Need to Reinvent Your Career?
Posted: February 20, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: career disaster, career management, career management plan, career reinvention, reinvent your career Leave a comment »If not now, you might still at some point in your working life either need or want to reinvent your career. When/if that happens to you, do you have a plan for accomplishing it? Much like fire or flood insurance you hope you will never need, a career management plan that takes the need for reinventing your career into account makes excellent sense.
I did that myself a number of years ago and was lucky (?) enough to start working on it while I still had a good job–no worrying about how I would pay the bills tomorrow if I failed to find a new direction or opportunity soon. From clients and other people I’ve talked with over the years, the alternative (no preparation) is a mess–you don’t want to “go there”!
Tips to Reinvent Your Career
An excellent article on Fast Company’s website offers a few practical tips you probably will want to consider for your own situation. “Four Steps to Reinventing Your Career”, by Kaihan Krippendorff, is worth reading all the way through. However, here in a nutshell are the four tips Krippendorff offers:
- Clarify the situation. What has changed that requires a reinvention?
- Assess your assets….What assets do you want to protect and leverage?
- Listen for needs….What needs are calling you?
- Define your strategy. To move into action, we need a clear set of priorities….What are your priorities…?
Pitfalls and Mistakes to Avoid in Career Reinvention
I have no idea how many possible pitfalls and/or mistakes you could actually make while trying to reinvent your career, but I’ll bet it’s more than a few! While I can’t tell you how to avoid them all, I do have a few ideas to suggest. For starters:
- Don’t wait until your “house is burning” before you try to grab some fire insurance. The word “proactive” has become seriously overused, but it’s the only one I can think of at the moment that hits the nail on the head. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen in my career? Am I prepared to deal with it if it comes?” Then start scoping-out possible actions to either prevent or minimize potential career disaster.
- Build a network of trusted resources–advisors, colleagues, family, whoever else seems good for this–that you can consult regarding things you should be aware of and consider carefully in your career management plan, specifically with regard to career reinvention.
- Assume nothing! Just because everything is proceeding smoothly at the moment and your career looks solid, it’s not wise to assume nothing will change down the road. For example, you might find yourself in “burnout” because of the demands of your current career or you could develop a strong desire to find a career that lets you enrich people’s lives more than you can where you are now.
Change and Career Reinvention Discomfort
Change often causes us to feel uncomfortable, and a need to reinvent your career is no different in that regard. This is especially true if you are currently comfortable with the status of your career and don’t want to change, but it’s even true if you’re not very comfortable now. “Better the devil you know than the one you don’t” pretty much covers it. You might need more than a little courage to take the necessary first steps, but that’s okay. You’ll probably find it a bit easier if you start when you’re not under the gun to make a change; just don’t let that sense of comfort and lack of urgency lull you into complacence!
Retirement Plans Important in Career Management
Posted: January 19, 2013 Filed under: Career Management (General), Retirement | Tags: career management, financing retirement, job market, retirement finances, retirement income, retirement plans, retirement preparation Leave a comment »If you have not yet considered eventual retirement as a part of your overall career management, I encourage you to start now. We all know that the economy and job market have become seriously more challenging over the past several years. What you might not have thought enough about is whether you need to revamp your career management planning in light of the need to cover your retirement years.
While I tend to be an optimist and take a positive approach to challenging circumstances–and I personally do not expect to retire any time soon–I also like to stay aware of what is happening or might be happening that could affect me when I reach that point. To that end, I read occasional articles and other advice pieces on the subject of retirement preparation and calculation of financial needs to cover that period. An article published in October 2012 (just a few months ago) was the latest to catch my attention.
Concern about Retirement Income
Authors Rich and Fry note in their article, More Americans Worry About Financing Retirement, that “Despite a slowly improving economy and a three-year-old stock market rebound, Americans today are more worried about their retirement finances than they were at the end of the Great Recession in 2009, according to a nationally representative survey of 2,508 adults conducted by the Pew Research Center. About four-in-ten adults (38%) say they are ‘not too’ or ‘not at all’ confident that they will have enough income and assets for their retirement, up from 25% in a Pew Research survey conducted in…2009.”
