Since the 4th of July holiday is upon us in the States, we are taking an extra day or two to soak up some sun, sit on the beach, and get some much needed R&R.  We’ll see you all back here on Monday. 

But, for those of you not in the States  or who are wishing for  more of the good reads on The Glass Hammer, we hope that you will take some time to dig into our archives and read some of our more popular articles like these articles on work/life balance, career, professional development,  and networking advice,  news on women in the Fortune 500 and professional services, the effect of the current economic crisis on women, companies that “get it“, or any of our profiles of top women that we’ve done for our Voices of Experience series.

Contributed by Kunjal Tanna, Team Leader of the Huxley Associates New York Global Markets.

I am a trained lawyer who has been laid off from a bank during the economic shake-up. I had been with the bank for 10 years and during this time I have amassed a salary of almost $200k and an additional 10 days of vacation. I would like some advice on how I should handle the salary questions that will be asked at interview, I don’t want to sell myself short but I also don’t want to price myself out of the market. I would also appreciate some guidance on how to negotiate my vacation package.

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By Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

Investor transparency, risk management, increased regulation, and “do more with less”: those were the buzz words on everyone’s lips when top executive women and men in financial technology gathered at the SIFMA Technology Management Conference and Exhibit held June 23rd – 25th at the Hilton in Midtown New York.

Over the three days, speakers and attendees alike examined the issues in depth, including:

1. Balancing Conflicting Forces of Tighter IT Budgets and Ever-Increasing Demands for Greater Productivity. Noted industry powerhouses such as Anna Ewing, CIO of The NASDAWQ OMX Group, Robert W. Moffat, Jr., SVP and Group Executive of IBM Systems and Technology Group, and Michael Blum of World Wide Financial Services, TSG, all spoke to some degree on lessons learned from the current economic crisis and the effect on IT infrastructure. Don Hopkinds, VP and CIO of SunGard Availability Services gave specific examples of the many ways an IT departments can seek to reduce its costs through the streamlining of application portfolios and the managing the rate supply and demand for tech services, including managing the tiering of network capacity where applicable. The basic message was that companies need to take a long hard look at their IT expenditures and think creatively about their IT needs.
2. Personalization and Consolidation as a Growth Area. Clare Hart, EVP of Dow Jones & Company spoke of what she sees as the future of financial technology, reminding the audience “not to forget the ‘I’s’ – information, innovation, and (self) interest. She spoke specifically of a still increasing trend of consolidation and personalization of the information presented in a visual way on a single screen. “What [people are] interested in is pulling more information from data [for example, for investment bankers a consolidation of client communication, financial markets, news, data prospecting, and other important information] and from mashup tech to create [one’s] own desktop.”
3. Information Security Patrick F. Peck of Booz Allen Hamilton spoke of the new challenges in information security, which has been made much more difficult not only by the tightening budgets but also by an increasing threat from around the world. “Malicious attacks grow more serious and increase in volume and severity. In addition to this we have complex interconnected net that…increases vulnerabilities. This is too large and complex for any one authority [company, government, or society] to handle alone.” He added that we need tri-sector leadership to properly deal with the challenges. “Security framework is not just tech issue,” he added, “but is about the people and corporate culture, operations, policy and strategy, tech, management and budgeting… You are only as strong as your weakest link. You have to address cyber-security holistically.” But, he was quick to add that it is impossible to protect 100% so you must have a plan to contain and address the damage.

Perhaps the biggest story at SIFMA, though,was behind the scenes: the buzz about the significant reduction in the size of the event itself, which many saw as a sign of the hard economic times. Several SIFMA veterans took note of certain missing parties from small companies to some of the industry leaders. Said Joanne Kinsella, Managing Director of ITRS, “A lot of the big players aren’t here – Microsoft, Bloomberg, SunGard – and that is a big message. They seem to be having social events rather than having booths. Maybe it brings us back to the talking point– people want to do more with less - and if they can have a drinks party and still get a stack of business cards, that is as good a networking opportunity as any and of much lower cost than the booth.  With the increase in social networking upon us, maybe we will see more of this and fewer face-to-face opportunities.” Others noticed that the number of attendees was down as well. One industry leader who has been coming to the event for over 10 years noted that it felt like the number of attendees was down by about a 1/3.

