Financial Smarts & Second City Starts

August 7, 2013

Financial smarts at any stage of your career. Career Story: From engineer to Dove marketer, and from Second City to a TED Talk

Employees who are financially distressed cost businesses money, profitability, and can slow down a business growth. Certified Financial Planner, Frank Wiginton, facilitates financial wellness programs that help organizations increase productivity, lower absenteeism, lower health care costs, and improve morale.

With a background in brand marketing, engineering and the performing arts, Bobby Umar draws on his diverse career to lead Raeallan, a transformational training and speaking company. Bobby has worked at Bombardier as an Aerospace Design Engineer, taught prep courses for the GMAT, served as Program Manager for McMaster University’s Shad Valley summer program, and worked in brand management for Kraft and Unilever. While working on the Campaign for Real Beauty, Bobby was Director of the Dove Self-Esteem Fund, supporting organizations across Canada that fostered positive self-esteem in young women. He’s a grad of Second City, founded a theatre company, and has even given TED Talks. Dial us in for the whole story!will share with listeners financial planning advice especially during career transition. Call in during the show with your comment or question and win a copy of Frank’s book, How to Eat an Elephant: Achieving financial success one bite at a time.

What to do, financially, when changing jobs

If you’re thinking about changing jobs, what should you be considering from a financial point of view? “Dig your well before you’re thirsty,” said Frank Wiginton, author of How to Eat an Elephant: Achieving Financial Success, One Bite at a Time. Frank told Career Buzz listeners, “on the financial side what that means is putting aside a little extra, and that way you have that cushion to support you through the times.”

Frank shared a simple three steps process if you’re considering a job change or if you lose your job. First, know how much you’re spending and where you’re spending it. Second, determine which of those expenses are wants versus needs, then ask yourself which of these can be reduced or eliminated. And third, “start looking at ways that you can take some of your money to re-invest in yourself to make you a better person and to give you a better opportunity to get that new job. Maybe it’s taking additional courses, or may it’s hiring a career counsellor to help you refocus, get a better understanding of who you are so you have a better opportunity to present yourself and get that next job.”

How does this apply to you? Consider Frank’s third step, about investing in yourself. So many individual clients we see at CareerCycles feel stuck or locked into a career area simply because it’s what they’ve been doing. Yet, investing in learning new skills can help many people make satisfying career changes. What I’ve seen clients considering recently: an executive education short course in leadership, a masters in the hot area of analytics, a one-year post-grad program in public relations at a college, and a commercial pilot training program. And, you can take Frank’s advice and invest in a career counselling program to help you connect the dots between training and your future career.

Also featuring TED Talker Bobby Umar starting at minute 31:36.

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