Tips on the 'first step' of securing a successful financial future

Regular readers know that I of course focus my daily e-mails on investing.

For example, tomorrow I'll be covering the earnings report of one of my favorite tech stocks, Amazon (AMZN).

If you've been following along with my work over the years, you know I aim to help my readers make money and secure their financial future.

But here's the thing...

If you want to secure your financial future, investing successfully is only the third – and least important – step.

The first step is to build relationships and skills that lead to a successful career, characterized by consistent and growing income.

Note that I didn't say "high income"...

That's helpful, of course. But consider the case of my parents: They're both educators and in their 82 years have never earned big money, but nevertheless are financially comfortable thanks to both of them working and getting step two right: spending less than they earn.

In other words, they were net savers every single year of their working lives.

And it's at this point – when you have savings – when investing matters.

With all this in mind, I'd like to digress today from the usual topics I cover and share my daughter's thoughts that relate to step one: how to get a good job.

I know many of my readers have children (or even grandchildren) who are in college or getting started in their careers. So I encourage sharing this perspective from someone who is young and on the right path to building relationships and skills that will lead to a long, successful career.

But first, let me put this into some context...

A few weeks ago, I bumped into an old friend who – in the course of catching up after many years – mentioned that his son is a college senior and interested in a job in sports.

I told him that my middle daughter, Emily, worked at Madison Square Garden Sports (MSGS) for a couple of years after college, where she took care of Knicks and Rangers season ticket holders. I also offered to ask her to talk to my friend's son.

He agreed, so I set up the call and they talked last week.

It didn't go well. Afterward, Emily told me he was anxious, disorganized, and unprepared.

As she described what he did wrong and what he should have done instead, I realized that she would have said the same things about me 35 years ago...

In the spring of 1989 when I was about to graduate from Harvard, I was interested in business, so I had lined up interviews with a half-dozen top investment banks and consulting firms that were recruiting on campus.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I hadn't done any research on the firms or the industries, so I was woefully unprepared. And not surprisingly, I bombed the interviews at the first three firms, which didn't invite me back for second-round interviews.

I thought I was God's gift to the world back then – Harvard tends to do that to people – so it was quite a blow to my overinflated ego.

In frustration, I called a good friend who had graduated two years earlier and was working at Bain, one of the consulting firms I had applied to.

He asked me a series of standard questions all the firms ask, listened to my replies, and told me I was screwing it all up.

I had been playing up my entrepreneurial experience – running two divisions of Harvard Student Agencies and then a franchise of College Pro Painters for two summers, where I'd employed more than 30 college students to paint 75 houses in nearby Wellesley.

As my friend explained, the problem was that these firms weren't looking for entrepreneurs. They wanted smart, hardworking grunts who would stay up late cranking out spreadsheets and, if necessary, carry a partner's briefcase.

So he helped me completely redo my answers, erasing any hint of my ego and emphasizing my experiences that showed what a team player I was.

It worked!

After going 0 for 3 in my first interviews, I went 2 for 3 in my last ones – getting job offers from investment bank First Boston and Boston Consulting Group ("BCG").

After BCG agreed to defer my start date for six months so I could help start Teach for America, I took the job and had a great two years there before heading off to Harvard Business School.

Here's the key lesson from my experience: If I hadn't had a friend who was a little older and a lot wiser who took the time to help me, I wouldn't have gotten a single job offer.

Turning back to what Emily was telling me, she is excellent at networking her way into jobs – so much so that the career development office at her alma mater, Wake Forest, regularly tells students to call her, so she has mentored many young people.

Her first job after she graduated was as a retail sales representative for Nestlé.

It's a great company, but the job was a total mismatch for her – she was driving around in a company car in the suburbs outside Washington, D.C. to visit supermarkets and talk to managers about what they could do to boost sales of Nestlé products.

Not only was she lonely and not getting any mentoring, but half the time she was picking up Nestlé products off the floor and putting them back on the shelves. She also realized that her family, friends, and networks were in New York City... so after a couple of months, she applied all of her techniques (described below) and found the job at MSG Sports.

Then, after almost two great years there, she felt like she had plateaued and found herself a job at a small, boutique, high-end travel agency.

While she liked the work, she didn't like the people, so after 10 months she found another job she just started a couple of months ago at the New York office of a venture-backed Israeli tech company called Artlist, where she's very happy.

So to get some fresh perspective for step one of securing a successful financial future – how to get a good job – I asked Emily if she would write up the advice that she gives to the many young people who call her. Here's what she sent me to share in today's e-mail...

