More public school Math....

Am I doing this right? As of today's game against Phoenix- 8 goals in 5 games for Joe Thornton? Evgeni Nabokov saves 19 of 20 shots and sits at 45 wins for the season? Astonishing. With 17 wins in the last 19 games and the playoffs looming, I never have been more excited for the Shark's postseason chances.

Let's check out the game highlights, be sure to check Thornton's goal on the first shift of the game.

I know. I'm amazed too.

-Jay

What recruiters want to see if you're a finance candidate...

Hey Hey Blog.

Jay Here.

A lot's been on my mind lately after a truly great weekend. Between the NCAA tournament and a totally fantastic family birthday party, I couldn't have had a better 2 days off. Most importantly- my bracket's doing much better and if the chips fall correctly, I have a shot of winning my pool. That's right, I'm not mathematically eliminated yet which gives me four of the best letters in the English language- hope.

So while in such a good mood, I thought I'd do a little truth-telling and offer some transparency to any candidates who might be interested in getting into Fortune 500 corporate finance. These of course are merely my opinions as a recruiter and each idea is likely subject to objection or disagreement, but I'm going to note some trends of candidates I've observed being hired and give you something better to go off of- especially if you are considering finance as your career of choice.

1. The Strength of your Education - Great. I know. Already beginning with something subjective. But truly, this couldn't be more important to getting yourself introduced to a company either via a interview or internship opportunity, and ultimately- the very thing that will set you up to be successful in your role. Especially if you are wanting to advance in your organization, you definitely should have an MBA. Online programs don't really impress potential employers, and typically if you want to target Fortune 500 companies, you need to have an MBA from a Top 20 school. Daunting. I know. But those are the caliber of people these companies are looking for. Oftentimes, and trust me, I've seen this, you are much better off taking the financial hit by taking two years off from working and attending the MBA program of a highly reputed school and then resume working than if you elect to continue your job and taking an evening program from a nearby "regional" school.
2. The tenures of your employment periods - This is a universal truth for alllll candidates but of particular interest if you are in finance. It's important to know that you can not only whether the storms of difficult times in your employment history by showing you are in for the long haul, but it also can illuminate via your tenure that you are able to influence the stakeholders in your business (and this can also be assessed in the interview). Perhaps most noteworthy is your advancement track within the same company. If a candidate has been with the same company as an analyst for 6 years, and hasn't advanced there, then it raises a curious question of whether that candidate is able to advance at his or her new company (which is something most financial organizations want to do- develop their employees to become future leaders in the organization). A solid track record of advancement of promotions every 2-3 years makes you the ideal candidate.
3. The caliber of company you are currently employed with - This is because you will face completely issues day to day with a large organization with a national or international presence with intense business stakeholders than you might at smaller or different organizations. Candidates and banking and mortgage candidates come from a background that is just different that corporate finance and are not as well prepared as those in FP&A in corporate groups.
• Scale is important! If you are a Finance Director at a smaller organization (even if it is a well known company with a high hiring bar) but manage a smaller (in relative terms) budget that a counterpart at the company you are applying to, you might not be a Finance Director there. For some, that sentence might be worth reading again. It happens quite frequently that Finance Directors really level out to Finance Managers at a larger company, but they are unwilling to interview because they don't want to step down in title (comp may even be in line!). I don't think companies want to limit their employees and candidates but assess them properly.
4. What impact did you make? - Ponder this for a moment, but companies don't want to see finance candidates than manager, they want to see candidates that lead. One of the differences is the ability to influence. This actually couldn't be more important. This should be listed in your resume and something you should be prepared to discuss in the interview.

Alright Alright. some good info here, and let's wrap this up with a Top 10 5 (yeah- I got lazy) list of common resume blunders:

1. Using "we" not "I" - As a recruiter, I want to know what YOU did, not your team's accomplishments.
2. Using funky acronyms - if you have an MBA don't list is "M.B.A.". If you know SQL, don't spell it "sequel" or "S.Q.L.". C'mon, it's a fact recruiters live and die by keywords, make it a little easier on us, k?
3. Functional vs Chronological Resumes - I'm not sure who started giving this out as advice, but this trend's gotta stop. It's a common common pet peeve amongst recruiters to look at functional resumes since it never gives a transparent look at when (and at which company/position) you did all the "functions" you've listed
4. Not properly listing your contact information - Remember, chances are your resume is getting into a recruiter's applicant tracking system and often times, we have to do the copy and pasting. Please make it easier on us by just putting everything at the top of the resume (even if there is a section in the application process to enter your contact info)
5. Formatting - like I said- your info goes into an applicant tracking system and probably will be viewed in plain text by most of the decision makers. I've heard that at one point in time people used this thing called paper for resume. It must have been wild. But no longer. Your fancy fonts and graphics won't make it.

If I can think of other things worth mentioning, I'll update them here... and if you are a recruiter and have any insights/comments- be sure to leave a comment!

I'm sure there's plenty of material to make a blog for HR and other candidates as well. Stay tuned sports fans. :)

-Jay

Thornton's Turning it on at the Right Time...

He couldn't have picked a better part of the season to start completely owning every contest they step on the ice for, and the San Jose Sharks' own Joe Thornton is simply dominating. He had 2 goals tonight (3/27) against Dallas and 3 against Phoenix on Tuesday (3/25 - an unfortunate OT Loss they had no business going into the extra period for).

By my math that puts him with 5 goals in his last 2 games, but let's remember that I went to public school.

