Its Okay to Have an Old Car

Is it pretty? No

Does it run? ... Sometimes

Are you embarassed by it? Probably

Do you have a car payment? Nope

Alright, driving, say, a 1991 Cutlass Cruiser Station Wagon (pictured) isn't exactly the kind of ride exudes class, nor does it help in the pursuit of hot ladies or gentlemen.

But here's what a car like that can do for you- eliminate car payments! Sure, this old thing doesn't look like much, but buying one of these for $1,000 or less and having the mechanic repair it every now and then is still cheaper than paying $350 a month for a lease or car payment. In addition, in some states you can be insured as a driver, but not have your car covered. This means that if you total your car, your insurance will cover the damages for whatever you hit, but won't pay for the car damages. Consider the Kelly's Blue Book value on a baby like that one is about $500, you won't get anything if your car is totaled anyways. This will lower your insurance by a few hundred dollars every year.

Let's do the math:

If you pay $350 a month on your car payment, that works out to $4,200 per year.
Pay for insurance. Let's give a rough estimate of $500 per year. Young drivers tend to have higher premiums than our more experienced counterparts.
Pay for repairs. Even a new car needs oil changes every 3 months or so. At $50 each, you're looking at $200 in maintenance, plus more for things like new spark plugs, anitfreeze, tires or, God forbid, something substantial like a new muffler or major repairs to the engine.
Total cost: $4,900+ annually

Or

Buy a car outright for $1,000.
Pay for insurance. Driver's insurance is about $250 annually, depending on your record.
Put new tires on it, chances are the ones on there will probably be shot. $400
While you're at it, top off all fluids, change the spark plugs, get new belts, replace a light bulb or two, WD-40 the hinges, buy a new battery and get a few copies made of the keys- if you do this yourself or with minimal help, you can probably accomplish this for $500
Oil changes are still needed! $200 per year
Repairs as needed. With an older car, keep $500 kicking around in your checking account, or at least keep $500 free on your credit card. My old car usually has one decent break-down a year at the tune of $500 for repairs. Anything more than that should warrant simply buying a new old car and starting over.
One nice thing about an old car is you can usually find used, but still serviceable parts for an old car in a junk yard. Things like rims, axles, seats, steering wheels, doors, transmissions, headlights/taillights, gas tanks and more can be found on the cheap. New cars don't have the same pileup of junked cars, so chances are anything new you'll need will cost 4 times as much.
Total cost: 2,850+ annually

Assuming you can make your car last another year, it will cost you about $1,000 to keep the old bird on the road, $250 for insurance and $750 for oil changes, small repairs and maintenance. You might spend up to $1,000 in repairs, after that, scrap it and start over with a slightly newer model. Oh heck, splurge and get a Triple A membership just in case you break down. I don't have AAA, but I can't imagine it being more than $200 a year. Your maximum total would be $2,200 annually. The lease or car payments will still be $4,900 next year.

My old car, which actually IS a 1991 Cutlass Cruiser Station Wagon (like the one pictured but no wood panels and a whole lot more rust). She's broken down on me a few times, I'll give you that, and that's pretty annoying. The nice thing is my old car is expendable, cheap and easy to drive. With 250,000 miles on it, it steers like a boat and handles beautifully in the snow (very important for where I live!). Plus, I have a rumble seat that seats two people in the way, way back that faces backwards. I once fit all of my worldly possessions in it to move in and out of college dorms, and in between classes I used to crawl in the back, put all the seats down, pull out a blanket and take a nap while listening to music. I bought that old car back in high school and learned to drive on it. My dad thought it would last a year or two and then we'd junk it. Well, seven years later, she'll still going strong and I hope to break 300,000 miles on it.

So, laugh at the old beater car all you want.  Call it a jalopy, hoopty, deathtrap with wheels or demolition derby fodder. Make fun of people who rely on duct tape, bungee cords, rope and a prayer to get to work. They're still saving money. That saved money could be used to pay down the principle on your students loans and reduce the amount of interest you'll end up paying over the life of the loan.

Does Your Resume Contain the Right Keywords?

These days, many recruiters and hiring managers use a filtering software that picks out resumes with specific keywords.  For example, a sales professional may want to include things like "account management," "sales goals," "profit," "customer relations" and others.

Quintessential Careers is a free resource for college students and grads. They provide some great strategies for writing a keyword rich resume and cover letter that will get through filters and catch the eye of the manager looking over your credentials. Click the link to read their article.

Not sure what to include? First, scan the advertisement or job posting. Your resume should include some of the phrases uses in the ad, so if the post asks for someone with "territory management skills" that term or something very similar should be in your resume. If you're still stumped, check out Keyword Directory to look for the most searched for terms and their related keywords. I put in a query for "sales manager" and got a list of some of the most commonly-used keywords associated with this term:

Search Term	Total
sales manager	3567
engineer manager designer project sales	2246
regional sales manager	2200
sales account manager	1203
engineer manager designer supervisor project sales	1038
sales retail manager	469
engineer manager designer project supervisor sales	369
national sales manager	346
sales sales manager marketing	326
sales manager account plastic chemical industrial color	310
account manager sales	263

Good luck with your resumes, and let me know if you see an increase in calls as a result!