If you do the math, that means there are still 60% of Americans who feel confident they’ll have enough money to cover their retirement. However, if you’re among the 40% who don’t, that might not make you feel a lot better. Regardless of which group you fall into, though, it’s a good idea–maybe even a great one–to start now in doing serious thinking and planning to address your personal situation.
As important as anything else is the need to keep this subject in mind when you’re looking for a new job, negotiating your salary or taking any other action that could have an impact on your long-term income prospects.
Wait Until Late-Career to Consider Retirement Plans?
As the Pew Research article notes, the age at which we feel most concerned about our retirement income has dropped noticeably over the past 3 years. “In 2009 it was ‘Gloomy Boomers’ in their mid-50s who were the most worried that they would outlive their retirement nest eggs. Today, retirement worries peak among adults in their late 30s—many of whom are the older sons and daughters of the Baby Boom generation….This is also the age group that has suffered the steepest losses in household wealth in recent years.”
Worrying alone isn’t the answer, of course. However, thinking you don’t need to consider retirement plans until you’re, say, 5 or 10 years from retirement age, could land you in trouble a lot sooner than you expect. For example, Social Security payments depend heavily on your most recent years of earnings. If you don’t do your best to maximize your income in earlier years, you might not have enough time to catch up. (For the moment, I’m ignoring the arguments about how long Social Security will be around, etc.)
It’s important to remember, too, that future raises from your present employer are based on a percentage of your current income. If you have or can find any negotiating leverage to boost those a bit, it could pay off more than you think later on and help strengthen the financial aspects of your retirement outlook.
How Do You Respond to Challenges Like Hurricane Sandy?
Posted: November 5, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Hurricane Sandy, respond to challenges 2 Comments »This post is basically off-topic, because it is not about job search or career management issues. Because of the recent devastation and ongoing havoc inflicted on the east coast by Hurricane Sandy, I (and a lot of other people) have been thinking about what I can do and encourage others to do in this challenging situation. Mind you, I live clear across the country from the region that Sandy lambasted, but I have at least enough imagination to catch a glimpse of what it might mean, and I know that discouragement breeds inaction, so anything we can do to combat discouragement and foster hope has to be better than the alternative.
Along those lines, I want to share brief information from Jon Gordon’s weekly newsletter, in which he talks about Staying Positive Through Challenges. He has scheduled a teleseminar on this subject, and here’s the essential information:
Fundraiser for Hurricane Sandy Relief Efforts – Monday, November 19, 2012 from Noon (12pm) Eastern Time. The teleseminar is free to all who want to listen, but Jon’s hope is that when you register you will decide to make a minimum donation of $10 or more to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy [emphasis added]. The call will be recorded, so you can still listen even if you can’t join the live call.
To get back to my original question: How do you respond to challenges like Hurricane Sandy? Hopefully, most of you will never have to face a situation like the one people on the east coast are now dealing with, but as we all know, disasters and other challenges can come in many shapes and forms–some of which don’t give even as much warning as Sandy did. If you follow the old Scout motto (Be Prepared), you’re probably in as good shape as you can hope to be in a disastrous situation. Ideally, you’re in good enough shape to reach out helpfully to others who didn’t come through as well as you did.
That’s it for now. Excuse me while I go register for Jon’s call and set up a donation to my favorite charity. (I can do that easily because I have electricity and a working computer/Internet connection, which I will try not to take for granted any more!)
Tragedy and the Choices We Make
Posted: July 23, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a comment »This post is off-topic (not about career issues) because it has been prompted by the recent shooting tragedy in Aurora, Colorado. I could not bring myself to write a business-as-usual career post while that tragedy was sharply fresh in my mind. Instead, it has caused me to think about the choices we make that have outcomes we would never have expected. We might think we can do something later, that there is plenty of time for certain things to happen down the road. So we choose to postpone whatever it is. Unfortunately, we don’t always have the time later that we think we will.
How many times do you tell yourself, for instance, “I know I should take a vacation but I am really too busy right now; I’ll do it when I have time”? Or, to give another example, “I should increase my professional qualifications by taking that new technology course, but there’s no way to fit it into my schedule this year. I’ll do it next year for sure, though.” Or maybe you’ve been meaning to thank someone who supported and encouraged you when you went through a tough time, but somehow you just haven’t gotten around to doing it “properly,” and you tell yourself, “I’ll give her a call later this week–next week at the latest.”
