Over-50

Your Career Is Over? So Is Everyone's

Careers don't exist any more. At least not among those who understand the new dynamics of the world of work. 

Instead of the career path, explains consulting firm Wallis Tower Watson, there is the portfolio of skills.

You keep adding to that portfolio and you remain employable. Stop adding and you're just another older professional who is unable to figure out how to land, hold and move on to better work.

If you're currently without work and are willing to think in different ways, here is a free read on all that Download Outwitting ageism.

Carrying a portfolio of skills is actually nothing new. Among tradespeople and blue collar laborers that was and is routine. I recall working in Spain teaching English as a second language and earning extra income in a tourist cafe serving coffee and Spanish sherry.

Over and over again I had great conversations with cooks, handymen, deck hands and musicians who never went without a meal. They had down cold how to acquire the right skills to pick up work fast - in a number of nations. Among their skills was being fluent in several languages. 

Adding to your skills doesn't have to be expensive. Certification and two-year associate degrees are low-cost in a community college.

When the long-distance trucking market bounces back, you can get licensed for under $7k. Or for free if you agree to drive for two years for the company which trains you. 

The most old-fashioned way is to tag along with an expert in a field and learn it. That could be a consultant or a landscaper. Many lines of work don't require formal licensing. 

Back in 2008, when I was blogging on legal matters, lawyers who were laid off asked me to provide help with their resumes, cover letters and interviews. Eventually, I was also doing guidance. Usually it's an emotional blockage which keeps those searching for work from finding it. By 2010, I had added career coaching to the portfolio.

More recently, I also put into the portfolio ghostwriting about The Future of Work.

Sure, if you have been forced off your career track, you should mourn. In "Necessary Endings," executive coach Henry Cloud recommends performing rituals which help you let go of what was. 

That can be useful too as you discover a skill which you used for four decades is no longer marketable. Most of my early career I had excelled in writing Corporatese. Then, no one wanted that tone and content any more. I packed up the car and my four-legged son LOV and spent a winter weekend by frozen Lake Erie. By Sunday morning I got it: That way of making a good living had been a long time ago. 

One more tip: Develop and keep expanding multiple sources of income. Millennials call them "side hustles."

The Future of Work is now. Ghostwriting on those issues and coaching for job search, transition, personal branding, re-entry after recovery and reputation restoration. Sliding scale fees. Complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com)

 

Coming Wave of Jumbo Mergers Could Set Off Tsunami of Unemployment for Aging

Capitalism is opportunistic.

So, it should be expected that strong businesses during the COVID-19 economy will parachute in to acquire weakened ones. Goldman Sacks Group, reports Bloomberg, predicts a surge of M&A. Many of those will be jumbo mergers. 

That's good news for law firms with transactional practices in M&A. During the worst of COVID-19, that work has fallen off to the extent that lateral hiring for the niche plunged. Now, there are signs it's picking up.

Also gaining with be the economy. The reconfigured entities will be more solid businesses. Their earnings stories could send the stock market into unthinkable highs.

But the losers, as happens in most of M&As, will be large pockets of the workforce. M&As create "redundancies."

The newly created business may not need two communications or investor relations departments. There will be an increased need for coaching about career transitions Download ReimaginingYourCareerWithJaneGenova. Those most vulnerable are the aging. Here, a free read, is my book on landing, holding and moving on to better work, no matter one's age Download Outwitting ageism. 

For those who can't find their way in the mutating labor market, policy makers will have to focus seriously on versions of Universal Basic Income. Recently, in Canada, the Leaf pilot program testing out UBI for the newly homeless was very successful.

Right now the high jobless figures aren't having a negative effect on the stock market. Therefore those with power could blow off the unemployment from the M&A since their investment portfolio is doing just fine. 

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Solo Agers - You Got This (3 lifelines)

The Americana myth, left over from the nuclear-family of the 1950s, is that family takes care of family.

That's become a big topic as Baby Boomers and members of Generation X age. 

However, anyone who has worked, consulted or volunteered within a senior complex - residential or recreational - knows that family does not always take care of family. And, if they do, it can be with reluctance and even abuse.

