Curt's Eclectic Blog Posts

Why You Need a Personal Budget By Curt Smothers Evaluate your finances Do you have more and more month left at the end of your money? Are you using your credit card to buy things that in the past you paid cash for? When that credit card bill comes each month, do you only pay the minimum required? If the answers to those questions are "yes," you are heading for big trouble, and need to stop and take stock of your finances. You can call that process "personal budgeting" if you wish; it is really "personal rescue before it is too late."  If you are heading for or are currently in financial straits, it is time to do the equivalent of whacking yourself upside the head and honestly evaluating your job, your lifestyle, income, prospects for increasing your income, and where you are right now. Keeping track of what you spend Let's look at the "right now." If you're spending more money than you make, you need to stop and evaluate what is happening...

 By Curt Smothers Conceptually, becoming a better writer is a fairly simple idea when one considers that the word "better" is the next step up from "good." The challenge, then, is to be a good writer to begin with and to recognize and hone the qualities that make a writer good. So the question is, what makes a good writer? Certainly, talent is an indispensable ingredient in any writer's bag of tricks. Talent is difficult to quantify; however, we know good writring when we see it. It is where inspiration meets craftsmanship and experience. Use it or lose it, but remember the reader always But writing talent can rust and atrophy through idleness to a point where only continued writing can lubricate it back to life. Likewise, talent is useless without the self-discipline and mastery of the fundamentals of the writer's craft. One school of thought holds that writers simply need to write, and that simple act of writing is something akin to a cathartic epiphany. N...

 by Curt Smothers Think of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) as the glue that binds the different computer systems for a large organization. So, is ERP more cost effective than running an eclectic silo of individual software applications? The answer is yes and here are threemain reasons: 1. Individual software applications, even if networked within separate departments, for obvious proprietary reasons, do not interact. ERP does. 2. The growth and proliferation of ad hoc business and manufacturing solutions work fine in their orbit but are of little use and applicability across the entire organization. Upgrades and maintenance of ERP software can be applied across the organization. 3. Individual applications cannot be customized without clunky workarounds. Those applications frequently hoard valuable data inaccessible to marketers, financial planners, and other key players in the organization. ERP software is made to order for the organization. Key cost and business ...

By Curt Smothers Writing a performance review is probably the most important task any supervisor or manager has. That is because the written review becomes the most important element in the employee’s documented work history.  Supervisors and managers need to take great care with performance evaluations, which are much, much more than a periodically annoying administrative task. Many organizations have their own format or performance review forms, but the advice below can be tailored to about every employee evaluation situation. Here are some suggestions in writing performance reviews. 1.  Speak to the employee’s actual work performanc e in terms of accomplishment of the organization’s (the company, the department) goals and mission. After all, the employee is paid to contribute to and support that mission. 2.  Describe how the employee met (or fell short of) mutually agreed upon objectives  and goals that you and the employee set at the beginning of the period cover...

By Curt Smothers (U.S. Navy, Retired) Nowhere is the challenge of career change for the older job seeker more extreme than for the retiring military man or woman. A career in the military offers an ideal opportunity for early retirement (usually in the early 40's, and sometimes in the late 30's). The retiring military person,therefore, faces unique challenges not only in seeking a second career but also in adjusting to a completely different working environment. When I left the U.S. Navy, I was completing a 25-year career. I was at the top of my game, in good health, and my financial support system that rested on a foundation of a generous retirement income was there for me. A few weeks before retirement, I attended a seminar for prospective retirees. The seminar was run by civilian contractors hired by the Navy, and it helped. Here are a three things I learned: 1. Begin the job search immediately. Do not take a sabbatical. It is important to jump into the job search mode imme...

 By Curt Smothers Congratulations, you snared that job interview! Your résumé and cover letter got your foot in the door, and it's time to think about what you need to do to shine "front and center" as you lay "an eyeball and a handshake" on people who will decide your fate. Here are 3 things you should pay attention to so that you will perform well during your interview: 1. Be well rested, well dressed, and well groomed. Confidence in your stamina and appearance will relax you more and allow you to focus on the interview. 2. Be friendly, but not flippant or overly familiar. Try to remember that at least one member of your interview panel might be a bit nervous and uncomfortable with the process. A smile, good posture and appropriate eye contact goes a long way with people who are interviewing you. They are people just like you, and they have been through this, but you must respect their personal space. 3. Be prepared! -Make sure you are thoroughly familiar with...