Internship Application Mania 5 - Ooo, Rejected #2

Leo Burnett: 1, Chris: 0, Happiness: unaffected

Dear Christopher,

Thank you for your recent application. We appreciate your interest in a career with Leo Burnett, USA.

You should know that we receive an abundance of applications for the limited number of opportunities that are available. With so many talented and qualified applicants, our decision process is never an easy one. Unfortunately, we were not able to match your qualifications with an available position at this time. However, we strongly encourage you to continue to visit our website, as there are new openings posted regularly.

Thank you once again for your interest in Leo Burnett, and we wish you the best of luck in your search.

Sincerely,
Leo Burnett Human Resources

Leo’s HR department gets points for actually sending a rejection e-mail (unlike most advertising agencies I applied to), but Cramer-Krasselt still wins the style competition by sending a real letter on gorgeous stationary.

With any luck, more rejection letters to come!

Newlywed Advice: How to Divide Your Moolah.

I have heard on multiple occasions that money is the number one cause of marriage problems. This brings up an obvious question. How do two people divide their income equitably?

Some couples solve this problem by lumping everything they make into one large pool of cash, paying all bills out of that amount, and then using the rest as shared disposable income. The approach makes more sense when you share large monthly bills like a mortgage, car payments, or student loans, but it also has some inherent problems. For one thing, my wife and I don’t share the same hobbies. If we organized our money in this way, I would have to get her approval if I wanted to buy a $200 climbing rope, and she would have to run her Saturday morning plant buying bonanzas by me for my financial blessing.

Flynn and I have a different system. We’re currently very fortunate in that we don’t have any large car, house, or student loan payments. With this in mind, I calculated out how much each of us earns and we pay bills accordingly. For example: I earn 60% of our total income, so I pay 60% of the bills. Then we put a certain amount of money every month into a joint account for groceries (included in the bill money). This system works great because it prevents us from ever getting into arguments over cash, but it makes it really hard to save for things like vacations because we don’t have one large pool of cash to draw from.

In an ideal world, I would suggest pooling your money together, paying all of your bills, and then dividing up your disposable income into 3 portions. 20% for you, 20% for your spouse, and 60% to share. That way, if you go out to eat, you can pay for it from the shared disposable income pool. However, if I wanted to go out and buy something expensive and ridiculous, it could come out of the portion of money that was mine and mine alone to blow. This system also seems to foster conversation and compromise (by agreeing to use the shared portion responsibly) while avoiding the stupid disagreements over more selfish purchases.

My last piece of advice would be to assign one person as the primary bill payer and money handler. This point could be argued, but I find that bills get paid on time every month more frequently if the responsibility falls into one person’s lap. Please don’t misunderstand me. I believe that your spouse should have equal say in all financial decisions. It just seems to be work out better when there’s only one person who is assigned to paying the bills on time.

Utterz about Investment Options

Investment Utterz

This is just a brief Utterz a about Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401Ks, and mutual funds. Don’t worry if you find it confusing. We’ll talk more about these options later.

Saving and Stopping Smoking, The Similarities are Striking

Sorry, I got a little carried away with my alliteration.

Everyone who’s ever been unfortunate enough to develop a smoking habit knows that it’s not easy to quit. Of course, we know that quitting smoking is hard because nicotine is incredibly addictive, but did you know that nicotine completely leaves the body after only one week? “Wait a second, what about the psychological addition,” you say! Admittedly, this can be much harder to break. When you smoke you develop associations with all kinds of activities/things+cigarettes. The most common of which are alcohol, stress, meals, and coffee.

Here’s where the similarities start. If you’re really serious about saving money and/or quitting smoking, it takes a serious lifestyle adjustment. When my wife and I were trying to quit, we literally had to stop frequenting our favorite bar for happy hour on Fridays because it was too tempting to sit around with a beer and watch all of our friends smoke. For the longest time, I couldn’t go to a coffee house without craving a cigarette.

Saving takes similar adjustments. For example, let’s say that your serious about saving $100 a month. Maybe you have to give up going out to lunch once or twice a week, or going shopping for a new outfit. Maybe your friends will invite you to a nice restaurant and you have to turn them down because your checking account has run dry.

The hard part about both saving money and quitting smoking is that you may, if only for a little while, have to be slightly less social to accomplish your goals. This is really hard, especially at this point in our lives. And while most people are supportive when you tell them your trying to quit smoking, you’ll probably get strange looks if you were to divulge that you can’t go out because your trying to max out your IRA.

Either way, it’s worth it.

