Over coffee recently, a 55 year-old former client who has achieved quite a lot in her career said she is beginning to work on her next career move – and thinking about the one(s) beyond that.  She believes that everyone – especially people over 50 – needs to be “mindful of their career relevance”:  they need to stay relevant (skills and knowledge up-to-date) so that working can be a choice as long as they want to and are able to work. 

That got us thinking that the following things are critical to staying relevant and employable after 50:

Resume of Results – Before you do anything else, you need to make sure that you are doing good work and that you can articulate your accomplishments on your resume and in interviews.  We are amazed at the number of people – really talented people doing outstanding work, don’t recognize their accomplishments, and have difficulty talking about the challenges they faced, skills they developed, and results they accomplished for their employers.

Relationships – It’s your Reputation! – It’s not enough to do good work – people need to know who you are and the good stuff you do. You’ve heard the statement,” It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know.”  And that’s exactly how most people get jobs, promotions, recognition.  It’s still true that 75-80% of jobs are gotten through networking. Thus, a critical career skill in today’s changing world is to build and maintain strategic relationships – a Triple-A network of Acquaintances, Allies, and Advocates. 

Resilience – By the time you’re at mid-career and beyond, you will have had setbacks and disappointments – we don’t know anyone who hasn’t had at least one ‘bad boss’ or difficult co-worker, or lost out on a promotion, or been demoted or been laid off (or all of the above!).  The question is – what did you learn from it to improve your career trajectory?  How did you bounce back? Not bouncing back is not an option!

Role Relevance—Make sure yourrole keeps up with where your organization is going. We know too many people who are recruited into organizations to help lead major change, and to deal with employees who have been there 10- 20- or 30 years who don’t have the skills to do what the organization needs now.  How sad.  It would be nice if the organization would have been active in helping people develop what they will need, but, sadly, most career development is YOYO – You’re On Your Own!  Do you know what skills and competencies are going to be important in the next 5-10 years in your job/department/company?  It’s up to you to find out what you should be working on to ensure that you are part of the organization going forward.

Reinventing Yourself – There are times when you need to do a career overhaul – this is easier if you start early in your career, but not impossible when you’re over 50.  You need good feedback (by asking people you’ve worked for and with), and the willingness to act on it.  Do you need some additional training or certifications? Could your appearance use a make-over?  Do you need to take a step “back” to get experience in another field?  As C.S. Lewis said, “You are never too old to set another goal, or to dream another dream.”

That same client finished with saying, “always assume you’ll be laid off,” then you’ll always be ready if you are.

Want more information? Visit Futurepast50.com or TactfulSelfPromotion.com, or pick up Power Your Career: The Art of Tactful Self Promotion in your bookstore or on Amazon.

When most folks over 50 come to a decision that it is time for a career change, they are usually eager for the change to occur.  In our experience, they frequently underestimate how long it may take to go from their current work to a new field.  This is particularly true for those wanting to make a move from the for-profit to the non-profit sector. 

Identifying skills and experience.  The first step is getting clarity on skills and experience that can transfer to a new field.  This is often hard to see in ourselves: most of us underestimate the breadth of our skills. Objective assessment is key. Most important is how to “package” skills so it is clear how they translate into a new field.  Having an effective “package” (resume, LinkedIn™ profile, etc.) is necessary to clearly describe a person’s background and experience in light of where they want to go.

In-depth research.  Gaining thorough knowledge about the new industry, profession and work environment is essential and requires time and effort. The internet is a good place to start, there is no substitute for talking with people who are in or know a lot about the particular areas of interest.  This is the part of the journey that sometimes seems to trip up career changers.  It often takes courage to reach out to new people to ask for assistance (aka information).  However, in our experience, this is one of the most useful and important steps in the career change process.  There just isn’t a substitute for meeting people and gaining insight from insiders.

Sustaining momentum. When networking meetings aren’t yielding practical data that don’t seem to be moving closer to an actual job opportunity, it takes confidenceto keep at it.  For those who are working full time it’s often challenging to finding the time to have the networking meetings.  While this can seem to prolong the journey, getting creative about how to get the time (early morning coffee meetings, late afternoon/early evening lite meals) is essential. 

Staying optimistic and positive. As in any journey, there can be delays, setbacks, and unanticipated events. People over 50 can fall into a trap of interpreting every stumbling block as age discrimination – it is usually not the case. As with actual travel these events will likely require flexibility, creativity, patience and perhaps a major change of plans.  Sometimes, it may even require a reassessment of the destination.  Embarking on career journey requires courage. 