I could not be more excited for the post season this year. San Jose is as hot of a team as they've ever been and looking like a solid favorite for the cup. Sadly, last year Anaheim became the first California team to hoist the Stanley Cup, but SJ's looking like the team that could bring it back to the Golden State. Let's check out some highlights from tonight's Dallas game and Thornton's amazing game winner in OT (and goalie Evgeni Nabokov's 2 stunning stops against Dallas' Mike Modano. Trust me, you will love this....)

AT&T's Having Staffing Probs....

AT&T CEO Says Hard to Find Skilled U.S. Workers

Man... would hate to have the wrath of supporting what I'm sure are unhappy hiring managers in AT&T's San Antonio's Office. It seems this is a common trend as more and more US Companies are looking towards off-shoring, not as a cost saving measure, but to find available talent.

The 49er's offseason

Two of the greatest words in the English language: "What if...."

Sigh. This is a post very near and dear to my heart. The state of affairs surrounding the SF 49ers. Since coach Steve Mariucci was let go in 2002, the niners haven't even been close enough to sniff the post season. Then there was the Dennis Erickson signing, which, in coaching terms, was a little like trading in your late model Toyota Camry, for the 1984 Buick Skylark with cracked leather interior (it still cannot be confirmed or denied that Dennis actually owns one of these, making the analogy even more perfect). The "Ek" (the first and last time he will ever be reference by that name) lasted all of one season, but the exit wound he left on the franchise would be the 5 seasons of futility that have left Bay Area fans reeling.

Niners fans, if you're still reading, stay with me. Take a deep breath. Relax. I have a plan. I can fix this. Or at least I could have 2 months ago. The niners had a shot at turning a 2007-08 Bostonian Celtic-like turn around, with a few key personnel changes. So bear with me as we journey in the way-back machine to the beginning of the year. Eli Manning was still a poor performance away from being labeled a bust, the Patriots still had a chance, Brett Favre could still have gone out on top, and Isiah Thomas was ruining one of basketballs' most prestigious franchises (some things never change).
Let's start with the current problems with the roster that gave us a gaudy 5-11 record. God, those were painful numbers to type.

• Alex Smith- Smith's started out his career with awful stats and even worse success. I really should confirm this, but I believe in his rookie campaign, he threw more TDs to the other team than to his own. *shaking head*. Then something happened when he was coupled with a man known for tutelage of young QBs and turning around their fate- Norv Turner. He showed signs of improvement running Norv's offense until Turner bolted to coach the, well, the 'Bolts in San Diego. Smith never looked in rhythm the next year and had injury problems that forced him to take a giant step back in his development. This relationship between Turner and Smith where Smith seems to have relied on the ability of another so totally reminds me of another NFL relationship. The 2004 Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss duo. The 2004 incarnation of Culpepper had 41 TDs on that squad. Fans of the 2006 Dolphins, you read that right, 41 TDs! All those endzone grabs went well with his 110.9 passer rating. Recent history has not been kind to Daunte. Losing Moss as his "just throw it up and he'll catch anything on the field" receiver, he's bounced around to 2 of the leagues worst teams by record. This relationship where one player relies too heavy on the talents and abilities of another needs a name. We'll call it "MossPepper"

That's what Smith got, was MossPeppered by Norv Turner. And Martz' system is going to put up great numbers but his QBs always get hurt since they spend too much time in the pocket. I don't see this helping the development of a yet to be established franchise QB.

• The O-line- Actually this wasn't as big of a personnel problem as people think. They just couldn't stay healthy. Another Joe Staley or two in the draft and we might be ok in a year or two. Losing the corpse of Larry Allen and his bad back is not so bad.

• The receivers- D-Jack was a bust and Arnaz Battle is a no. 3 possession receiver at best. Major help needed here

• The pass rush- Bryant Young, the last Niner from the 1994 Super Bowl squad has retired and we have lost one of the classiest and loyal players to lace up in a 49er uniform. We the fans thank you for outstanding contributions. But this area couldn't be a bigger need.

What they should have done?

#1 priority is to give Smith some competition for the QB spot and sadly, I'm not talking about Shaun Hill. They had a decent off season in picking up a franchise tagged DE from Cinci (who is marginally a pass rusher and more of a clog the line type) a first rounder receiver cast off from the Cardinal's two 1,000 yard receivers offense and a backup RB to iron man Frank Gore.

I would have loved for them to have made a run at Derek Anderson of Cleveland. A sign and trade could totally have been possible. All reports were that Cleveland was shopping him as Brady Quinn was waiting in the wings.

If you're Cleveland's GM, tell me you wouldn't turn down Manny Lawson, and SF's 1st and 3rd rounders to let your #1 pick play anyway (this was the plan right all along). Meanwhile SF picks up a Probowl caliber QB (they need this right? even if 2007 was an aberration it at least gives Smith a reason to pull things together and not worry about his coach yapping about a shoulder injury)? Are we really all that sure that Alex Smith isn't going the way of becoming the next David Carr? Former #1 pick? Check. Mediocre first 3 years? Check. Attended Mid Major School with gaudy stats that perhaps over inflated his draft value? Check. Smith might be careful- he's becoming dangerously close to growing his hair own, chatting up the media about his "year over year" improvement and becoming surprised when his agent informs him the Jets want to pursue him for their back-up QB role. Man. I totally digress.

Had the Niners pursued D-rock more agressively, hell maybe they had, they might have given themselves a better contingency plan if Alex Smith does his eventual bow out. I hope I am wrong here, really, I totally want this. But a late round draft pick is not going to save this organization like a Derek Anderson might. Plus the Cleveland QB and Pac-10 alum would get to return to the coast that he came from.

Alright enough for now. I'm spending too many of my thoughts on SF's off season and I'm not sure I can continue to think about the upcoming 2008 season. It's going to be brutal.