How can a job seeker find motivation

How can a job seeker find motivation A few days ago I wrote How do you motivate a job seeker to get off their butt and do something? The purpose of the blog was to address a question Ive heard for years, which has to do with attacking a superficial level issue (is the unemployed person (friend, spouse, etc.) smiling and networking and doing the right things,) and NOT understanding some very important root issues. Read the post to see why YOU motivating them to get off their butt might be the wrong objective to focus on. Since I didnt really address the issue of how a job seeker can be motivated, let me share some ideas in this post.  Notice I change the question in the title of the post from last time and todays post: How do you motivate a job seeker to get off their butt and do something? compared to: How can a job seeker find motivation? Im not sure that YOU can motivate the other person.  I saw a comment today on a LinkedIn Group discussion the first post saying that the motivation has to come from within the job seeker, and they have to be ready to make a change. Here are a few thoughts on what I have found motivate me: Success. Im not talking about becoming rich and famous, Im talking about minor successes. If I have a conversation with someone who clearly thinks I could be a good fit, or is obviously excited about having another conversation (you know those talks, when you both are really excited), Im on cloud nine.  That is a GREAT TIME to look for another conversation. As a rookie salesperson I learned the best time to make a prospecting call was right after you made a sale. Why?  Because after you make a sale you feel awesome you are happy.  You believe in yourself and your product.  What better time could there be to call someone and talk about how your product can make them happy? Hope. In the other post I talked about hopelessness, or losing hope.  Turn off the news, stop reading countless, useless articles and blog posts and facebook updates, and pause.  When I did that I could find good in the world.  I could see that the world continued cars still drove down the street taking people somewhere with a good purpose.  Parents still took their kids to soccer games and cheered them on.  People went to work and stores still sold things. Its easy to get discouraged and lose hope when YOUR world seems to be crashing in around you.  But if you pause, look around, and maybe insert yourself into different places (VOLUNTEER!), you can see that it it not hopeless. There is good, there is progress, and YOU can still enjoy and contribute. Help. I remember the feeling of loneliness as a job seeker.  While my wife was very supportive, she couldnt help me much in my job search.  People at church, my neighbors, other family, my friends no one really knew how to help me. The problem was that I didnt know how to help them help me. (That is one of the most profound ideas Ive come up with in the last 7 years of doing this read that sentence again) Someone giving me a list of job openings, which was usually a week or two old, was not helpful.  Someone asking how the job search is going, then not digging deeper to see how they could help in my job search, was not helpful. I needed networking leads.  I needed information on networking events I should go to.  I needed you to invite me to lunch to meet your colleague, and the three of us could have a conversation. Honestly, Im not sure I was in a good place to understand that (now I get to play Monday morning quarterback).  But that is the kind of help I needed. A smile.  An encouraging handshake or pat on the back.  Something to let me know you are my friend, and want to help me now, instead of a feeling that youll be my friend once I land again, but for now Im a problem. If you want to help, help me find success which usually means introductions. If Im not ready for the introductions, help me get ready. In the previous post on how YOU can motivate a job seeker I address some root issues.  Dont ignore these. Be aware of these. But if I start to see success (which could be as simple as someone responding to an email or phone call), and I start to find hope, and I get help and know Im not alone, I think Im going to be more motivated to keep seeing more success. And that would motivate me. What am I missing? How can a job seeker find motivation A few days ago I wrote How do you motivate a job seeker to get off their butt and do something? The purpose of the blog was to address a question Ive heard for years, which has to do with attacking a superficial level issue (is the unemployed person (friend, spouse, etc.) smiling and networking and doing the right things,) and NOT understanding some very important root issues. Read the post to see why YOU motivating them to get off their butt might be the wrong objective to focus on. Since I didnt really address the issue of how a job seeker can be motivated, let me share some ideas in this post.  Notice I change the question in the title of the post from last time and todays post: How do you motivate a job seeker to get off their butt and do something? compared to: How can a job seeker find motivation? Im not sure that YOU can motivate the other person.  I saw a comment today on a LinkedIn Group discussion the first post saying that the motivation has to come from within the job seeker, and they have to be ready to make a change. Here are a few thoughts on what I have found motivate me: Success. Im not talking about becoming rich and famous, Im talking about minor successes. If I have a conversation with someone who clearly thinks I could be a good fit, or is obviously excited about having another conversation (you know those talks, when you both are really excited), Im on cloud nine.  That is a GREAT TIME to look for another conversation. As a rookie salesperson I learned the best time to make a prospecting call was right after you made a sale. Why?  Because after you make a sale you feel awesome you are happy.  You believe in yourself and your product.  What better time could there be to call someone and talk about how your product can make them happy? Hope. In the other post I talked about hopelessness, or losing hope.  Turn off the news, stop reading countless, useless articles and blog posts and facebook updates, and pause.  When I did that I could find good in the world.  I could see that the world continued cars still drove down the street taking people somewhere with a good purpose.  