3 Simple Rules to Save Money

Let me start by saying that saving money before you have a regular, dependable paycheck is very difficult. No one is going to fault you for not saving money when your only income is that 2 night-a-week waitressing gig. However, once you get that first job, you should immediately start putting money away. Most analysts recommend saving at least 10-15% for retirement. Now, I know this may be difficult if you have student loans, car payments, or credit card debt to pay off, but you really can’t afford to wait.

I’ll talk more about the ways in which you can save through Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, 401Ks, and mutual funds later, but let’s begin by figuring out HOW to come up with that 10-15% first. Then we can decide where to put it later.

The first rule of saving is to live within your means. This may sound devilishly simple, but it’s also oh so hard to live by. Start by developing a budget. I’m not talking about anything complicated. Just sit down with a calculator and add up how much you make minus how much you owe in rent, bills, car payments, etc. If you are in the negative or anywhere close to it, then it’s time for a serious expense re-evaluation.

Second rule of saving: You can’t save money if you’re racking up debt. Period. If you are living within your means, then you can save the credit card for emergencies. On the other hand, if you catch yourself reaching for plastic to pay for a nice dinner out or a new pair of pants, then maybe you should consider whether or not you can really afford what you are buying.

Third rule of saving: When you get a raise, save the extra money. One of the best pieces of advice my mom ever gave me. Why? Because if your already living within your means and avoiding debt, then you’ll never miss that extra cash. I’m not saying that it all has to get locked away until your golden years, but consider saving for a great vacation or a new flat screen TV. Whatever you do, just save it.

There are certianly other rules that will help you save money, but if you can master these three first, then you’ll be way ahead of the curve.

Speaking of Salaries

Mark Richt, Head Coach of the Georgia Bulldogs, reportedly earns $2,800,000 per year

Michael F. Adams, President of the University of Georgia, earns $561,903.00 per year

Your humble author, IT Professional at the University of Georgia, earns $36,800 per year

Why am I telling you, and the internet at large, my salary? 2 reasons:

#1: A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about saving for retirement, and I promised that I would delve further into financial issues in the future. Why is this relevant? Well frankly, I get slightly annoyed when some ex-Wall Street hedge fund manager who earns a gazillion dollars a year tells me that I need to max out my IRA. Ohh, really? Thanks for the advice Mr. Money Bags?! $415 a month might not seem like much to THEM , but that’s a pot of gold to me. So, I feel that if I’m going to offer anyone financial advice, they should have some perspective of my economic situation.

#2: I think it’s ridiculous that we can’t discuss our salaries in a social setting without it being considered a taboo or a faux pas. Ok, ok, I understand why you shouldn’t lean over the cubicle divider and demand to see your office mate’s pay stub, but what is so terrible about discussing money when casually sitting around with friends? Is our worth as individuals really defined by how much money we earn? Would I feel uncomfortable if I disclosed my salary over a few beers only to realize that I was the lowest earner? The honest answer would be, “yeah, maybe a little,” but WHY?

Did you know that this is apparently an American phenomenon which isn’t shared by some of our European counterparts? Maybe discussing salaries in the U.S. is comparable to talking about sex in the 1950s? (Remember the sitcoms where married couples were shown sleeping in separate beds) I certainly don’t have all the answers, but the social implications of increased fiscal transparency are intriguing.

Interestingly enough, this sort of transparency already exists: The earnings of anyone employed by the University of Georgia, from the Provost to a part-time student worker, are posted on the State Auditor’s website. The information is always a few years out of date, but as far as I can tell, my office has yet to self-destruct from exposure to this forbidden knowledge.

Next time: Why saving money is like quitting smoking.

Worst Way to Wake Up, EVER!

I uncharacteristically went to bed on the alarm clock side of the bed the night before (which is the only setup you need for the tragic events that follow). When the alarm clock did go off Monday the 15th at precisely 6:15am I didn’t immediately wake up, so my loving and caring wife had to…ahem…assertively call (yell) out my name while tenderly poking (jabbing) me in the back to rouse me from my dreamy slumber. Simultaneously, our tabby cat was pawing at my partially hidden elbow in an attempt to hasten the delivery of his breakfast. When I finally did wake up and roll over to turn off the alarm clock two things happened in quick succession:

#1 An exposed and sadistic pillow zipper managed to gouge a 6″ scratch down the right side of my face

and

#2 I quickly realized that the ENTIRE left side of my body was no longer connected to the area of my brain responsible for motor control

Adding to the debacle, I had inadvertently placed the paperback I was reading the night before OVER the alarm clock. Minutes passed as I tried to figure out what depraved creature would remove the buttons to one’s alarm clock before my sleep-slowed brain came to comprehend the situation. Unfortunately, after deciding on a course of action, my arm simply refused to do anything more than imitate a tingling Neanderthals’ club.