We can’t claim a future that hasn’t happened yet. Circumstances totally beyond our knowing or control can put that future forever out of reach. We might make innocent choices that put us in the wrong place at the wrong time, and someone else might make a horrendous choice that robs us of our future. Every time you tell yourself, “I can do it later,” remember this: For 12 people in Aurora, “later” will never come.
My heart goes out to the families of the victims in Colorado and to those who survived the attack and now have to cope with the aftermath. I’m focusing my thoughts and prayers on them, not on the person who perpetrated the tragedy. Their road will be unimaginably hard, but I hope they will eventually find a sense of peace and be able to move forward with their lives, not be forever haunted and held back by the tragedy of the past.
Talent Retention vs. Baby Boomer Retirements–Why You Should Care
Posted: April 11, 2012 Filed under: Career Management (General), Job Search, Retirement, Trends--New and Changing | Tags: baby boomer retirements, baby boomers, job market improvement, job opportunities, talent retention Leave a comment »Two separate articles on the RecruitingTrends web site today (April 11) touch on different aspects of the same topic, and it’s something you might want or need to pay attention to–regardless of your age or career situation. Basically it seems that job market improvements are causing difficulties and concerns for employers who fear losing key employees; at the same time, massive numbers of baby boomers have started retiring, a trend that’s expected to continue and maybe even accelerate over time. This could potentially mean better/more opportunities for you going forward, depending on your career field, industry, and so on.
Talent Retention Issues and Employer Actions
According to one of the articles, “2 Out of 3 Companies Trying to Retain Talent,” two-thirds of employers are starting to implement programs to retain as many of their most talented workers as they can (source: an OI Partners’ survey). Here are some of the stats reported by the survey:
- 90% concerned about high-potential employees
- 72% worried about front-line workers (sales and service)
- 60% apprehensive about middle managers
- 45% uneasy about senior-level executives
The article quotes OI Partners’ chair, Steve Ford, as saying that “companies are most concerned about losing employees who they have designated as their future leaders and those who directly work with customers. Job opportunities have already increased for these levels of workers….”
What does this mean for you? If you’re in one of the following careers or occupational fields, you might be particularly marketable and attractive to companies that are looking to hire: operations and production; sales and marketing; customer service; accounting and finance; information services.
Possible Impact of Baby Boomer Retirements
The second article, “SHRM-AARP Poll Shows Organizations are Concerned about Boomer Retirements and Skills Gaps,” mentions Pew Research Center data indicating that over the next 20 years or so, baby boomers will retire at the rate of 10,000 per day! In spite of this fact, about 71% of the companies polled by SHRM/AARP haven’t yet begun serious strategic planning assessment to study the impact they could face from losing employees 50 and older so they can try to figure out what to do about it.
Is your current company doing anything to help prepare? If you’re targeting other companies for your next job, do they have any plans or programs in place? These are potentially significant questions for you to be asking. Preparations could include “increased training (45%); developed succession planning (38%); hired retired employees as consultants or temporary workers (30%); offered flexible work arrangements (27%); and designed part-time positions to attract older workers (24%).”
Talent Retention and Baby Boomer Retirements: What the Future Holds
Those of you who are old enough will remember the following quote from a cartoon character: “We have met the enemy and they are us!” (Walt Kelly, Pogo, 1971) One way of interpreting this is that we can be our own worst enemies. Sometimes that’s because we don’t plan for the future or make plans and don’t take the steps necessary to carry them out. Companies are, after all, made up of individuals, so they’re at least as fallible in this regard as an individual might be. If the talent retention and baby boomer retirement situation gives you an opportunity to enhance your own employment or career situation, make sure you’re ready to take advantage of it.
Retirement Good News-Bad News
Posted: February 17, 2012 Filed under: Retirement, Trends--New and Changing | Tags: delayed retirement, job search, reemployment, retirement planning Leave a comment »We’ve probably all seen a variety of jokes based on the “good news-bad news” theme, which has been around a long time. Some of them even lean more than a little toward the depressing or macabre side. As I’ve said before, I’m essentially an optimist (or as I like to call it, a realistic optimist), so I tend to enjoy and pass along those that steer more toward hopeful or genuinely amusing situations. Sometimes that approach requires a fairly large amount of flexibility and imagination. In the case of the subject of retirement planning, even I can’t find something amusing to say about it; hopeful is a bit of a stretch but not totally out of reach. In November I wrote a post called “Recession & Retirement,” and today’s post is by way of revisiting that topic from a slightly different angle.
