In this episode, Marc answers employment pivot questions with his trusty sidekick, Elizabeth Rabaey. Listen in for ideas to go forward!
Key Takeaways:
[1:07] Elizabeth introduces herself and her background, including a career pivot she is executing. Elizabeth presents questions for Marc.
[2:14] Q1: A 68-year-old facing forced retirement has skill in journalism, IT, and pharmacy tech, and also has health and mobility problems, but wants to keep working part-time from home. Any ideas, Marc?
[3:21] A1: Focus on health first. Then look into freelance writing. Build a portfolio by pitching to write guest blogs on blogs and sites that interest you.
[5:25] Once you have a portfolio of work, ask a website to hire you at low cost, to get some street cred. When people see you have done work with good ratings, you can look at Upwork.com for freelance opportunities.
[6:13] A second opportunity is at Flexjobs.com.They have a variety of flexible and remote opportunities, for a small monthly subscription fee.
[7:53] Q2: I was fired with cause by a previous employer. I have since worked at a campus Starbucks, which is seasonally closed. What should I do now?
[8:21] A2: When fired with cause, immediately register with a temp agency, and get an assignment. When that assignment comes to a close, you are eligible for unemployment benefits based on the last nine months, so don’t wait too long.
[10:11] Also apply for food stamps while you are unemployed.
[13:00] Q3: A company with an online employment application had required fields for date of high school graduation, current salary, and disabilities (including diabetes). Are those questions legal to ask? How should I respond?
[14:17] A: Those are all illegal questions, which are now commonly asked. You can report them to the EEOC, and not get that job, or you can overlook them and apply.
[16:58] To submit your question, go to CareerPivot.com, click Contact Me, and type it in. Marc will award you a $25 Amazon gift card if he uses your question on the podcast!
[17:35] (Elizabeth starts working on her question!)
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
Take a moment -- go to iTunes. Give this podcast a review!
In this episode, Marc shares the chapter, “Career Failures, and How to Recover from Them,” from his upcoming book, Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life.
Key Takeaways:
[1:35] Is failure an option? If you’re like most people, it’s inevitable, and essential. If you are unwilling to fail, you are unlikely to venture into anything very impressive.
[2:50] Failure 1: Marc was ‘seduced’ by a former manager to leave a job at IBM, and join her at IBM Consulting. Why was it one of the biggest mistakes of his career?
[6:17] Failure 2: Taking his ‘dream job.’ Marc went to teach Math in an inner-city high school. He was not prepared to teach kids whose problems reached far beyond his ability to help them.
[9:33] Failure 3: ‘I can make this work!’ Marc took a job that was not optimal, working in fundraising for a non-profit that was not aligned with his goals, just before a major downturn in the economy.
[11:56] Failure’s upside: Marc is happy he took all three jobs. He learned a tremendous amount about consulting, public education, and non-profits. He also learned a lot about himself.
[12:47] Rules of Reinvention: Have a Plan B. Be prepared to pull the plug on the reinvention project.
[13:05] You might have three or five goals you’re working on, in terms of finances, skills learned, or happiness. Give yourself short windows to achieve these.
[13:33] Make sure the work you’re doing is something from which you could pivot into something else.
[14:57] Take stock of your choices and actions from your past, and what you can take away that will make tomorrow’s choices and actions better.
[18:21] If you have a laptop, an Internet connection, and some hustle, you can start a business right now, with no money down.
[20:06] Have a plan, have a way to gauge whether it’s working, and jump ship when it isn’t. If you planned it right, another ship will come along, soon enough.
[20:25] Questions on this chapter: Have you failed, and hung on too long? What did you learn from that experience? Does that experience deter you from taking a risk?
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life, by Marc Miller, available in early 2017
www.Flexjobs.com/blog/post/webinar-career-failures-future-success/
Take a moment -- go to iTunes. Give this podcast a review!
This podcast is where those of us in the second half of life come together to discuss how to repurpose our careers for the 21st Century. Come listen to career experts give you proven strategies, listen to people like you tell their stories on how they repurposed their careers, and finally, get your questions answered. Your host, Marc Miller, has made six career pivots over the last 30 years. He understands this is not about jumping out of the frying pan into a fire, but rather, to create a plan where you make clear, actionable steps, or pivots, to a better future career. Are you ready to repurpose your career? Let’s get started!
In this episode, Marc interviews Dr. Joel Dobbs. Dr. Dobbs is an experienced life sciences executive, with over thirty years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He has served in a variety of senior leadership roles in information technology, as well as general management, clinical research, regulatory affairs, post-marketing surveillance, academia, and consulting. Dr. Dobbs has served as a member of top-tier executive teams of dynamic organizations, in startup, rapid-growth, turn-around, merger, integration, and change phases.
