I really don't want to leave my company. I've been with them for a number of years and I really like the people. Is there any way you can help me to get a better job within my own company?
While the approach to selling yourself that I recommend is primarily intended for people who want to secure positions with new companies, I know of a number of people who have discovered their worth as a result of this approach, and then gone back to sell their talents within their own company. I recall once receiving an invitation to dinner by a vice-president of one of the largest financial service companies in the world. When I asked why I was invited out of the blue for a night on the town he told me that when he had been competing for the job of vice-president, he was up against a number of other candidates who were more experienced than he was. When it came his turn to meet with the president, he remembered how to sell yourself in a competitive market. As a result, he listened a lot to what the president had to say about the things he expected from his new vice-president, and then talked about the specific things he had done for the company during his eight years with it; not one word about his abilities, skills or knowledge. When he was offered the vice-president title, he described it to the fact that he alone knew what the president was looking for and because he knew how to relate himself to these needs in a memorable way.
Another case history makes a telling point about how you can sell your talents within your present corporate structure. A very bright young engineer with one of the country's leading electronics manufacturers was fired from an internal consultant's position in one of its manufacturing divisions. After taking my course in job search, on a lark he sent his resume to seven or eight other divisions of this enormous firm, and to the corporate headquarters as well. Despite the fact that he had received a pink slip from his division, he was offered a better job at corporate headquarters. He attributed this offer to the fact that he knew his specific contributions to the division that was letting him go.
Expenses exempted for Taxation
My job search has cost me a lot of money so far. Is any part of this expense tax-deductible?
Yes, all legitimate expenses concerned with getting yourself another job can be deducted from your gross income. Such was not always the case. Until several years ago, the IRS offered no allowance for job-related expenses other than employment agency fees. They lost so many times in tax court, however, that in the early 1970s they finally relented, and now allow a great many search expenses as deductions from your income.
Other expenses you can deduct include: Your airplane or train ticket and the expense of your motel room if you visit companies in another city and have to pick up the tab yourself. If you drove in your own car to a number of out-of-town companies for interviews, you are entitled to declare 170 for each mile you drove to and from your prospective employers' plants. The expenses associated with printing both your resume and broadcast letter are both deductible. In addition, you can deduct the cost of stationery purchased specifically for your search as well as the cost of stamps to mail out your responses to ads and broadcast letters. If you have a professional resume writer develop your resume, you can deduct that, too. Also, the cost of working with a career counseling firm or job-search consultant such as myself are deductible if you need such counsel in getting another job, even if it's not related to what you have done in the past.
You can even deduct your toll calls to prospective employers, and that portion of your basic monthly phone bill that reflects the amount of the phone's use for job-search calls. Unfortunately if this is your first job since school, you're out of luck when it comes tax time. For some reason, the IRS won't allow you to deduct the expense of securing your first job. But after that, Uncle Sam will help you change jobs to the extent of allowing you not to pay tax on that portion of your income spent in securing a job. For the higher-level executive who runs a first-class campaign, this could mean a considerable saving. So keep receipts of all expenses with notations, and keep a log of your search-related miles, tolls, and parking. And don't destroy those receipts just because you don't locate the right job within the tax year. You're entitled to deduct such expenses whether or not you actually land a job, as long as you can prove that you were making a legitimate attempt.
