April 2009: Job Hunting

Get a Job!

Now’s the time to get started finding that summer job–or lay the groundwork for your own business. The job market is tight this year. But with hard work and these handy tips from Biz Kid$, you’ll be on your way to the job of your dreams, or at least one that will keep your bank account in the black.

Win an iPod Shuffle in the Biz Kid$ $uper $aver $weepstakes

April is Financial Literacy Month. Are you saving for something special? Write us with your savings goal, your plan for achieving it, and how much you’ve saved so far. One winner will be drawn at random from all the entries to win a free iPod Shuffle. Submit your entry by May 7th, 2009 to j9@bizkids.com or mail to: Biz Kid$, 4742 42nd Ave. SW #234, Seattle, WA 98116.

Have a vision–and an open mind
One of the secrets of top athletes is their ability to visualize what they’re going to do before they do it. By visualizing your future job, you’ll be able to recognize when opportunity knocks. Imagine that you’re working at the job of your dreams…

• Where are you? In an office? A library? A park? The zoo?
• Do you work all day, part of the day–or are you on the night shift?
• Are you working up a sweat–or giving your brain a workout?
• Are you part of a team or do you work solo?
• What are you getting out of the job? Connections? Knowledge? Or just a little extra cash?

Even when you have your ideal job visualized, it’s important to keep an open mind. No job is perfect–and sometimes any job is better than no job.

Sell yourself
When you’re applying for a job, your product is you! So get to know yourself.

• What are you good at? What are you not so good at?
• What experience do you have–at work, at school, and just in life?
• What are your goals?

Resumes and cover letters
Depending on what kind of job you’re applying for, you might need a resume. A resume describes your experience; a cover letter explains why you’re right for a particular job.

• Tailor your resume: If you’re applying for a landscaping job, you probably shouldn’t put your computer skills first.
• Your boss’s shoes: Look at every item from the perspective of your future employer. Everything should tell why you’re right for the job.
• Dig deep: Any situation where you had responsibility or achieved something notable could be interesting to an employer–especially relevant volunteer experience.
• Be yourself: You’re not expected to have a long career history. Just put your best foot forward!

Click here for a great article on how to write your first resume.
Don’t be shy
Searching the want ads can help you get a job, but more people get their jobs through their personal contacts. Tell everyone you know–family, friends, teachers, classmates, anyone–that you’re looking for work and what kind of work you want. Chances are, you’ll find some great leads that way. And a personal introduction is much more powerful than any resume or cover letter.
Working for free can give the best payoff
If you don’t have any experience, you’re not likely to land a job as a video game designer or an architect. But lots of businesses and other organizations offer internships and volunteer opportunities where, instead of money, you get real-world experience in a field of interest to you. You might not get paid much (or at all) but you might get a leg up on the career of your dreams.
Click here for a fantastic article on internships with links to online resources.

Biz Kid of the Month: Dillon Emry

Dillon got his job just by hanging around–along with a lot of hard work!
What do you do?
I work at a café in Seattle.
How did you get the job?
My mom started a business nearby when I was in fifth grade. I used to get her sandwiches there in the summer. Then I started hanging out there every day after school. I became friends with the owner.
What were your first duties?
First it was taking out trash. As I got older, she would pay me to clean the three waffle irons. You set them at a high temperature to burn the sugar off, then season them with lard. It’s a dirty job. After a few months, she hired me full-time.

And you worked your way up?
Yes, now I do everything. Although I had to wait until I was 15 to make sandwiches–that’s the age at which you can get a food handler’s permit.
What’s your favorite thing about your job?
The people in my community are great, and a lot of them come in several times a week. I’m making a lot of good connections for the future and it’s a lot of fun.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m going to get a degree in business. I’m thinking about going into sports agencyAfter working at a café for so long, I’m looking forward to working in an office!

Info to go

• Great resources on jobs for kids at About.com
• Beyond the Lemonade Stand
• 202 Ways to Make Big Bucks and Stop Mooching Off Your Parents
• We’re on Facebook!

Money MathWhere does math come in handy just about every day? In matters of money, of course! Every time you make change, calculate a tip, check out the interest you’ve earned on your savings account, or pay sales tax, there’s math at work. This is one place where your skill with numbers makes a big difference.  

Fast Fact

When is 100 cents worth more than a dollar? Read down to find out.

What’s Your Percentage?

Percentages can be used to describe almost any fraction of something, but they’re super useful in money math. If a bank says, “This savings account pays 4% interest every year,” you’ll get 4 cents a year for every dollar you put in. Those pennies add up in a hurry!