The typical scenario is that the senior needs to be relocated from a housing complex subsidized for those of a certain age to one providing more assistance.

An example of that is Bella Vista, based in New Haven, Connecticut. During the moving process, the children, saddled with their own middle-age problems, might not always make the transition easier for Mom or Dad. Many of them are part of the sandwich generation, that is, with responsibility for both parents and offspring. Already in their plate are lots of bills, their jobs, what the kids might be going through and worrying about their own retirement. 

Therefore, believe me, you who are now or always were childless are not necessarily at an emotional, social and financial disadvantage. With a little independent planning, as a "solo ager," you can loop into whatever you need to make your life full and to navigate transitions.

What might give you instant reassurance is that you are not alone. Actually, you now represent a clearly defined demographic. That's solo aging and aging without children. One guide for that is "Essential Retirement Planning for Solo Agers" by Sara Zeff Geber. 

And what you could use the most effectively and efficiently is developing a relationship with a trusted lawyer. Lawyers, as I hammer in this popular blog on my syndicated legal site, are replacing family. 

You can put your trusted lawyer in charge of medical decisions, wills (including being the executor), estate planning and any legal disputes. Regarding the latter, aging doesn't prevent human conflict. Neighbor X could be assuming because you are older you will put up with their children running all over your lawn - which puts you at possible liability if they injure themselves. 

Another source of help is, yes, career coaching. During the past 18 months, a number of you over-65 have tapped into my services. You wanted to add to your income by encore careers, part-time work, gig assignments and setting up small businesses. That would also enhance your social circle.

My first recommendation is always: You will be becoming uncomfortable. That is, you will have to take the exit ramp out of your usual comfort zone. Here, free to read, is my book on that.

The third lifeline is joining organizations. No, you don't have to be the leader or even a prominent member. Just be part of it. That will give a sense of belonging, platforms for meeting new people and a schedule of activities. In Toledo, Ohio, what is popular with seniors is the Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie. Also, there are myriad religious and spiritual organizations which are welcoming. They range from the Society of Friends to diverse schools of Buddhism. In addition, 12-step programs such as Emotions Anonymous have frequent meetings. 

Actually, thanks to COVID-19, the new normal in America caters to those without traditional support systems such as the nuclear family. Just go on the internet and type in variations of "support help" along with the name of your city or county. Up will pop plenty of contact information for what to tap into next.

Mindset: Solo aging is aging on your own terms.

The answers about your professional life are inside you. You will learn through coaching how to open yourself up to them. And unleash opportunity. Small changes can have big results. Affordable rates (sliding scale). Make an appointment for complimentary consultation (janegenova374@gmail.com) Download UnleashingPossibilitywithJaneGenovaCareerCoaching

Aging, Determined to Keep Working - Side Hustle as a Driveaway

The first step in aging and being able to continue to work for income is this: Accept the reality that for most of you there is less opportunity that pays less.

Recent research documents that more than 50% of you will be forced out of your jobs. And only 10% of you will have a soft landing, that is, earn comparable money in the next employment situation.

If you can live with that, then you open yourself to possibly making a good living, on your terms. Here, for example, is my guide, free to click open, on how to approach working differently from how you did in middle age and your young adulthood Download Outwitting ageism.

One growing opportunity is what is known as the "side hustle." There are two advantages to going that route.

One is that it exposes you to what's out there as paid work.

After my business collapsed in 2003, as a side hustle, I took a seasonal gig as security guard in retail. That gave me a peek into the dynamics of retail.

Later I was hired by a media company to cover payments in the retail industry. That helped me get back to operating my own business, which has been my comfort zone since the late 1980s.

The other advantage of picking up side hustles is that you can shape the gig into steady income. Yes, there is a game to play in the contract work, just as there is a game to play in getting, holding, and advancing in jobs for career path. On Abovethelaw, an uncover journalist described how the document-review game was played by both those assigning work and those lawyers needing work. 