Despite the difference from years past, Annie Morris, Managing Director of Linedata’s North American region, sees the event as having staying power. “It really is all the key players in the financial technology space, so in a way it is like an annual reunion.  Even though it is smaller this year, I think it will survive because it is the one event that brings together all the original financial technology players  in one place, to talk about what’s going on and what’s new and trendy.  The other shows that we go to are very niche. This is the only one that brings all of the different types of organizations together.”

As women in the workplace trying to break the glass ceiling in Corporate America and professional services, we certainly have our challenges. But, imagine if, on top of those, you felt like your brain was out of sync with your body and you had to hide that fact from co-workers and friends. Today, as our last piece covering LGBT issues in the workplace, we share with you the challenges faced by a now-female executive who transitioned from being a male executive while trying to maintain a high-powered IT career.   

“Transitioning in the workplace is much like a chess game,” explained Meghan Stabler, an IT executive with BMC Software who transitioned from male to female while working for the company. “You are already laying out multiple game plans based on the planned results and things that are happening today.  In other words, you have to think to yourself:  I want this down the road and, to make that happen, I need to have these conversations with these people and this policy in place.  On top of that, it is like the dominos configuration. The objective of the transitioning individual is to lay that domino pattern out so that when they need to, they just tip the first domino and everything falls into place.”

The decision to transition from male to female was not a simple one for Meghan, although, as a young boy living a very happy childhood in England, she had always felt trapped in the wrong body.  “It was one of those things as a child – I didn’t quite know what it was until a later on but I felt there was something different about me. It wasn’t until about 10 or 11 when I saw a newspaper article about a tennis player called Renee Richards [who had transitioned from male to female] when the proverbial light bulb. went off over my head.”  Puberty was even more difficult for Meghan because she felt that her body was changing in ways her brain was telling her was wrong. “I was going to bed at night praying for three things - I would wake up a girl, that my parents would still love me and that my wardrobe would change.  And then I would wake up in the morning in tears because nothing has changed.”

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by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

While studying at the University of Michigan, Shannon Schuyler, Managing Director of Corporate Responsibility at PricewaterhouseCoopers, had hopes of one day becoming a sportscaster. She would never have predicted that she would end up spearheading the Corporate Responsibility (CR) effort for one of the world’s largest professional services firms.   Then again, this is a woman who once taught English to inmates at a maximum security prison in Michigan for college credit in lieu of classes, and who has built a successful career around taking the uncharted path.

Upon graduation, Schuyler headed to southern France, where she intended to pursue a variety of interests, including teaching gymnastics and the further development of her already-formidable horseback riding skills. 

Then, tragedy struck.  Schuyler’s mother became seriously ill, and she immediately returned to the United States.  After her mother passed away, Schuyler decided to stay closer to home and found a job in Chicago working as an executive recruiter placing senior level actuaries in insurance and professional services organizations, including PwC legacy firm Coopers and Lybrand.   There she learned of a senior campus recruiting position with the firm.  She got the job and is still with PwC, now 13 years later.

Keep reading »

Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group   

In case you were too busy to have kept up with all the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has gathered some important market events from last week to help you start this week well informed:  