So what does “percent” mean? It means “per hundred.” A percentage is just a way to express a fraction as an amount per hundred of a given thing. Percentages are all over the place:

• The rate of interest you get from a savings account
• The rate of interest you pay for credit card and loan balances
• Passing scores on tests
• Tips in restaurants (usually 15% to 20% of the bill)
• Pay raises
• Changes in the stock market

Handy How-To: Percentages

Want to know how much a percentage of something is? Just multiply the “something” by the percentage, then divide by 100.

Q. What is 25% of 20?

A. 25 x 20 = 500

500 / 100 = 5

25% of 20 is 5.

Q. You want to buy a magazine. The cover price is $3.95, but all magazines in this store are 10% off the cover price. What will the magazine cost (before sales tax)? Hint: start by figuring out 10% of $3.95, and then subtract it from the cover price. The answer is at the bottom of the newsletter–don’t peek!

Biz Kid of the Month: Laura Valiente, LaVa Bags

Laura makes custom handbags inspired by the latest fashions. She uses her money math skills to maximize profits and stay on top of taxes. You can get your own LaVa Bag at http://www.lavabags.weebly.com!

Tell me about your business.
I design sew and sell bags, all custom made–any color, any style. I cater to the needs of my customers.

And some of the materials you use are recycled, right?
Yes, I use jeans, tops, fabric samples from upholstery companies, handles from cool old leather bags.

That helps keep costs down.
I also keep track of how much fabric I use in each bag and how much it costs. I sell most of my bags for the same price, about $20, so I need to keep costs below that to make a profit.

How else do you use math in your business?
I charge sales tax. I carry a calculator for that, just to make sure I get it right.

How do you keep track of everything?
Every bag has a number and I keep copies of every check I receive.

Do you have goals for your business?
I want to make it big! I plan to study business administration in college. I also need to refine my techniques so I can put fancy stuff on the bags like cool hardware and zippers.

A Tip Tip

When you eat in a restaurant, you should usually leave at least a 15% tip. It’s easy to figure–just find 10% of the bill, then add half of that amount. To find 10% of any dollar amount, just move the decimal one place to the left.

Here’s an example:

Total bill: $14.00

10% of $14.00: $1.40

Half of $1.40: $0.70

Total tip: $1.40 + $0.70 = $2.10

Price to Earnings Ratio

The price to earnings ratio (P/E ratio) is one way of evaluating a stock’s price. If the price is high relative to the earnings, that can mean the stock is overpriced. How do they calculate P/E ratios? It’s just the stock price per share divided by the earnings per share (usually the earnings added over the most recent four quarters).

Check it out:

Igloo Ice Company stock sells for $1.00 per share. In the past four quarters, their earnings were $50,000.00. There are 100,000 shares of the company.

Earnings per share (EPS): $50,000.00/100,000 = $0.50 per share

P/E ratio: $1.00 / $0.50 = 2

Fast Fact Answer

Before 1982, pennies were minted from solid copper. When the price of copper reaches a certain level, 100 pennies can be worth significantly more by weight than $1.00. Some enterprising collectors even started hoarding copper pennies in hopes of making a fortune. Click here to get the full story.

Percentages Answer
A. 10 x $3.95 = $39.50
$39.50 / 100 = $0.395
$3.95 – $0.395 = $3.555
Round up to a whole penny: you’ll pay $3.56.

Info to Go

Calculating percentages

Price to earnings ratio

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The Vault from Biz Kid$, March 2009

Credit is Critical

Somewhere out there, someone is keeping tabs on you–watching how you use your credit cards, whether you pay your bills on time, and more…and they’re keeping score! It’s called yourcredit score. What it means and how it affects you are things every Biz Kid should know.

Fast Fact

FICO stands for Fair Isaac Corporation, the company that developed the models on which most credit scores are based. It was started by engineer Bill Fair and mathematician Earl Isaac in 1958. Can you guess how much they invested to start this game-changing company? Scroll down to find out!

What’s the Score?

Most scores based on the FICO model range from 350 to 850. A high score means that you are more likely to repay debts. If you have a high score, lenders are more likely to loan you money and lend it at lower interest rates. If you have a low score, borrowing will cost you more–or you might not get the credit at all.

Why All the Fuss? 

Way back in the day, bankers used to sit down and talk with people who were applying for credit. The bank would make individual decisions on each loan application. That’s a friendly way to do it, but it’s very slow and very expensive. Credit scores compress lots of information about your crediworthiness into a simple number.

