Last week’s answer

I trace my history back to 1939, when All American Aviation offered a “flying post office” service. In 1995 I record my first profitable year since 1988. After many acquisitions and name changes over the years, I got my current name in 1996, when I also placed a mammoth order for 400 Airbus jets. System-wide, I manage more than 3,000 daily departures, serving 205 airports in many countries. My hubs include Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C. My fleet sports more than 340 aircraft, and I boarded 67 million passengers in 2000. I’m based in Virginia and have a one-letter ticker symbol. Who am I? (Answer: U.S. Airways)

Know the answer? Send it to us with Foolish Trivia on the top and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a nifty prize! The address is Motley Fool, Box 19529, Alexandria, Va. 22320-0529. Send questions for Ask the Fool, Dumbest (or Smartest) Investments (up to 100 words), and your Trivia entries to Fool@fool.com.

Young job hunters

If you’re young and seeking work, here’s some advice from Nick Corcodilos, author of “Ask The Headhunter” (Plume, $14.95).

Young job hunters are often so intimidated by employers that they make the biggest mistake possible: They adhere to the silly rules of The Employment System.

What is this system? It’s the Internet job-posting boards, where companies found fewer than 1 percent of their hires in 2001. It’s old, familiar rules, such as:

“Use a resume, apply for lots of jobs, sit and wait for someone to decide your future.” It’s those dopey answers to the top 10 stupid interview questions, such as “Where do you see yourself in five years?” and “If you could be an animal, what animal would you be?”

Ignore the system. That’s not how people get hired. Use your common sense  that’s what employers need from you anyway. Here are some tips to get you started:

 Pursue companies, not jobs. Pick a good company that thrills you and investigate jobs there.

 Next, talk to the right people. Seventy percent of jobs come from personal contacts, not ads. As you research a target company, talk to people connected with it: employees, vendors, customers. These are the insiders who can get you in.

 Now where do you find them, and what do you say? You’ll find that you know people who know people who deal with your target company: your parents and your friends’ parents, their friends and associates. A very smart bet: If you’re in school, get to know upperclassmen now. When they get jobs, they’ll become your inside contacts at good companies. The secret is never to ask for a job, but instead to ask for “advice and guidance” about a line of work. Ask, “How I can prepare myself to work in your field?” The advice will flow, along with the introductions you’ll need.

Don’t stick with the traditional system. It doesn’t work. Don’t compete with millions when you can get personal help from insiders. For more advice, visit www.asktheheadhunter.com or read “How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less” by Milo Frank (Washington Square Press, $10).

Tax matters

My first purchase of stock is now a year old, locking in the lower capital gains tax rate. If I sell it for a modest profit, do I wait until April 15, 2003, to settle with the IRS? Â Sal Kopec, Nutley, N.J.

In most cases, you do indeed have until next April. That’s because your tax for 2002 will be computed once the year is over. You may have a $2,000 gain from some stock you sell today, but if you later sell some stock for a loss, you can offset the gain with the loss, shrinking your tax hit.

If your gain is substantial, though, or you’ve not withheld enough, you might need to be making quarterly estimated tax payments.

If I sell stock for a big loss this year and have no other sales, will the loss be deducted from my income? What percent might I expect to recover? Â W.L. La Vigne, Lake Wales, Fla.

If you have a net loss after offsetting any capital gains with any losses, you can deduct the amount of the loss from your income  up to $3,000 per year. If your loss exceeds $3,000, you can carry over the remainder to the following year.

The percent that you “recover” depends on your income tax bracket. If you’re in the 27.5 percent bracket and you deduct $3,000 from your income, you’re excluding that amount from taxation. So you save 27.5 percent of $3,000, or $825. Of course, in a sense, you haven’t really saved anything  you’ve still lost money. You just decreased your loss.

For more info on taxes, head to www.irs.gov or www.Fool.com/taxes. Or check out our new book, “The Motley Fool Tax Guide 2002” (Motley Fool, $15).

The not-so-sure thing

In 1991 I bought 2,000 shares of Pan Am stock at about 63 cents each, knowing full well the company was restructuring. Pan Am was to sell most of its assets to Delta Airlines and emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as a smaller carrier, serving Latin America and the Caribbean. Being a Delta employee familiar with the industry, I just knew it could work. However, by July 1996 I was making paper airplanes with my statements. I didn’t even get the certificates, as they were canceled and declared valueless. Â Mary Ann Oaks, Brooklyn, Mich.

The Fool Responds: Yikes. It can be tempting to invest in well-known companies when they’re going through difficult times, as it’s hard to imagine them going out of business. But sometimes that’s just what they do.

You were smart to focus on an industry you knew, but remember that just because Pan Am’s turnaround plan “could” work didn’t mean it would. Be very wary of investing in troubled companies.