Side hustles are growing in number. People are busy, mostly doing their own jobs which demand lots of hours and for caring for their families. So, they are willing to pony up the money to pay for services they would have done for themselves in a less frantic era. 

So, you can provide those services in any kind of configuration. That might be a contract dog walker for Wag or a just-in-time driver of cars from Point A to Point B. The latter are known as "driveaways."

As CNBC explains, driveways can make a decent buck, plus they travel free. And, CNBC hammers, it's an ideal gig for the semi-retired. 

The game goes like this. Someone or some organization needs to have a vehicle transported from, say, Darien, Connecticut to Tucson, Arizona. To have that done they are willing to pay all expenses, of course. But they also usually compensate the driver per hour, per mile, or per project. Some add on a tip. 

That deal can be transacted through a company which officially matches vehicles needing to be transported and drivers. They can be found on the internet by keying in "driveaway companies." 

Or the business is transacted on a one-to-one basis. For instance, those looking for the driving gigs post an ad on Craigslist or another kind of freelancing bulletin board. Or, they get known through word of mouth, as in "Joe Smith drove my SUV to Lost Angeles, without a bit of trouble."

Both drivers and vehicle owners have to carefully determine the terms and conditions for everything from compensation to deadline to liability. 

If you enjoy this kind of assignment you can become regulars at hustling up this kind of work.

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on aging.

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Gov Shutdown - But, Gen Scramble Will Continue to Receive Social Security Checks

This week The Wall Street Journal chronicled how the work world is sticking it to us aging.

About 8 million of older professionals are unemployed or in low-quality jobs.

Essentially, age bias is kicking in at age 35. Yes, 35. After that, if you lose a job, the time to land another one is longer and the compensation is likely lower than the previous job. 

Those of us who have managed to stay working and earning a good buck have become what I call Gen Scramble. We had to learn and have to keep learning continually how to get, hold, and move on to better work. Here, free to download, is my guide on that Download Outwitting ageism.

But, the one bit of tender mercies is that in the government shutdown we who receive Social Security won't miss a check. That's a lot of us because more of us have opted to plug into that system at age 62. Here are details.

No, usually we can't make ends meet solely through Social Security. But as progressives planned, it does provide a safety net. 

Another blessing, of course, is Medicare. Few of the unemployed and underemployed in The Wall Street Journal feature have become eligible yet for Medicare. 

Once I nailed both Social Security and Medicare, my businesses began to bloom. One of them is career coaching for the over-50 Download BACKGROUNDERJaneGenovaCoachingOver-50

I thrived because I could afford - literally - to take risks in marketing and sales strategy. In a sense, I am a late bloomer, thanks to gov entitlements.

There are ways around age bias. The path out of despair and back to hope begins with our willingness to exit our comfort zones. Here, free to download, is my book on that.

Complimentary consultation on where you are in work and aging and recommendations how to improve some of that. If you find it useful to continue with coaching, there are sliding scale fees. Please set an appointment janegenova374@gmail.com. Small changes can have big impacts.

Time to Succeed: Shake Off the Past

Careers can simply disappoint. The smartest back in graduate school hasn't become a big name. At least, not yet.

Or they can implode in ways that make it difficult to earn a good living in any line of work.

Of course, career recovery is not only possible. It's probable, especially in America.

When in prison for crimes connected to Watergate, lawyer Chuck Colson found spirituality. Then he went on to serve the needs of former convicts. His obituary saluted him as one of the good guys.

There is no one path to career recovery.

But along that journey there frequently is a common obstacle: the inability to forgive.

The typical example is the former assistant professor who blames X and Y at the university for not receiving tenure. The mindset festers. He can't find well-paying work in academia and can't catch on in another way to make a good living.

Historically, forgiveness had been discussed in religious and spiritual contexts.

More recently, it pops us in guides about success. One of those is "Supersurviors: The Surprising Link Between Suffering and Success." The authors are David Feldman and Lee Daniel Kravetz.

Feldman and Kravetz observe:

"Forgiveness means breaking the psychological ties that bind you to the past, giving up the quest to change what has already happened."

