Foreclosure – Finding the Federal Mortgage Money

…The day the foreclosure papers arrived in the mail I went (as they used to say) wang dang doodle nuts! I dropped to my knees because I couldn’t support my own weight and on the other hand I’m not a fainter. I had a vision of my furniture being hauled out on to the front lawn. I’ve lived in neighborhoods where people actually watched for eviction notices to be posted on doors so they could raid some stranger’s belongings. I’ve watched people frantically trying to hang onto their belongs while people darted in and out stealing away bits and pieces of their life. The woman would cry while the man yelled and threatened and their children watched like those wide eyes paintings. Did I mention these things never seem to happen on bright sunny days? So anyway, the process server handed me a thick envelope that basically boiled down to “GET OUT,” said in legal language. One of the few things that has helped me get through the last three years of my woman-made financial nightmare is facing almost everything as if I’m doing it for someone else. In this case I was working to help someone save their home. But the gravity of what was happening, the possibility of having nowhere to live made it impossible to pretend it wasn’t actually happening to me.

From 1995 to 2006 I was privileged to be appointed by then Governor George E. Pataki and my primary responsibility was research… I’d been hearing a lot about how some portion of the Federal bailout money had been set aside to help people like me who’d fallen behind on their mortgages. In my case I’d had to make some hard choices. It takes up to six months for review of your application for disability. While the review is ongoing you cannot make any money. Some friends have speculated that the idea is to force you into bankruptcy while you wait for a decision. I still had bills to pay while I was waiting. Electricity to keep on, fuel oil to keep me warm and medical bills, lots and lots of medical bills and co-pays to cover. Let’s not even talk about the cost of medications. So I used what would have been mortgage money and I’m willing to bet I’m far from alone. It’s called robbing Peter to pay Paul and if Paul’s up in heaven waiting for his cash he’s going to be a very rich man when I die.

Well there was no doubt about it – being three months behind on your mortgage pretty much guaranteed foreclosure. I once referred to my house as “home crap home.” 20 years later I would have fought like a pit bull to keep it. I put the word out on several listservs that I wanted to know “where the cash is.” Any number of non-profits were openly available to help people figure out how to create a budget or save to buy a house but where was the actual cash and why wasn’t anyone talking about it openly? I’ve got this real problem with secrecy. The more you try to hide something from me the harder I’ll search for it. Childhood issues and all that. Well a wonderful woman on one of my listservs got in touch with me and gave me the website for something called PHASES (Preserving Homeownership and Savings Education Strategy (PHASES) program.) This is not easy money but I will tell you its fair money. I’ve worked in the grants field for 25+ years and what has often pushed me to the edge is when you hear about an “available” grant when the truth is they already know who they’re going to give the money to. PHASES is fair. They look at everything from your debt to income ratio, the reason(s) you fell behind on your mortgage payments, the application you have to complete as well as the online finance course. This is not easy money to obtain but it is obtainable.

I received a foreclosure notice a week before I was approved by PHASES. They understood the urgency of my situation. Sometimes I felt like a jockey riding a house instead of a horse to the finish line. But they did get me to the finish line. I had to make a commitment to pay the mortgage on time from that point on and check in on a quarterly basis with my budget to show I’m keeping on the straight and narrow. I was approved for social security disability just before Christmas and got my pension check started. My husband found a job that meets our need for him to be available during the day to take care of me. I’ve been reading a lot about the good people who don’t get the happy ending. Believe me I know how lucky I am. I’m trying to make myself as available as possible to help people facing possible foreclosure.

Having just emerged from the foreclosure process I know how truly desperate you can get to find a way to keep your home. It seems like there are signs everywhere – in the ground and on telephone poles – telling you that, if you call the phone number they could help you keep your home. In New York State such “help” requires entering into a contract including details of services and fees. This may be true of other States also. Look carefully into each individual business’s offer of assistance. Check them out with the Better Business Bureau and/or the local Chamber of Commerce or your State’s Attorney General’s website or office. Protect yourself. Your already going through one of the toughest times of your life. Don’t let someone compound that for their own personal gain.

Making the Most of a Thin Resume.

When you’re short on experience, play up your strengths.

