Executive Compensation: What Happened?

dollars.JPGBy Paige Churchman (New York City)

The overpaid executives have become a lightning rod for our rage. Everyone’s jumping in. The President calls them shameful. The Merrill Lynch cafeteria workers, who make about $410 a week (paid by their contractor Aramark), take to the streets with a picture of John Thain’s $87,000 area rug. The exorbitantly paid have gone from star status to villains. Not so long ago, Thain was hailed as “Mr. Fixit.”

The problem started sneaking up on us about thirty years ago. According to the Economic Policy Institute, in 1965 US CEOs in major companies earned 24 times more than the average worker. That seemed about right. The ratio had been around 20:1 for most of the twentieth century. Then in the late seventies the gap slowly began to grow, reaching 35:1 in 1979. But in the 1990s, the gap broke into a full gallop, hitting 275:1 in 2007. In other words, says the report, “a CEO earned more in one work day…than the typical worker earned all year.” Occasionally, when a study drew attention to the growing imbalance, there was some shock, but it didn’t stay on our radars. The economy was strong. A President spoke of “trickle down.” People were happy. Until the economy fell apart. Now the gall of those overpaid guys is all we hear about, and President Obama has just announced a $500,000 cap for executives at companies receiving the largest amounts of bailout money.

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LegalTech® New York 2009

KeynoteAddresses by:

-ChristopherJ. Olsen, CRM, Systems Engineer, Principal, Lockhead Martin, Chief Records, CIA

-JohnW.Woods, Privacy and information Management Practice Litigation &Intellectual Property Practice, Hunton& Williams

KeynoteAddress:

2-4,2009 9 am – 10 am

ExhibitHours:

February2-3, 2009 10 am – 5 pm

February4, 2009 10 am – 3 pm

ConferenceHours:

February2 -3, 2009 10:30 am – 5pm

February4, 2009 10:30 am – 3 pm

For more information, or to Register

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Changing Jobs in Troubled Times

iStock_000005894685XSmall_1_.jpgby Liz O’Donnell (Boston)

Conventional wisdom might be to stay put if you are lucky enough to still be employed in this economy. But some workers are looking to make a move regardless of the economic outlook. According to a recent survey from CareerBuilder.com, 19 percent of workers say they plan to leave their jobs and look for a new one in 2009. More than 8,800 people filled out they survey and six-in-ten said the economy was not a deterrent in their plans to change jobs.

The reasons for wanting to make a change varied. Almost half of the survey respondents (49 percent) stated better pay and career advancement as the primary reasons for wanting to leave their current positions. Eighteen percent of respondents are looking for better work/life balance and twenty-three percent want more training and education than they are currently receiving.

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Ask-A-Recruiter: Telephone Interview Tips

istock_000005168521xsmall1.jpgContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart

When I ask new coaching clients to assess their interview technique, they never distinguish between phone and live interviews. Many clients don’t even realize that brief phone interactions are mini-interviews. Even when the phone call is scheduled in advance, some of my clients refer to it as a “screen,” as if this is something different or even less than an interview.

Make no mistake: telephone interactions are real interviews. Many times you can’t get invited for a live interview without passing muster by phone first. However, phone interviews are different than live interviews. Here are some telephone-specific tips:

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Infrastructure Investment Forum

Institutional Investor’s 3rd Annual Infrastructure Investment Forum will explore the ways that institutions can best access the benefits of investing in infrastructure, with a special focus on opportunities arising from increasing global demand for infrastructure projects of all types in all regions. This day and a half program will examine the risk-return characteristics of some of the more important types of infrastructure asset, what sectors and instruments are suitable for specific funds — and why, and how these investments can fit into most funds’ asset allocations for best performance.

For more information.

Space is limited. Apply for an invitation to save your place.

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Womens “On-Ramping” Career Seminar

Women’s “On-Ramping” Career Seminar

Join your friends and other women at a career seminar where expert recruiters, hiring managers and career coaches will discuss:

1. How to translate the multi-tasking as a mom into business terms for hiring managers

2. The important components of a compelling resume and cover letter

3. What companies and roles have flexible work arrangements that make “on-ramping” gradually a feasible option.

100% of the proceeds benefit Dress for Success Morris County and are 100% tax deductible! Bring friends along! Any woman would benefit from the insights of our experts and there will be plenty of time to network over a glass of wine too!

View Evite

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CEO Moms: Jennifer Blatnik of Cisco Systems

Jennifer_M._Blatnik_1_.JPGby Heather Cassell (San Francisco)

One of Jennifer Blatnik’s biggest challenges of being a mother and a rising star at Cisco Systems is the persistent tape of the “super mom.”

