchet up your job performance, manage your career more carefully, and maintain a more robust emergency fund. As I’ve stated before, people should keep a bigger emergency fund than the 3 to 6 months that’s typically suggested.

My Questions for You:

What’s your take on these changes? I’ve given my view on each, including some implications – what do you think?

Are there any other workplace trends that you’ve seen?

These days, the job market isn’t exactly robust and thriving as it might have been in years past. Sure, things were especially tough a year or two ago, but it’s clear we’re still in a down cycle these days. The consequence of this is that employers can be picky when evaluating prospective job candidates – particularly in the resume screening phase.

A recent post on Couple Money about resume mistakes included a link to an interesting article in Daily Worth on how having an old email address could impair your chances to land a job.  In this case, old refers to uncool.  Examples that were given of such email addresses were those of Yahoo, Hotmail, and AOL.

Yes, if you have a personal email account with one of these domains, you may not be seen as being tech-savvy or with the times by some people. That’s the implication!  One person was noted as saying that applicants with such email addresses are given “demerits”, and another person indicated that people with those domains are “immediately eliminated”.

Now, I would have to think that it wouldn’t matter to most companies if you have an email address with one of those domains. However, clearly there are some employers who do seem to care. Perhaps it depends on the industry in which the company is operating, or the culture of  the company. Either way, what type of personal email address you have does matter to some people.

My instant conclusion on this specific matter was that having an “uncool” email address can cost you money!

At first blush, that seems far fetched as a general statement, and a bit extreme. However, while it probably won’t hurt you in most cases, it probably doesn’t help either.  Therefore, why not get a more “socially acceptable” email address domain – like Gmail?

When interviewing and competing against other qualified candidates, the best person doesn’t always get the job. That’s reality. Also, there are innumerable subjective assessments that people make about candidates, and many personal biases can come into play too. It’s just the way it is.

The same goes for other aspects of the job hunting.  How we dress, what we say, how we format our resume, how we shake hands….all are example of things that, unless glaring, don’t really indicate who is the most qualified person for the job.  Somebody could be really smart, tenacious, and have great people skills – yet not get a job due to a seemingly extraneous factor.

Weird, isn’t it? It just seems so inefficient!

That’s the reality of competing for a job these days, so fair or not, it’s best to be aware of such unwritten requirements and go into it by putting yourself in position to succeed.  It impacts your finances!

My Questions for You:

What do you think about the premise that an uncool email address can disqualify a candidate?

Have you seen or heard of people getting passed over for a job opportunity due to something seemingly inane?

The following is a guest post by Deidre Lin. Deidre is an author, artist, advocate of Healthy Living and owner of TransFormX, a blog & website focusing on Healthy Living for Body, Mind and Spirit in the middle of Chaos.

I recently replied to a Squirrelers post relating to how time is money and how long it takes to work to buy an item. It got me thinking about the different ways in which this situation impacts people and how being self-employed dictates most, if not all, of my spending habits.

I’ve been self-employed for almost 2 decades now, though not in the same profession.  Being self-employed certainly has advantages and of course has its downside too. We all know that everything can’t be perfect all the time. Perfect or not, being self-employed changes one’s view on budgeting, time and spending.

Consider that if you are self-employed you must not only bring in the work (marketing) you will also be responsible for the billing of invoices and then collecting the accounts receivables and all of these activities take time out of the day.  No, most clients will not pay up right away and usually follow the standard ‘net 30 days’ rule.  If you are lucky you will have a few on a ‘cash’ basis and be able to collect within a couple of weeks. Others will be in arrears 90+ days!

As you can see this impacts budgetary and spending concerns immediately and the question then becomes; how does one handle this on a daily basis?  Fixed expenses are handled one way and variable expenses are handled differently when budgeting for the self-employed situation.  As with any budgeting endeavor, first one has to get a good idea of what the fixed and variable expenses are each month.  Only then can you realistically plan your budget. Of course there are many other expenses that are involved with being self-employed, including taxes; but the following is to illustrate how different the budgetary concerns are.