Mergers and Acquisitions

• The adviser rankings for M&A activity in the first half of 2009 from Dealogic saw the following top ten (based on the value of deals advised on): (1) Goldman Sachs $363.2bn; (2)  JPMorgan $321.3bn; (3) Morgan Stanley $319bn; (4)  Citigroup $244bn; (5)Bank of America Merrill Lynch $198.9bn; (6) Deutsche Bank $193.6bn; (7) Lazard $182.7bn; (8) UBS $161.5bn; (9) Credit Suisse $131.0bn; (10) Barclays Capital $108.7bn
• Preliminary talks commenced on a nil premium, all share ‘merger of equals’ between two mining giants. Swiss-based Xstrata proposed the link up with London-listed Anglo American. The market capitalisations of the two are similar, with Xstrata at £20bn and Anglo American at £21.4bn. However, Anglo American management labelled the offer ‘totally unacceptable’ arguing that its assets were superior to those of Xstrata. Anglo American is being advised by UBS and Goldman Sachs, Xstrata by JPMorgan Cazenove and Deutsche Bank.
• German airline Lufthansa reached an out of court settlement over the future ownership of BMI British Midland. Lufthansa will pay a total of £223m for the 50% plus one share that was previously owned by BMI Chairman Sir Michael Bishop. Sir Michael and Lufthansa have been in negotiations for some months since BMI has been making losses and Sir Michael had a contractual right to sell his stake to Lufthansa for £298m. Lufthansa will now own 80 per cent of BMI and will offer to buy the remaining 20% from SAS Scandinavian Airlines.
• UK real estate company Brixton has received a bid from rival Segro that values Brixton at around £107m. Segro (formerly known as Slough Estates) is being advised by UBS and JPMorgan Cazenove, Brixton is being advised by Citi and Nomura.
• US retailer Office Depot is raising $350m by selling preference shares to private equity firm BC Partners. The preference shares will pay a 105 dividend and could convert into a 20% stake at a price of $5 per share. Office Depot shares are currently trading at $3.92. 
• State-owned Sinopec, one of China’s biggest oil companies is taking over Addax Petroleum in a C48.3bn (£4.4bn) all cash deal. Addax is Swiss-based and has oil production interests in Africa and Iraqi Kurdistan. 
• General Motors has invited a select number of investors to submit improved offers for its European operations. In an attempt to put pressure on preferred bidder Magna, GM has asked Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation, the Chinese carmaker and Belgium-based RHJ International to make improved bids. 
• Private equity companies are circling Almatis, the German aluminium business that is owned by Dubai International Capital as it negotiates a $1.1bn debt restructuring. Blackstone and Advent International are amongst those interested in providing fresh funds as part of the restructuring.
• Emaar Properties, the Middle East’s largest property company and the company building the world’s tallest tower in Dubai, is in talks to merge with three other property companies – Dubai Properties, Sama Dubai and Tatweer. The three are all part of the Dubai ruler’s Dubai Holding Group and Emaar is a listed company that is 32% owned by the government. 

Keep reading »

You are a professional woman in finance, law, or business. You probably went to a great university, have paid your dues, and are making way up the career ladder as we speak. Yet, you feel incomplete. You are likely either:

(a) a straight woman reading this thinking its hard to find a decent man to live with/marry/have a baby with (delete as appropriate, ladies); or

(b)a lesbian reading this thinking its hard to find a decent woman to live with/get married to in Vermont (or some other same sex marriage friendly jurisdiction)/ have a baby with (including the endless conversations with your partner about who can father the child) (delete as appropriate, ladies).

But, if you fall into category (b), your challenges are different, especially if you are not yet “out” at work.

Keep reading »

Nancy, a manager of a creative group in a large financial company in the Fortune 500, was facing a dilemma that an estimated 21% of employees in the workplace also face. Soon after joining the company, she had to figure out how to “out” herself as a lesbian to her boss who had “no clue” about her sexual orientation.

“It was very uncomfortable for me to figure out how to say something to him,” she said,  “The idea of actually having to tell him was so weird.  I hadn’t had to think about it [when I was running my own company] and all of a sudden I was in a position where I had to choose to explain.”  She decided to “come out” to her boss in an indirect way, through an offhanded mention of her same-sex partner in casual conversation.  And, she added, while her boss was noticeably surprised, it was “no problem.”  She continued, “It was just a very interesting sort of experience from that social/work perspective.”   To avoid the same awkward situation in the future, she decided to head up the company’s LGBT initiative.  “I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone,” she laughed.  “I was excited about the opportunity to lead the group.  And it was an easy way to “come out.”  I just say, ‘Oh, by the way I lead the Pride group.’” 

But for lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT)-identified individuals who have chosen not to “come out” as LGBT in the workplace, simple coffee break conversations represent a potential minefield.  While heterosexual couples comfortably discuss their significant others, LGBT employees who choose to remain closeted may not be as comfortable.

Anika K. Warren, co-author of “Building LGBT-Inclusive Workplaces,” the recently-released Catalyst report on LGBT employees in corporate Canada, says that even the simple question of weekend plans, posed to a LGBT co-worker who is not “out” can cause significant added stress: s/he may have to edit activities that might “out” her/him or must be particularly conscious of the pronoun used for her/his significant other.  

