Monday, March 23, 2009

Rewirement Tips for Mature* Job Seekers - March 2009

These challenging economic times have resulted in many downsizings, rightsizings, layoffs or whatever you want to call it –people are losing their jobs, or waiting for the next shoe to drop! The idea of Rewiring®, originally developed for pre and post retirees, is now a process for everyone. We all need to know how and why and where to rewire.

I’m still traveling around the country talking to large audiences about the future on how they can tailor their job search. I’m also doing small group work helping people to rewire themselves in their current work or to secure a new work option. There are many good sites but I still find TheLadders.com a good one especially for the $100,000+ candidate.

The following are additional tips that I recently shared with an audience. They are a combination of substance and style and exemplify my belief that getting a job today, in these highly competitive times, demands that we be more strategic in our job search.
  • View yourself as a product: It’s competitive out there. Ask yourself: Why should someone hire me?
  • Network, network, network- on-line and LIVE!: If you don’t like the word, network, think connecting, relationship building.
  • Elevate the conversation with a potential employer: Get more aggressive. Ask specific questions about the job.
  • Demonstrate mental agility: Cite examples where you can show how flexible and adaptable you are.
  • Look the part: Appearance and presentation still matter. Don’t kid yourself.
  • Match your drivers to the job description: Read DON’T RETIRE, REWIRE! to discover your drivers, or motivators, and see how they correlate to professional success and fulfillment.
  • Discover how to differentiate yourself from the pack: Don’t associate only with the same age cohort! Pick up new trends and ideas from all four generations.
  • Articulate what you can offer an employer: Don’t wait for the interviewer to ask about your strengths, tell them.
  • Demonstrate that you are up to speed with “new” skills: Don’t get old and rusty in your technology or leadership skills.
  • You’ve got the experience; have energy and enthusiasm, too: This is the great triumvirate. There is no replacement for the BIG THREE.
  • Manage your expectations: Need I say more?
* As defined in the 1967 Age Discrimination Employment Act

CAPITALIZE ON THE LONGEVITY REVOLUTION!











I recently attended a seminar at DEMOS, a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization headquartered in New York City. Demos works with advocates and policymakers around the country in pursuit of four overarching goals:

  • a more equitable economy with widely shared prosperity and opportunity

  • a vibrant and inclusive democracy with high levels of voting and civic engagement
  • an empowered public sector that works for the common good
  • responsible U.S. engagement in an interdependent world
DEMOS, http://www.demos.org/, does great work in terms of Ideas and Action! I went to their event to hear the brilliant Dr. Robert Butler, founder of The International Longevity Center http://www.ilcusa.org/ talk about the realities of living longer. His new book, THE LONGEVITY REVOLUTION, is terrific for professionals and lay people. The focus is on the benefits and challenges of living a long life---a subject that I think that we all need to know more about!


Dr. Butler has great delivery and great insights...and when he told the audience to exercise and work to strengthen their thighs so we can always climb stairs I knew he was right on!! What a great message for all of us Boomers!

From my standpoint I think that to really get this longevity revolution right, we need to rewire ourselves mentally, physically and civically for starters!

Friday, March 20, 2009

LEARN TO PLAY TEXAS HOLD 'EM



During these challenging times I've decided to try new and different things that are fun, inexpensive, and getting me out of my comfort zone. And if I can learn a thing or two along the way, that's terrific so that's how I ended up at the YMHA, better known as the 92nd Street Y Tribeca http://www.92y.org/92YTribeca in New York City.

I wanted to learn to play poker. I'm from a card playing family in Michigan but have gotten rusty through the years. My goal was to learn the game, get a group of friends together once a month to play cards, to get caught up, do some networking, and do something that challenged the mind and was active, not passive! Basically I was Rewiring my fun time!


I took a lunch time class called- POKERDIVAS. Their motto is "If you want to be in the game, you have to be at the table." They have a great site: http://www.pokerdivas.com/.
In one class, with a highly talented "teacher," Ellen Leikind, I learned the basics and am ready to go! I met great women, from entrepreneurs and nurses to corporate executives and policy makers.


If you're in New York take the class, but also think about learning the game. From a career standpoint learning TEXAS HOLD'Em has several benefits beyond fun and learning to bluff well:

  • develop strategic skills

  • learn to read the competition

  • become more of a risk taker

All good skills for managing the work world regardless of your position! and it's a lot of fun!