Parents still took their kids to soccer games and cheered them on.  People went to work and stores still sold things. Its easy to get discouraged and lose hope when YOUR world seems to be crashing in around you.  But if you pause, look around, and maybe insert yourself into different places (VOLUNTEER!), you can see that it it not hopeless. There is good, there is progress, and YOU can still enjoy and contribute. Help. I remember the feeling of loneliness as a job seeker.  While my wife was very supportive, she couldnt help me much in my job search.  People at church, my neighbors, other family, my friends no one really knew how to help me. The problem was that I didnt know how to help them help me. (That is one of the most profound ideas Ive come up with in the last 7 years of doing this read that sentence again) Someone giving me a list of job openings, which was usually a week or two old, was not helpful.  Someone asking how the job search is going, then not digging deeper to see how they could help in my job search, was not helpful. I needed networking leads.  I needed information on networking events I should go to.  I needed you to invite me to lunch to meet your colleague, and the three of us could have a conversation. Honestly, Im not sure I was in a good place to understand that (now I get to play Monday morning quarterback).  But that is the kind of help I needed. A smile.  An encouraging handshake or pat on the back.  Something to let me know you are my friend, and want to help me now, instead of a feeling that youll be my friend once I land again, but for now Im a problem. If you want to help, help me find success which usually means introductions. If Im not ready for the introductions, help me get ready. In the previous post on how YOU can motivate a job seeker I address some root issues.  Dont ignore these. Be aware of these. But if I start to see success (which could be as simple as someone responding to an email or phone call), and I start to find hope, and I get help and know Im not alone, I think Im going to be more motivated to keep seeing more success. And that would motivate me. What am I missing? How can a job seeker find motivation A few days ago I wrote How do you motivate a job seeker to get off their butt and do something? The purpose of the blog was to address a question Ive heard for years, which has to do with attacking a superficial level issue (is the unemployed person (friend, spouse, etc.) smiling and networking and doing the right things,) and NOT understanding some very important root issues. Read the post to see why YOU motivating them to get off their butt might be the wrong objective to focus on. Since I didnt really address the issue of how a job seeker can be motivated, let me share some ideas in this post.  Notice I change the question in the title of the post from last time and todays post: How do you motivate a job seeker to get off their butt and do something? compared to: How can a job seeker find motivation? Im not sure that YOU can motivate the other person.  I saw a comment today on a LinkedIn Group discussion the first post saying that the motivation has to come from within the job seeker, and they have to be ready to make a change. Here are a few thoughts on what I have found motivate me: Success. Im not talking about becoming rich and famous, Im talking about minor successes. If I have a conversation with someone who clearly thinks I could be a good fit, or is obviously excited about having another conversation (you know those talks, when you both are really excited), Im on cloud nine.  That is a GREAT TIME to look for another conversation. As a rookie salesperson I learned the best time to make a prospecting call was right after you made a sale. Why?  Because after you make a sale you feel awesome you are happy.  You believe in yourself and your product.  What better time could there be to call someone and talk about how your product can make them happy? Hope. In the other post I talked about hopelessness, or losing hope.  Turn off the news, stop reading countless, useless articles and blog posts and facebook updates, and pause.  When I did that I could find good in the world.  I could see that the world continued cars still drove down the street taking people somewhere with a good purpose.  Parents still took their kids to soccer games and cheered them on.  People went to work and stores still sold things. Its easy to get discouraged and lose hope when YOUR world seems to be crashing in around you.  But if you pause, look around, and maybe insert yourself into different places (VOLUNTEER!), you can see that it it not hopeless. There is good, there is progress, and YOU can still enjoy and contribute. Help. I remember the feeling of loneliness as a job seeker.  While my wife was very supportive, she couldnt help me much in my job search.  People at church, my neighbors, other family, my friends no one really knew how to help me. The problem was that I didnt know how to help them help me. (That is one of the most profound ideas Ive come up with in the last 7 years of doing this read that sentence again) Someone giving me a list of job openings, which was usually a week or two old, was not helpful.  Someone asking how the job search is going, then not digging deeper to see how they could help in my job search, was not helpful. I needed networking leads.  I needed information on networking events I should go to.  I needed you to invite me to lunch to meet your colleague, and the three of us could have a conversation. Honestly, Im not sure I was in a good place to understand that (now I get to play Monday morning quarterback).  But that is the kind of help I needed. A smile.  An encouraging handshake or pat on the back.  Something to let me know you are my friend, and want to help me now, instead of a feeling that youll be my friend once I land again, but for now Im a problem. If you want to help, help me find success which usually means introductions. If Im not ready for the introductions, help me get ready. In the previous post on how YOU can motivate a job seeker I address some root issues.  Dont ignore these. Be aware of these. But if I start to see success (which could be as simple as someone responding to an email or phone call), and I start to find hope, and I get help and know Im not alone, I think Im going to be more motivated to keep seeing more success. And that would motivate me. What am I missing?