Warren, a scholar with over 10 years of work on LGBT issues, says that the “hetero-normative assumptions” of heterosexual co-workers is one of the main stumbling blocks.  “The everyday assumptions that people make create a hostile work environment for people who don’t have similar experiences or who don’t necessarily want to share their experiences.” 

So what stops people from disclosing to co-workers that they are LGBT? Warren said, “Although there are diverse perspectives among the LGBT community in general, we’ve identified for the purposes of our research that employees who were not out in the workplace were not out for one of two reasons: either they have a preference to keep their personal and professional lives separate or they fear potential repercussions.  For those employees that are out at work, they cited a range of reasons—personal and professional—including the desire to (1) be authentic (2) form stronger relationships, (3) become role models, and (4) combat homophobia directly.”

Keep reading »

by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

From UBS to Aladdin Capital; Merrill Lynch to Evercore Partners,  Lazard, and Greenhill; Morgan Stanley to Perella Weinberg - one-time Wall Streeters continue their defection from large investment banks to boutique banks following the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Boutique banks, which typically focus on smaller deals than the traditional big firms, garnered a lot of positive attention last year in the midst of the country’s financial crisis and the negative attention focused on Wall Street. Today, these smaller, specialized firms show no sign of slowing down. They are enjoying preferred status as the workplace of choice for some of the top talent in the financial services industry. There are several reasons for the attraction:

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By Marian Schembari (New York City)

Both London and New York are, without question, bustling cultural centers with amazing diversity and a lack of cheap parking. And, because both are considered the world’s predominant financial centers, home to the largest corporations and professional service firms in the world, an epic battle continues to rage on as to which is really the best, the most welcoming, and the easiest to live and work for professional women.

The Glass Hammer decided to take on this debate, turning to statistics and ex-pat community boards to determine the pros and cons of life and work in each of these cities for professional women.

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Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

Last week I wrote about the two main factors that every resume needs – authenticity and specificity.  Specificity (i.e., tailoring a resume to the employer/ industry/ function you are targeting), is particularly important because it enables your resume to be found when recruiters search and noticed when recruiters screen.

Recruiters search for resumes on job boards, social networks such as LinkedIn, articles and white papers (especially at senior levels), and their own database.  When a search kicks off recruiters filter through the resumes from these sources by keywords and criteria.  If you don’t have those keywords or criteria in your resume, you may not get picked.

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by Elizabeth Harrin (London)

“It’s not what you know, or who you know but who knows you,” advised Gwen Rhys to the business women and men in attendance at the Chartered Management Institute’s City Branch meeting in London last week.  “Today’s flatter, leaner structures mean it’s not about the number of people you command but the sphere of your influence.” In other words: networking. 

Rhys was speaking on board HQS Wellington, moored alongside Temple on the Thames in London, England.  Around 100 people had come to the breakfast event, including the Lady Mayoress Lin Luder, and representatives from financial and consulting firms across the city. 

Rhys, founder of Women in the City, explained that leaders have a knack of knowing who to tap for information and when.  In today’s economy, successful networking is important, not least because research shows that women with strong networks earn more. 

Employees with effective networks can settle into new situations more easily because they have a global support framework.  This makes them easier to recruit, and it doesn’t take them as long before they are contributing to the organisation in a highly productive way. 

Rhys also explained how networking ensures you are on ‘the inside track’ and it will help you come to sound conclusions because you have open and useful communication channels.  For example, she cited the situation many women find themselves in when reaching senior positions: falling off the Glass Cliff, a term coined by Dr Michelle Ryan at Exeter University.  The Glass Cliff, an updated version of the glass ceiling concept, refers to the fact that women and members of other minority groups are more likely to get leadership positions in which it is hard to succeed.  Women do well to achieve these positions but fall at the last hurdle, and Rhys believes this is because men have already turned these opportunities down, knowing them to be “the job from hell.”  Women, who are less likely to have the insider information to make the same conclusions, say yes to the precarious management role and end up failing, with all the knock-on implications for their own confidence and the likelihood of their organisation to promote other women. 

