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<\/a>Last fall, Jan Culp jumped at a chance to join \u201cEncore Enthusiasts,\u201d a new group of 10 women in Seattle who meet monthly to brainstorm about career transitions.<\/p>\nShe had spent the past 15 years working for small nonprofits as a fundraiser and grant writer and was now self-employed after a layoff.<\/p>\n
Culp, 60, figured Encore Enthusiasts could help her amp up the confidence to bump her career to the next level and find a job whose duties involve leadership and strategic planning.<\/p>\n
Positive Reinforcement for Career Switchers<\/p>\n
Positive Reinforcement for Career Switchers<\/strong><\/p>\n (MORE:\u00a0Why Women Should Join Networking Groups<\/a>)<\/p>\n I think joining that group was a smart move for Culp \u2014 and many women in their 50s and 60s should emulate her. You might even want to start your own career group with other like-minded women.<\/p>\n A supportive career group lets members knock around job ideas, discuss options for going back to school, work on ways to improve their resumes and social media skills and learn how to network better. It\u2019s especially useful for women who would like help figuring out how they can launch encore careers and get paid to do work with a social purpose.<\/p>\n The career group you form could even be a spinoff from one you\u2019re already in, like a book club or a local alumni-networking organization.<\/p>\n This idea of starting a women\u2019s career transition club caught my attention at Encore 2013, a conference I just attended in San Francisco, organized by\u00a0Encore.org<\/a>, the nonprofit think tank dedicated to second acts for the greater good. (Next Avenue\u2019s Work & Purpose editor, Richard Eisenberg, blogged about the encore movement recently in his post “Encore Careers for the Rest of Us<\/a>.”)<\/p>\n A Useful Guide to Starting a Career Group<\/strong><\/p>\n While I was there, Marci Alboher, the author of Encore.org\u2019s new book,\u00a0The Encore Career Handbook<\/em>, shared with me a simple\u00a0guide that helps people create encore transition groups<\/a>; it\u2019s a companion to her book.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need a brain trust when you transition to new work, whether it has a social purpose or a career shift of any kind,\u201d Alboher says. \u201cIt’s important to build a group of people you trust to help you.\u201d<\/p>\n (MORE:\u00a0How Women Should Plot Their Careers After 50<\/a>)<\/p>\n What a Group Can Do for You<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, there\u2019s something about the strength you can draw from a small group while planning to make career changes that can be daunting and require soul searching. Members also keep one another accountable for completing such tasks as making a phone call for an informational job interview or signing up for a volunteer opportunity that might lead to a job.<\/p>\n Alboher assembled the guide with assistance from Bernice Bratter and Helen Dennis, both of Los Angeles, whose\u00a0Project Renewment<\/a>\u00a0has more than 25 career groups for women around the country. I recommend their book,\u00a0Project Renewment: The First Retirement Model for Career Women<\/em><\/a>, which has smart thinking and advice about identity, relationships, passions, purpose and careers.<\/p>\n Focus Is Critical for a Group\u2019s Success<\/strong><\/p>\n Dennis, a noted workplace expert, says the keys to a good career transition group are for participants to have similar expectations and a focus. \u201cThis is not psychotherapy,\u201d Dennis says. \u201cThis is not about looking for a new friend or friends.\u201d But it is about getting targeted support.<\/p>\n In my experience, women tend to thrive in these types of intimate discussion groups.<\/p>\n Betsy Werley agrees. She’s the New York City-based executive director of\u00a0The Transition Network<\/a>, a nonprofit networking group for women over 50 with 10 local chapters around the nation. \u201cWe all need a safe space to express fears, where we can say things such as \u2018I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m really qualified\u2019 and it\u2019s OK,\u201d Werley says. These groups can be \u201ca stimulator to learn, engage and be confident,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n 6 Tips for Starting a Career Transitions Group<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019re thinking about creating a career transitions club, here are six suggestions that can help make it successful:<\/p>\n 1. Make sure the group has no more than 12 people.\u00a0Otherwise, Alboher says, it can get unwieldy and impersonal. With fewer than a dozen women in the room, everyone can participate.<\/p>\n 2. Limit meetings to no more than three hours.\u00a0Time is a precious commodity \u2014 you might even want to put a two-hour cap on sessions.<\/p>\n Women often prefer to meet on weeknights instead of giving up a chunk of their weekends. Depending on age and eyesight, some members may not want to drive at night. So everyone will have to figure out what\u2019s best for the group.<\/p>\n (MORE:\u00a0The Key to a Successful Career Shift: Asking for Help<\/a>)<\/p>\n 3. Consider charging membership fees.\u00a0\u201cIf people pay something ahead of time, even a small amount, then they will show up,\u201d says Carol Vecchio, executive director of the\u00a0Centerpoint Institute for Life and Career Renewal<\/a>, the Seattle nonprofit that sponsors Culp\u2019s Encore Enthusiasts group.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they haven\u2019t paid even something nominal \u2013 $5 or $10 \u2013 they may not feel truly committed to the event,\u201d she says. The meeting fee can help absorb the host\u2019s cost for supplying refreshments.<\/p>\n 4. Before the first meeting, ask each woman to determine what she most wants to get out of the group. Vecchio says this will help ensure that everyone has complementary objectives.<\/p>\n \u201cSaying \u2018I want some support\u2019 is too broad,\u201d she notes. \u201cWhat kind of support? Hearing others\u2019 stories? Job search tips?\u201d<\/p>\n 5. Ensure confidentiality.\u00a0Alboher calls it setting up \u201cVegas Rules\u201d (You know: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas). At the first meeting, explain that nothing anyone says can leave the room.<\/p>\n 6. Plan each meeting\u2019s agenda. One session might center on networking, another on brainstorming dream jobs, another could focus on entrepreneurship. Money issues related to shifting careers can make a great topic, too. Tess Vigeland’s Next Avenue article “Shedding a Tear Over Vanishing Investment Clubs<\/a>” offers other options for banding together to learn about money issues.<\/p>\n How Culp’s Group Is Helping Her<\/strong><\/p>\n So how\u2019s the group working out for Culp?<\/p>\n \u201cHearing other people\u2019s stories, I realize I\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0have the skills and the experience to move up,\u201d she says. \u201cPlus the group has opened my mind to new ideas. Instead of talking about a job title I\u2019d like, I\u2019ve learned to describe to the group the kind of work I want. That\u2019s broadened the kind of job I am seeking.\u201d<\/p>\n And that, as Werley says, is a stimulator.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n posted by\u00a0Kerry Hannon<\/a>, \u00a0More by this author<\/a><\/p>\nKerry Hannon has spent more than 25 years covering personal finance for Forbes, Money, U.S. News & World Report and USA Today. Her website is\u00a0kerryhannon.com<\/a>. Follow her on Twitter\u00a0@kerryhannon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n