One former lawyer knocked out of the partner box whom I coached had gotten stuck re-playing in her head the real or imagines injustices done her at the law firm. She may have been right. But that prevented her from identifying and pursuing opportunity in her present. She had to get it that forgiveness made good professional sense. 

How to forgive?

In 12-step recovery programs what helps is owning one's own part in what didn't pan out as expected. To use the cliché, it takes two to tango.

Another tactic is to recognize the universal truth that hurt people hurt. Those who inflict suffering are usually suffering themselves. It makes good professional sense to develop compassion for their own pain.

A third fix is to embrace that letting the resentment go is simply smart. Research, such as by University of Kansas psychologist C.R. Snyder, shows a strong correlation between forgiveness and the emergence of hope and the reduction of clinical depression. 

A fourth is developing a mindset of humility. In most situations, causality is impossible to prove. How does anyone really know that the actions of ABC triggered the entire career downward trajectory of MNO? There might be a correlation but that can also be difficult to understand fully. Most of what happens in life and why is a mystery. 

Here, free to download, is my book on shaking off the past.

Communications Strategy/Services and Career Coaching. Special areas of expertise include professionals over-50 and students applying to degree programs in higher education.

 

Complimentary initial consultation. Sliding scale fees. Contact Jane Genova for an appointment janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Getting Back to Work - 6 Bulletproof Strategies (but just 1, such as re-locating, might pan out)

The documentary - "Aging Out" - by Huffington Post presents the soul-wrenching plight of Andrew Altenburg.

Beyond young adulthood but, at 53, too young for government entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare, he is mired in financial difficulties. That's because he has been unemployed for a long period,  despite his persistent job-hunting.

Usually the search ends abruptly at the interview stage when the "mood shifts." Employers seem to rule him out because of his age.

That experience of the "mood shifts" is palpable in the conference rooms of much of America when an older applicant enters. 

Altenburg is based in New York City and, although his partner has a good job, he has to bring in income to pay his fair share of the high cost living there.  

No surprise, Altenburg fears homelessness. According to the Center for Elders Independence, about 50% of the homeless are over-50. 

The good news for Altenburg and those over-50 searching for jobs is that there are proven strategies and tactics to get, hold, and move on to better work.

Since the market crashed for lawyers in 2009, I have been coaching seasoned professionals on how to continue to bring in income. That has included lecturing at the New York State Bar Association to unemployed Baby Boomers.

Here are 6 recommendations that can be used collectively or a la carte. Regarding the latter, sometimes simply re-locating from an age-biased region like the New York Metro area to one less embedded with age discrimination, such as southwestern Arizona, can flip the switch on joblessness. Often, professionals in New York City can age out by the mid-40s.

Change mindset from continuing a career path to building /increasing marketability. 

Immediately that removes the concern about "hurting" a resume through jobs not related to a career. The secret sauce there is the old truism: Nothing gets you a job like a job.

A 58-year-old client's specialty in communications had collapsed.

His first step out of that nightmare was to land a contract job as a security guard in retail. Within months that became a full-time job with benefits. He was invited to join the marketing department of the loss prevention firm.

That's not where he saw his future. But it gave him the confidence to try out how he could enhance his overall marketability through experience in the hospitality industry. He worked the front desk.

The next stop was to get an entry-level job at a call center. Quickly he became a supervisor. Currently he is part of middle management. 

Re-do all job search materials to prevent the perception of being overqualified aka "too expensive." 

Hyper competition has forced organizations to be brutally cost efficient. They will not pay for more experience than they need.

The two years experience of the email expert in generating results is enough. They will toss the application of those with 10 years, assuming their expectation for compensation will be too high and/or they will bolt when a more lucrative opportunity comes up.

Take charge of the interview. 

Interviews for work are really sales calls. Top salespeople take charge of the process but do that smoothly so the prospect does not realize those doing the pitching are in control.

For example, the aging sense that the interviewer has ruled them out.

That interview can be saved.

What has been effective is to shift from presenting the general to parachuting into the specifics. After all, the aging job searcher has nothing to lose.

