What is an encore career?

Your career, or the one that you just got laid off from, could best be described as ‘making a living.’ If you were ever asked if you liked your job you probably told them that it ‘pays the bills’, not exactly a ringing endorsement of your occupation. Well, now the economy has freed you from you mundane job it is time to step it up and find something with meaning. You are looking for an encore career.


The term encore career is attributed to Marc Freedman who wrote the book ‘Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life.’ The general premise is that your second career in life will have more social value; you will be helping others and in turn finding more value in your own life. Encore careers are also to be considered instead of retirement although now a days retirement is being pushed back for more and more people.

This seems like a great way to end your working career helping others. Unfortunately, with today’s economic reality it might not be that easy to work at a lower salary that you might receive from an encore career. But money isn’t everything; the personal gratification of helping other people is something that you can’t put a price on.

Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed

Thanks

Job advice for mature workers

In this economy you will need all the help that you can get to find a job. And if you are a mature or older worker and unemployed you probably will need more help. Unfortunately there are still a lot of employers that are hesitant to hire older workers. But you can’t let that discourage you or stop you.

Here are a few things that you can do to help with your job search.

• I have mentioned networking before and it bears repeating. The more people you know that better off you will be in your job search. Especially if the people that you network with are in a field that you would like to be in.  
• Keep up your skills by taking community classes or even college course. This will keep you up to date and sharp, which you will need to be when you start your new job. 
• This is a no-brainer; learn everything that you can about the internet and social media. The information and the contacts that you will find on the web will be extremely beneficial. 
• Keep up with the pulse of the economy, learn all you can about what is hot right now. You don’t want to give the impression that you are out dated. 
• In a previous post I described how to make age an asset.

If there is one theme running through this list it is the never ending search for knowledge. The more you know the better chance you have at landing a job.


Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed.

Thanks

Leaving your comfort zone to find a job

The economy is in shambles and you are unemployed and over fifty. Maybe you just want to get any job that you can and not take any chances. Of course right now there doesn’t seem to be “any job” for the taking. Are you feeling desperate and without hope, that’s understandable. Are you ready to leave your comfort zone to find a job?


The first thing that you should do is completely change the way that you are feeling about being unemployed and what jobs are suitable for you. If you have worked in a field for a long time you may think that is the only occupation that you will even be considered for employment. You may find that previous employment field is dried up and with out any future opportunities.

What do you do?

As I have said before, make a plan, brainstorm, and write down anything that comes to mind. At this stage don’t edit yourself, there will time for that later. After you have a sizable list, thoughtfully go through that list and see what might be interesting to follow up on. Don’t be too dismissive at this stage, keep an open mind.

When you have made picked out the ones on the list that look promising, make another list of how you would be able to find out information about these employment opportunities. What companies are matches to your employment aspirations? A simple search on the internet can help you out here. Probably the best place to start is the Occupational Handbook which breaks down thousands of jobs. Not only will it tell you what education you need to be in that field it will also tell you whether it is a good field to be in the future.

Here is where you might have to leave your comfort zone. After you have found the companies that have jobs that you want, contact them. Call them up and ask for any information about the company and also ask about having an informational interview. This might be uncomfortable but after awhile you will get used to it.

Don’t sit at home and just send out resumes and think that you find a job that way. You wouldn’t. leave your comfort zone and get to work.

Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed

Thanks

Is doing what you love the best career move?

Let’s say that you have spent most of your working years at jobs that you really don’t like. They weren’t that bad but none of them could be described as a dream job. They were just a job to make money to live on. You probably went through the motions but you didn’t have your heart into it. Well, now you are unemployed and older, say over fifty and you are in middle of a job search. Do you go for something that you would “love to do” or do you play it safe and try to find something that you have experience in? It’s not easy, is it?


This is a dilemma because you have always heard that doing what you love to do is the best way to go as far as jobs are concerned. No matter what the job pays if you are happy then that is the important thing. But reality rears its ugly head and spits out some doubts about your dreams. You may have dreamed about doing something all your life, but you will never truly know if you will enjoy it or not until you do it. Your romantic notion of starting your own business might not be what you think it is. Of course, then again it might be.

Probably the best way to go is do a little research and if you can do that dream job on a part time basis till you see if it’s right for you. If it is, great, if not then at least you tried. Keep all your options open.

Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed

Thanks

Who hires the most baby boomers?

With all the talk of age discrimination and how difficult it is find a job if you are an older worker, there are companies that have a high percentage of baby boomers as their employees. The book 225 Best Jobs for baby boomers has an extensive list of employers and fields that baby boomers seem to flourish in. You might be able to guess that a lot of the jobs have to do Social resources, human resources, personal care and teaching. One occupation that surprised me was pharmacy, I don’t know why but it did.