4 Arguments in Favor of Taking Your Summer PTO

4 Arguments in Favor of Taking Your Summer PTO Going on vacation from work can be weird. You want to go, you’re excited about it and of course you’re entitled to some time off. But you feel weirdly guilty about it. After all, Tom’s taking vacation right after you, and Susan is going the week before. The office will be short-staffed. So you compromise and do a “working vacation.” Unfortunately, a working vacation, where you work while on vacation, prevents you from taking a real vacation. That simple fact alone can have legitimate consequences on your overall performance. Let’s look at why you should take your summer PTO, and actually be off. It’s Not the End It’s easy to believe that no one else can do your job. After all, that’s why the company hired you, because you’re the best at it! Or at least you’d like to think you’re the best at it. But let’s be realistic: If you’re working for a company that will come to a grinding halt because one person isn’t there, you’re not working for a good company. An Oxford study found that only about 40% of American workers take their PTO. At least some of this is due to an idea of worker martyrism, or perhaps a feeling that you need to be at work. Another popular reason is the dread of catch-up work. This is a very real concept, and you might have a harder time getting around a pile of work waiting for you upon your return. Consider working something out with a co-worker who could handle some of the load. According to the World Health Organization, stress and sleep deprivation cost employers over $350 billion per year. Vacations can cut into that, so not only should you take them, but your employers should encourage them and have systems in place to make taking them easy. You’ll Work Better Taking time off is important. Most people are familiar with the concept of burnout, where you get too stressed out about work to function well. A good solution for that is â€" you guessed it â€" vacation time! A week off can be whatever you want it to be â€" no deadlines, no alarm clocks, no office politics, no hard labor. You can take the time to renew your dedication and focus. If you’re having any interpersonal problems at work, this could be a good way to cool down and put it back into perspective. Taking breaks, especially long ones where you can completely unplug from work helps to lower stress, get more sleep and boost your productivity. Travel pushes you out of your comfort zone, helps you find inspiration and introduces you to new people. You Should Take Extra Time Try to schedule your vacations at times you wouldn’t normally have time off. Summer is good for this, because you don’t get much time. Sure, you get the 4th of July off, and some places may give you Memorial Day and Labor Day off. That’s a whopping 3 days. Meanwhile, everyone who’s off on those days is trying to cram a week’s worth of vacation time into a 3-day weekend. This translates to angry people, drunk people and others who wish that whatever is happening on their trip wasn’t happening anymore. All of these factors can make for some interesting circumstances, including dangerous ones. For instance, in 2013, 540 travelers died on the 4th of July. It’s so busy on the roads that traffic accidents are significantly more likely to occur. In addition, going into the office on those days won’t help much. Everyone else will likely be off, so you might be stuck with busy work. Recharge With Family When you were a kid, you wanted your dream job. When you were in college, you wanted a realistic job. Once you have a family, you simply want a job. Funnily, the job that should be most important is the one we tend to disregard: our families. Taking one week off doesn’t tell your boss or your employees that you don’t value them, but it does tell your family that they’re important. This might be the simplest thing, but it’s probably the most important. Don’t forget that your family is the reason you work, so you should also work to spend time with them.