A 53-year-old employee in land development had been looking for a better fit for a job for two years. After coaching, he decided to experiment with being direct. He said, "Here is what I can do for you." On the first try, he received a job offer.

Experimentation applies to all aspects of a job search. Those range from where to apply to testing out different cover letters and resumes. 

Don't take labor market personally. 

There are solid career guides such as "What Color Is Your Parachute? 2018" which explain how the demand for manpower has changed radically since The Great Recession and keeps changing because of digital technology.

Millennials have encountered their own dark night of the soul in their search for a living wage. In Youngstown, Ohio, for example, many have come to consider $9-something an hour okay. 

Follow opportunity.

That can take the form of becoming certified in a skill, such as Google AdWords, which is in demand. Unlike studying for a degree, certification is usually fast and affordable. 

Another way to be where the opportunity is, as referenced above, to re-locate where age bias isn't intense and there are more survival jobs in which to apply for and work at in order to start over.

No one knows what can come from that experience. Working in an inbound call center in Tucson, Arizona can produce the ah-ha moment to launch an enterprise scripting for call centers. 

A third way is to play around with side hustles. One or more can be the foundation for a business. The dog walker can spot the marketability of a mobile grooming service and then figure out how to be trained and get the funding for the van. 

A fourth is to search for and apply for telecommuting jobs that can be done from home. There are more of them. And many do not require an in-person interview.

The entire hiring process is online and on phone (not SKYPE or with iPhone face time).

The trick is to provide the "right answers" to the online interview questions.

To do that, applicants have to balance the policies of the company with the unique needs of each customer or client.

Those evaluating the answers want to see evidence that applicants understand the importance of the organization's policies along with extreme commitment to excellence in customer service. 

Ditch ego. 

In a sense, everyone who needs to earn income starts over again every morning. There is no guarantee that the work will be there. The hunt is analogous to what the cave man had to get the hang of in order to survive. In primitive times there was no welfare or unemployment.

For one client, a former middle manager in human resources, there was shame in being "seen" working as a clerk in Home Depot (an employer whose mission is to hire the aging).

The solution, we decided, was a behind the scenes start-over in a telecommuting sales job. The training for the service was done online. After 90 days there were benefits and bonuses.

If Andrew Altenburg is reading this, he can contact me (janegenova374@gmail.com) for 90 days of pro bono coaching. Since I am originally from the BigApple, I get how his mind and value system operate.

Meanwhile, here, free to click on and download, is my book on finding an exit ramp from whatever is keeping the aging stuck - and without work Download Over50OutsmartingYourComfortZone.

And here is a backgrounder on my coaching for over-50 services Download BACKGROUNDERJaneGenovaCoaching.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Retirement Overseas - Don't Ignore Low-Cost Options in U.S.

Again, there is an article in the media - this time USA Today - about how cheaply a couple or single person can retire abroad, as opposed to the United States. The nations mentioned range from Ecuador to Costa Rica. 

That has been a hot topic for at least six years.

However, relocation, even within the United States, is a complex issue for those retiring or semi-retiring. And, the media coverage of taking that giant step to an overseas location usually doesn't analyze so many of the factors involved. 

For example, what about personal safety?

Several of the overseas destinations, such as parts of Ecuador and the Philippines, have high crime rates. It's difficult enough to know how to be safe on streets of the America. Imagine figuring out that game in a foreign nation.

Another issue of the cost of healthcare.

In Ecuador, retirees from America can participate in its national health system but that's not an option in many other overseas locations. There are ways to retain Medicare coverage by splitting residency between the U.S. and overseas. However, if that's not possible and retirees have to give up Medicare to live abroad medical costs can eat into the funds saved by becoming an expatriate. 

Another factor is homesickness.

It is expensive to come back to America to visit one's hometown and life-long friends and for them to journey to the overseas location. It's taken me almost four years since I relocated from the New York Metro area to shake missing what used to be. On holidays I would downright cry from the pain of that loss. Only after about three years have I been able to build new close relationships. 

