Hot Career Trends for Today's Job Seeker

Q. Despite companies advertising that they do not discriminate they undoubtedly do. I am a career accounting/finance professional who just turned 62. I see positions I can do with my eyes closed not giving me the time of day. What does a tenured job seeker do to even get an interview?

A.Age discrimination in the workplace is a valid concern. In a past newsletter entitled How to Conquer Age Discrimination, I addressed this topic and provided solutions for finding a job in spite of age discrimination. However, I would be understating the issue if I didn't acknowledge that it may be challenging to secure the full-time position that you seek. Aside from age discrimination, there are a number of other reasons for finding it increasingly difficult for older workers to secure a full-time position - today's extremely competitive job market where there is a glut of applicants waiting in the wings for every advertised job opening including many younger workers willing to take a lower salary. Then there's the globalization of today's economy where many jobs are shipped out to other countries that provide cheaper labor and reduce the number of available jobs, and of course the uncertainty caused by our evolving healthcare system which has caused many companies to cut back on hiring.

It seems like a no-win situation for job seekers over 50. However, if you're familiar with my philosophy as a career coach, you know that I believe there is always a solution to our challenges; the solution just may not be exactly what you would want it to be!

Here are a few solutions that are a bit "outside of the box" for older workers to consider - however, these strategies can be used by anyone who is having difficulty securing a full-time position in today's job market:

1)    Increase your competitive edge in the job market -

Become an expert in an area of your field in which few people have developed expertise then develop and market that as your personal brand. For example, I had a client who worked as an underwriter in marine insurance specializing in insurance for container terminals. There weren't many people who had his specialized knowledge so he was fortunate enough to have jobs come to him instead of the other way around. You can figure this out by doing some research into the highly sought after top performers in your field. Consider what background, experience, or knowledge makes them in high demand - then see if you can acquire some of their expertise.

2)    Consider Contract Staffing -

In times of economic downturn, contract staffing surges. While this solution might seem like contract employees are getting the short end of the stick as these positions do not offer benefits, stability or long-term security, contract work does offer some advantages as estimates reveal that 38% of contractors convert to full time work.

In addition, contract staffing: 

• Provides a means for keeping your work skills current.
• Pays more; about 20% more on average.
• Provides the opportunity to get experience in new business areas or technology.
• Is a way to get your foot in the door of a company that wouldn't consider you otherwise.
• Provides a great networking opportunity. 

And - 90% - 95% of U.S. companies use or have used contract staffing.

FYI, the most common contract staffing positions are in IT, Life Sciences (pharma, healthcare), Accounting & Finance, Administrative/clerical, Engineering, and Legal/Paralegal.

3)    Create your own Portfolio Career -

A portfolio career may be a term that is new to you but it's a hot new trend in careers that is becoming increasingly popular in response to the stagnant job market.

Portfolio Career: -

Having two or more jobs (or projects) working for different employers or mixing traditional employment with self-employment.

Portfolio careers differ from the traditional single track careers that we have become accustomed to striving for and trained to believe is the only option to consider; however, the world of work has changed! Designing a portfolio career is a way to create multiple streams of income so that you don't have to be dependent on one. It provides you with more flexibility and the opportunity to pursue multiple interests, and to create more fun and enjoyment in your career. It is the ultimate "empowered" career.

Keep in mind the various jobs may relate and use the same skill set you possess or they may be completely different and unrelated.

Here are 2 real-life examples:

Trish works 3 days per week as a software developer for a company in NYC. During the rest of the week she works as a fitness instructor teaching pilates and weight lifting classes. In addition, she works one-on-one with private clients.

John is a college professor who teaches business classes at a university. He also earns income from speaking engagements and consulting work with corporations.

Here are a few benefits to creating a portfolio career: 

• The opportunity to use different skills and incorporate various interests into your work.
• An alternative way to earn income in the event you lose your job.
• Flexibility to create your own schedule.
• The chance to build skills that may not otherwise be available to you.

Contact Career Advancement Coaching if you need help implementing any of the above strategies.

How to Make Lasting Positive Change in 2014

January is a great time to stand back and take stock of your life to see how you can make some positive changes. It's a common theme you will hear as most people are motivated to take action at this time of year. The ironic thing is that New Year's resolutions are usually forgotten by February  - probably because the resolution was more of a wish than a goal. 

If you really want to make significant change in your life, the key to accomplishing resolutions is to begin by making sure that you have a burning desire to accomplish your resolution and a commitment to seeing the process through to making your goals a reality.

"Your ability to discipline yourself to set clear goals for yourself and then to work toward them every day will do more to guarantee your success than any other single factor."