The Problem: Recession or not, you’re job hunting. Trouble is, aside from some internships and a few part-time gigs, the work experience section of your resume is, well, thin. You know that you could nail a job if given the chance – but with the national unemployment rate hovering around 10%, how to get a foot in the door with so little to go on?

The Solution: A resume redo. The key is highlighting your accomplishments, regardless of how you got them. Definitely include when you graduated and whatever positions you’ve held since – employers want to see that. But, also list volunteer organizations, student clubs, sports teams, or any group in which you’ve held a leadership position or made an impact. Detail projects completed, funds raised or other positive outcomes; you want to point to anything that shows your capabilities, especially if it dovetails with requirements of the job you’re going after. And, here’s a tip from executive recruiters: Describe your efforts using keywords that mirror the language in an employer’s job listing, so they can connect the dots between your skills and their position. If you’re going after a marketing associate job, for example, outline the email marketing campaign you created for your campus bookstore that led to a 10% increase in sales.

One More Thing: No matter what type of job you’re going after, be sure to include in-demand skills such as foreign languages and computer know-how – we’re talking about spreadsheets and database programs, here, not Facebook. Of course, it’s all relative. If all you can say is, “Basic Microsoft Word,” then you might not want to highlight that that’s all you know.

If You’re The Do-It-Yourself Type: You’ll have no problem revamping your resume with the help of free templates from Microsoft, About.com or other online sources – some even have those all-important keywords built in. If you need a little coaching, have a professional resume service to do it for you – though you’ll pay for the convenience. Websites such as ResumeWriters.com or Monster.com charge anywhere from $100 to $300 for a finished product that you’ll get back in two to three days. Everyone has a different resume style preference, however, and we’ve spoken to executive recruiters who think that professional resume services create resumes that are too complicated and fluffy.

Before you part with any cash, do some digging. With so many people out of work, public libraries are holding free resume writing workshops, and universities have made resume and career counseling services available to recent grads and other alumni.

Good luck!

Question from user:

I am in a bind. I don’t really know what to do. Previously, the HR lady in my fairly small office was nice to me, always smiling at me and saying hi, for about two years. Then, I got written up because we had this super boring mandatory 8 hour staff meeting and I was doodling on some papers that were passed out during it, which I wasn’t doing maliciously so much as I was in an effort to stay awake during the 8 hours of sitting still in a hot room hearing about H1N1 and other mind-numbingly boring subjects.

In addition to this, one of my co-workers, who, during his time at my work, became one of my best friends, was fired for a really flimsy reason (official reason listed was that he fell asleep in a meeting, but i was sitting beside him in said meeting and he absolutely did nothing of the sort) and after his dismissal, I was very upset and distraught, and I shared these feelings with my supervisor, who I am sure shared my concerns with HR. Now, aforementioned HR lady won’t even look at me, no longer greets me, and if I have to interact with her at all she is uncomfortably cold to me and as minimally helpful as she can be. I want to bring this concern about her conduct with me to my supervisor, but then who does it go to? Back to her, so that she can deny it and make me feel even more uncomfortable? I feel trapped. If it was anyone else in my office, I know who I would turn to, but who do I talk to when it is the HR lady that is making my work-life hell? What do I do?

Evil HR Lady response:

I needed to re-read this question several times to grasp the concept–because I’m still in shock that you were written up for doodling? Honest? I’m a chronic doodler. I attribute my doodling to my success in life. Why? A study that compared how well people remembered details of a dull monologue found that those who doodled throughout retained more information than those who tried to sit and listen.

But, I need to clarify something first. Your manager would have been the one to decide to write you up, not HR. Honest, we don’t roam the halls looking for infractions. (Now, I will grant that there is probably an HR person or two out there who does this, and in some companies a lot of administrative staff has a hard-line reporting relationship to HR and only dotted-line relationships to the people they support.)

So, here’s my best guess. Your manager is a dork who blames his own stupidity on HR. HR knows this, and the HR woman is now embarrassed to deal with you, because she’s had to help out with the process of writing you up for doodling.

As for your friend being fired for sleeping in a meeting, again, unless HR Lady was running the meeting, it’s most likely your boss who did this.

Which means, by complaining to your boss, you’re complaining to him about problems he caused, but blaming HR. It’s a little problematic.