The following are my tips for budgeting some self-employed fixed and variable expenses:

1.  Insurance premiums – we all have insurance premiums no matter what our employment situation is.

a) Insurance premiums are categorized as fixed expenses because we are pretty much locked into this expenditure whether we like it or not.

b) Budget and pay insurance in bulk – meaning either 6 month or 12 month blocks.  Schedule insurance renewals to come due during the busiest time of year for so that the incoming $$ is higher and more frequent.

c) Most insurance carriers offer a pretty good discount for paying 6 month or 12 month blocks – make sure to check this out.

2.  Rent/Mortgage – we all have our rent or mortgage to pay no matter what our employment situation is. When renting, if possible, base the lease on where you are working (relating to volume of work in that area) and plan accordingly for the beginning and ending of the lease term to coincide with incoming monies.

3.  Vehicle Payment – Obviously this is a fixed long-term expense even if the vehicle is leased.  Most lenders will try and work with you on having the payment coincide for whatever day during the month is necessary.  Again, it may be prudent to schedule the payment for the middle of the month to ensure that your month-end accounts receivable has been received and processed.

4.  Variable expenses such as food, utilities, cell phone and internet. These are variable expenses and some are more important than others.

a)  These are the easiest expenses to schedule during the month and can be paid whenever there is an opportunity to do so – before the date due.

b)  Another option is to set them all up as an automatic payment in the middle of the month like the vehicle payment.

5.  Miscellaneous expenses that occur. When self-employed, one must be prepared for the unexpected expenses that could ruin your monthly budget.  The best way to handle this is to set aside a specific amount for this eventuality and do not dip into it for any other expenses. Similar to an emergency account.

6.  Vacations…Taking a vacation when self-employed is an interesting endeavor and is worse than a variable expense J  Consider that if one is not working and billing clients daily – this directly translates to next month’s budget.  If one takes off 2 weeks to go on vacation you can quickly see the effects of the interruption in cash flow, if not sooner than later.  Yes, the vacation may be paid for in cash but the additional ‘cost ‘of your time must be factored in.  Let’s say in a given work week ‘Tom’ bills out 4,000 in revenue (hmmm pretty nice week!  Have any openings Tom?).  He saves up for a vacation that costs 5,000 and he will be gone for 2 weeks.  If he sticks to his initial 5,000 budgeted amount (and who really does on vacation?) he will have spent 13,000 when the 2 missed work weeks are factored in!!! Wow, hope the vacation was once in a lifetime “Tom”!

Now, as we all know it’s nice to be the chief cook and bottle washer. Personally, I would have it no other way and in many ways I appreciate the things I can but even more!  Now, where did that Tom guy go?  I wanted to do a bit of networking…

Unemployed Need Not Apply?

I recently read an article on Yahoo! Finance which relayed a growing trend: if you don’t have a job, you may not be considered for an open job.

Basically, the logic is that those who are not employed, having been laid off – for example – they’re not “A” players. If people are unemployed, they’re seen as being expendable. After all, if they were so great, why were they let go before? Clearly, they were replaceable or not necessary, so why should we hire them?

Now, I can understand the logic of this way of thinking. However, I think it’s foolish. These days, people get laid off jobs for all kinds of reasons. There are plenty of very talented people out there that have really good skills and the ability to excel at what they do. Sometimes things are circumstantial for people, and they’re caught up in bigger-picture economic conditions.

If someone is out there looking for work – and I mean ACTIVELY looking for work – they just well might be highly motivated. With bills to pay, and a family to support, people can be driven to do really good things.

I hope this “unemployment discrimination”, so to speak, can eventually be seen as being foolish. Personally, I think it’s great to give people a chance when they’re hungry for the opportunity and need it. There’s good business sense there.

Giveaways

There are just a few days left for the giveaway contest here at Squirrelers. I’m giving away 6 copies of H&R Block’s Premium Edition (Online)!  Go here to officially enter. Hurry, as the giveaway contest ends Monday, February 28.

Also, check out the fantastic giveaway at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, as Crystal celebrates her blog’s 1 year anniversary.