- Brian Tracy

Decide what you really want -

Before setting goals, you may want to ponder a few questions in order to gain clarity about what it is that you really want to accomplish:

• What is currently working in my life?
• What is not working?
• What do I really want to change and improve?
• How will my life change once I accomplish my goal(s)?

Create a SMART goal -

Some brilliant person in the business management world created the SMART goal acronym years ago - it's a great tool that will help you to focus and follow through on your goals:

S - Specific - What is your goal? What do you really want?

Spell out the target you are aiming for very precisely and be sure to write it down.

M - Measurable - How will you know when you've done it?

State your goal in such a way that you can measure exactly when you have arrived as well as how far along you are at any specific moment.

A - Achievable - Is it physically possible to accomplish your goal within whatever limits you must consider?

R - Reasonable - Do you have the time, resources, etc. to accomplish your goal? Can it be accomplished within the specified time and with the resources you have available?

T - Time Oriented - By when will you reach this goal?

The most important steps to take are to decide exactly what you want, write it down, and then set a deadline to reach your goal.

Take small steps consistently to see results -

In one of my favorite books, "What Happy People Know,"psychologist Dan Baker points out that if you truly want to be happy in your life, you need to work on the following three areas of your life on a daily basis: your health, relationships, and career.

The typical New Year's Resolution usually involves goals around losing weight or making more money. However, if you truly want to improve your life and make lasting positive change, the easiest way to do so is to simply do small things consistently in these three areas on a daily basis  - that will make the most significant impact on your life in the long run.

For example, to improve your health you may decide to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep every night, eat more wholesome, healthy foods, avoid processed foods, and take a 30- minute walk daily. Voila! Better health!

To improve your relationships, you may decide to spend more time with loved ones (and to be fully present when you do), improve communication with others by listening intently, and to expand your networks by looking for opportunities to connect with others.

And, if you want to improve your career -

The best advice would be to find work that you love. As Dr. Baker states in his book:

"Loving your job is the ultimate freedom. It means, in effect, that you never have to work - you just play hard and collect your check. You can't beat that for leisure."

A final word -

If you really want to achieve anything worthwhile by the end of the year, the perfect time to start is NOW. 

What to do if you’re in a toxic work environment

Q. I am a senior executive and recently changed jobs because the company I had worked for was going through major downsizing. Like many others in a similar situation, I was afraid my position would be eliminated. I had found out about a position from a colleague and while it was a lateral move for me, my job functions and responsibilities changed from my last position. While I am not thrilled with my new daily job tasks I thought I would give it a try but at the end of the day chose to take the job for the sake of job security. The real problem with the new position is that not long after taking the job I realized that I am in a toxic work environment and bad corporate culture. My boss is very difficult to work for as he is a micro manager and I feel as though my work goes unrecognized and unrewarded. Also, there is virtually no open communication among team members within my department. I hesitate to change jobs at this point since it would not look good on my resume and would be difficult to explain without casting some negative suspicions on myself when looking for a new job. I am experiencing a great deal of stress and dread going to work each day. What should I do?

A. Sometimes we can find ourselves in situations that are difficult to cope with which can make us feel as if we are trapped and don’t have any choice in the matter. The truth is we always have a choice. The key to gaining control of the situation and feeling empowered is to focus on finding a solution rather than on the problem. Shifting your mindset will help you to adopt a positive attitude and feel better about your situation which in turn, will lessen your stress. It also helps to think about what you can learn from this situation. One lesson learned could be making sure that you get more information about a new work environment before accepting a job offer in the future.

There are three separate courses of action that you can take:

1)     You can change jobs or bosses within your company by moving into another department working for someone who would be a better fit for you (after doing your research!).

2)     You can attempt to change your boss’ mind or to change the dysfunctional organizational culture for the better.

3)     Or you can cut your losses and go to work for a different company that better recognizes your talents and skills.

While it is possible, trying to change the corporate culture would be very difficult to do and may work against you in the long run as your productivity will be affected and your reputation for being a valuable worker could suffer. Unless you have a lot personally invested in staying where you are, the time and energy investment required of you may not be worth it.

If you should choose to look for a new job, you have a great reason for making a move to a new company. You can explain to prospective employers that you thought you wanted change jobs and perform different job functions, but once you actually worked at the job, you realized it was not a good fit for you. Ultimately, you prefer to work at a job that you love as you know that would make an impact on your job performance in the long run and the contribution you would make to the company.

There are 3 types of people: winners, losers, and…

I heard Les Brown, the famous motivational speak say this –

There are 3 types of people, winners, losers, and people who haven’t discovered how to win.

If you’ve been looking for a job for a long time without success, you might be tempted to think of yourself as a loser at the job search game, but the fact is that you aren’t; you just have to figure out how to win the game.