"I know you wanted to work full-time, but...

...we can only offer you a part-time position right now."

Don't panic. In fact, but happy. If you hear this statement, that means you are good enough to be offered a part-time position. Celebrate. Even if you don't take the position, its a positive step.

Here's my take:

Obviously, most of us want full-time jobs. The 40 hour work week is something we were programmed to do back in college. We geared ourselves up for the commitment and have already made the sacrifices necessary to make that happen.


However, having worked three part-time jobs simultaneously myself, there are some upsides to having several work projects going on at the same time. Here are a few:

1. Stability- if you lose one of your jobs, you won't lose all of your income
2. Variety- if you like having a lot of variety in your work week, you'll see plenty if you have two or more jobs and will avoid the grind of a monotonous job
3. Steep learning curve- you'll pick up a lot of different skills, especially if your jobs are in different industries and have different daily requirements
4. Networking- meet more people, learn from different role models and come in contact with a variety of vendors, suppliers and potential mentors
5. A foot in the door- taking a part-time position at a company puts one foot forward towards your goal of a full-time job, so take the opportunity to show your managers how great you are and what you can provide for the company and they may consider creating a full-time position (make yourself indispensable!)
6. Time to start a business? This might be a good time to start writing a business plan for a venture you've always wanted to launch
7. You're a Bad Ass!- Take pride in the fact that you work hard, even if you don't have a full-time job- chances are, you'll be respected for being someone who can make ends meet in a volatile economy

 Of course, there's always a flip side. Here are a few downsides:

1. Balance- Your work-life balance may be in jeopardy, especially if you work fifty hours a week or more between your jobs
2. Scheduling- You might be able to manage if your employers are strict about when you should be in the office, but what happens when you have to stay longer at Job A and you're late for Job B? What happens when Job A and Job B both want you to work all day on Friday? Communicate with your employers and let them know you have a schedule to keep on someone else's watch (Pro tip: here's where you suggest these problems would go away if you are hired full-time)
3. Benefits- Part-time employees typically don't enjoy the same benefits their full-time counterparts do, (that's why many employers hire several part-time people instead of one full-time employee) so  things like health insurance, paid vacations and tuition reimbursement won't be offered by your employers
4. Traffic Sucks!- You may find yourself driving a lot more in between jobs, so make sure you've got a semi-reliable mode of transportation (your mom doesn't count) and make sure you give yourself enough time to get in between jobs, even if there's heavy traffic or you stop to fuel up on black coffee
5. Frustration- I'll admit it- there's some frustration involved in working several jobs, especially if Job A emails you and expects a response back while you're at Job B, or there's an emergency at Job B and they need you to come in right now, even though you're currently working Job A

With that in my mind, here are my recommendations:

1. Take the part time job, especially if you think there's the potential to grow your role within the company or you think you'll learn a lot during your time there
2. Keep looking for a full-time job when you aren't in the office if your heart is set on it, or take a second part-time job to fill in your hours
3. If you have two part-time jobs, set boundaries with each employer and let them know when you can and cannot be in the office, when you aren't on email, when its okay to call you, etc. Also try to set up a static schedule every week, so you know when you're expected at each job and how many hours you'll be putting in at each
4. Keep up the good work! Outshine your full-time counterparts and hold no resentment over them or your employer. Be thankful you got some kind of paying position and demonstrate your attitude by giving it your all
5. If you end up working at home to catch up on assignments, don't lord this over other people, but do mention it to your managers so they know you're putting in overtime (they'll be impressed with your work ethic and will hopefully realize they need to put you in a full-time position- but don't expect to get paid for your extra time especially if you're salaried)
6. Keep networking! Talk to everyone you come in contact with, you never know when you'll impress a higher up, find a new position at another company or be given the opportunity to take on an expanded role full-time

Cookie Cutter Sales

So far as I can tell, "Cookie Cutter" sales companies aren't a scam, but it is very difficult to make a living.

Typically, one will find advertisements and job postings for these types of jobs on Monster, CareerBuilder and others asking for "sports minded people" for entry-level marketing. No experience necessary. This sounds okay to you, so you turn in your resume and apply.

The next morning, you get a call. They ask you three questions.

"Are you still looking for a job?"

"This job is located in ______. Is that a suitable commute for you?"

"Do you have a valid drivers license and reliable transportation."

If you answered yes to these three questions, they'll get you in for an interview ASAP. Like, today or tomorrow. The person on the phone may mention management positions opening up soon or a new office being opened in a few months that is close to home.

You go in for the interview. They told you to wear a suit, so you're dressed to the nines and you've got extra resumes tucked in your portfolio. You sit in a waiting room with a few other nervous looking youngsters like yourself. The receptionist gives you a form to fill out that asks for previous work experience and your academic achievements.

You make small talk with the receptionist as she sizes you up. You strike up conversations with the other people as they get called in, one by one, to be interviewed. You notice this place has a lot of chairs in the reception and wonder how many people have already sat in these chairs. You also notice there's one large conference room and one or two rooms in the office, nothing more. Finally, fifteen minutes late, you're called in.

