National Womens History Month

Jean Chatzky, Financial Expert for NBC's Today Show and blogger for the website, Retailmenot.com, had a great idea for Women’s History Month.  She reached out to sucessful women and asked them to remember the best finanical advice they got from afemale role model. I am so pleased to be included with others such as Barbara Corcoran from ABC's The Shark Tank, Gerri Willis from Fox Business, Jane Bryant Quinn from the Dailyvoice.com, and of course, Jean, who I think is terrific.  The advice is varied and will hopefully make you think back to where you got and get your financial advice. This is a good blog to send on to daughters, sisters , nieces, granddaughters

50 + Workers: Put Your Best Self Forward!

The job market for the 50+ age group seems to be improving.  Slowly unemployment is declining. But mature workers continue to meet obstacles (real and imagined) that are preventing them from working.  AARP has provided some excellent articles and tools for this group.  One of their articles published earlier this year, How Should Older Workers Navigate the Job Market? is particularly helpful.  They also have a Life Reimagined for Work section which provides tools for job seekers.

There are many reasons why this group is seeking employment: need the money for themselves, to support children, grandchildren, or parents; miss the social environment work provides; want to continue to use their skills or develop new ones.  The list goes on. 

Research, our own and from others’, has unearthed that many people ages 50-65 who are seeking a job are physically and/or emotionally tired and anxious.  Some have disabilities that make working an even greater challenge. These circumstances make it even harder to keep looking. Unfortunately burn out, rust out, and the apathy that comes from repeated disappointment is telegraphing their state of mind to interviewers. As one HR staffer told us, “They look rejected before the interview even starts.  Where is the motivation? Quite a few let their anger at their circumstances seep through. Some actually say that they never expected they would have to be working at this life stage.” Not very positive, is it?

We recommend that people get to know their drivers....reasons why they work beyond a paycheck.  Knowing your drivers will improve your chances of finding a job that you are happy about doing.  We recently asked staffing executives what these mature job seekers can do to set themselves apart from the pack and highlight their talents.  Here are a few suggestions they offered.

1. Show up prepared and dressed appropriately. Look like you want the job.
2. Never forget you are a skills merchant. Tell us what you have done to keep your skills relevant and up to date, e.g. do you take classes, attend seminars, get training. Remember it is a competition (we suggest individuals take the Rewirement Ramp Up Quiz to get to know themselves better before the interview).
3. Be prepared to talk specifics.  Tell us what you have that is pertinent to our job opening and our business.
4. Be confident.  If you act dejected you will be rejected.
5. When we ask, “What do you know about our company?” be able to answer it with specifics.  Research their website, read Google articles, find out who their major competitors are, and if you can ask current or former employees about the culture.  You would be amazed how many people never go on the company website prior to the interview.  What a lost opportunity.

It sounds simple, but finding a job over the age of 50 is not easy.  Nothing worth getting is easy. However, many people over 50 are finding employment.  So if you are looking for a job or thinking about it. Get ready; Get Rewired; then go for it.

 

INVENTING YOUR NEW JOB

Tom Friedman recently wrote in his column in the New York Times that Boomers had it easy when they first started out in their careers. All they had to do was “find a job.” He contrasts that with today’s recent college graduates who may be lucky enough to find a job, but more than likely will have to “invent” their own job. The internet has alleviated the need to know or memorize facts.  After all any internet connected device (I-phone, Blackberry, Droid, I-Pad, tablet computer, etc.) can access facts on the internet. The key however is not to know the facts, but to know what to do with the facts at your finger-tips.

 This has become the challenge of the mature worker (defined as anyone over the age of 40).  If they can’t find a job, they must invent one and become an entrepreneur, or an outsourcing agent for someone’s business.  Let’s say you are 60 years of age.  You were forced to retire early.  But you still need an income because the retirement savings you planned on were used to pay for your child’s education, your Mother’s eldercare, and the new car to replace the old one that just died with 200,000+ miles on the odometer. Starting your own business isn’t easy especially when financial resources are slim.  What do you do now?