Unfortunately, the reality is that many of us over-65 can no longer afford to reside where we have spent the last 20, 30, 40 years or more.

As we plan where to relocate we better be fully aware that the transition can be very difficult.

In coaching clients over-50 about The Next I warn them not to be seduced by marketing campaigns which position and package the move as The Great Adventure.

The adjustment can be as soul-wrenching as graduating from college. Here is my ebook, free to click open and read, on how we can  manage to exit our comfort zones  Download Over50OutsmartingYourComfortZone.

Meanwhile, be skeptical of how members of the media present overseas retirement paradises with low sticker prices. There are parts of the United States where the same kinds of affordability can be worked out. The Youngstown, Ohio Metro area is among them. 

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Yet Another Suicide of a Middle-Aged Professional

We continue to be humbled by the mystery of why people who seem blessed by good fortune take their own lives. Many are in their middle years. 

The latest suicide to be announced is that of the son of Tina Turner - Craig Raymond Turner.

He was 59 years old, lived in Studio City, California, and identified himself on his Facebook page as a realtor. He committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Here are more details from the New York Post.

There are so many questions to contemplate. At the top of the list is if the middle years in the 21st century are presenting new kinds of challenges to human beings?

In my coaching of those over-50 I encounter such confusion.

Once-confident professionals are thrown off their game. It could one or more factors: loss of a job, being forced into retirement, not getting that promotion, overwhelmed by the financial pressures of putting children through college, divorce, and even gaining weight. 

I call that darkness The Four Monsters of the Mind. Here is my book on those demons, free to download. 

Most thought about suicide. What "saved" them was their willingness to change. The professional and person they had been before were, as W.B. Yeats put it, centers which could no longer hold. 

This blog passes on wishes for strength among the members of the Turner family.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Taking on Ageism - Public Interest Lawyers & Career Coaches

Those of us who revered Jack McCoy and his team of prosecuting attorneys on "Law and Order" probably never reflected on how much they were earning.

Now, with the Milbank Bump to $190k entry-level salary, we are.

In Bloomberg Law, Elizabeth Olson presents the median salaries for prosecuting attorneys and public interest lawyers. The pay gap is a stunner, at least for those who had not been tracking compensation. Olson cites statistics from the National Association for Law Placement.

Entry-level prosecuting attorney make about $58,300. That rises to about $96,400 with 11 to 15 years experience. 

For public interest lawyers the median starting salary is about $48,000.

Obviously, a lawyer doesn't opt for those kinds of career paths unless there is some kind of mission. That could range from protecting the public from criminals to protecting human rights. 

Surprisingly, even in hyper-capitalist America, a mission can be satisfying and sustaining. Yes, really.

In coaching the over-50, I provide a sliding scale schedule of fees. Many of those who contact me for an initial complimentary consultation are unemployed. When they find out that there is wiggle room for setting the fee for future paid sessions, they exhale.

I feel good about what I do because I believe it does good. Day after day I take on ageism. When ageism bites, it can eat right into the soul of once-confident professionals. Here is my book, free to download, on how those demons can overwhelm.

The law has been slow to catch up to how ageism derails careers. But there have been encouraging signs in the kinds of lawsuits being filed.

For example, "Kleber v CareFusion" focuses on alleged age discrimination at the front end - hiring. It is also looking  "experience caps," that is, the statement by employers that only X number of years experience will be considered. More gets the applicant knocked out of the box.

A class action lawsuit "Rabin v PwC" also alleges discrimination in hiring. That is via the recruiting for new hires primarily on college campuses.

And the Darden restaurant chain recently settled for millions for alleged age bias in hiring. 

Ageism could become the new flashpoint in diversity issues. And public interest lawyers working in government agencies such as the EEOC could be on the front lines.

Meanwhile, those of us who take in re-runs of "Law & Order" on ION on Wednesdays, now can factor in the financial sacrifice McCoy's team is absorbing. What an inspiration in these times of the meme about income inequality.

Coaching, auditing, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Mature professionals who are working advance their careers. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.