After writing “The Art of The Interview“, I realized after interacting with readers that interviewing is completely like dating!  You’ve got a first chance to make an impression, and if it’s a good one, you get to go on more dates until you finally get “the prize”.

Let’s talk about five connections that prove interviewing and dating are so much alike.  We can make an argument that the Casanovas of the world are much more adept at finding employment and potentially staying employed than those with no game.  As men are generally the ones to initiate a date, the following connections will be from a man’s point of view.  That said, all of the interview concepts are the same for both men and women.

1) HOW YOU ROLL

Date: Do you pick up your date in a Black Range Rover Super Charger, or a Volvo station wagon with missing hubcaps?  The majority of women will be more impressed with your Range Rover even if they don’t admit it.  The gracious woman will always say it doesn’t matter what car a guy drives, but we all know there is at least some value in appearances.  Beyond the element of flash, a woman will care about safety and creature comforts.  Heated seats during the winter anybody?  That’s always an option to choose if you are buying a car and using it in to search for love.

Interview: Do you wear an ironed shirt and a sleek dark colored suit, or a hodgepodge outfit with loose threads? Your employer wants you to be a good ambassador to the firm.  She imagines sending you to visit senior colleagues, or important clients and she needs to feel confident you are presentable.  Appearances matter more than you think.  Invest wisely.

2) DEPENDABILITY

Date: Have you just come out of a multi-year relationship and no matter what you do, you’re labeled as a rebound?  What about if you’ve been single for a while, and you’re getting up there in age?  Girls start thinking something is wrong with you.  Either way, you’ve got an uphill battle convincing your date you’re an eligible partner.  As a result, you’ve got to work hard to show you are a committed person who will make her happy.

Interview: Are you a job hopper, or someone with a long employment gap?  Interviewers don’t like seeing someone move every couple years because they think you’ll move on them soon, thereby wasting their time training you.  Interviewers will also question a long hiatus from work.  The longer the employment gap, the more logical their thinking.  If you are such a good candidate, why didn’t someone hire you by now?  Focus on what you can bring to the table now, instead of the past!

3) CREATIVITY

Date:Do you bring her to Chucky Cheese or to Spago’s with live jazz music playing in the background?  Instead of a restaurant, what about taking her to a park along the beach on a warm, sunny day for kite-flying and a picnic?

Interview: Do you give rehearsed answers or do you find a way to address them differently?  Rather than respond, “My biggest weakness is that I work too hard”, may I suggest saying to a female interviewer, “My biggest weakness is that I can’t stop eating chocolate-covered strawberries.  I know they are bad for my waste-line, but I can’t help it.“  Chances are, your interviewer will smile, and during your follow up thank you card, you can also include one chocolate-covered strawberry to bring her back to the point of the interview.  Sending a box is over-kill, but sending one with a very formal note of thanks will do wonders!

4) PRESENCE

Date: Are you confident and give off a sensual aura?  Do you look into her eyes and truly listen when she speaks?  Do you look away for a moment during thought, respond, and then ask her a similar question to engage her?  Do you stand up when she excuses herself to go to the restroom?  Are you self-deprecating but confident in your delivery?

Interview: You have to have a presence in the interview because you want her to remember you when the session ends.  If you’re not engaging in active listening, you’re already disrespecting your interviewer.  You want to be like that movie that leaves the viewer wanting for more after the credits start rolling.  Be unforgettable by being genuine and engaging.

5) THE CLOSE

Date: Do you drive her home, or at least make sure she gets in a cab safely?  At the door, do you shake, hug, or kiss her cheek?  Or do you go for the kill and lay a big fat wet one on her lips?  Hard to tell what she’s willing to accept, so be careful!

Interview: Shake firmly with a dry palm.  Mention to the interviewer it was a pleasure meeting while thanking her for her time.  Ask what are the next steps if she does not offer.  Follow up with a thank you note on e-mail or a card, and don’t forget that one chocolate covered strawberry.

CONCLUSION

Interviewing is a lot like dating.  The more dates you go on, the more you will be able to close.  Hence, interviewing is a teachable skill that grows with practice.  Ask your friends and family to interview you before the real deal.  The more you practice, the better chance you will have to create a long term partnership with the person or company of your dreams.

Regards,

Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS or E-mail feed.

Related posts:

1. The Art of The Interview
2. How To Get Your Super Motivated Boyfriend to Marry You
3. The Katana: Happy Chinese New Year!

A Sliced Heart

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I thought it’d be nice to dedicate some of this week’s posts to relationships.  Few things are as rewarding as finding the one you want to grow old with.  I can be stranded somewhere in Kabul, and so long as the one is beside me, I am happy.