This puts us to where you are. First, why do you care if the HR person smiles at you in the hallway? It reminds me of my freshman year in college when one of my roommates was absolutely convinced that one of my friends hated her. Why? “I saw Laura on campus today and she didn’t say hi!” she would complain. I’d ask, “Did you say hi?” The answer was always something along the lines of, “I shouldn’t have to. She should say hi to me!”

Now, we were 18 and dumb as rocks, and we’ve all grown up to be productive women who are hopefully not so petty.

So, if she doesn’t smile at you, smile at her. If this really bothers you, make an appointment to talk to her and say, “I feel like there is a problem between us. I’d like to have a good relationship with you and your department. What changes do I need to make?”

Yes, it could be all her fault, but no one likes their faults thrown at them, and you can only change you.

But, I think the real problem is with the 8 hour administrative meetings with a strict you-must-stare-straight-ahead-and-not-blink policy. Take that up with your manager.

“I see we have another all day all hands meeting scheduled. Is there anyway we could split that into two days, 4 hours each day? That way, we don’t get as far behind on our work and we stay on top of things.” Don’t couch it in terms of “I get sooo bored and sleepy in all day meetings.” That will not go over well.

Now, assuming your boss isn’t a complete idiot, it’s likely that your doodling was the concrete thing they could use to describe you not paying attention in a meeting. I’ve done a lot of training/teaching and I can tell when someone is not paying attention. Your boss may be able to do this as well.

Laid Off

An inlaw of mine is almost 65 years old, and has worked as a project manager at an engineering firm for 35 years. Last month he was laid off… with four weeks of severance. Because he thinks a) since 4 weeks is what’s in the company bylaws and b) that (based on no actual input from the company that I can see) he might get contract work for them one day, he doesn’t want to talk to a lawyer. I say the worst case scenario is he doesn’t get four weeks of severance, and best case can be a whole lot better.

Did I mention that he just came back from a 7 month leave in October to recover from surgery? Evil HR Lady, he has no college degree, did not become an engineer, has health issues, and lives in the economic cesspool that is greater Detroit. Am I being overly pessimistic about his prospects, or just pragmatic? In your opinion do we need to gently bring him around to the idea that he might as well start a legal negotiation, because he’s got a very tiny realistic shot at a professional future, and needs something to live off of? I suspect part of the reason he’s so reluctant to do anything is because it would mean acknowledging how little he was valued by that company, but the situation is what it is, and I say no sense pretending he was treated well, or will be in the future with fantasy contract work. And he says it was a layoff, but he was the only one let go at that time. Others have been let go previously.

The Evil HR Lady responds

I’m a big fan of severance. It keeps things civil and your terminated employees from initiating lawsuits. Note that I said initiating lawsuits, not from winning lawsuits, because, quite frankly termination lawsuits are hard for a former employee to win.

You see, you can terminate anyone at any time for any legal reason. (Assuming no contracts and at will employment here.) What you can’t do is terminate someone for illegal reasons. In your inlaw’s case you may say, “Look he was terminated because he’s almost 65.” Yes, that is illegal. You may not terminate someone because he is 64.5 years old. But, you certainly can terminate someone who is 64.5 years old, provided that his age is not the reason.

But, your question is should he file a lawsuit, right? Well, I’ll be honest with you–there is a probability greater than zero that you could win and still end up with less money. Why? Because the lawyer has to be paid. If the company bylaws stipulate 4 weeks of severance and they offered 4 weeks of severance and (and this is key) they offered 4 weeks of severance to other people they have terminated, then in order to win anything, he’s going to have to prove illegal discrimination.

Now, I would tell a company that they need to be extra careful because the burden generally falls on them to prove that they didn’t illegally terminate someone. But, that advice flips when you are talking about filing the lawsuit. You know who wins in a lawsuit? Lawyers. Yep. Everyone else is dragged through years (literally) of tedious, painful, litigation.

You don’t want to go to court. There is a real possibility that he could get more money if he simply threatens (or, better yet, has a lawyer threaten–some of them will write a letter for you for a few hundred dollars). But, there is also a possibility that no future consulting work will be the consequence of that lawsuit.