Will your job skills transfer into another job field?

If you have worked for a good many years you probably have developed more skills than you think you know. You might worry that some of the things that you did on your last job won’t benefit you in another company or industry. That might be true about some things because different companies have different ways of doing things but some skills can be used at any employer.

• Possibly the number one skill that you can transfer is dealing with people. If you have always got along and you were known as a team player then you definitely want to stress that to any potential employer. Having an employee that works easily with others is greatly valued by any company. 
• Another skill is being open to new ideas. You may not consider this a skill but it is. There are some people who will never agree to anything or they will be reluctant to try a new way to do things. Don’t be that person. The way that things change today you have to be open to new ideas and things.  
• Being dependable may be more of an attitude or a personal characteristic then a skill but it will certainly something that is needed at any job.

 

These are just a few examples of what you can bring to a new job. They aren’t specific to an industry but that is okay. Your demeanor and the way you interact is an important asset to any company. Don’t sell it short.

 

Can age be an asset when looking for a job?

If you are unemployed and over fifty, or even unemployed and over any age that people consider old, you may think that your age is a downside to your employment search. With age discrimination alive and well and continued myths of older workers still thriving, it is hard to believe that you can make your age an asset. 

But you can!

• Experience comes with age, not only in knowing the details of a job but older workers also have life experience, or things that you learn as you grow older. The accumulation of knowledge of a lifetime can be a benefit to any job. 
• Stability can be an important attribute of any employee of any age. Stability is often associated with older workers. 
• One common myth about older workers is the unwillingness to learn new things. Point out the fact that over the years you have continually learned new skills without objection. 
• Maturity in handling problems and handling difficult people can definitely be an asset.

 

Are you dumbing down your resume?

You have worked for many years, you feel that you have accomplished quite a bit and you are proud of it. And why wouldn’t you be, you deserved it. But now you are unemployed and updating your resume, should you include all the things that you have done over the years or should you dumb your resume down?


If you are over 50 years of age and unemployed then the idea of age discrimination is nothing new to you. Although you can’t always prove it you are pretty sure that your age has held you back especially if you are looking for a job. The unspoken reasons are always the same, you make too much money, you are old so you probably have health problems and you will probably retire in a few years. Of course these are all myths but some people still think that they are true.

What to put on your resume?
If you put down on your resume years and years of service then you are probably going to give away your age. Just list the past few years and relevant information and skills to the particular job that you are applying for. And don’t put down the date that you graduated from college that is a dead giveaway.

It’s sad and unfortunate but dumbing down a resume may be the way to go.

Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed

Thanks

Staying on course in your job hunt

After you are laid off, maybe even before you are laid off, all your attention was on finding a new job. You knew that eventually you would be losing your job, so your mind went into overdrive, almost panic, at the though of being unemployed. Like most people you probably wondered what to do and ideas to resolve your unemployment situations popped into your head. You were intense and ready to go and find a new job. Do you still have that intensity? Are you still on course in your job hunt?


Hopefully, after you lost your job you made an employability checklist. You also had some “plans” that you would research. But let’s say you find yourself still unemployed after a few months. And really that is understandable considering the current economic crisis. Have all your plans led to nowhere? Not only are you now discouraged now but you feel like you don’t know what to do.

Start over and change your mindset. One of the worst clichés is “thinking outside the box”. I know I groan when I hear it but finding a career or opportunities in today’s economic climate requires real imagination. It is definitely a time to reach deep inside and think of all the things that you can do or could do. Brainstorm (another cliché) and make a list write down everything that comes to your mind and explore all options not matter how crazy they may have initially seemed.

Remember to stay focused and be creative; you may be surprised at what you find.

What is an elevator speech?

Selling yourself in an interview is tough. Trying to tell a stranger why you are the best person for the job is difficult for most people. Of course, the interview is the perfect setting for letting your interviewer how wonderful you are. But what if you only had a moment to tell someone about yourself away from the interview setting? Be prepared for that occasion by having an elevator speech ready.


If you have been looking for a job then you probably have heard the term ‘elevator speech’ before. What the term means you should have a short speech, a couple of minutes, ready to sell yourself. The elevator part comes from idea that your speech should not last any longer than it takes to go from the first floor to the top floor in an elevator. It really doesn’t mean that you should use it in a elevator!

What to include in an elevator speech

With a limited amount of time, you have to be specific and to the point about why you are a potential employee to hire. It answers questions such as ‘Who are you’, ‘why are you different than others’, ‘will you make an impact on the company’.

Write down the answers to these questions and put them in a form that is short and sweet. You may not have much time so stick to the important parts.

Ironically the place that you will probably use the ‘elevator speech’ is probably in an interview so make sure that it is hits all the high points and shows why you are the person to hire.