Blog Carnivals

This week, Squirrelers was included in several carnivals:

• Squirreling Gone Wild #22: Drive-Thru Discount was included in the Festival of Frugality at Money Crashers, and was bestowed the host’s honor of being the Festival’s Valedictorian (always nice to get such cool feedback!) 
• Time is Money: How Many Hours Did You Work to Buy That? was selected as an Editor’s Pick in the Carnival of Personal Finance, at MoneySmartLife
• Squirreling Gone Wild #21: Caveat Emptor was included in the Carnival of Money Stories and at Invest It Wisely
• Who Pays on the First Date: A Financial Lesson Learned was included in the Totally Money Blog Carnival, at Fat Guy Skinny Wallet
• Snow Insurance? Be Sure to Manage Weather Risks was included in the Cavalcade of Risk at Free Money Finance

Recommended Reading

Here are some articles from the personal finance blogoshphere that caught my eye :

• Did You Beat the Market, Mr. Market? at Money Cone
• 9 Sectors, 9 Great Dividend Stock Picks for 2011, at The Dividend Guy
• Why I’m Getting Out of Debt, at Deliver Away Debt
• 10 Innovative Ways You Can Invest in Real Estate, at Invest It Wisely
• 101 Tax Deductions for Bloggers and Freelancers, at Wisebread
• The 5 Most Financially Dangerous Haters, at You Have More Than You Think
• Why You Must Start Saving Now!, at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance
• Is Your Emergency Fund in Good Shape, at Not Made of Money
• 10 Things I Want My Kids to Learn About Money Before They’re Adults, at Frugal Dad
• I Grew Up Poor and Survived, at Yes I am Cheap

Let’s say you were a college student at one of the best universities in the U.S, who had not yet entered your senior year. Then, let’s say you thought it was very possible you might get a job offer paying you millions of dollars annually for several years. What would you do?

• A) Take the job offer, take the money, and leave college without your degree
• B) Wrestle with the decision, because you’re torn between dropping out of college for the money, and completing your education at a great, prestigious school
• C) Stay in school, get your degree, and take your chances next year and maybe get the same or better offer – or not.

It I was in that situation, I might for a moment think of B, as I value education highly. Then, my common sense would emerge and I would enthusiastically take A. Yes, I would become a college drop out, and throw away the chance to earn a prestigious degree, in order to cash in on the multi-million dollar job offer.

That, however, might not have been the thinking of Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. He just announced that he would be skipping the upcoming NFL draft, where some thought he could be the #1 overall pick. Luck decided that he would return to Stanford to play next season, which is potentially forgoing what could be a very, very big contract.

Just how big of a contract could that have potentially be? Can’t say for sure. But for a benchmark, we can look to last year’s NFL draft, and it’s top pick. Multi-million dollar contract ensued, for multiple years.

That might be an a analog, right there. #1 pick in the NFL draft, and a quarterback, the same position as Andrew Luck. Remember again that, the reported aforementioned contract for the previous top pick: multi-million dollar contract for multiple years.

Now, I’m all for staying in school for 99% of the people out there. I pursued both an undergrad and masters degree, and am glad I worked for it. Education is so important, and you’re reading the blog of someone who’s all about lifetime learning.

That said, isn’t it worth it to be a college dropout if you can make that kind of money? The thing is, you can always go back to school.

Sure, maybe not at Stanford. The degree might come from another school, let’s say it comes from a regular state school. Is that so bad? Nothing wrong with completing a degree when older. Heck, if you’re smart enough to be at Stanford in the first place, you should be able to finish up and get a degree somewhere decent later in life. With that money, you could do it full time and get it over with.

Worse, when coming back to school to play college ball, Luck might not be so lucky (sorry – the play on words was inevitable). He might get injured, even seriously injured. In that case, it could be a big risk. You never know, he could get injured to the point that he can’t play. It’s unlikely, but could happen. Hopefully not.

In any event, it’s could be said that Luck is taking a risk by coming back to school. Or, maybe not – maybe it’s a very smart move. Who knows for sure? I would guess that he made a great choice for himself, and may be a really bright guy. I’m of course don’t know all the factors going into a personal decision, and am just talking from the perspective of an ordinary fan and regular person, many of whom are risk averse. I’m not judging, and will assume that he made an intelligent choice that was the right one for him.