Make Sure Your Credit Report is Accurate

So much data goes through these companies that they often make mistakes which can lower your score. If you find errors on your credit report, you can dispute them. Here’s a link that tells you how:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre21.shtm

Getting Your Credit Score

The agenices don’t have to give you a credit score for free. Some will give you a peek if you sign up for a “free trial” of their score monitoring services. They’ll charge you if you don’t cancel the account.

One site has started to offer free credit scores from TransUnion in exchange for showing you ads. It’s a great way to get started with understanding and monitoring your score:

http://www.creditkarma.com 

High Score!

Here are the top ways you can raise your score as high as possible:

• Do get some credit to start establishing your score. You don’t have to use it–but the longer you have it, the better your score will be.
• Do keep up with payments. If your debts are sent to a collection agency, it can lower your score.
• Do keep old credit card accounts open–even if you don’t want to use them anymore. Pay off the balances and cut up the cards, but don’t close the accounts. The longer you’ve had the credit, the better it is for your score.
• Don’t open accounts if you don’t need them. Since lenders consider older accounts to be better, lots of new accounts can drag down your score.
• Don’t max out your cards. If you use more than 30% or so of your available credit, it can really reduce your score.
• Don’t apply for cards or loans you don’t need. Too many applications negatively affect your score.

We’re on Facebook!

Keep up with all the latest news and connect with fellow Biz Kid$ on our Facebook page by clicking here.

Info to Go

At CreditKarma.com, you can get your credit score for free:

http://www.creditkarma.com

Here’s where you can get your free annual credit reports (but not scores):

http://www.annualcreditreport.com

Here’s a great article from CNN Money about improving your credit score: 

http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/21/pf/debt/credit_scores/index.htm

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has an excellent fact sheet on credit scores:

http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6c-CreditScores.htm

And don’t forget to check out the Biz Kid$ Web site where you can get the latest scoop on all things biz: https://bizkids.com

You’ve probably heard the news–the economy isn’t doing so well. Companies are laying off workers, banks aren’t lending money, home prices are falling. What’s going on? It’s a recession–and it’s not the first time. The economy goes through a cycle of booms and busts pretty regularly. In this issue of The Vault, we give you some background on why things went sour–and even why recessions aren’t all bad.

Do you know what the word “recession” really means? Find the answer toward the bottom of this issue!

When times are good, people have money to spend. They buy things, which creates more jobs, and more spending, and so on–so let the good times roll! But when people lose confidence, they spend less, so companies have to cut back; they create fewer jobs, and people feel even worse about the future–reinforcing the downward spiral.

What Caused the Downturn? 

It’s pretty complicated, but experts agree that today’s troubles are based on one simple thing: banks made billions of dollars in home loans to people who could not afford them. Then, the banks created investment schemes based on those bad loans. When the home buyers couldn’t make their payments, the investment schemes failed–and a lot of very big banks failed along with them.

One big lesson? Stick to your savings plan, especially when times are good! People (and companies, too) tend to think boom times will last forever–but they never do. By saving when you’re flush, you’ll have the reserves you need when things get tight.

Recessions are painful–no doubt about it. But they can have good effects, too. Housing prices are dropping to more affordable levels–painful for people who over-spent on housing, but leading to more affordable housing in the future. There’s less competition for good employees, so it’s easier to start new companies or expand strong ones. Plus, for every downturn in history, there’s been an upswing waiting at the end!

We’re on Facebook!

Keep up with all the latest news and connect with fellow Biz Kid$ on our Facebook page athttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Biz-Kid/60335554408

Ask John Paul

Q: I hear people talking about “consumer confidence” on the news. What does that mean, and why does it matter?

A:  Think of it this way. If you’re worried about having enough money, you might be less willing to spend $2 on your weekly ice cream cone. A lot of other people might feel the same way. The ice cream store goes out of business. It can’t pay back its debts. Other businesses suffer: dairies, refrigerator trucks, and more. It becomes harder to get a job. The economy as a whole suffers. Your prediction about not having enough money has come true!

John Paul Pigéon is a 12-year-old financial guru from Fort Worth, Texas who helps kids learn about money and business. Visit his Web site at http://www.johnpaulpigeon.com. Send your question to askjohnpaul@bizkids.com. It may be selected for our next newsletter!

A recession is defined as “two quarters of negative economic growth.” The funny thing is, economists almost never know that a recession is happening until long after it has already started. To learn lots more, click on this link: http://www.howstuffworks.com/recession.htm

Learn more about “recession-proof” companies:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-12-03-recession-proof-companies_N.htm

And don’t forget to check out the Biz Kid$ Web site where you can get the latest scoop on all things biz:https://bizkids.com