Update Your Look Before You Update Your Resume

Are you one of the many thousands of Americans out there that is out of work and looking for a new job? If so, you are probably doing everything that you can think of to try to land a new gig. But what if I told you that you should get to work updating your look before working on updating your resume? Well, let me share something interesting with you.

Gillette and Harris Interactive surveyed more than 500 HR professionals recently. Want to know something interesting from that survey?

"84% of HR professionals agree that well-groomed employees climb the corporate ladder faster than those who are not well-groomed."

Whoa, right?

What is also interesting is that 90% of them place more importance on being well-groomed than even a firm handshake!

Craziness!

To help you get started updating your look Gillette has launched the Gillette Career Advantage so that you can get advice from a GQ style correspondent. This will help you to get the tools and resources that you need to score that new job.

With the help of the Gillette Resource Center you can be well on your way to rising above the competition.

Why not get to work right away my friends?

Laura Pausini World Tour

I'm getting pretty excited. Why? The Laura Pausini World Tour 2009 is in the US. And I have tickets for the concert tomorrow! She does not come to the States often. So when I get to see her in concert it is VERY exciting for me. Just wish I had the cash to go to all of her US concert dates!

Leaves are a fallin'

Took a drive through the mountains in PA today. Looks like the leaves are already turning. It was a windy day so they were all over the place too. It is always so pretty when the leaves turn. But it gets me to thinking about how Xmas will be here before you know it!

Time to get a pumpkin!

Well, now that it is officially October I can get a pumpkin! Side note - is anyone else weirded out by seeing Xmas stuff in stores? It is just barely October!

Looking forward to fall. And roasted pumpkin seeds!

Hating PayPal - What are my options?

Well, now that 2CO is out I had to change payment processors.

Again.

I looked into Authorize.net. However - it is hella expensive. Just like a real merchant account.

So, I gave in and tried Google Checkoout. It seems easy enough. But I am not a fan of them holding money for 60 days.

I may have to end up sucking it up and using PayPal again. Ugh.

More on hating PayPal

I looked into using Google Checkout. I did a lot of thinking. Then I decided to pony up the $49 and give 2CO (2 Checkout) a try. It is more like a real merchant account. I signed up with them. I updated my websites with the new account info.

It looked pretty good.

Then 3 days later I logged into the account to see if I had any sales.

The account was closed!

I never got an email from them about it. I emailed to inquire and got a form letter response!

I looked around on the web and saw that this happens to a lot of people with them! WTF? I could have lost some sales!

How to Negotiate Cheaper Balance Transfers

A balance transfer can be a great way to get a lower interest rate on some of your higher interest debt. In my experience, the best way to get a cheaper balance transfer rate is to pay off the credit card in full that you want to transfer to. A couple of months after you do that you will get some balance transfer checks in the mail at super low rates - at least that was the case for me and my Chase credit cards.

If you can't do that, you can always call in and ask for a low balance transfer rate.

If this is your plan of attack, make sure that you have been paying on time as it will help your case. Also try to have your other bills paid on time. If your credit report shows that you are making payments on time it will help your case.