That said, does true love have a price?  If a genie gave you the option of having $100 million dollars but never finding the love of your life, or finding that special someone but always living just above the poverty line, which would you choose?

Before answering the question, think about all the fun times you had in your prior relationships, some that could have been.  Not all bad right?  Now think carefully whether after a certain point, more money can really bring you more happiness.

My theory is that “love” will be the landslide victor, however, at the margin men will have a greater tendency to choose money over love, while women will gravitate towards love over money.

The Samurai Fund: -3.13% YTD vs. the S&P 500 -4.4%. Lenar +15%, Berkshire +11%, GE +4% and STE +6.15% continue to be stars. While MWW -18% and Toyota -11.3% are the biggest dogs.  If Toyoda-san didn’t apologize on Friday, I would have sold the stock in a heart beat.

Samurai’s Alexa Ranking Challenge: Is growing strong!  I’m very happy to see so many people progress and support each other.  Forget about all about SEO, link ratios, and yourself.  Keep up the content and the promoting of others!  If you would like to join, read the post, let us know in the comments section with your rank so Daniel-san and I can track.

HIGHLIGHT POSTS OF THE WEEK

* “Winners And Losers Of The Obama Tax Plan” over at Darwin’s.  I feel bad for the losers, especially charities.

* “Deliver Away Debt Joins The Millionaire Club” by Jeff shows his “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” creativity.

Winners of “Secrets of A Stingy Scoundrel“: Ernest S., and Charlie!  Pls send over your mailing addresses for delivery.

Keiju,

Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS or E-mail feed.

Related posts:

1. An Ambulance Screams By, Do You Feel Happy Or Sad?
2. The Katana: Randy Pausch and Basketballs 12/21
3. The Katana: 200th Post And A Thank You To All Readers!

Back in the 9th grade, I remember goofing off quite a bit with my buddies.  We skipped class, stayed out late, and essentially did a lot of stuff that was detrimental to our grades.  Despite working with plenty of Spanish speaking colleagues during my part-time job, I still only got a “C” in Spanish because I didn’t care.   All I wanted to do was have fun, and fun is what I had!

My parents spoke to me one evening and asked, “How are you ever going to be a great business man if you can’t even get an “A” in math?  Do you think award-winning scientists get “C’s” in high school chemistry?  Do you think Andre Agassi doesn’t practice hard every single day?”

The questions stuck with me because ever since I was 12, I wanted to be a “business man.”  I remember getting picked up in a sweet Mercedes 300 SEL by one of my father’s friends to take us to their mansion party.  The whole experience with the infinity pool, car, food, and servants made me want to do what they did, whatever that was!

After the pep talk, I began caring about my grades through college.  I didn’t want a silly thing like grades to get in the way of my dreams.

THE QUESTION TO ASK ALL PEOPLE

It’s pretty rational not to study, because studying sucks.  Most people are probably “C” or “B” students given the law of natural distribution.  Hence, do “C” or even “B” students deserve “A” lifestyles?  If you were a mediocre student, who went to a mediocre school, who works at a mediocre job, why do you think you deserve more than a mediocre lifestyle?

THE SOLUTION

To get people out of debt, we need to make people realize they are unworthy of the stuff they buy, even though they see their neighbors live it up.  Maybe their neighbors all got straight A’s at some prestigious university and are doctors?  We can’t compare ourselves to others, because we don’t know for sure what others make.

Given we have such an omnipresent government, perhaps they should make it mandatory for everybody to have their grades and universities revealed before they are allowed to purchase anything.  For example, only people with 3.5 or higher GPA’s are allowed to buy Armani clothes and Mercedes Benzos.  3.0 GPA folks, sorry, only Gap and Hondas for you!  The government can regulate spending by those who need the most regulating assuming there is a correlation between grades and commonsense of course.  Just imagine if we had this big brother program for potential home buyers 10 years ago.  We’d all be saved, right?

CONCLUSION

In reality, all we can do is be cognizant of our own achievements and spend accordingly.  If we can knock some reality into the average person, then maybe,  just maybe people will spend in-line with their incomes.

Let all the go-getters who are passionate about everything they do soak in all the success.  Let those who never complain and work when others are playing make all the money.  The rest of us can just kick back, whine about why life isn’t fair and tell ourselves why we deserve better.

Readers, do you believe that a main reason for tremendous consumer debt is because there are delusional people who think they deserve more than they can really afford?

If people want all the fancy things in life, why don’t they just work harder in school, be the best employee, or invent something successful to accommodate their desires?