In my last post I talked about how listening to the “bad” news about the employment outlook can discourage job seekers so much that many have given up and abandoned their efforts to find a job; they believe that there just aren’t any jobs out there. This negative thinking that will set you up for failure and sabotage your efforts. The truth is that there are many jobs out there; you just have to use the best methods for finding them.

A number of years ago, I worked with a woman named Susan who had been out of work for more than a year. Susan was in her early 50’s, the victim of downsizing, and looking for a job as an office manager. By the time she came to me to write her resume and give her job search pointers, she was desperate and willing to take a lower level job.

As I recommended, she did her best to use multiple methods for finding a job. In addition to using traditional methods (responding to advertised positions), she also focused on networking and directly contacting companies.

There was a small restaurant she frequented while searching for a job in NYC where Susan became friends with the waitress who worked there. The waitress told her that she heard that there was a job opening in the company across the street for a property manager. While Susan didn’t have direct experience with property management, she knew she was capable and would be able to do the job. Thanks to the waitress, she was able to set up an interview with the prospective employer.  When he expressed doubt about her ability to be a property manager since she had no prior experience, Susan offered to work without pay for two weeks to prove that she could do the work. She did such a great job that she was hired and paid for the two weeks she worked.

The moral of this true story is:

Never give up.

Believe it’s possible and that opportunities will come your way because you never know where your next job will come from!

Are you a divorced job seeker worried about gaps on your resume?

Over the years, I have worked with separated and divorced men and women who suddenly find themselves on their own and in need of a job. It is not unusual for one spouse to drop out of the workplace for a number of years in order to nurture and raise their children – and then find they have to suddenly support themselves and find a full-time job as a result of going through a divorce. The number one question I’m asked in this situation is “How should I deal with employment gaps on my resume?” As you can imagine, gaps in employment are a concern for job seekers as well as prospective employers. It can determine whether or not you get to the next stage of the job search and get called in for an interview.

To find out what my response is to that question, read my guest blog post, http://journeybeyonddivorce.com/blogs/are-you-a-divorced-job-seeker-worried-about-employment-gaps-on-your-resume -  which can be found on the Journey Beyond Divorce blog.

Guest Post: Finding Yourself Amidst the Rubble of your Divorce

We can get so entrenched in being part of a ‘unit’ when married that we lose ourselves.  If our spouse is the dominant one, we may have fallen into a pattern of acquiescing to his/her desires and demands.  If there are issues of anger management, abuse, addiction or control, we may have shrunk so far into the shadows of the marriage that we got lost.  

That is what happened to me. When my marriage was clearly on the rocks, I reached out for help to a therapist I had seen years earlier.  I remember her stating (ever so gently) that I was a shell of the woman she had met previously. I was lost and truly didn’t know how to find my way back to being me.

If you haven’t been in that situation, you might cock your head to the side and wonder how is that possible.  But for those who have, I hope this article is a beacon of light to help you find your way home to the uniquely beautiful, powerful person you were designed to be.

When something goes ‘wrong’, whose voice do you hear in your head?  Do you immediately wonder how your spouse is going to react or what they are going to say and then figure out how you will respond accordingly?  When you want to do something, is the voice in your head encouraging and building you up or tearing you down?  Do you know what you think and how you feel and can you stand firmly in your own opinions?  Or do you have doubt and look toward him or her for direction, guidance, and acknowledgement?

If you have lost yourself, take comfort in knowing that simply being aware of it is the first step to finding your way back.

First, put your bat away!!  You have probably been ‘beat up’ enough by the words or actions of the controlling personality in your life and you do not need to berate yourself but rather to be gentle, loving and compassionate.  I used to call myself ‘such an idiot’.  That certainly didn’t help me get back on my feet.

Second, look at how you treat yourself.  No one is going to treat you with respect until you respect and love yourself.  If you have children, when they do something ‘wrong’ would you speak to them the way you speak to yourself?  Most likely not.  Begin to parent yourself the way you parent your children.  Show love and compassion and patience with yourself.

Third, draw up an eviction notice!  That’s right, it is time to evict him or her from you head.  They are renting space in your head and it is not serving you in the least.  Their voice is loud and booming and yours has become a barely audible whisper. Send them packing.  

A fun exercise (especially if you feel intimidated by this person) is to imagine a caricature of them...all their most prevalent physical features enhanced.  Now imagine them with a worn out suitcase looking timid while packing and leaving.  Each time you hear their voice instead of yours in your head, imagine the caricature of you evicting them and you will smile and shift your thoughts.

Finally, now that they have been evicted, you need to move back in!  This is sometimes the hardest step and a great place to work with a coach to help you dust off who you are and who you want to be and step back into your power.  Ask yourself a series of questions when situations arise:

What do I think about ____?