A significantly important ingredient to a successful career “invention” is to identify your DRIVERS before you start something new.  DRIVERS are the emotional rewards we derive from work, play, fun that gives us a significant level of satisfaction and holds our interest.  We conducted research with pre and post retirees.  We asked one question: “Why do you work beyond the paycheck.”  We got back 85 different reasons: to have accomplishments, to use my skills, continuous learning, make a difference, mentor, etc.  The length of the list surprised us.  The responses were so impressive that we wrote a book about them.  Don’t Retire, REWIRE!  Knowing your DRIVERS and aligning them to the work you do or business you start is a major key to success.  The opportunity to get driver fulfillment is usually the difference between toil and drudgery or looking forward to getting up in the morning to do something that satisfies, stimulates, excites, and engages. 

If you need to find work or “invent it,” make sure your DRIVERS are getting fulfilled. Take the DRIVERS test.  Don’t worry about the facts.  You can download them!

ENCORE CAREER TeleSummit

The times remain challenging, but people are getting ready to move on! And there are a lot of tools to help people jumpstart their next acts. There is a special and unique event that I wanted to make you aware of … the 1st annual Encore Career TeleSummit for Women 50+. Many of you know that I am the former Editor at Large of WORKING WOMAN magazine and women, creating successful next acts, remain very important to me!

The TeleSummit will provide education and information for women 50+ who want to create an encore career as they begin looking ahead to that timeframe called retirement! As I travel around the country talking to women, and men too, I know that this is a key topic for many. What do I want to do next and how do I begin? I think you'll find this FREE TeleSummit on April 24-25, 2010 extremely valuable.

Maybe you've been downsized or forced to retire out of your lifelong career. Or maybe, you just know it's time to move on, but just can't seem to take the leap. The fact is, you have a wealth of skills, expertise, experience and wisdom that you could bring to your encore career. If you're stuck or scared, it's hard to gain the clarity you'll need to make good decisions.

Let's face it. In 99% of cases your Encore Career is not going to fall in your lap. Just dreaming about it is not enough. You have to take action. You have to know how. The telesummit will feature 12 well-known experts, and I'm thrilled to be the kick off speaker!

All of us are committed to the program: people like Dr. Joan Borysenko, expert in the area of health and healing, Deborah Russell , leader at AARP on workforce issues, and Richard Leider who will help you find purpose and passion---just to name a few. The reality is---we all want to help you design your next career without wasting precious time and money. And let's be honest, none of us has time or money to waste!

So sign up for the April 24-25 event at http://www.encorecareertelesummit.com/. It's free of charge! Give yourself a leg up...and GO FOR IT!

Wonderful new tools, ideas and experts are all around us, we just have to take advantage of the opportunities that exist! Happy rewiring into your encore career!

DON'T GET STUCK IN THE CAREER PIPELINE!

It's Fall and I'm back on the road talking to individuals across the United States about how and why they should constantly be rewiring their lives at work and at play. In addition to my normal Boomers and beyond group, I now meet 30 and 40 year olds who are curious about why and how they could rewire and set themselves up for a better future.

With four generations in the workplace, and the pipelines of promotion getting clogged with boomer bodies, it isn't surprising that everyone is looking for new ideas and ways to manuveur in the workplace. We have discovered that the rewiring process we created for DON'T RETIRE, REWIRE! is in reality a non-age specific life enhancement tool. I know that this is a mouthful, but that is exactly what rewiring is all about! Life enhancement regardless of age !

If you are feeling stuck in your work role for whatever reason don't abandon hope.

After you have done an attitude check on yourself, consider the following:

1.) to look for new things to do at work that would further advance your career

2.) to identify those drivers, personal motivators, that make you tick at work

3.) to find new avenues to fulfill those drivers on the job

4.) to not feel that adding new tasks would zap energy, but rather increase your energy

5.) to decide that this is the time to learn a new skill or two that you have been postponing

5.) to accept that a lateral move can positively impact your career

6.) to remember that up is NOT the only way

7.) to believe that the grass is NOT always greener on the other side

8.) to believe that Boomers will retire from their jobs one day and rewire into their next acts

9.) to position your self well for when Boomers leave and the pipeline reopens

10.) to always demonstrate a positive attitude so you stand out as a real team player

The above won't guarantee success, but using these ideas definitely set you apart from the pack!