What GPA did you get in HS/College, and will you be justifying your spending habits in the discussion below?

Keiju (Regards),

Sam @ Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS or E-mail feed.

Related posts:

1. The Dark Side Of Early Retirement
2. Who Needs A Job When You Have A Private School Degree
3. Everything Is Rational – The Answer To All Things Irrational

The S&P showed five consecutive days of gains in the first week of 2010 to close up 2.68%.  Meanwhile, The Samurai Fund (TSF) outperformed by 200 basis points to close up 4.77%! For an actual fund of 17 positions, this is absolutely huge!  We are up almost $80,000,000 this week, and if we keep this up, the team is going to get paid like rock stars come year-end!

I’ve put up a permanent tab to track our names to facilitate accountability.  If you are one of the 17 contributors, please provide periodic updates in the page to keep this as realistic as possible.  There will be a review of the bottom performers end of the quarter, to potentially make room for 3 new entrants.  Nobody is safe in this meritocracy!

INCOME POLL: There’s a new poll on the south-right side bar, asking how much money you made in 2009.  The poll is totally anonymous, so feel free to contribute.  It’ll be interesting to see the income distribution of our community, to help me help you discuss more pertinent things.

FREEDOM FUND: To answer a common question, the Freedom Fund is simply a $1 million cash goal (invested in CD’s or other safer instruments) by year-end 2019.  As far as I’m concerned, the Freedom Fund is my “net worth” since the  birth of this site in 2009.  Current nut size, $96,000.

FAVORITE OVERLOOKED SAMURAI ARTICLE: “Everything Is Rational – The Answer To All Things Irrational” was written over the holidays that sums up the key to all things that don’t make sense.  We shouldn’t impose our will on others.  Let others be.  Also stop feeling sorry for others, they are probably happy just the way they are!

TWITTER: Added a Twitter update widget on the right, which highlights more links and provides further activity if you would like to follow.

COMMENTS: The javasript:void(0) error is fixed so you can click ‘reply,’ ‘quotes’, ‘trackbacks’ in the comments section again.  Also, never hesitate to provide links in the comments.  It helps us read new stuff, and why I installed the Comment Luv plug-in.  Heads up on typos and grammatical errors appreciated.

WHAT’S UPCOMING: Refocusing on some money saving issues.  Before you consider converting to a ROTH IRA, please read Monday’s article.  We’ll also feature another solid guest post, and a book review and giveaway.

BOOK WINNERS: ThriftyGal and MBA Briefs!  Runner up new reader George, MoneyReasons, @RCThinkWealth and a very distant last, Investor Junkie because giving this book to him is like giving Bill Gates a fresh copy of Windows 7. :)  Winners e-mail me your mailing addresses, so I can pass along to the publisher.

MOST MEMORABLE READS FROM THE COMMUNITY:

* “Dave Ramsey On Credit Cards: I Love You Dave, But You’re Wrong” by Joel highlights why Dave goes overboard on suggesting folks cut up their credit cards.  Joel also produces a very nifty tool he developed highlighting the lifetime COST of the item you purchase on your credit card if you do not pay in full!  Check it out.

* “The Magic 8 Ball Makes Its Predictions for 2010″ by all-star stock picker Len “Lenar Corp” Penzo provides an absolutely hilarious post about answers various members of the PF ask.

* “Steady Paycheck vs. Self-Employment — Which Is Right For You?” from Kevin is a question that has fascinated me ever since graduating from college.  I had an opportunity to be an entrepreneur in a foreign land, but chose the “stability” of a steady paycheck.  What would you have done right?

* “Your Debt Is Your Fault: Stop Reading Self Indulgent Blogs” also by Joel tells it as it is and I’m on the exact same wave length here.  Or, we can always just blame others, including the government, and ask for a bailout!

* “20 Reasons Why You Need To Start Travel Now” by David highlights one of my great passions.  I don’t think I can not work and travel all the time, but what I can do is look forward to my 2-3, two week trips abroad every year.

* “Old Tianjin Is Destroyed” is a wonderful photolog by Gordie who is teaching English in Tianjin.  Showcases the metamorphosis of Tianjin over several years.  Somewhat sad, but hope their standards of living improve as a result.  Gordie, cool banner btw.  Now you guys know I’m a sucker for travel.

* “Mistakes I Made When Opening My Business” by Neal is a very insightful piece for all you entrepreneurs out there to read, and learn from, so you don’t have to do the same duh mistakes Neal made.

* “Be Yourself” by The Writer’s Coin highlights the importance for bloggers to be themselves, or else risk getting lost in the shuffle.  You’ve got to admit, there’s some really boring stuff out there, so hit me if the articles here get too stale.