Though the economy is strong, it's not easy these days for young people to find a good job – one in which they'll gain valuable skills, develop mentors, get on track for a career (as opposed to a series of jobs), and earn decent pay and benefits.

In many popular sectors like big tech and consulting, mass layoffs are occurring, companies have imposed hiring freezes, or they're filling positions through internal promotions.

Though I'm only 25, I've secured four good jobs, thanks in part to figuring out how to set up and conduct a large number of effective informational interviews, which in turn has led to formal job interviews and job offers.

I'm going to focus on informational interviews because they're a critical first step to landing a job.

As a start, you need to make LinkedIn your best friend. You need to carefully craft your profile (here's mine), detailing your education and experiences, including a professional picture. Your LinkedIn page should reflect your resume as much as possible, so that when employers look you up (which they will!), they can easily assess your qualifications.

You also need to build as many connections as possible – as you can see from my page, I have more than 1,300. When you meet people you think do cool things, add them! LinkedIn will tell you if you have mutual connections, and you never know when someone you've met might end up being a potential asset to your career growth (another reason to always be nice and look to create relationships).

The key to getting formal job interviews is to set up lots of informational interviews at the company or in the sector you're interested in.

A great place to start is your school's alumni career page – most people are willing to talk to an eager student from their alma mater.

Another great place to look is on the LinkedIn pages of companies you're interested in. In the "People" section, you can search for employees based on things like location and job type. So if you're interested in working at MSG Sports in a marketing role (as I was), head to the company's LinkedIn page, select "New York" and "Marketing," and there's your contact list.

I find it most useful talking to people in the first five years of their career, as they were recently in my shoes and are in more entry-level roles – the types of jobs I'd be applying for. And, if they like you, they will connect you with the people above them.

It's important to narrow down your search so you don't waste your time – or theirs.

Let's say you want to work in sports in New York. It's a huge industry, so you need to be more specific. Are you interested in finance... legal... sales... marketing... human resources?

Of course, some young folks might not know exactly what area they're most interested in, but if you're a people person looking for a role in membership services, don't bother reaching out to someone on the data analytics team.

Once you've identified someone you'd like to speak with, send them a direct message via LinkedIn that's succinct and compelling. This is such an easy step, but it's often botched. I get these requests all the time, and simply ignore the bad ones. Why would I waste my time on a stranger who can't even take the time to put together a professional introductory message?

Here's an example of one I used to send:

Dear Mr./Ms. [last name],

I am a senior at Wake Forest looking for a job in sports, ideally in the areas of marketing or customer service. I played three varsity sports all four years of high school, played club soccer at Wake, and I'm a real people person. I'd also like to return to New York, the city where I was born and lived my entire life until college.

Based on your LinkedIn profile, I think you might have experiences and insights that would be invaluable to me.

Might you be able to spare 10 minutes for a brief informational interview? I am available any time at your convenience.

Sincerely yours,

Emily Tilson

If the person says yes, it's critical to do extensive research on them, their job, and their company before the call.

Start with LinkedIn, but then keep digging. You're looking for information, so that you can give the impression that you're smart and do your homework, but also personal connections.

What sorority were they in? What sports did they play? Were they one of three daughters (hey, me too!)? Find their job description. And research the company – it's especially easy if it's a public company like MSG. How's the stock doing and why? Is this a company on the rise or is it struggling? Are the Knicks or Rangers in the playoffs? How'd last season go? You had better know!

Then, when you're on the phone with them, you can ask things specific to their journey. People love to tell their stories. As my dad often preaches, the more you get people talking about themselves, the more interesting they think you are!

If you're well informed and interesting, people will gladly talk for more than the 10 minutes you asked for – but once you sense that the conversation is petering out, thank them profusely for being so generous with their time and let them go. Then, e-mail or direct message them afterwards with a well-written thank you that mentions one or more specific things from your conversation.

Keep track of everyone you speak with and look for opportunities to reconnect with them. For example, if you end up applying for a position at their company, let them know! Being on as many peoples' radar screens as possible is important because often managers have an idea who they want to interview even before a position is posted. You, of course, want to be on that list.

Don't be shy, and good luck!

Thanks for the great advice, Emily!

And again, for readers with young adult children or grandchildren, feel free to share her perspective with them.

Best regards,

Whitney

P.S. I welcome your feedback – send me an e-mail by clicking here.