reflections

Although it has not been my personal experience as of yet, one thing that I've noticed about the banking field in general is that, while formal advancement may be tough, there seems to be a higher level of malleability in terms of creating/morphing positions. At my current bank there are a lot of people who've been here for a while, and rather than advancing into a higher-level position, have managed to make lateral or upward moves by carving out new positions for themselves. I don't know if this is good or bad; on the one hand it requires an extra amount of motivation and proactive-ness, and messes with the salary steps of an organization when nobody knows where these new positions fit in; on the other hand, it can provide opportunities that aren't available in any of the existing positions, or even fill in vital gaps.

My current thought process about being a banking professional - what does it mean to move up the ladder? Where would I go? As an banker, I want to always be in direct contact with people (teach school programs, lead tours, etc.). Unfortunately, to move up the ladder typically means more meetings and more desk time. Where is the perfect marriage of being a manger, having a good salary, and still doing what you love?

I have always thought that I am not one of those notorious job-hoppers to which human resource reps. Refers to. I started my professional life in Pittsburgh, PA in 1999. I am now in my 5th position in my 4th organization. Now, for those of you in the Pittsburgh area, you know that the average tenure in any position for thirty-some things is somewhere in the range of 9-12 months. My last two organizations have been more then three year stints (and counting). The reason for each move was for better pay, more responsibility.I certainly don't recommend this career path. With each new position it becomes more and more difficult to explain the numerous job moves, especially since I'm now in positions of greater responsibility and interviewing directly with those individuals who have been in their positions for decades. I seem to be rambling on here so let me just end this post here by saying this; Today begins a new week but it also begins the last week at the bank. I did not get fired, or laid off I am leaving on my own terms. I received an offer of employment with another financial services company, one that is not invested in the residential mortgage market. As I come to the end of my career with bank I realize I learned so much about banking, corporate finance and myself. There is a great deal I will miss after this week with the bank, there are people that I will miss and some especially specific auditors I will not miss. I am looking forwards to next week with a higher expectations because not only am I starting a new job that pays a good bit more then I am making now but I feel I have unlimited potential to grow - professionally with the new employer.

I want this

Or maybe just the ladies that go with it?!

It just breaks my heart

It just breaks my heart when I read the story about FedEx swings to 4Q loss and issues profit warning as this Shipping company says first quarter profit will miss forecasts.

NEW YORK - FedEx says it swung to a loss in the fourth-quarter because of high fuel costs and issued an earnings guidance that is well below Wall Street's expectations.
FedEx sees 2009 earnings of $4.75 to $5.25 per share. Wall Street had predicted $5.92 per share. The package delivery company expects to earn 80 cents to $1 per share in the first-quarter. Analysts forecast $1.27 per share.

Memphis-based FedEx Corp. on Wednesday posted a loss of $241 million, or 78 cents per share, compared with a year-ago profit of $610 million, or $1.96 per share. Excluding one-time charges, FedEx earned $1.45 per share.

Revenue rose 8 percent to $9.87 billion, from $9.15 billion a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected $1.47 per share on revenue of $9.6 billion.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25238663/

Would you believe?

Would you believe I was a big fan of the original TV show? Of course I watched the re-runs but I was still a fan. My favorite character besides Maxwell Smart was Agent 99, played by the talented and shapely Barbara Feldon.

The plot was always the same: Bumbling Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 for CONTROL, with a great deal of help from his competent partner Agent 99, battles the forces of KAOS and "loving every minute of it." That last bit was a famous one liner from the show, that and, "would you believe". I don't like when they create movies based on the classics shows I grew up on, they seem to never keep to the original story. I hope this show is different.

What was the name of the robot?

Where did the magic go?!

There seemed to be a bit of magic left, but in the end, the Pens fell short coming oh-so-close to sending Game 6 to overtime. It was an unbelievable season; one that a month from now will seem more so after the sting of last night's loss wears off.

It was an extremely emotional locker room last night. It was one of the hardest tasks I've had in this profession. Here are these guys who you feel like you've lived and died with over the last 2 months, all you want to do is let them deal with the emotions, but you have to do your job and stick a microphone and camera (or 30) in their face, with tears coming down their cheeks, trying not to feel like the intruder you are inwhat's supposed to be their safe haven. It was hard.

Ryan Malone couldn't speak. I think that's as clear as any that he may have played his final game in a Penguins uniform. Sidney Crosby demonstrated his true colors answering every question thrown his way despite tears breaking through. Ryan Whitney had his head buried, but still spoke with the media.

I was talking about this before the game -- it's so much easier to lose in a blowout than at the last second. You're not left with those feelings of coulda, shoulda, woulda. You know early the game is over. Last night the Pens fought hard to come back, and nearly tied it in the final SECOND, only to be sent packing and watching someone else celebrate on their home ice. It's a tough pill to swallow.

We'll soon find out how much of this year's team will be back next year. I hope somehow everyone is able to be re-signed, but we all know that can't happen. Only time will tell, as it will heal this wound for fans and players.

I, for one, can attest to the pain. In college I won 2 championships in 3 years. A loss sandwhiched by 2 ####. But even after winning that second trophy, the loss still bothered me. It still does if I let it to this day. I had a chance to tie up the game late, (it would have taken some ridiculous acrobatics and luck... and probably a little (a lot) more skill than I possessed) but it still eats at me that I didn't get it done.

I'm sure these Pens will be feeling the same thing. We can only hope they use it as motivation to ensure they never again have to experience what they did last night.

A great game

Not so fast Motor City. The Detroit Red Wings' road to the Stanley Cup has another stop to make. Against all odds, the Pittsburgh Penguins stayed alive in the Stanley Cup finals with a 4-3 victory in Game 5 that ended on Petr Sykora's goal 9:57 into the third overtime Monday night. With Jiri Hudler serving a 4-minute penalty for high-sticking, Sykora wound up in the right circle and ripped a drive past Chris Osgood to end the marathon that lasted 4½ hours. The series heads back to Pittsburgh for Game 6 on Wednesday night. Early on, that scenario seemed likely after the Penguins scored twice in the first period and carried a 2-1 lead into the third. However, the Red Wings tied it on Pavel Datsyuk's power-play goal at 6:43 and went ahead for the first time 2:40 later when Brian Rafalski scored. The party was on in the final minute. Penguins' goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was on the bench, the Pittsburgh net was empty and the seconds ticked down toward Detroit's fourth Stanley Cup Championship in 11 seasons. Now, the treasured trophy will go back into its crate and head to Pennsylvania where the Red Wings will have another shot at their 11th title in franchise history.