Over-50

Boomers v Gen Y: We're winning

The tension between generations is palpable.  When I walk into an interview or talk on the phone regarding a possible work assignment and the person with the power is a member of Generation Y, I stiffen.  The odds are that we will be on different wavelengths and I will not get the assignment.

But, overall, reports Bloomberg, it's a different story.  We Boomers are doing better than Generation Y when it comes to being able to make a living and building wealth.   Not that it's easy. 

But we have the edge of understanding the game of getting work, keeping work, and getting more of that work.  That's a learned body of knowledge.  No one is born knowing how to go to work.  That comes with having a variety of work experiences ranging from our part time jobs in high school to the wonderful corporate job we lost in a downsizing. 

In coaching, I have never had a member of Generation Y contact me for a complimentary interview.  Several members of Generation X have done that and many from my own Baby Boomer generation.

Aging: Yes, a variable but not necessarily the significant one

"In her 60s, my mother got her Master's degree and then a job paying $75,000."

That's what an acquaintance told me last night when I finally recognized that age is, yes, a variable in a job search but not necessarily a significant one.  For example, now that I have repositioned myself to sell a set of specialized skills I am in more demand. On interviews it's obvious that what I can offer overrides any of their concerns about my age.

The game seems to be about approaching our credentials in a way that's directly aligned with demand in the marketplace.  That could mean letting go of tasks we like to do but there is little market for.  We simply leave that out of resumes, cover letters, samples, and interviews.  

What I have ditched is my experience in being highly critical of whatever.  Several years ago when blogging was new, yes, there was a market for that.  Not now.  End of that story.

DIY: Over-50 & you are your own executive coach

In the spirit of DYI, more of the over-50 are taking on the role of being their own executive coach.  They save thousands of dollars and derive the unique satisfaction of knowing they have the insight, courage, and capacity for change to reset themselves for a marketplace which is continually changing.

Here are the five steps they usually take.

One, they accept themselves as they are and where they are.  That's exactly where they can then make modifications, with gentleness and self-love.  A useful book on that is "Radical Acceptance."

Two, they analyse the winners in a range of fields and make a list of the traits they all seem to have in common.  Then they decide which of those traits they can add to or increase in their own way of presenting themselves to the world - and to themselves.

Three, they research the marketplace.  Once they identify growth areas they do an inventory of what skills and experience they can leverage to fit that.  They continue to do that.  No career path is ever done. 

Four, they reach out and help others reset themselves, pro bono.  We learn the most when we teach it. 

Five, they read or view inspirational material.  That provides the platform on reframing thought patterns.  We are what we think.

Those "If Onlys" - Even healthcare workers get the boot

If only I had gone into healthcare.

How many times I had heard that from unemployed lawyers, journalists, and secretaries during the worst of the downturn.  Well, amidst signs of a recovery, some of those who were assumed to be sitting in the professional catbird seat are getting the boot.

At my 12-step meeting tonight I was shocked to hear a nurse share her pain that her boss and a number of others in a healthcare facility are being laid off.  Because she does direct service and isn't an administrator she's safe - for now.  Among those getting the ax are middle managers whose children are entering college.

No, there is no safe harbour. It's a illusion to assume that anyone is in any kind of catbird seat.  It's also an illusion to decide to declare any line of work dead.  I was beginning to think that writers aka content providers were finished.  Well, I am finding out we are only finished if we try to earn a living telecommuting.  The well paying work is onsite, usually on a contract basis.  Yes, bring along your own benefits.  Ever since I decided to go for assignments and jobs that were onsite I have been receiving lots of interviews. 

Lesson: Assume nothing.  Everything changes.

Dollar Stores: Barriers to entry are low

If the economy continues to have a slow recovery, the dollar store will remain the place to shop.  It got so many of us 99% through the worse of the recession.  The good news about this concept is that the barriers to entry are low for the small entrepreneur.  The bad news is that a lot of folks being forced on their own also have the same idea in mind.

For the financial information company Motley Fool I take a look at this concept.  Here you can read about it and check out if this is step you might want to consider.

Over-50 & Still Working in Journalism: Maybe some good news, finally

Here you are over-50 and somehow you have survived all those reductions in force at your journalism job.  There might be a reason to become optimistic that you can retire from that industry.  The magic bullet may be mobile.

I take a look at how mobile is already transforming the newspaper business for Motley Fool, the financial information company.  Here you can check out what I conclude.