While the length of the journey can be at times frustrating and discouraging, viewing it as a journey rather than a short trip can be helpful.  Staying the course requires determination, persistence and confidence.  Having support, such as Burke and Penn provide can be beneficial: we help people over 50 maintain the clarity, courage and confidence to stay the course and enjoy the journey.

by Marg Penn & Nancy Burke

“It’s been many years since I had to interview for a job, and I’ve lost my confidence.”

Joan had been with her organization for almost 15 years. Although she liked much of the actual work and many of her colleagues, recent leadership changes were creating a stressful environment. Coupled with a significant increase in demands (but no increase in salary) Joan felt it was time to move on. As she pondered the next 5-10 years of her working life, she realized she could no longer remain in the organization, and after giving the appropriate notice, left her job.

Unexpectedly, just as she was leaving, Joan learned of a job for which she had many of the qualifications and experience. However, as she anticipated the interview or perhaps series of interviews, she was anxious. “I haven’t interviewed for a job for 15 years and I really don’t know how the world of work has changed”, she commented. And “I don’t know how to effectively sell myself. I don’t want to sound as though I’m bragging and yet I believe I have a lot of experience that would be relevant in this position.”

Joan’s feelings and experience are not unusual for people over 50. Frequently, people have stayed in jobs for the security and because at one time there was a good fit. But as was the case with Joan, changes in the organization, particularly at the leadership level can reduce job satisfaction. Many 50+people lose confidence and question whether a new organization will see value in the skills and experience they bring to the table.

So how does someone effectively sell themselves during an interview? First, it is essential to do a thorough inventory of your skills — both personal (such as written and oral communication) and professional (technical writing). The next step is to review the job description to determine what skills the organization is seeking in the position. Then you can create succinct stories that illustrate how you have demonstrated the skills in real life. Providing a brief outline of the situation, the challenge or task, the actions you took and the result will give the interviewer a clear picture of your skills and strengths. This format can even be used when you are asked “tell me about your strengths”. In response you can say, “let me give you an example”. Preparing well in advance of the interview and writing out your answers can help to increase your confidence and reduce your nervousness. And seeing in writing all of the examples can remind you that you indeed have a lot to offer — a good confidence builder!

And although Joan did not get the position, she was one of two finalist candidates and was seen as a serious contender. While she was certainly disappointed in not being selected, she nevertheless felt that she was able to present herself effectively and when the next interview occurs, will be much more confident in handling the challenge.

Finding a new job can be challenging at any age but for people over 50 there may be some unique challenges.  For those who haven’t recently looked for work there can be a whole new world to learn: how to target companies and industries; how to create a LinkedIn™ profile; how to build a contact network on LinkedIn; how to create a modern resume and perhaps how to effectively interview.  But as daunting as these may initially appear, they can all be mastered and put to good use in a job search. Most of our clients have used these tools to find new and satisfying new positions.

But just when you breathe a sigh of relief and think – “the work I’ve done has paid off and I am happily situated in my new job” you are surprised to learn your part of the organization has been sold or the function is being outsourced and your job will be eliminated.  This has happened to more than one of our clients – some have made two or three changes after landing the job they thought they’d have for years.

After the shock and disappointment wears off, you find yourself thinking – “does this mean I have to start from scratch again?”  The good news is no, especially if you’ve maintained your network! All of the tools you developed and the skills you learned during your first search can be revived and used again, except this time you can build on both the experience and confidence you gained in your first search.  You now know a lot more about how the process works and, if you’ve stayed in touch with your network, you are much more comfortable contacting them to gain new information and learn about potential opportunities. While still challenging, the process is not nearly as formidable the second time around!  

Here are some things to do to be ready for changes that may come in that new position:

• Communicate with your entire network when you start your new position and tell them you want to keep in touch and offer to be available if they should need help (then BE available).
• Select 20+ relationships in that network that you want to nurture and deepen over the next year.  Make sure that you connect with them at least twice in the next year (for ideas on how to do this, see Power Your Career: The Art of Tactful Self-Promotion at Work by Nancy Burke and Richard Dodson).
• Start to build your network within your new organization:  who are people at your level and higher whom you should know and who should know you?
• For every meeting you attend internally, schedule one externally
• Have one breakfast a week with internal or external contacts, or people you want to get to know.
• Join at least one professional organization and get involved, and join a LinkedIn group and participate.

If you can do these things (which don’t have to take a lot of time) you will find that, the next time you need your network, you will have a strong one waiting for you.