4 Arguments in Favor of Taking Your Summer PTO

4 Arguments in Favor of Taking Your Summer PTO Going on vacation from work can be weird. You want to go, you’re excited about it and of course you’re entitled to some time off. But you feel weirdly guilty about it. After all, Tom’s taking vacation right after you, and Susan is going the week before. The office will be short-staffed. So you compromise and do a “working vacation.” Unfortunately, a working vacation, where you work while on vacation, prevents you from taking a real vacation. That simple fact alone can have legitimate consequences on your overall performance. Let’s look at why you should take your summer PTO, and actually be off. It’s Not the End It’s easy to believe that no one else can do your job. After all, that’s why the company hired you, because you’re the best at it! Or at least you’d like to think you’re the best at it. But let’s be realistic: If you’re working for a company that will come to a grinding halt because one person isn’t there, you’re not working for a good company. An Oxford study found that only about 40% of American workers take their PTO. At least some of this is due to an idea of worker martyrism, or perhaps a feeling that you need to be at work. Another popular reason is the dread of catch-up work. This is a very real concept, and you might have a harder time getting around a pile of work waiting for you upon your return. Consider working something out with a co-worker who could handle some of the load. According to the World Health Organization, stress and sleep deprivation cost employers over $350 billion per year. Vacations can cut into that, so not only should you take them, but your employers should encourage them and have systems in place to make taking them easy. You’ll Work Better Taking time off is important. Most people are familiar with the concept of burnout, where you get too stressed out about work to function well. A good solution for that is â€" you guessed it â€" vacation time! A week off can be whatever you want it to be â€" no deadlines, no alarm clocks, no office politics, no hard labor. You can take the time to renew your dedication and focus. If you’re having any interpersonal problems at work, this could be a good way to cool down and put it back into perspective. Taking breaks, especially long ones where you can completely unplug from work helps to lower stress, get more sleep and boost your productivity. Travel pushes you out of your comfort zone, helps you find inspiration and introduces you to new people. You Should Take Extra Time Try to schedule your vacations at times you wouldn’t normally have time off. Summer is good for this, because you don’t get much time. Sure, you get the 4th of July off, and some places may give you Memorial Day and Labor Day off. That’s a whopping 3 days. Meanwhile, everyone who’s off on those days is trying to cram a week’s worth of vacation time into a 3-day weekend. This translates to angry people, drunk people and others who wish that whatever is happening on their trip wasn’t happening anymore. All of these factors can make for some interesting circumstances, including dangerous ones. For instance, in 2013, 540 travelers died on the 4th of July. It’s so busy on the roads that traffic accidents are significantly more likely to occur. In addition, going into the office on those days won’t help much. Everyone else will likely be off, so you might be stuck with busy work. Recharge With Family When you were a kid, you wanted your dream job. When you were in college, you wanted a realistic job. Once you have a family, you simply want a job. Funnily, the job that should be most important is the one we tend to disregard: our families. Taking one week off doesn’t tell your boss or your employees that you don’t value them, but it does tell your family that they’re important. This might be the simplest thing, but it’s probably the most important. Don’t forget that your family is the reason you work, so you should also work to spend time with them.

Recruiters Why Youre Probably Thinking About Leads Backwards

Recruiters Why Youre Probably Thinking About Leads Backwards Imagine that you have two leads: the first is from a candidate you just qualified, who told you that they have just applied to a specific role at a specific company. The second is from another candidate (for the sake of argument called Dave) who you have placed in the past, and has just told you theyve got a new job at a company, and has given you the hiring managers name for you to speak to. Which lead is better? When I pose this scenario to recruiters, they tend to answer the first lead is better. When asked why, they often recognise the value of the second lead, but prefer the first lead because it is a hot lead it represents an active role that is accepting candidates, whilst the second lead is cold, so there is no work to be won. However, the problem with the hot, warm and cold terminology we apply to leads is that it forces us to think about leads backwards. We are judging them on the urgency of the lead itself, rather than the quality of the call that the lead will generate. The hot lead: The hot lead will generate a cold call. You dont know who the hiring manager is, or, at, best, you only have a name after a few minutes detective work on LinkedIn. You have no introduction to the company, and as the lead is active the hiring manager will in all likelihood have a dozen other recruiters calling him, all giving him the same pitch: We have a great candidate for your role /  We only send a limited number of high-quality CVs /  We specialise in these types of positions etc. All of these could come straight out of Cold Calling For Dummies, and will fail to differentiate your voice from others. At best youll get a polite thanks but no thanks; at worst, a rant. The cold lead: In contrast, the cold lead is unlikely to have other recruiters calling and pestering the hiring manager, because the company isnt actively hiring. You wont be going in cold, you will lead your call with your introduction Dave recommended I give you a chat, hes told me some stuff about what you guys get up to and it sounds really interesting. This is basic networking; humans