So, here is what I would do. 1. Ask for a copy of the Summary Plan Description. If they’ve let multiple people go, there should be one. (He should have a copy already.) It will state how severance is calculated. If his is calculated as per the plan, then that is that. 2. Call up an employment lawyer and ask for a short consultation (confirm the fee beforehand). Don’t call up one of those “were you hurt in an accident? Let’s sue!” lawyers because they won’t know what to do. Ask the lawyer’s advice on the potential age discrimination claim. 3. If the lawyer thinks there is a valid claim, have her write a letter asking for a reasonable increase in severance. 4. Then let it go. Take the 4 weeks (or whatever additional severance is offered) and get on with life.

Employment lawsuits are not the kind where you get million dollar payouts. The psychological toll of such a thing is not worth the money.

For example, type in “how to save money…” and the search engine suggests:

• …every month
• …on groceries
• …fast
• …on electric bill
• …in college
• …for a house
• …with coupons
• …on food
• …at the grocery store
• …on a wedding

Type in “unemployment,” and suggested topics include:

• …California
• …extension
• …benefits
• …Florida
• …Ohio
• …rate by state
• …PA
• …extension 2010

The search for “finding a job” kicks up these:

• …after college
• …in this economy
• …in a recession
• …you love
• …with a felony
• …online
• …in another state
• …while pregnant
• …in NYC

You can try just about anything and find something of interest. Type in “Obama,” and the No. 2 suggestion is “birth certificate.” Enter “Sarah Palin,” and “hand notes” comes in No. 2. A “Bill Clinton” search yields “impeachment” and “scandal” in the top 10.

“Bill Clinton impeachment” and “Bill Clinton scandal”? Really, America? He’s just ten years out of office, but perhaps that’s an indication of which historical events related to the ex-President are going to stick. At least “Lewinsky” wasn’t on there…

A slideshow presentation by and video of ElmoFromOK — an “open-minded code monkey” and podcaster from Oklahoma — called…

Who was your favorite manager and why?

What kind of personality do you work best with and why?

Why do you want this job?

Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?

Tell me about your proudest achievement.

If you were at a business lunch and you ordered a rare steak and they brought it to you well done, what would you do?

If I were to give you this salary you requested but let you write your job description for the next year, what would it say?

Why is there fuzz on a tennis ball? (Answer here)

How would you go about establishing your credibility quickly with the team?

There’s no right or wrong answer, but if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?

How would you feel about working for someone who knows less than you?

What’s your ideal company?

What attracted you to this company?

What do you look for in terms of culture — structured or entrepreneurial?

Give examples of ideas you’ve had or implemented.

What kind of car do you drive?

Tell me about a time where you had to deal with conflict on the job.

What magazines do you subscribe to?

Why should we hire you?

What did you like least about your last job?

What do you think of your previous boss?

How do you think I rate as an interviewer?

Do you have any questions for me?

When were you most satisfied in your job?

What can you do for us that other candidates can’t?

What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?

What negative thing would your last boss say about you?

If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?

What salary are you seeking?

What’s your salary history?

How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?

What do you know about this industry?

What do you know about our company?

How long will it take for you to make a significant contribution?

Are you willing to relocate?

What was the last project you headed up, and what was its outcome?

Give me an example of a time that you felt you went above and beyond the call of duty at work.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

Can you describe a time when your work was criticized?

Have you ever been on a team where someone was not pulling their own weight? How did you handle it?

What is your personal mission statement?

Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it?

What is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it?

What irritates you about other people, and how do you deal with it?

What is your greatest fear?

What do you see yourself doing within the first 30 days of this job?

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in school?

What three character traits would your friends use to describe you?

What will you miss about your present/last job?

If you were interviewing someone for this position, what traits would you look for?

List five words that describe your character.

What is your greatest achievement outside of work?

Sell me this pencil.

If I were your supervisor and asked you to do something that you disagreed with, what would you do?

Do you think a leader should be feared or liked?

What’s the most difficult decision you’ve made in the last two years?

How Job Seekers Can Destroy Networking Goodwill By Cyber-Glomming

The glommer is someone who over-capitalizes your time, who overstays their welcome with you, who just won’t let you talk to others no matter how politely you try to leave.