He currently serves as the Executive-in-Residence at the University of Alabama Birmingham's Colatt School of Business, where he also directs the school's office of innovation and entrepreneurship, teaches, and works with entrepreneurs within the UAB environment and the greater Birmingham business community to help them develop and grow their business. He is also the CEO of the Compass Talent Management Group, LLC, a consulting firm that assists organizations with the identification and development of key talent with designing organization strategies and structures to maximize their ability to compete in the business world of today and tomorrow. Marc and Joel discuss several topics, including Joel’s intentionally varied first half of his life, some of the triggers that started his pursuit of goals for the second half of his life, and how giving back through mentoring, from his extensive experience, is so gratifying.
Key Takeaways:
[2:52] Joel majored in Chemistry, went to pharmacy school, and got a doctorate. He followed a purposefully varied career path, until he retired five years ago.
[8:03] Today Joel is a business school professor at UAB Colatt School of Business.He also runs a leadership consulting business, teaching from the multitude of mistakes he has made over the first half of his life. He finds it tremendously gratifying.
[9:35] In his late 40s, Joel started considering his life’s impact. Around 50, he read Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance, by Bob Buford, and it set his path.
[11:28] Halftime is a period to ask: how do I turn the second half of my life into one that leverages my success, but focuses on significance?
[12:00] Joel began really thinking about what did he want to do next? Was his ladder of success leaning against the wrong building?
[14:25] What did Joel think about his company’s offer of a voluntary retirement?
[16:59] What areas of focus did Joel put in his plan for the second half of his life?
[22:40] Marc comments on how Joel drove his career agenda. He knew when to move on, and he left, always with the goal in mind.
[23:35] If you know what you want to do, and you're able to answer that question clearly, concisely, and decisively, you'd be surprised how often you get to do that.
[24:13] Spend time thinking about the perfect life and writing it down. That very act sensitizes you to opportunity.
[24:22] When Joel checked his perfect life list after years, how much had he achieved?
[26:22] Intentional achievement takes clarity. Usually, clarity does not come overnight.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
LinkedIn: Joel H. Dobbs
Email: Joel.Dobbs@iCloud.com
Website: The Compass Talent Management Group
Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey
Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance, by Bob Buford
Take a moment -- go to iTunes. Give this podcast a review!
In this episode, Marc interviews Chris Farrell, Senior Economics Contributor at Marketplace, American Public Media’s nationally syndicated public radio business and economics program. He is the economics commentator for Minnesota Public Radio, and host of its series, Conversations on the Creative Economy. An award winning journalist, Chris is a columnist for Next Avenue, and the Star Tribune, and a contributor to the New York Times. His most recent book is Unretirement: How Baby Boomers Are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community, and the Good Life. Marc and Chris discuss several topics, including the ageing of the population, and why that’s not such a bad thing; aspects of entrepreneurship; and that living longer, means working longer.
Key Takeaways:
[2:14] For 25 years the personal finance conversation has been on saving for retirement, and the ageing of the Baby Boomers. The economy conversation has been demographics -- the ageing of the population.
[2:41] Both conversations were negative -- Baby Boomers weren’t saving enough to support themselves in retirement; and there will be too many elders supported by too few young people, and that will undermine the economy.
[3:15] There is a whole body of economic work that says this negative view probably isn’t right. Unretirement was written to give this perspective a voice.
[6:03] As an entrepreneur, you control your hours. You are the boss. You make less money. Benefits are more expensive. Yet, all the surveys show that the self-employed and the small entrepreneur are happier than their peers of the same age.
[6:20] Marc cites The End of Jobs, by Taylor Pearson. Written for Millennials, it’s an important book for Baby Boomers, who face the same life and job questions.
[9:17] Pat Flynn’s book, Will it Fly? helps guide entrepreneurs on how to test markets for their products and services.
[10:25] Some Boomers may consider the nonprofit sector. Volunteering is a good way to find if you are interested in that cause, and if you want to work for that organization. Inside the organization you’ll hear about job openings, and you can network.
[14:43] Unretirement is based on the idea that we are going to work longer. What are the personal finance implications of working longer?
[17:08] If you combine working longer with a natural frugality -- having more experiences, like eating out, and getting fewer things, like new cars -- your finances will be pretty good.
[19:23] One problem with planning to work into your 70s is that your own health, or the health of your spouse, or a parent, may prevent you from continuing the same hours. Entrepreneurship may be an answer.
[23:42] Some companies have made adjustments to the ageing workforce. They have strong incentive to keep skilled manufacturing employees on the payroll longer.
[26:35] When transitioning, look for people of your demographic. Where are they working?
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
Contact Chris: CFarrell@MPR.org
Listen to Chris on MPR
Read Chris at nextavenue.org
Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey
The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-to-5, by Taylor Pearson
Take a moment -- go to iTunes. Give this podcast a review!