are most receptive to introductions when moderated by a trusted third party. Imagine a social gathering: you will feel a lot more comfortable chatting to someone if your host has introduced you to them, than if you go straight up and start making small talk. Furthermore, the person youre chatting to will feel more comfortable, too. Yes, you havent actually won some new business today, but in two months time when that company are hiring again and you call back, suddenly your voice is different to the dozen other recruiters hammering the poor hiring managers extension. It is recognised, and trusted. Or, even bette r, when the manager realises that he needs to hire someone else, he picks up the phone and gives you a call! Of course, any introduction comes with an unspoken caveat: I am putting some of my reputation on the line to provide you with this opportunity, so dont waste it. Dave has a vested interest in you doing well because if his introduction is successful then his stock with, and influence on, his manager rises. Social interactions are transactional; we expect some benefit to come from us out of them. Imagine that Dave speaks to his new manager after passing on the introduction to you, and asks how it went. If he is told, oh, he never got back to me, or, I found him a bit rude, then Dave will be understandably upset. His reputation matters to him, but your actions have told him that it doesnt matter to you. Daves ability to influence his hiring manager will have dropped just a little bit as a result, and the consequence is that he is unlikely to give you any more leads as he trusts you less. Whilst the hot/warm/cold scale is useful when setting priorities for cold calling, it means that you are thinking about leads the wrong way. The main value in a lead is the warmth of the call it will generate. It doesnt matter if the lead is red hot, if all you make are cold calls then you will spend a heck of a long time on the phone whilst getting very little out of it. The beautiful thing about a network is how its economics work. The bigger your network, the more potential value. The more effort you put into your relationships, the more value you will extract from your network, and that value will multiply and reciprocate within your network. Conclusions: Anyone can be a phone jockey. Anyone can hammer the phone and make a hundred calls a day. But, the best recruiters I know, the ones who deserve the title Consultant, dont do any cold-calling because they understand that recruitment is the business of human interaction. A cold call is the weakest form of interaction, and leaves next-to-no impression on the person with whom you are trying to build a relationship. A recruiter is a node in a social network, and the value of that network depends on the strength and number of connections to other nodes. The more work you put into developing your relationships, the more value you will extract from your network and the more you will ultimately bill. So leave the cold-calling to the cowboys and other hacks, and forget about hot, warm and cold leads. The only thing that matters is a warm call. Image: Shutterstock

To Freelance Or Not To Freelance That Is The Question

To Freelance Or Not To Freelance That Is The Question There are several factors to consider when deciding whether or not to declare yourself an independent contractor as opposed to a company employee. Some of these considerations are personal (you like to be your own boss) and some are professional (you can earn more by streamlining production and taking on more clients). There is also a side-question of whether or not you are a freelance worker by choice or because there are no other choices. As the Great Recession and its aftermath made it abundantly clear, the landscape of the American workforce is in flux and hit some permanent rough patches that include corporations cutting back on labor. This sidebar, however, comes with a very real caveat, which is to say that employers have found out the benefits of forcing their workers to accept freelance contracts, which takes away serious financial and human service obligations associated with hiring employees. If it is cheaper and the Internet provides adequate cover, then why not send employees home, skip paying healthcare benefits, skip taking out funds for Social Security, Medicare and Workers Compensation, and dispense with the annual employee picnic. With so much economic incentive to dismissing their employees and hiring contracted workers (think of all the parking spaces it frees up), then there is no wonder why employers force the point to excess. Sometimes, that is to say, they flat out get it wrong. That said, remember, as you run through these pros and cons, the decision of whether or not you are a freelancing independent contractor or an employee may not be yours to make. Especially if you are the company hiring the freelance independent, you could find yourself in serious financial trouble if you get the designation wrong. I have personal experience to back this up. Despite a written contract and assertions from the hiring company and from every other employee in a news organization, the U.S. Department of Labor, after a job of mine had ended, declared that for six years I had been misclassified as an contracted freelance worker, declaring, instead, that I was a company employee. This decision obligated my former employee to make up for years of back taxes and penalties that went along with that. In addition, they had to make amends for missing Social Security, Medicare and unemployment benefits contributions for myself and several other misclassified workers. And through all this, not one of my co-workers agreed with the decision handed down in court. In other words, even very intelligent people have been known to miss-classify employees and freelance workers, but the implications for getting it wrong could be severe. Still, there are various reasons you may prefer to be an independent contractor. And these are valid regardless of what the hiring company may desire. PROS You choose how the work is done The contracting company can say they want so much done at a certain time and to specifications they create, but how you