Pet Industry: Money's in services

Those still unsure where to transition for a career might consider the high growth pet industry.  The money's in the services part - grooming, day care, boarding, and photography. 

I analyze the industry for financial services company Motley Fool.  Here you can take a peek.

Jobs - They don't make 'em here any more

Fund manager John Hussman has called it.  He tells BUSINESS INSIDER that that not only was the March jobs report lousy.  April will be no better.  Jobs seem to have gone the way of analog anything.  Searching for them, especially for us Baby Boomers who face age bias, may just lead to poverty.

A few weeks ago I decided to find a part-time job.  That would guarantee regular income and get me out of my home office and myself.  It looked like things were going well.  I got an interview, then a second. Then I didn't get the job.  The two slots were filled with someone with more experience in that particular field than I had and an internal candidate. 

That was the ah-ah moment for me.  They don't make jobs in America, not any more, at least not for the glut of talented educated people like we are.  We have to create our own opportunities.  For me that means being more inventive how I market and sell the services of my communications boutique Genova Writing, Coaching, and More.

Non-Profit Sector: Warm reception for those of us over-50, looking for work

From any angle, the non-profit sector is proving to be the place to look for work - full time, part time, and consulting. 

First of all, it's in the non-profit's healthy self interest to take advantage of the new kinds of talent and experience it has access to.  Before the global downturn many of us would still have our jobs or our enterprises which tended to only solicit business from the private sector.  Now, of course, a lot of that has changed. 

Secondly, non-profit has always been less hard-edged than business.  When I was down and out in a strange city hunting for a way to make a living, the Salvation Army not only invited me in to talk.  It fed me.  And its head of something clued me in on approaches to take in job hunting in that city.  Years later I repaid that by bringing baked goods to its center in Stamford, Connecticut which I collected from the local supermarkets every Sunday.

Third, not 1 person at non-profits has ever implied, including through body language, that we aging just don't belong there.  If there is generational hostility, no 1 on my network has run into it.

Non-profit opportunities are listed on Craigslist in their own category under each city in a state or each state.  They are mixed in with private sector jobs on Careerbuilder.com.  Also, go to their websites.  Check out what's available and get on an e-mailing list.  For example, every few days I get a list of positions I can be a fit for with Planned Parenthood.

During the past 2 weeks I have had two interviews for a part-time job with a non-profit in Connecticut.  Believe me, it was wonderful to be treated with respect for the expertise I could offer.  However, that's no guarantee I will receive an offer.  As with everything else, the competition was stiff.

Baby Boomers As Worried Well: Heady times in therapy for "neurosis"

Circa early 1970s, we graduate students in the English Department at the University of Michigan and those in the Psychology Department found ourselves together at a party.  The hosts were a married couple, each getting a doctorate in 1 of those fields. Because it was a time when the meme was "get therapy, the more the better" most of us literature and linguistics scholars found ourselves in the same room with our therapists.  Mine was David W. Harder, now a Ph.D. and full professor at Tufts University Department of Psychology. 

Within about 20 minutes I fled.  I remained undone for weeks.  So did many of my fellow students in the English Department.  We talked about that seemingly forever.  After all, therapy came with the same overpowering mystique which had once been embodied in the progress GE made possible, the persona of Jackie Kennedy, and, of course, higher education as the tool for upward mobility.  We lived from therapy session to therapy session.  The only reality was what insights we acquired in that 50-minute hour.  And, the best of all, it was all about me.   Remember how we Baby Boomers became "The Me Generation?"

At the time, we who were really the "worried well" were primarily classified, at least for insurance purposes as "neurotic."  Mine read "Depressive Neurosis."  In his commentary in THE NEW YORK TIMES, Benedict Carey points out the term "neurotic" has fallen out of fashion.  Instead, given this time of upheaval generated by globalization and technology, what might have been diagnosed before as not-normal or dysfunctional has become, at least in many circles, the norm.  It is not necessarily aberrant to invest so much time on Facebook, be clever on Twitter, and blog compulsively. 

Actually, for me discovering blogging, with a bit of tweeting and connecting with my friends on Facebook  on the side, has been my new kind of therapy.   No matter how undone I become about clients for my communications boutique coming and going, paying or not paying, praising or being critical,  a centering force takes over through digital tools.  Those who follow my posts label me as "OCD," that is "obsessive compulsive disorder." They are right.  Did I always have OCD or did the syndrome take hold as blogging became more and  more the central force in my life - and mental health?  We will leave that 1 to the researchers in psychology and social media.