Two financial job websites may be worthy of your attention. Among the positives associated with them are that they are free, they put you in touch with real recruiters, and they promise access to jobs that are not advertised publicly. Sounds like nothing to lose and everything to gain. These sites, which are offered by related organizations, are:

• The Banking & Financial Services Career Network
• The Accounting Career Network

Since both sites deal with much broader ranges of jobs than their respective titles suggest, you would do well to follow the links above for more details, then to explore these sites yourself.

Whenever I'm asked about the key ingredients of success, I reply that managing expectations is near the top of the list. Promise only what you can deliver. Deliver what you promise. Meet deadlines. Display thoroughness.

Too many, by contrast, try to get ahead by over-promising. This tends to be a shortsighted approach that ends up creating a credibility gap.

The opposite approach, extreme under-promising, offers similar pitfalls.

Politicians are prime practitioners of expectations management, though not always successfully. The lavish promises made on the campaign trail often are followed by excuses and finger pointing after election. In business, however, you better deliver if you are hired based on the basis of a "Yes, I can" pitch. Indeed, creating inflated expectations in your interviews will haunt you immediately if you get the job. You won't have the benefit of a fixed term of office in which to temporize.

According to various surveys, growing numbers of clients appear to be disenchanted with their investment firms and investment advisors. One way that firms and advisors are responding is through the aggressive offering of client perks that may attract some new business and solidify existing relationships. Follow the link for details.

Curiously, though, the same firms often are cutting back on established loyalty programs, such as rewards points on the credit and debit cards that they issue to the same client base. Go figure.

You may be aware that a number of countries have postal savings banks. That is, their governments offer savings accounts, with post offices functioning as bank branches. It's a way to reach small savers who otherwise might not have a bank account, and a method for the government to borrow money relatively cheaply.

The U.K. opened the first one in 1861, and many other nations soon followed suit. Japan used to have a massive postal bank, but it has been privatized in recent years. The U.S., interestingly, used to have a postal savings bank of its own, founded in 1910. It became a popular safe haven for money during the Great Depression and World War II, with total deposits peaking at $3 billion in 1947, or about $30 billion in today's money. As public trust in FDIC insurance of accounts in private sector banks grew, the attractiveness of the postal bank, with its low rates of interest, waned. In 1966, Congress shut it down. However, the U.S. postal bank still had $344 million in deposits at that time, about $2 billion in current dollars.

Back in 2008, I read an op-ed piece that saw several benefits in reviving postal banking in the U.S. First, about 10% of Americans do not have bank accounts (the so-called "unbanked"), and this would be a way to help them. Second, a postal bank would appeal to savers rich and poor who are looking for a safe haven for their money. Third, it would be a low-cost means for the federal government to borrow money. The author says that a postal bank would reduce federal dependence on foreign lenders, and free up more money for vital infrastructure projects.

Four years later, with the postal service and the national treasury in even deeper trouble, I haven't seen any further discussion of this idea. If you're seeking government employment in finance, and the hiring manager seems open to outside the box ideas, bear this in mind.