Instead of building goodwill with you, job seekers who are glommers destroy it.

How likely are you to take the glommer’s call after a networking event? How likely are you to refer the glommer to your friends and contacts? Would you suspect the glommer would also glom onto them?…

The online glommer takes your willingness to help a little (or a lot) too far. An online glommer is someone who friends you on Facebook, and then tries to friend everyone in your company at the same time. You find out about it because 10 of your friends all ask you if you know this person who sent each of them a friend request – within a week’s time span. You can bet that some of those friends will end up asking why you referred that glommer to them.

Linkedin can be a haven for job seeker who are online glommers, and one found me last week…

Read rest of post here…

Is Your Interview Attire Helping or Hurting You? – by Susan Mowder

Due to limited time, right or wrong, much of (an interviewer’s) decision will be based on a first impression—the first 5-10 seconds of interaction. Since few words are exchanged in that time, the way you look must speak volumes. Your ultimate goal is to visually present every quality and experience stated on your resume, tweaked to fit the company’s culture.

How do you accomplish this with just clothes? More so, why does clothing even matter if you possess the skills, degrees and experience necessary for the position?

In the present job market, there are often many qualified candidates applying for each job opening. If your first impression is positive, then the interviewer’s objective will be to pursue additional information to continually confirm that you are the right person for the job.

Using your resume as a checklist, determine if your interview attire is helping or hurting:

WORK EXPERIENCE

Industry professional – Whether you have worked in the industry for years or just months, do you reflect your industry standards?

Even if the standard look differs from your typical everyday dress, the job interview remains a ritual that requires a certain amount of conformity to the expected norm.

* For someone in law, banking or management, the expectation is conservative, professional dress—dark suits, muted colors, and minimal accessories.
* If you are in a creative or cutting-edge field, you need to reflect contemporary thinking through what you wear—trendier styles, statement accessories, bolder colors and patterns.

Job experience – Are you experience and age appropriate?

In some industries, with years of experience come expectations of certain status symbols—types of suits, ties, handbags, watches, etc. If you are less experienced and/or newer to the job market, already possessing these same status symbols may work against you.

The opposite is true for age.

Those who are older are often held to a stricter code of suitable dress then those who are younger. This is true even in the creative professions where trendier dress is expected. The solution is to use as your guide what successful people in your age range in your industry are wearing.

Program innovator – Do you appear current and credible?

If you want people to accept your ideas and knowledge as up-to-date and forward thinking, you have to look fresh and emanate believability. This does not mean sporting the latest runway look, but projecting a stylish overall appearance.

Your clothing, hair, and make up should flatter your body, compliment your lifestyle and respect your industry. You want the interviewer to focus on what you say, not receive mixed messages from your look.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

Attention to detail – Does everything about you reflect an attention to detail?

If you want an interviewer to truly believe you can handle all aspects of the job, take an honest look in the mirror.

* Do your clothes fit you?
* Is your outfit clean and pressed?
* Are your shoes shined and in good condition?
* Is your handbag or briefcase appropriate?
* Is the hair trimmed?
* Are the nails manicured?

The key is often not what specific clothes you wear, but how you wear them. Before you step out the door, ask yourself if every part of your look is helping you to be perceived the way you wish to be perceived.

Team player – Do you look like you belong on their team?

A true team player wants to do what is best for the team. Take time to find out how people at that company in the position you seek dress so you can instantly be seen as a part of their team.

This shows you respect the corporate culture of the company with whom you are interviewing. A phone call to the Human Resources department can provide this information. If your interview is with a company that has a very casual dress code, it is still best to err on the dressier side for your interview.

An interview is your time to reinforce why you are the perfect person for the job. The right image suggests the right qualifications. Use it to your advantage!

• 10 Valuable Tips to Keep Spirits High During Recession (paggu.com)
• 100 tips,tools, and resources-to help you survive without a job (Examiner.com)
• Things I like to do to keep busy while I’m laid off (Unemploymentality)
• When (Not) in Doubt, Hire Yourself (Living the Unemployed Life)
• 25 Well-Paying Jobs that Most People Overlook (and Why) (Business Pundit)
• Using Your Blog as Job Search Tool (DailyBlogTips)