Networking is also about being able to connect cross- and inter-departmentally, and trans-nationally.  Having a strong network allows you to benchmark your performance against other people and raise your profile at the same time.  In difficult times, breaking down organisational silos can be the right way to get things done, and networking can help with that.  Mentors and coaches can be sourced through networking, and you can find the right type of mentor for you.  Research shows that when women have female mentors the greatest benefit they report is the increase emotional support.  When women have male mentors, they report that the greatest benefit is access to his network and knowledge.  Having a wide network will mean you can choose different mentors for different reasons.  

In short, if you don’t network, you’re not likely to ever make it to the top. 

However, networking is not just handing out your business cards to everyone you meet.  While there is a social element, the overall objective is to seek out and become acquainted with new people for your professional goals. 

“It’s less about working the room and more about being in the right room,” said Rhys.  It’s the quality of the relationship which means you can leverage the opportunity, she explained.  A business card in your purse does not equal a relationship – but if you can sustain relationships with those people who are the best fit for your professional goals you will no doubt reap the rewards later. 

The language of networking can put people off: after all, who wants to be ‘networked’ by someone else?  Rhys herself tries to steer clear of the word, preferring to talk about “building and leveraging relationships.” 

The purpose of the breakfast event was to gather to listen to Rhys and the open Q&A session afterwards in which the attendees debated flexible working and the pay gap amongst other things, but also to network with the other people present.  From the sound of the conversations, some of the attendees – from completely different organisations and industry sectors – greeted each other as if they already had established professional relationships.  Notes were swapped and phone numbers of other people passed on, which just proves that a fat contacts book is only half the story when it comes to getting the most out of networking.

by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

Who’s really keeping women out of the executive suite — the man in the boardroom or the man in the bedroom?
 
Women hold only 15 percent of all board seats and more than half (68 percent) of public corporations still have no women among their top compensated executives. Women are still earning, on average, only .78 cents for every dollar a man earns.
 
The men running companies certainly have some accountability. In addition to blatant discrimination such as pay inequity, there are also many micro inequities and hidden barriers in the workplace that affect women and challenge their opportunities for advancement. Advocates for working women say companies should adopt women-friendly policies such as mentoring programs, flexible schedules, better childcare and telecommuting programs. But all the flexibility in the word isn’t going to help if the men at home don’t adopt new policies as well.

Keep reading »

by Heather Cassell (San Francisco)

Shellye Archambeau, chief executive officer of MetricStream, a market leader in quality governance, risk, and compliance process and management solutions for diverse multi-national corporations, always knew she wanted to run a company.

More than 20 years experience in the technology industry, Archambeau is one of the few African American women leading the way in government compliance software, but it’s no mistake she’s where she is today.

“I’m a big believer in planning,” says Archambeau, 46, pointing out that many people believe that by working hard they will achieve their goals, but “unfortunately it just doesn’t always work that way. For some people it happens, but if you just look at the odds the odds are actually against you.”

“So, therefore you have to do things that increase your odds and for me that was planning,” Archambeau continues.

With her focus on running a company and her interest in technology in the early 1980s, Archambeau set off after the commencement of her tenure at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business to run IBM.

“At 22 years old you are naive enough to be so big and bold,” says Archambeau laughing. “So, that’s what I did.”

Like many of the technology behemoth’s CEOs that she studied, she started her 15 year career on IBM’s sales floor, but she immediately differentiated herself from her collogues broadening her experience by utilizing her marketing degree. Keeping her focus she identified and achieved goals, such as obtaining a profit and loss position and eventually an overseas assignment, in spite of obstacles by making the “right decisions” to stay on her timeline.

“It wasn’t anything that was written down or part of a development plan,” says Archambeau about her path to becoming an IBM executive and ultimately the first African American woman sent on an international assignment to Tokyo, Japan to run a $1.6 billion dollar business for the computing giant.

Achambeau’s path to success was having a vision and filling in the details with careful research, planning, prioritizing, and evaluation, but she didn’t get there alone.

A variety of mentors helped her achieve success in her career goals as well as having a strong “personal cheerleader” in her corner—her stay-at-home husband of 25 years, Scottie, who she met while they both worked at IBM.

“I’m a big believer in mentors,” says Archambeau, but not just as a career resource or opportunity mine. She discovered mid-career that mentors help people “do their current job very well” and that an outside perspective is important.

“It didn’t occur to me to actually build advisors or mentors outside of the company,” says Archambeau when a colleague asked her about professional guidance separate from the company. Since then she’s developed an out-of-company team of advisors.