Here’s my question for you:

If you were a player in this situation, what would you ultimately do? Take the money and run, or stay in school?

Would you like a job that is a great fit for your interests and strengths, can offer you more money, or a better work/life balance? Unless you’re a stay at home parent, a student, or retired, you’re probably interested in a job (and career, bigger picture) that gets it done for you.  If you’re not working, perhaps you have a vested interest in a good job for someone close to you.

Some folks are truly 100% happy in what they’re doing, and couldn’t imagine doing anything else, ever. For the rest of the working world, it’s always important to take stock of one’s career, and where the current job fits with long-term goals. Along those lines, we often have to spend our time looking for another job, or at least exploring opportunities. Nobody wants to have a job lost to outsourcing, for example.  If we have no job, and aren’t totally working for ourselves, it’s imperative.

So, if you’re exploring job prospects, it’s important to have a road map, right?

Here are 5 Job Search Strategies that can be used to find the right opportunity:

1. Networking.  It’s often said that most jobs are obtained based on who you know, whether directly or indirectly.  This seems to be universal advice that is dispensed regularly, though my last 3 jobs were not obtained that way. In any event, there is clear evidence from many others that networking can work very well, and I believe in it. The two aspects of networking that I have observed are:
   • Direct Networking.  Here, I’m referring to directly contacting someone you know about a job. That person doesn’t have to be the hiring manager; rather, he or she can simply working at the company and have access to decision makers. In a job market with many qualified candidates, it helps to be the one with an internal reference.
   • Indirect Networking.  In this case, it’s not about contacting someone with direct access to a job. Here, it could be about getting in touch with someone who knows someone else who is a decision maker or who has access to one. Or, it could be simply contacting people to do informational interviews, to get information and to make a networking contact. Whichever way, these approaches can help build your network and lay the groundwork for you to find a job.
2. Online Job Boards.  For online job boards, there can be two sources:
   • Independent Boards.These include sites such as Monster and Career Builder, which are two of the most popular job search sites. There, you can find job listings at companies while filtering by different variables, such as geography and keywords, among others. One site gaining attention is Linkedin, which has primarily been a source of networking, but also posts jobs directly. A good site is Indeed, which sources listings from various sites.
   • Company Boards.  The websites of specific companies you’re interested in are the most direct places you can look. This can be helpful if you’re targeting a specific company, so you can simply see all jobs publicly posted rather than a filtered view from a larger board.
3. Recruiters.  In this category, I’m including individual recruiters and search firms. These people don’t work for you; rather, they work for the client company that hires them. That’s important to note when working with them, as even though they can be very helpful, one needs to be careful.  Sometimes they find candidates in specific fields, other times the candidates have already gotten in touch so that the recruiter knows about them. There are two general types of recruiters:
   • Retained Search.  These people are paid by a client to search for candidates for open position, and are often the exclusive searchers for the client.
   • Contingency Search.  Instead of being exclusive search firms for their clients, these people compete with other firms and get paid when they source a candidate that actually gets hired.
4. Cold-calling.  By this, I mean contacting a company and expressing interest in employment opportunities, by not using the methods above (networking, job postings, recruiters). This represents more of a scatter-shot, mass-emailing/calling type of approach. As with most such marketing efforts, your response rate will likely be low.  I would recommend the other approaches unless you have plenty of available time and can’t utilize the other ones – in which case, it could work.
5. Let the Job Find You.  Yes, this might not seem like it makes sense at first glance. It’s certainly shouldn’t be the primary option. However, sometimes people could come knocking. You never know. My suggestion here is to utilize Linkedin. By preparing a smart, strategic profile, you can be located by recruiters or companies themselves.  More likely, you’ll be contacted by others who want to network with you.  You never know where that might lead.

Personally, I recommend taking an active approach, no matter how you do it. Nobody cares more about your own future than you.

What about you?

How have you found jobs throughout your career? Have any of these job search strategies in particular worked for you?