get that done, if you are an independent, is up to you. You can moonlight all you like If you work for yourself, as an freelancing independent, there is no reason you cant work for other clients at the same time. You can work from home An increasing number of employers allow their workers to work from home, but if you are an independent contractor, then you always have that option. You are the boss. No one can tell you what to do Take a break when you want … do what you want. You work for yourself. While that freedom is hard for some to get used to, for others, this is a great benefit. Oh â€" and no one can demote you or fire you, either, although you are bound by contractual obligations. Choose your own benefits If you work for yourself, you will find out just how expensive healthcare insurance might be, but the plan you choose is up to you, not the contracting company. These are just some of many benefits you might find if you work for yourself. In so many words, if you are an independent freelancer working under contract, you are your own boss. Work in your pajamas Every day is dress down day if you work at home. (A word of advice from someone with experience: wait until you have solid work habits established before you begin to cut back on the rituals of work.) Freedom to move Many jobs rely on a laptop and the Internet. It doesnt matter if you work in Britain one day, San Francisco the next and Tokyo the next. Where the wind blows, if theres Internet, thats where Ill be. CONS Working for yourself is not always a bed of roses. It takes discipline, dedication and, instead of answering to a boss, you do have to answer to the contract that you may have signed for the product or service you provide. Here are some other negatives to being an independent No Workmans Compensation Insurance Unless you chose to form a company and call yourself your own employee, you might not be obligated to carry workers compensation insurance, which can be considered a big loss. After all, the workers compensation insurance pool is enormous, making the rates far better than insurances with equal benefits. Further, workers compensation covers all medical bills for an employee with a work-related injury, as well as partial payment of missed wages and a payout for any permanent affliction that was the result of an injury at work. No co-workers Independent contractors can work on-site and run into co-workers, but many home-working independent freelance workers give up the social time that work allows â€" even the friendship of workers during non-work hours. No one says slow down If you work for yourself, setting boundaries can be difficult. No one says, “Go home; take the weekend off and go sailing.” Freelance workers, as such, find themselves working all night long or on Saturdays and Sundays, because there is no one to say, “take a break.” Pay Day Say this about a paycheck: They tend to show up with some regularity. This might not be so if you freelance. Long term contracts can be set up with regular pay, but there are also contracts that include no pay until the work is done â€" and sometimes theres a grace period after that. To go along with this, checks from an employer dont tend to bounce or not show up as often as checks from a client. If a client skips out on a payment, there may be very few options for collecting whats you are owed.

Life as a Square Peg Gets Tougher as You Age, a Chapter from the Third Edition of Repurpose Your Career [Podcast] - Career Pivot

“Life as a Square Peg Gets Tougher as You Age,” a Chapter from the Third Edition of Repurpose Your Career [Podcast] - Career Pivot Episode #129 â€" Marc Miller reads a chapter from the upcoming third edition of his book, Repurpose Your Career. Description: The chapter, “Life as a Square Peg: Gets Tougher as You Age,” from the upcoming third edition of Repurpose Your Career, addresses the challenges of working in a career or a workplace environment that does not fit well with your personality. Marc explains how to learn what type of work personality you have, and how to find the unique work environment and qualities that will fit you best, so you don’t have to fit a square peg into a hole of the wrong shape for you. Key Takeaways: [1:04] Marc welcomes you to Episode 129 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot brings this podcast to you; CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you, free of charge. [1:33] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc reaches, the more people he can help. [1:54] Next week, Marc will interview Rich Karlgaard, who is the publisher of Forbes Magazine and the author of Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement. [2:12] This week, Marc will read a chapter from the third edition of Repurpose Your Career called “Life as a Square Peg: Gets Tougher As You Age.” Now on to the podcast… Download Link | iTunes|Stitcher Radio|Google Podcast| Podbean | TuneIn | Overcast [2:25] This chapter, along with the two previously released chapters, is now available to the Repurpose Your Career review team. If you’d like to be part of that team, please go to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam and you’ll receive new chapters as they become available. [2:48] Marc is looking for honest feedback and would love to get an honest review on Amazon.com after the book has been released. [2:57] Marc currently plans to release the book in mid-to-late September with both a virtual and a real book tour. He will be in Austin, NYC Area, and D.C. during the months of September and October. Marc would love to meet his readers and listeners. [3:15] Reach out to Marc at Podcasts@CareerPivot.com if you’d be willing to give him some advice on venues or groups that would be interested in hosting an event. [3:28] “Life as a Square Peg: Gets Tougher As You Age.” You play a role at work. The closer that role is to your authentic self, the happier you are likely to be. We act on the job to fit into the culture. We behave as we believe our boss or team expects us to. [3:54] Many business cultures show little value for interest in the arts, expect employees to follow the rules, award employees for being extroverted, want you to check your emotions at the door, and value strong, engaged leadership. Some of these behaviors may differ from how you normally function. [4:17] When you’re younger, it seems easier to be an actor at work. The older you get, the more exhausting it is to put on ‘the show.’ After decades of acting, you just want to be left alone to do what you do best. You don’t want to pretend interest in things that aren’t relevant to doing your job. You know your job better than your boss does. [5:01] This is especially hard when you’re a square peg in a round hole. Some people are square pegs because their personality doesn’t lend itself to the social dynamics of the workplace. That is Marc’s situation. Marc is an introvert but he has to act the role of an extrovert. [5:24] Some people are square pegs because the culture of their industry doesn’t fit them, like an engineer who is highly emotionally intelligent. Sometimes they came to a job from another country and everything about this culture requires them to act in a way that is different from how they grew up behaving. [5:44] Marc has been working with quite a few square pegs who do not fit into the traditional roles that organizations define. Some squeeze themselves into those roles and end up unhappy and unhealthy. Stress wreaks havoc on their health. [6:09] Personality Square Pegs: Marc, an introvert, used to be able to stay in character as an extrovert for a long time, in his 20s, 30s, and 40s. In his 50s, staying in character became exhausting. Periodically, Marc would be completely depleted, which was not how people knew him. He would take a long time to recharge, especially if drained. [6:41] Our society is biased toward extroverts. Extroverts make more money. They are taken more seriously as leaders. They are perceived as more competent. Susan Cain pointed out in Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking that many of our great thinkers and artists have been introverts. [7:03] That’s only one kind of square peg. There are others. [7:08] Creatives: Creative people have a high interest in music, art, and literature. Many creatives have abandoned those interests because they can’t fit into what our economy values or is willing to pay for. These people often express their creativity in colorful spreadsheets or attractive Powerpoint presentations. [7:32] Autonomous: Autonomous people don’t like staying between the lines. They want the freedom to do it their way. They’re good in chaotic situations where they get to make the rules. [7:44] High Empathy: People with high empathy treat people with kindness and caring and want their colleagues to treat them in the same way. Marc has worked in high-tech for most of his career. High-empathy people are not generally welcomed or considered the norm. [8:01] Low Authority: Low-authority people would prefer having a colleague to a boss. Trying to micro-manage them is not pretty. Their personality is largely incompatible with today’s work environment. [8:18] Industry or Company Mismatch: The Project Manager. Marc had a client who was a top-flight IT project manager. Her boss would give her a project; she would run it for a year, then her boss would give her a new project just like it. This was a dream scenario for a lot of project managers, but not for her. [8:45] Unusual for her profession, she wanted to constantly learn new things and tackle new challenges to develop in her career. She talked to her boss who was surprised. He had been keeping her in her comfort zone. That was the last thing she wanted. [9:12] Musical Technologist: Marc has met multiple musical technologists. It’s very common for engineers to have a high interest in music. Marc talked to “Ron,” who works for a large hospital system. He evaluates systems and stays on top of all the technology the hospital implements. [9:36] Electronic Medical Records and related technology have accelerated the rate of change. Ron has a huge interest in music that he put aside for years. Ron can keep up with the technology but he doesn’t want to. What was once fun is now a lot of work. He spent the last years caring for elderly parents. He is done fitting into the round hole. [10:23] The Creative Technologist: “Sam” wandered into technology a long time ago when he graduated from college. He has worked in IT departments of large companies and gotten pretty good at it. Now he’s in IT security, a hot area, but he is sick of it. He is both mentally and physically tired. In his 50s, he no longer fits into the round hole. [11:01] He is physically fit and can do his job but he no longer wants to do it. Sam is highly creative and would love to marry his technical knowledge with some form of art. He is now exploring video options with virtual and augmented reality. Can he make a go of this and keep putting his children through college at the same time? [11:27] Cultural Dyslexia: These are people born in an indirect culture, such as India, China, Japan, but who spent their teenage years in a direct culture, such as the United States and Europe. They attend Western universities and acquire Western personality traits. They do not feel they belong in either their birth culture or their adopted culture. [12:00] We will see a lot more cultural dyslexia as people move around the world. Marc has seen cultural dyslexia cause people great angst as they try to fit in that round hole. [12:18] Square Pegs and Financial Requirements for the Second Half of Life: Marc was blessed that his first tech startup job left him debt-free in his late 40s. Marc had children in his late 20s. Many others waited to establish their careers before having children. Many in their 50s are putting children through college. [12:48] We have lived through two horrible recessions that decimated retirement savings and children’s college savings. Many square pegs feel they have no choice but to stay in their ill-fitting niche. This is one reason Marc and his wife moved to Mexico. They enjoy a lower cost of living and a slower pace of life. [13:16] For many people, the task is to define and then find their own unique career hole. Marc shows his process for helping square pegs find their unique career hole. [13:28] Define Your Career Hole: Another way to put this is “Know