“The biggest challenge is overcoming the myths of being able to do it all at the same time,” said Blatnik, manager of product marketing of Cisco Systems, who recognizes that “there is obviously trade offs” and lessons learned along the way.

That doesn’t mean that Blatnik, 34, who has two young children, thinks women can’t have the whole package: an exciting career and fulfilling family life.

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W-Tech 2009

womenintechnology.co.uk and the British Computer Society would like to invite you to W-Tech 2009, a one day recruitment, career development and networking event for female technologists including students, postgraduates, experienced professionals and returners to work. The event is free to attend and there will be a recruitment fair running during the day alongside a packed programme of career development and technology talks, workshops and seminars covering topics such as managing your online profile, increasing your confidence and improving your influencing skills. Attendees will have the chance to attend up to six of these free career development sessions running between 12pm and 5.45pm. More information on the sessions available can be found here: https://www.womenintechnology.co.uk/upcoming-event

In the evening there will be a networking event (similar in style to the womenintechnology networking events we run) that’s going to be a ‘must attend’ networking opportunity for everyone interested in and involved with ‘Women in IT’. The evening part of the event will start with a reception at 6pm. The theme for the formal part of the evening will be ‘achieving in the technology profession’ and we are bringing together a panel of successful women working in IT who will share their own career experiences and take questions from the audience.

Confirmed speakers so far are Lis Astall, MD Public Service in Europe, Africa & Latin America at Accenture, Punita Gajree, Head of Programme Solutions for London 2012 and Kavita Oberoi – Managing Director, Oberoi Consulting (Kavita appeared on Channel 4’s hit show The Secret Millionaire in August 2008).People can attend during the day, for the evening networking or for both parts of the event – everyone is welcome but they need to register. Places on the free career development workshops can be reserved during the event sign up process so sign up soon to make sure you can attend the sessions you’re most interested in! You can register by clicking here: https://forms.bcs.org/w-tech/prog/index.php Please put the date in your diary, pass this invite onto other women (and men) who you think would be interested in attending W-Tech 2009 and we’ll look forward to seeing you there on the 3rd February.If you have any questions at all or if you are an employer who might be interested in being involved with the event, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Thanks so much! Best wishes,

Maggie BerryDirector, womenintechnology.co.uk Direct line: 020 7422 9214 Email: mberry@womenin.co.uk

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Goldilocks in Reverse: The Making of the Current Financial Crisis

financialdecline.JPGContributed by Martin Mitchell, director of eLearning for the Corporate Training Group

Background – Everything is “Just Right”

It all began when the economy was in what was said to be a ‘Goldilocks’ scenario – the world’s developed economies, particularly the US and Western Europe, were neither too hot nor too cold, but were just right.

The benign economic backdrop of low inflation and low interest rates meant investors were keen to find investments with competitive yields, and were even willing to borrow to invest in them and ‘leverage up.’ So, the bankers came up with variants of the old securitization model to provide instruments paying high yields. They repackaged pools of loans, especially mortgage loans and sold bonds linked to these loans to investors. These ‘asset backed securities’ were supplemented by credit enhancements, like insurance to enable the bonds to get high credit ratings from the ratings agencies. Special purpose vehicles (SPVs) were set up to facilitate the issuance and were variously known as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) or collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). This was the golden age of what became known as ‘structured credit.’

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Women in the City Winner: Kathryn Britten of BDO Stoy Hayward LLP

Kathryn_Britten_sml.jpgby Elizabeth Harrin (London)

What does a forensic accountant do all day? It’s a specialised – and largely male dominated – field, but Kathryn Britten has risen to the top of her profession as National Head of Forensic Accounting at BDO Stoy Hayward LLP. Kathryn won the Accountancy Category of the 2008 Women in the City Awards which recognizes her achievement in her field.

So, what is her field again? “A forensic accountant is an investigator who is trained to look beyond the numbers to interpret financial issues and assess their impact,” Kathryn explains. “We analyze, distill and present complex information in a way that is accessible and understandable, often in court.” Kathryn has acted as an accounting expert witness in over 200 commercial disputes, giving evidence under oath. In this role she is often aggressively cross-examined. She also works on cases that don’t go to court. “I favor meeting other experts to narrow the issues in disputes and to advise on settlement negotiations including mediation, which often leads to the successful settlement of disputes outside the courts,” she says. “The types of work that I have been involved with include allegations of accountant’s negligence, loss of profits calculations, contractual disputes and complex accounting investigations.”

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