* “PF Bloggers Share Their Top 2010 Predictions” is a good collection from Reedming Riches.  The most interesting one is from JD.  Hmm.

Keiju,

Financial Samurai – “Slicing Through Money’s Mysteries”

Follow on Twitter @FinancialSamura and subscribe to our RSS feed.

Related posts:

1. The Katana: Help Haiti If You Can 1/17
2. The Katana: Rough Waters On The Horizon
3. The Katana: Nobody Really Cares More About You Than You 11/22

Searching For Fortune On The Fund's Yacht

With great pleasure, I announce the launch of The Samurai Fund!

Thesis: Through random selection based solely off permutations of reader’s names (personal or site title), we are able to create a long-only mutual fund that will outperform the S&P 500 index!

Fund Details: $1,672,003 billion launch, $100/share NAV, with 17 positions equally weighted.  Concentrated multi-strategy portfolio with defensive names in the alcohol and utility space, as well as higher beta names in technology and health sciences.  Small caps and large cap names included.  S&P 500 start value 1,115 benchmark.

Investment Outlook 2010: The stock market continues to rebound, but at a slower pace.  Inflation and interest rates remain benign, leading to a re-emergence of consumer spending.  Housing stabilizes with 30-year mortgage rates staying below 6.5%.  The government maintains record spending to stimulate the economy and the unemployment rate begins to fall in the second half of the year.  The S&P 500 increases by 10-15% with a blue-sky target of 1,322.

Duration & Rules: One year.  The bottom 3 performers will be up for review every quarter. To stay in the fund, one must write a convincing argument as to why we should not cut our losses.  Picks down more than 20% also will be re-evaluated.

Goals: To have fun, learn something about the stock markets, prove a theory that luck plays a big part in performance, and to build better relationships with the community.

Contributors: Please retweet and spread the word to any of the social media sharing sites below.  We need all the support we can get to outperform the professionals!  Contributors are encouraged to provide updates and commentary as the months progress.  If anybody wants to do a portfolio analysis below, please feel free to do so!

*** STOCK PICKS SUMMARY WITH CONTRIBUTORS ***

FINANCIAL SAMURAI

Company (Ticker): Boston Beer Company (SAM)

Market Cap: $668 Million at entry price $46.60.

Commentary: Love Samuel Adams beer, but with no dividend, lofty valuations and minimal earnings growth, it’s hard to see this defensive stock providing alpha to the fund.  People need to drink in good times and bad!

DAVID AT MBA BRIEFS

Company (Ticker): ABM Industries (ABM)

Profile: A building maintenance and facility services company.

Market Cap: $1.09 Billion at entry price $20.65.

Commentary: The stock doesn’t look like it’s going to do anything spectacular in the short term but ABM is predicted to have consistent earnings growth throughout the year and has beat the analyst’s estimate every quarter for the last 4 quarters.

ABM is currently trading at $21.14 and the 1 year target estimate is $25.50. Volume peaked at 700k shares the week before Christmas and then dropped way off, and its trading well above the 50 day and 200 day moving averages, so it’s hard to tell if the stock price is going to continue to rise, trade sideways, or drop this week.

Not exactly a sexy stock but facility services should be fairly recession-proof and should do even better now that we’re supposedly heading into a bull market.

CHARLIE

Company (Ticker): Harman International Industries (HAR)

Market Cap: $2.44 Billion at entry price $35.28.

Profile: Engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of audio products and electronic systems in the United States and internationally.

Commentary: Don’t know a thing about the company but will be interesting to find out!

CREDIT CARD CHASER

Company (Ticker): Calgon Carbon CP (CCC)

Market Cap: $786 Million at entry price $13.90.

P/E: 20.26X

Earnings Growth 2010: 47.2%

Profile: Manufactures and markets products and services employed for separation, concentration, and purification of liquids and gases (huh?).  Drinking water and wastewater treatment, enviro remediation, and industrial process apps are its customers.

Commentary: Better than average predicted earnings growth for 2010 and trading right around the middle of its 52 week high so it could have some potential. I don’t pick individual stocks but this will be a fun one to watch!

DON AT MONEY REASONS

Company (Ticker): Monsanto Co (MON)

Market Cap: 45.03 Billion at entry price $81.75.

P/E: 21.75

Dividend (yearly): 1.30%

Earnings Growth 2010: 34.7%

Profile: Monsanto Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides agricultural products for farmers in the United States and internationally. It has two segments, Seeds and Genomics, and Agricultural Productivity.