thyself.” You cannot target your ideal working environment unless you know what it is. You cannot find your unique career hole if you can’t define it. Can you clearly articulate what your ideal working environment looks like? For 99% of you, the answer is no. [13:54] Reflect on when you’ve been happy in seven different areas in your career: Boss. When did you have a boss you really liked? What made that person a good boss? Team. When did you have a really great team? What was the makeup of that team? Value. When did you feel valued at work? What made you feel valued? [14:20] Structure. How much structure do you need at work? Who should create that structure? Variety. How much variety do you need in a day? Emotions. Do you need a supportive emotional environment at work? Activity. How much activity do you need? [14:40] You can use Marc’s Career Reflection Worksheet to help with this. Once you have clearly defined when things were really good in the past, go back to times when things were really bad. [14:54] Marc uses the Birkman Assessment with his clients to pick out situations that highlight what causes them stress. Once you have identified those situations, you can determine how to avoid them. You can clearly identify the shape of that unique career hole. You can start the search, locating your unique career hole. [15:15] Now, you have figured out what kind of peg you are and what kind of career hole you need. Create a list of open-ended questions you will use to investigate the companies where you’re thinking of working, to find out if they fit the bill. These questions will evolve, over time. Marc lists sample questions you might use. [15:48] Develop a set of questions for each of the seven areas above. [15:52] Next, target companies within your industry or profession that can hire you. You can dutifully use your questions to determine what companies have a unique career hole that matches your requirements. It will take a great deal of tenacity and patience. [16:11] For some square pegs, it means going to work for themselves. For others, it means working for small organizations that are willing to create unique career holes for you. Do you know the shape of your unique career hole? Are you ready to define it? [16:27] Find restorative niches. Marc appears to be an extrovert because he is a great public speaker. He can work a networking event with the best of them. He can meet and mingle with strangers with ease. When Marc is done, he is exhausted! [16:46] Marc’s extrovert abilities did not develop overnight. In 22 years at IBM, he slowly became “a geek who could speak.” He was paid more money to do this. By his late 30s and 40s, his back would spasm one or more times a year and down for a week or more. [17:07] Finally, Marc had a disk rupture and after taking three months off for bed rest, he kept going. Now that he is over 60, he has to be careful how much public speaking he does. Like other square pegs, Marc has to learn to take time to recover. [17:23] Recently, Marc presented a workshop in Dallas, on working for a multi-generational company. He drove for three hours from Austin to Dallas in the morning, listening to podcasts, gave the two-hour workshop, and drove three hours back again. The time in the car gave Marc a restorative niche. [17:44] Marc has to allow a lot of ‘alone time’ before and after being around people. If he does not, he is ‘dead’ for the rest of the day. As good as Marc is at being around people and presenting workshops, he is a square peg. ‘Shoving himself’ into that round hole is exhausting, especially now that he is older. [18:08] If you are a square peg, a restorative niche might be listening to your favorite music while you work, doing creative projects in your spare time, or connecting with people with a similar cultural background. You still need to do the work to find your right-shaped niche, but this will keep you sane while you do it. [18:31] Marc repeats his opening statement: In pretty much every job, you have to play a role, even if you work for yourself. You have to play a role with your customers or clients. The closer your role is to who you are, the happier you will be. [18:47] Action Steps: Are you a square peg? Write down what roles you have been playing throughout your career that you would like to stop playing, now. Write down some of your personal square peg attributes and how they could be useful in different jobs and businesses. How can you find a way to work around them, where necessary? [19:10] Write down some questions you can ask an employer that would help you see how well you and the organization’s culture could fit. [19:18] Marc hopes you enjoyed this chapter. Marc is very much a square peg. Marc has never fit neatly in corporate roles. He has always forced himself to fit. When he hit his 50s, he found life to be exhausting. Marc now implements regular restorative niches whenever he does things that suck the life out of him, like being around a lot of people. [19:45] You will find a link to the Career Reflection Worksheet mentioned in the chapter in the Show Notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-129. [19:59] The Career Pivot Community website has become a valuable resource for the 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc is preparing to recruit new members for the next cohort. [20:11] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you’ll receive information about the community as it evolves. [20:25] Those who are in these initial cohorts set the direction of this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it’s a community where you can seek help. Please go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more. They are now starting a writers’ group. [20:59] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter. [21:19] Please come back next week, when Marc interviews Rich Karlgaard, who is the publisher of Forbes Magazine and the Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement. [21:35] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. [21:40] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-129. [21:48] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app. Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...