How do you feel about ____?

How would I react if I did not have to consider anyone else’s perspective?

  

If his or her voice comes back, consider what you would do if they were not part of the equation...if they had taken a trip to the moon...no fear, no consequences, no criticism.  

It is perfectly natural to be unsure, even insecure in your own thoughts and feelings if you have been living in the shadows of another person.  No worries.  It’s like riding a bike and before you know it you are clear, confident and fully capable of not only knowing what you think but of speaking your mind and standing by your values and beliefs.

If this article rings true for you or you used to be in this situation and have found your way home to yourself, we would love to hear from you.  Tell us your story or share your tips.

Karen McMahon, Certified Relationship & Divorce Coach and the Founder of JourneyBeyondDivorce.com.  Karen has created a team of divorce coaches whose passion is to work with men and women facing relationship challenges or going through the divorce process.  Her desire is to help them navigate their difficulties while focusing on personal growth and embracing the opportunities inherent in their changing circumstances.

Don't Believe What You Hear in the News

Sluggish economy…

Raging Debt…

High unemployment…

These are negative messages we hear on a daily basis about the state of our country’s economic condition - and we’ve heard them for years now. It is no wonder that thousands of people have given up and stopped looking for a job.

Not only do people believe the bad news they hear, but they accept the negative messages they believe about themselves –

I’m too old to get a job, they won’t hire me…

I’ve been out of work too long…

I’m competing with others who are more talented (educated, smarter, etc.) than me…

But, what if you believed that there ARE jobs out there – AND you can get the one you want - regardless of the bad news?

I saw the movie The Internship this weekend and while it was an uplifting movie over all, the clear message from the beginning was that young people today have to jump through hoops to get their first real job because it’s just not as easy as it used to be.

Consistent readers of this blog will know that I’ve been preaching FOREVER that the way to get a job and advance your career is to make yourself irresistible to employers so that they want you and are sold on hiring you even before you walk in for an interview.

So, if you SERIOUSLY want to get a job in today’s job market, here’s what you need to do:

(This advice applies to entry-level college grads as well.)

1)     Cultivate a winning mindset by starting a personal empowerment regimen

Ignore the bad news. Don’t believe what you hear. Instead believe in yourself. You can get the job you want if you’re willing to get the skills you need and willing to do what it takes to get yourself out there. Instead of listening to the bad news, fill your mind on a daily basis with positive messages. One of the best things you can do is to listen to motivational speakers on DVDs. Also fill your mind with positive affirmations – tell yourself “I can do it. It is possible.”

2)     Become Self-Reliant

No one is going to get you a job but YOU. You can read all the books in the world about how to get a job, join support groups, hire a coach, etc., but ultimately you are responsible for whether or not you get a job. You are the one who makes the decision about how much time and effort you are willing to invest to reach your goal.

3)     Have a clear vision for your career

Before you can look for a job, you have to be absolutely clear about the job you want. When you’re desperate for a job it’s easy to go after any job, but this will work against your efforts. It’s like fishing with a gun rather than fishing with a hook and bait. Once you have a clear vision for the job you want you can get the skills you need, write a focused resume, and target and contact the best companies that will be willing to hire you.

4)     Invest in yourself - develop your skills

Find out what skills you need for the job you’re targeting – then get those skills. The ways to find out are by looking at the list of qualifications in job postings and having conversations with people who have the job you want or are in that industry and who can give you the best advice about what you need to do or have to secure the job.

5)     Build your resume

Once you know what skills you need to get the job you want, it’s time to get the practical experience you need by using those skills so that you can add that experience to your resume. Keep in mind that it doesn’t matter if that experience is paid or not as long as it’s relevant experience.

6)     Get a professionally written resume

Your resume is the first chance a hiring manager gets to meet you. You don’t want to ruin your chances of being called in for an interview. The majority of people don’t have the writing and marketing skills to present their accomplishments on paper in the strongest light. Hire an expert to do it for you.

7)     Go after a job; don’t be passive

The most effective ways to get a job involve meeting face-to-face with people (networking) and contacting your target companies (direct contact). Spending the majority of your time applying to job postings is like taking a shot in the dark approach. It just won’t help you to get yourself out there.

8)     Be persistent in the face of failure

It is true that finding a job today is not easy and it may take longer than you’d like. There are tons of jobs out there (many of them unadvertised) but you have to be relentless. Think of yourself as a bulldog going after a bone.

9)     If you can’t get the job you want right now, do this

If it takes longer than you’d like to get the job you want you can: a) get a bridge job, b) work as a consultant or c) start your own part-time business in order to support yourself and pay the bills until you get the job you want. Remember, you always have options even when you think there are none.