Commentary: Monsanto has been beaten down pretty badly (it was at it’s high, over $145 per share), so it has some room to rise! People need to eat, and MON has some of the best engineered seed available.

FREE FROM BROKE

Company (Ticker): Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A)

Market Cap: 152.89 Billion at entry price $99,099.

Profile: a holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in a number of business activities. The most important of these are insurance businesses conducted on both a primary basis and a reinsurance basis. Berkshire also owns and operates a number of other businesses engaged in a variety of activities.

Commentary: Can you bet against the Oracle of Omaha? Until recently, Berkshire has done remarkably well year after year, investing in well known companies such as Coke, American Express, and P&G.

STEF AT 151 DAYS OFF

Company (Ticker): Steris Corp (STE)

Market Cap: $1.65 Billion at entry price $27.97.

P/E: 14.56

Dividend: 0.44 (1.60%)

Estimated Growth in 2010: 4.1% (ouch!!)

Profile: Steris Corp develops, manufactures, and markets infection prevention, contamination control, microbial reduction, and surgical support products and services to healthcare, pharmaceutical, scientific, research, industrial, and governmental customers worldwide.

Commentary: With the hysteria of swine flu in the past and Lord knows what kind of mutation it will bring in the future, the company will stand strong in years to come. Medical tech stock tends to be a defensive stock during the bear market and move steadily in a hot market. You would DEFINITELY want it in your portfolio!

DANIEL AT SWEATING THE BIG STUFF

Company (Ticker): Big Lots Inc (BIG)

Market Cap: $2.42 Billion at entry price $28.98.

P/E: 13.88

Earnings Growth: 11.5%

Profile: Big Lots, Inc. operates as a broadline closeout retailer in the United States.

Commentary: As a discount retailer, it does well when the economy struggles. In 2010, as the economy only begins to improve, Big Lots should continue to have success in the discount market.

THRIFTY GAL AT CHASING PROSPERITY

Company (Ticker): PG&E – Pacific Gas and Electric (PCG)

Market Cap: $16.89 Billion at entry price $44.65.

P/E: 11.86X

Earnings Growth 2010: 7.6%

Dividend yield: 3.7%

Profile: PG&E is a public utility company that provides electicity and natural gas to northern and central California.

Commentary: Pop culture reference: villan in ‘Erin Brokovich’

LEAN LIFE COACH

Company (Ticker): Toyota Motors (TM)

Market Cap: $140 Billion at entry price $84.16.

P/E ratio (ttm): Nada – They’ve been losing money for the first time in over 50 years!

P/E ratio (fwd): 25X

EPS Growth: Yahoo lists 1200%? From zero that won’t be too hard!

Profile: One of the largest car companies in the world.

Commentary: Challenged by some quality issues they will likely continue to suffer for a few more months but I believe their commitment to continuous improvement (Kaizen) will help them out of this rut.

The continue to build good cars that have generic styling that appeals to a wide market. They are coming out with some new technology including plug in hybrid and are revamping the Lexus brand to draw in the younger crowds. If you like fast cars check out the Lexus all carbon body LFA!

PATRICK AT CASH MONEY LIFE

Company (Ticker): Compellent Technologies, Inc. (CML)

Market Cap: $704 Million at entry price $22.68.

P/E: 146.90

Earnings Growth 2010 (estimate): 31.0%

Profile: Compellent Technologies, Inc. is a provider of enterprise-class network storage solutions. The Company’s storage center is a Storage Area Network (SAN), that is designed to significantly lower storage and infrastructure capital expenditures, reduce the skill level and number of personnel required to manage information and enable continuous data availability and storage virtualization.

Commentary: Aggressive earnings estimates for a company that has yet to register large profits. I guess my entry will mimic the elements of the S&P that drags down the rest.

LEN PENZO

Company (Ticker): Lenar Corp (LEN)

Market Cap: $2.4 Billion at entry price $12.77.

PE: N/A (divide by zero – never a good sign)

Dividend Yield: 1.2%

Earnings Growth 2010 (est): showing losses

Profile: A leading home-builder in America.

Commentary: As I mentioned earlier, I think housing is on very flimsy stilts. The current anemic upturn (if you can call it that) only propped up due to government subsidies and bailouts so I would never recommend a home builder as a stock pick in 2010. But the rules are the rules, and as such I expect this component of your honorable Samurai fund to weigh it down like an old rusty boat anchor. LOL

EVOLUTION OF WEALTH

Related posts:

1. The Katana: Lauching The Samurai Fund To Prove A Theory 12/28
2. Samurai Predictions And Resolutions For 2010
3. Everybody’s A Financial Genius!