Tesar-Reynes

After being out of work for a while, the idea of any money versus no money becomes pretty clear. The problem lies in negotiating with a potential employer for a lower salary. When working with a search firm, a person has a sense of perimeters. When going into a job negotiation solo, there is a sense of flying blind.

Two questions you may have are:

1. If I ask for too much, will I price myself out of the job?

2. If I price myself too low, do I come off as damaged merchandise or desperate?

There is no good answer. Two suggestions:

1. Bounce the question off a trusted recruiter you know.

2. Ask the interviewer what the salary range is for the job spec.

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I have seen lots of lists on how to earn extra money while looking for a new job. Here is a list I put together, to add to all the others.

One of my greatest strengths is also one of my worst weaknesses. The problem is hobbies.

My father loved to motor around in his little 12-foot boat and garden in the summer, hike in the fall, ski in the winter and paint/repair the boat in the spring. He planned his work (he sold ad space) around these activities. He also dabbled in photography and loved to travel. He also took up golf in his 60’s.

As opposed to some of his peers who got bored with golf and became a burden around the house, he loved to get up every day. Today, I frequently meet a bunch of very successful executives who I think are secretly scared and bored. In the darkest corner of their intellect, they realize that they are only defined by their career.

I …

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An article in today’s Wall Street Journal (Grad Tidings by Sue Shellenbarger) reminded me of some testing I did when I was part way through my career.

The reason I took the testing was because I had it with my current choice of jobs. In the …

Hello. My name is Roland Cailles. I’m a senior marketing and public relations major at Columbia College in Chicago. I also help Tony and Bob, the managing partners at Tesar-Reynes, write this blog.

I’m very excited about blogging and social media in general. When I first started college, I knew I needed to do something that would set me apart from the thousands of other marketing and PR people out there. In short, I needed a niche.

Like other college students I spend the majority of my time in front of my computer. I live on Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. I even have a couple of blogs. So I thought to myself, why not specialize in something I love doing anyway? That’s how I decided to focus my career on social media.

What I love about social media is that it’s helping to get rid of …