Vjournal.com

Why it could take years to recover

Natalee Roan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:23:15 -0800

This article from the Motley Fool does a great job of expalining why we're not out of the wood

Words of Wisdom from Maya Angelou

Natalee Roan — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:29:01 -0800

I recently received a well-circulated email with these wonderful words from Maya Angelou's appearance on Oprah, who asked her about growing older.

Twitter made easy

Vjournal — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:19:35 -0800

Want to understand what twitter is all about? Check out these great twitter video tutorials by Mike Klinger.

How to see your competitors' resumes

Natalee Roan — Mon, 04 May 2009 06:47:11 -0800

What if you could see the resumes of candidates that are competing for similar jobs, just like employers do? Let's face it - many job seekers have never seen a resume for their job description other than their own, so they have no idea what their competition looks like. A competitive resume review is just what the doctor ordered. Every company researches what their competitors are up to - why shouldn't you? Here's how:

New research: Do investors prefer female CFOs?

Natalee Roan — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:33:40 -0800

New research reported on CFO.com "purports to show that the stock market reacts more favorably to both acquisition announcements and secondary equity offerings made by companies whose finance function is run by women." The article goes on to state that "the stock-price reaction to acquisitions was approximately 2 percent better when women were running the finance department," and that "women seemed to have an edge when it came to making secondary equity offerings. There, too, the market reaction was about 2 percent better for companies where a woman was in charge of finance."

Don’t let your email address speak for you

Natalee Roan — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:46:34 -0800

Something as innocuous as your email address could indeed impact how potential employers see you.

Using “cutesy” addresses based on a hobby, pet’s name or favorite sport or food may be fun with friends and Facebook or twitter but can come off as unprofessional to a recruiter or hiring manager. This goes for the domain name itself (the part after the @). Some recruiters see the use of an unprofessional email address as an indication of immaturity, an inability to separate one’s personal and professional lives, or as a result of sheer laziness or a lack of attention to detail, as in the case of a woman who changed her name when she married and is going by her married name on her resume - but was using an email address with her maiden name.

Besides unprofessional email addresses, there are other "don'ts" to consider:

What NOT to do in an interview

Natalee Roan — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:39:46 -0800

These interview videos are funny and explain why good people should not fear the higher unemployment rate - the cream will indeed rise!

When a "Free Trial" isn't free

Natalee Roan — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:36:04 -0800

Many so-called "free trials" for wrinkle creams, weight-loss products, and makeup samples are scams. Just about all of them ask for a credit card number for shipping and handling charges. You'll usually get the product alright - so it isn't outright fraud - but the creams, pills, and samples are worthless: what they really want is your credit card number based on the legitimacy of the trial so they can charge you for future products, the terms for which are usually hidden in some fine print that's almost impossible to find.

Fraud Alert - protect your security code from this new scam

Natalee Roan — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:55:22 -0800

This scam was sent in by a Vjournal subscriber - It's pretty slick because they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want. Note that the caller already has your credit card number, but is looking for you to give them the 3-digit security code on the back that is not part of the number. DO NOT GIVE ANYONE THIS CODE UNLESS YOU YOURSELF ARE MAKING A PURCHASE.

By understanding how the VISA & Master Card Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself. Here's what we've been told:

Is your LinkedIn Profile up to the job?

Natalee Roan — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:09:37 -0800

As I cruise through LinkedIn, it's clear that many people don't recognize what LinkedIn has essentially become - your de facto electronic resume. Whether you're looking for a job or not, at 36 million members and growing LinkedIn is now one of the first places other professionals go to find out more about you. Yet of the profiles I've viewed in the past 24 hours, a large percentage of them clearly don't put the profiler's best foot forward, while others are downright embarrassing - complete with typos and poor sentence structure.