The guy on the other side of the desk doesn't look terribly interested. He or she asks you a few half-hearted questions and gives you a sales pitch about what the company does that sounds strangely rehearsed (it is!)

You are asked to come back in for a second interview. You are told this may take 4 hours, or it may take all day. Ladies are instructed to wear comfortable shoes.

The second round interview is actually walking around with a sales rep going door to door, business to business, or walking around a store soliciting conversations. You'll see the person you're with get some pretty negative responses. You find out that the position requires weekend work, thick skin and you're paid on comission.

Here are the downsides:

• Inconsistent paycheck
• It is possible to work really really hard for no money
• As an independent contractor, you will pay all social security contributions and taxes to the government, whereas employees share this expense with their employers
• Come April, you'll owe the government taxes, probably $1,000 or more depending on how much you made

There's a hierarchy to these kinds of jobs.  You work at the entry level for 6-18 months selling AT&T, DirectTV or tickets to sporting events, then you'll become a team leader. From there, you get a coordinator role. Finally, you'll be able to start your own satellite sales office.

As far as I can tell, this is not a scam, but it takes a pretty tenacious person to succeed in this type of role. You must be able to take criticism and hear a lot of "no" before you make a sale. You have to to comfortable with driving to different locations up to 80 miles away from where you live. You need to eat lightening and crap sales on comission to make a living at this. There's a reason sales has the second-highest turnover rate behind restaurants.

I also suggest googling any company before applying, especially if you see that they've got ads for jobs posted all over the internet (this shows that they lose people left and right). They may have a website that is flashy but doesn't tell you much about the job. You may see a few words that stick out, like "telecommunications" (selling for AT&T), "management training program," or "events management."

So, all you Young, Educated & Broke people out there considering a position in one of these firms should think carefully. You went to school to earn your education, and you'll be working alongside people who never went to college- they may even be better salesmen than you. You won't get a steady paycheck, but in theory you could make a pretty decent living if you work really, really, really, really, really hard at it.

Money Management Tips from Better TV

After my previous post about the BIG LIE and guidance, or lack thereof, counselors, here's a video from Better TV. This is fairly common sense financial advice, but some great ideas are given here, including thinking outside the box (cliche I know) to find the job you want and get the income you deserve.

It All Starts with a Guidance Counselor

Do you remember all those career placement tests you had to take in high school? Most of these tests were really just a watered down version of the Myers Briggs Intelligence Test, but at the time it was one of the most exciting tests I took in high school. It forced me to think about the expansive career before me with a focus on answering one question: What will I do for the next sixty or so years of my life?

After taking a "Career Placement" test, I calculated my results. These results were supposed to determine which career path I should pursue, based on my likes, abilities and work preferences. The next step in the process was a visit to the guidance counselor. One of my favorite shows of all time, The Venture Brothers, summarized what a guidance counselor does in last week's episode:

Dean: What's a guidance counselor?
Billy Quizboy: Usually it's a guy you barely know who gives you career advice, even though his career is a guidance counselor, and sometimes he helps get you into college.

Guidance counselors often have stacks of pamphlets of various schools, most of them local, to hand out. They usually babble on about how great college is, how much you'll learn, how much more money you'll earn, yadda yadda yadda. From there, high school juniors and seniors decide to choose one of three paths.  They are:

1. Don't go to college. This makes your guidance counselor SAD. He will blubber on about how you'll become a janitor making minimum wage, how much you'll hate your life, and how depressed you will be that you never went to college.
2. Join the military. This also makes your guidance counselor SAD, but he is obligated to tell you this is an admirable choice. Honestly, the military is an excellent way to bypass college while still gaining very marketable skills and learning job-relevant information. Unfortunately, there's a pretty good probability that you'll end up in Afghanistan risking your life for a bunch of ingrates stateside. It is a risk that many young soldiers take, and for that, I both salute and thank them.
3. Go to college. This makes your guidance counselor HAPPY, to the point where he'll gush about how brilliant you are, how much you'll learn, and, here's the BIG LIE, how much more you'll make when you graduate.

Let's just say you went to college. After all, the name of the blog is Young, Educated & Broke. Whether you got an Associates, Bachelors, Masters or Doctorate, you're smart and you proved it. But here's where the BIG LIE comes in. On the brink of graduation, you scour the internet for potential jobs. You get in contact with the friends and acquaintances you've known and cultivated throughout your education. The desperate search for a job, any job, is on at full swing.

Finally, a prospect! A job that isn't a scam, located in a region you find suitable, and in a field related to your major. Assuming you were even lucky enough to find a job that meets all three of these criterion, you may find that the job doesn't pay nearly what you thought you'd earn. You have a college degree, damnit! You've worked so hard to get to this point. You've taken out thousands of dollars in student loans. You've scrimped, pinched, and scraped by, and it looks like you'll continue this "student life" even after you take your first job after college just to pay off those loans you took on and to launch your adult life.

But what about all those promises my guidance counselor made? He said I'd make a TON of money after college. Well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but, whether intentionally or unknowingly, he LIED.