Now, I did eventually mange to turn off the alarm clock without injuring myself further, but this series of unfortunate events inspired the following:

Recipe for a Bad Morning (Guaranteed)!

1 Pinch 6:15am

1 (15lb) Hungry Feline

1/2 Paralyzed Body

1 Alarm Clock (with Paperback Defense Mechanism)

1 Sharpened Pillow Zipper

1 Zombie like Human

Directions: Mix well until desired bad temperament is achieved. Adjust mix time for day of week: More time for Friday’s, less for Mondays. Serves 1-2. Enjoy!

Internship Application Mania 4 - Oooo, Rejected!

Two days ago I received this letter from Cramer-Krasselt in the mail. First of all, I would like to say that I’m very impressed with a) their stationary (green backing with rounded corners), and b) that they took the time to send me an actual letter. Albeit, one that says: Thanks, but no thanks.

Normally getting flat out denied might bother me a little, but I’m fortunate enough to have already locked up an internship for the summer with a great agency. In light of this I decided to craft a response letter to C-K’s rejection letter (just for fun):

Dear Ms. Wick,

Thank you for taking the time to craft such a professional, yet surprisingly pleasant, letter of rejection.

Unfortunately, I’ve been chosen as the recipient of a national AAF internship scholarship, and as such, I will have to accept your letter of rejection for C-K’s summer internship program. My choice in no way reflects upon your agency’s work and reputation.

I sincerely wish you the best of luck with the interns that were chosen for your summer program, and I appreciate your continued interest in me as a potential future employee.

With hugs and kisses,

Christopher Fedorczak

Advertising Student Extraordinaire

Internship Application Mania 3 - The Offer

I’ve been applying to advertising internships since early January. Mainly in Chicago (where I toured a number of advertising agencies with the AdClub last year) and Atlanta, but I also threw a couple resumes out to CP+B in Miami, Arnold in Boston, and GSD&M in Austin. While I didn’t have much hope of hearing back from these latter three agencies, I was invited to interview with Starcom MediaVest Group after completing their online assessment and dropping the name of a contact I had made at the company. The details of these two interviews provided me with the material for Internship Application Mania 1 and 2.

The final interview with Starcom went better than I could have hoped, but the interview was in early March and they weren’t going to let me know for 4-5 weeks. Ugh…the misery! While the rest of my friends were brimming with news of internship offers from the likes of JWT, Ogilvy, and DDB, I was viciously biting my nails to the bone while waiting for news (ANY news) from Starcom.

Ironically, I was blindside by good news from a completely different source:

Do you remember my very first post? No, I didn’t think so. In my post, I talked about an essay that I wrote as part of a scholarship application. Well, last week I was notified that I have been selected as 1 of 15 advertising students from around the country to receive the Vance Stickell Internship Scholarship sponsored by the American Advertising Federation. As part of this award, I’ve been paired with the The Richards Group in Dallas, TX. They are the #2 independent advertising agency in the country (by billings) and widely known for their creative approaches to work for such clients as Chick-fil-A, Amstel Light, and Hyundai. More important, their culture is the epitome of openness and approachability. In a industry where jumping from agency to agency seems to be the norm, The Richards Group prides itself on keeping good people under their roof.

I never thought I would say this, but it looks like I’m off to Texas this summer and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Edit: Oh… and they also did one of my favorite superbowl spots.

Who wants to be a millionaire?

 

Of course you do! The next question is: Can you save $25 a week? Most people, even cash-strapped college students, would say yes. It might mean occasionally skipping happy hour or not buying that new pair of jeans, but it’s doable. Well then, if you save $25 a week and get a 10% return, you’ll have $1, 028, 034 in 45 years. Now stop and think about that. You’ve only invested a TOTAL of $58,500, but it turned into a cool million. Behold the power of compound interest.

I know, I know, saving for retirement is something that you do in your 30s after you’ve bought a house and filled it with a couple of kids. The only problem with that strategy is that if you start saving 10 years later you’ll only have $387,565. Yikes!

I’m always amazed that inside the largest free-market economy the world has ever seen we can still graduate from reputable colleges completely ignorant of basic financial matters. In light of our educational system’s failure to shape us into intelligent capitalists I’m going to discuss some of these issues over the next couple of weeks, and I’ll start with the ultimate societal taboo: my salary.