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By wire services
Published March 6, 2005

IF YOU'RE LOOKING for a job, be aware that your interviewing skills are just as important as your resume and professional experience. First, be prepared, says Jeff Harvey, staffing director at pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca PLC. With so much information available online, most employers see no reason you'd walk into the interview without a very good idea of what the organization makes, does or sells. And mention any skills that range beyond the job you're interviewing for to illustrate your breadth of knowledge.

TOO MANY CAR BUYERS ignore the importance of shopping interest rates, apparently thinking that if the payment quoted by the dealer fit into their monthly budget, it must be all right. Convenience is the big advantage of accepting dealer financing. But Bankrate.com says buyers most likely will find a better deal by shopping around at local banks, credit unions and other lenders.

RESEARCH SHOWS that stocks that pay dividends outpace those that don't, Kiplinger's Personal Finance says. Of stocks in Standard & Poor's 500 stock index, 377 paid dividends and 277 raised their dividends over the past 12 months by an average of 20 percent. "The 15 percent maximum tax on dividends helped persuade many companies to boost their payouts, as did the cash hoards that many corporations amassed during the past few years," the magazine says.

DELL COMPUTER turns 21 in May, and Fortune gives the personal computer maker an early birthday present by naming it "America's Most Admired Company." Dell "has grown from an industry curio into one of the nation's most prominent and respected corporations." Founder Michael Dell dropped out of college to start his company with a business model that "conquered the PC industry," Fortune says. "Now, at age 40, Michael Dell takes his place among the nation's most respected executives."

BE CAREFUL what you throw away when spring cleaning time rolls around. Smart Money says everything old is new again in the new nostalgia market. "Collectors are paying from $7,000 to $10,000 for fancy vintage fountain pens," just part of a collectibles market currently estimated at $4-billion. The magazine attributes the boom to "today's obsession with all things retro (and to) fresh new generations of collectors." Collectors of vintage school lunch boxes, toy trucks, Coca-Cola memorabilia and other items trade on Web sites, such as eBay.

- Compiled from Times wires and Web sites.

[Last modified March 6, 2005, 00:13:18]