“Whatever job you have somebody has done it before,” says Archambeau about leveraging other people’s experience to assist you with doing a better job in the current position you hold. ”You won’t get the next one until you do the one that you’ve got exceptionally well.”

Planning and mentors have been key elements in her success, but the foundation has been her “phenomenal partnership” with her husband, she says.

“I owe a great deal of my success directly to him,” says Archambeau of Scottie about not only managing their busy family life with two, now college-age kids, and many moves around the world, but also in believing in her.

“Everybody, especially every woman, needs a personal cheerleader,” says Archambeau, stating that cheerleaders don’t need to be a “stay-at-home husband,” but people who counterbalance the negative messages by telling you no matter what happens, “‘Hey you are good. You are capable. You can do this.’”

“There are a lot of messages out there telling you just the opposite,” Archambeau tells The Glass Hammer. That support strengthens the plan both at home and career.

“You have to think through, “How are you going to do it and what has to be true to make it work?” she says about how she makes it all work saying that it’s a “constant self-check” asking yourself what is important and why it’s important as “elements of your life” and priorities shift.

The plan and examining the “elements” especially came into play when she decided it was time to transition from being an executive of a large company to becoming a CEO of a smaller company.

The market wasn’t a friendly environment in 2002 for a technology executive without experience at the very top tier to make the transition to CEO—it was flooded with more experienced CEOs vying for the very few open positions. Rather than going ahead with the original plan, Archambeau took advantage of the time to research the experiences of other executives who had left large companies to run smaller companies.

Finding that a great percentage of CEO’s failed at their first few attempts, she decided to increase her odds of success by accepting executive officer level positions at a few small companies in order to gain an understanding of the dynamics of running the business, she says. Her plan paid off. Three companies later, Archambeau turned around formerly challenged MetricStream to being the leader in compliance management technology as its CEO.

Archambeau starts her days off with an early workout at the gym, before heading off to lead MetricStream into its future and ending the day at a board meeting for Arbitron, Inc., Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives, IT Senior Management Forum or Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

Just as much as she enjoys her professional life, Archambeau loves socializing with her family and friends. She runs a gourmet dinner club as well as going out to the theater, enjoying music, and dancing with her husband and friends, she says.

Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group

In case you were too busy to have kept up with all the news, contributor Martin Mitchell has gathered some important market events from last week to help you start this week well informed:     

Mergers and Acquisitions

• The world’s second biggest cement maker, Holcim purchased the Australian operations of Mexico’s Cemex for A$2bn (US$1.6bn) in cash. Holcim will launch a SFr2bn (US$1.8bn) rights issue to finance the deal.
• Anheuser-Busch InBev is looking to divest its central European operations to reduce its debt after the $52bn purchase of Anheuser-Busch. Private equity houses CVC Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG are among those expressing an interest in the assets that include 11 breweries.  The sale is expected to raise €1bn to €1.5bn.
• Troubled carmaker General Motors signed a memorandum of understanding to sell Saab to Swedish company Koenigsegg Automotive. Details of the price have yet to be revealed, however the Swedish government will guarantee some $600m of funding from the European Investment Bank.
• Islamic investment group Arcapita sold Church’s Chicken, the world’s third biggest chain of fast food restaurants to Friedman, Fleischer and Lowe, a San Francisco private equity group for around $390m. The deal will see Arcapita double its investment after purchasing Church’s Chicken in 2004.

Keep reading »

Team Fun putting up siding at a Habitat for Humanity build

by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast of the United States, destroying countless homes and neighborhoods and displacing hundreds of thousands of people throughout Louisiana and Mississippi.    The images were all over the news.  There was an outpouring of money and support.  And some, including Caroline Finley and a group of her colleagues from the internal audit department at Credit Suisse in New York, headed down to personally help with the clearing and rebuilding efforts.

“My manager decided to get a group together to go down to help with the Katrina relief effort.  In January 2006, about half of our internal audit department – approximately 30 employees - flew down to New Orleans and then went by bus to Biloxi, Mississippi.”    A portion of the group slept in a local church, while Caroline and some others slept in tents behind the church.   “That was actually my first time in a tent.  I actually surprised myself that I could sleep in a tent for 3 nights,” she joked.  They did mostly demolition work during that trip, tearing down structures and piling up debris.