Good News-Bad News about Retirement
The good news is, people are generally living longer these days. The bad news is, people are living longer! Generations ago, the present concept of retirement didn’t even exist. People basically worked until they physically couldn’t any longer. Current and recent generations, however–which probably includes you–face the prospect of planning for a future when they’re no longer working but still need a decent income to meet expenses and provide a reasonable quality of life (I’m not talking around-the-world trips here).
To quote a recent article by Emily Brandon on U.S. News & World Report, “How Long Should I Work Before Retirement?“: “The age workers expect to retire has increased from an average of 60 in 1995 to 66 in 2011, according to a Gallup poll. The proportion of people aiming to retire early has plummeted from 50 percent in 1995 to 28 percent in 2011.”
Possible Benefits to Delayed Retirement
Yes, there are at least a few, according to Brandon’s article. They include giving your assets more time to grow, taking advantage of tax benefits (IRA contributions, etc.), receiving a larger Social Security check after retirement (if it’s still around when you retire!), and accessing potentially better or more affordable post-retirement health benefits (e.g., Medicare).
Possible Downside to Delayed Retirement
Is there a downside to the idea of delaying retirement in order to minimize the amount you have to save up to cover expenses after you retire? Certainly. For one thing, you might not have the option of delaying it if personal circumstances force you to leave the work force early. In another scenario, you might leave one job for another and find that the new position doesn’t work out, so you’re back in job search mode at an age when circumstances can tend to make reemployment more challenging, especially at or near the level you held when you left.
Like anything else, this is not an easy situation to consider and plan for. Inevitably, you just have to do the best you can, make the wisest career and financial choices you can. Starting now would not be too soon!
Good Companies on Your Job Search Wish List
Posted: December 14, 2011 Filed under: Career Management (General), Job Search, Uncategorized | Tags: employment opportunities, job search, targeted employers Leave a comment »With Christmas looming on the horizon, this seems like a good time (even if you don’t celebrate Christmas) to talk about making a job search wish-list (aka target list) of employers you would like to work for. Of course, there’s more to this than just making a list, as you might have guessed, and I’ll get to that in a minute. First, though, a tip or two about where and how you might find company names to consider putting on your wish-list. The resources below could give you a good start on compiling the names of companies, although you certainly don’t need to stop with these.
Good Companies to Work For
- Fortune’s 2011 “100 Best Companies to Work for“
- Glassdoor’s “50 Best Places to Work for 2012” (employee-rated)
- The federal government‘s list of best agencies to work for
- Good Company: Business Success in the Worthiness Era, a book by Laurie Bassi, 2011
Now is not too soon to start preparing your list, if you haven’t already. Whether or not you’re currently looking for a job, it’s smart to build the list and flesh it out with as much employer information as you can gather. With the right kind and amount of effort, you can get a head-start on your next job search and possibly leapfrog right over your competition.
Factors for Choosing Potential Employers
Of course, you’ll need to consider a lot of factors in deciding which companies you actually want to target for potential employment opportunities and take the time to research online and offline . The sources noted above probably include a number of the factors you’ll be looking at. For example, Fortune’s list breaks things down by categories such as locations near you, size of company, best perks and best pay. Your specific factors might include other aspects as well, such as healthcare facilities and educational institutions in the vicinity of the company’s location, weather patterns in that geographical area, cost of living, how the industry overall is doing, and more.
Although you can always add to the factors you have selected as requirements or preferences over time, it’s a good idea to define the ones you would consider most important before you get too far into your company research, so you gather the critical information as you go and don’t end up needing to do a lot of back-tracking to find it.
How do you transform your job search targeted employer list into real value?
What’s a good next step in the job search wish-list development and implementation? Find people you already know at those companies, people you can get to know there, connections you have or can develop that will help you establish internal contacts, and so on. Then figure out how to turn those contacts into productive ongoing relationships. And don’t expect all the information and help to flow from them to you; you need to make it a two-way street, so the relationship is mutually beneficial and respected.