In addition, I've had the opportunity to talk to a number of recruiters in the past few months, and most have told me that they are using LinkedIn to find candidates for the few open positions they may have available. They tell me it's a lot cheaper than Monster.com and the like, and they can find people who aren't looking for jobs rather than simply those that are. Right now, in a "buyer's market" for talent, they're also going by referrals more than ever. The first thing they do when they get a referral? Look you up in LinkedIn. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

How small investors get screwed

Natalee Roan — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:44:40 -0800

As I write this on February 24, 2009, the DOW is sitting at a 12-year low of 7,200 and predictions from the brainiacs on CNBC are that it will go into a free-fall to 6,000 before it's all said and done. But I'm not selling, I'm buying - slowly, a little bit at time. Because if I've learned anything, it's that none of these talking heads knows for sure what's going to happen. So I use a different barometer to make investment decisions. My barometer leads me to believe gold must be nearing a bubble, and stocks must be nearing their lows. What makes me think so?

Guide to hiring women from 1943 - Hilarious!

Natalee Roan — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 11:54:58 -0800

A subscriber just sent me this hilarious link to actual excerpt from Transportation Magazine written for male supervisors in 1943 on how to handle women in the workplace:

Don't buy into the lie

Natalee Roan — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:19:44 -0800

I can't stand it anymore so I have to speak up - Who the heck is clicking on these demeaning anti-wrinkle ads?

Do you dress like a leader?

Sandy Dumont — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 09:44:43 -0800

It's a fact that a woman’s appearance is under more scrutiny than a man’s, even if they are applying for the same position.

What lies beneath

Natalee Roan — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:00:00 -0800

Let's admit it - Most of us fall for the hype surrounding the latest, greatest wrinkle cream promises only to encounter disappointment after handing over our hard-earned money. I have found a great website which provides unbiased information on which treatments have been found to work versus which are pure hype. The site is SmartSkinCare.com

Is your company sales pitch costing you customers?

Natalee Roan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:09:31 -0800

I’ve been involved with startups most of my career, as an entrepreneur, investor, and consultant. When I meet a potential consulting client for the

Sarah Palin: National Embarrassment

Natalee Roan — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:22:05 -0800

Today it was revealed by Fox News that Sarah Palin did not know that Africa was a continent but instead thought it was a country, and that she didn't know the countries involved in NAFTA. If this story is true, I am outraged that such material facts about this VP nominee's qualifications for the job were hidden from the public.&nbsp

Twittering their productivity away

Natalee Roan — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:03:32 -0800

As more and more social networking, blogs, twitters and other ways to "connect" become available, it's harder than ever to keep team members focused. How can you ensure your priorities stay their priorities?

Sexist men earn higher salaries

Natalee Roan — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:14:52 -0800

A new study has found that men with traditional views of gender roles earn nearly $12,000 more than men and with egalitarian attitudes – and nearly $15,000 more than women. The study held constant factors like hours worked, industry, and job complexity, knocking down previous theories on pay disparity which argue that men earn more than women due to their choice of occupa

That cell-phone in his pocket could cause male infertility

Natalee Roan — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:54:10 -0800

A new study shows that men who keep their cell-phones in their pocket while talking when using a hands-free headset are at higher risk for male infertility, and possibly testicular cancer.

Inside the mind of Hillary supporters: Rating the Sarah Palin effect

Natalee Roan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:21:21 -0800

The vast majority of female Hillary supporters now support Obama. But the 14% who are holding out, or claim to have switched their support to McCain because of Palin, is a crucial voting bloc in such a hotly contested election. I was a Hillary Clinton supporter, and admit to shedding a tear or two during her convention sp

Dressing to distraction

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:21:32 -0800

I don’t think I am a sexist pig. I love working with “ball-busting” women in the workplace, and I’m proud of my wife’s accomplishments as a VP in a Fortune 500 company. I do some housework. And I think strip clubs are sad, desperate places.

Girl jocks make the best CEOs

Wendy P. Bohling — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:01:12 -0800

I’ve found that women who play team sports have better skills to compete in a male dominated business world. In our society, competition is viewed as more of a dirty word for women than men.

Women entrepreneurs are "it"

Natalee Roan — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:48:08 -0800

After bootstrapping her company for 2 years, Cynthia Francis, founder and CEO of Reality Digital, determined it was time to seek additional capital to grow the company. Reality Digital provides hosted software to enable custome

A culture of cowards

Natalee Roan — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:15:54 -0800

Alyssa Royse, entrepreneur and business blogger for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, one of Seattle’s daily newspapers, recently wrote an admittedly frivolous post comparing the movie Batman the Dark Knight to risks in a business venture.