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By Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago)

London is one of my favorite cities so I jumped at the chance to travel across the pond to cover the International Derivatives Expo (IDX) last week.  Hosted by the Futures Industry Association (FIA) and the Futures and Options Association (FOA), the two-day event gathered some of the most influential players in the derivatives industry to discuss the ever-evolving trading landscape. The meaty agenda covered a wide range of topics, from the future of electronic trading to the arms race that is developing in the credit default swap sector.  

Almost one entire day of the conference was dedicated to discussing the sticky issue of clearing of credit default swaps (CDS), the swap contracts at the heart of the economic crisis. Competition in this estimated $62 trillion dollar sector has been heating up as leading exchanges prepare to launch their CDS clearing divisions. Currently, the InterContinental Exchange (ICE) is the only exchange offering credit default swap clearing services through their clearing arm, ICE Trust U.S., which began operating in March of 2009.  Since inception, it have cleared over $1 trillion in CDS index-based contracts.   

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by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

In the 1997 blockbuster movie “The Full Monty,”  Tom Wilkinson’s character loses his job but fakes having one to hide the truth from his wife. He gets up every morning, puts on his suit, tucks his morning paper under his arm and heads out, only to return home after five p.m. In today’s economy, with the unemployment rate rising steadily from 7.9 percent in January to 9.4 in May, almost everyone knows someone who is out of work. Is there still a need to fake it? For some, yes.

Sara Clemence, co-founder of Recessionwire, a website that provides news, advice and perspective to urban professionals affected by the downturn, says that even though being unemployed has become more common, ”it’s been a real ego blow for a lot of people.” Clemence says she’s seen a few women “faking it” or pretending to go to work when they don’t have jobs. Clemence says that while faking it may seem like a healthy response to losing a job, the people who do it are in denial. 

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by Pamela Weinsaft (New York City)

There aren’t many professional women who can claim that they decided to pursue a career in accounting while they were inside an Italian mountain.  Yet that’s exactly where Heather Paquette, Partner in the Midwest Information Technology Advisory (ITA) Practice in the Chicago office of KPMG LLP, came to her decision.  “As I was working the night shifts [as a U.S. Air Force computer operator for NATO] when I was stationed in Italy…I started thinking about saving for the future, which made me think accounting was where I wanted to be.” 

Following her time in the Air Force, she earned an accounting degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbandale and joined KPMG’s auditing group.  She was soon called back to her tech roots, transferring into the IT group within a year of joining the firm.   She explained: “At the time there was a big push [in the firm] to see if there were people interested in going to the technology team. It was one of those teams that was very entrepreneurial and, if you were a self-starter, it was where you wanted to be. I ended up transferring onto the technology team because I have a CPA background as well as the tech background, which enables me to look at risks and controls related to the use of IT.”

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Contributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

What can I put in the resume to guarantee an interview? How do employers decide who to invite from the resume pile? What keywords can I use to make my resume stand out online?

I get a resume-related question at every workshop. I have written before and say in every workshop response that there is no magic bullet. What you put in a resume needs to be two things:

1. authentic and true to you; and
2. tailored to the employer you are targeting.

As you can see, these two attributes are different for everyone. Furthermore, even for one person, there may be a case for different resumes if the person is targeting very diverse employers.

The best way then to ensure your resume is seen is not by perfecting your resume, but by perfecting your job search. The best job search is proactive, so you are out in the market meeting people and talking to people. Your resume is one part of that campaign (resumes do lead to meetings) but never the only part. In fact, sometimes the best job leads result from a verbal pitch, and the formal resume is an after-thought after you have already started meeting with people.

So the best way for your resume to be seen is for you to be seen. Make sure the resume is a powerful and accurate depiction of your background, skills and experience. Use language and examples that engage your target sector. But do not rely on your resume for the heavy lifting in your job search.

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is co-founder of SixFigureStart, a career coaching firm comprised exclusively of former Fortune 500 recruiters. Prior to launching SixFigureStart, Caroline recruited for Accenture, Time Inc, TV Guide and others. Email Caroline at caroline@sixfigurestart.com and ask how you can attend a free SixFigureStart group coaching teleclass.