{"id":8736,"date":"2021-04-25T07:09:35","date_gmt":"2021-04-25T11:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=8736"},"modified":"2021-04-25T07:09:52","modified_gmt":"2021-04-25T11:09:52","slug":"top-strategies-for-50-job-seekers-in-a-covid-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=8736","title":{"rendered":"Top Strategies for 50+ Job Seekers in a COVID World"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a>Say one word that sums up what most of us have done with our working lives this past year. I\u2019ll throw out the first pitch.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Recalculate.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s what you do when things don\u2019t go the way you planned.<\/p>\n

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So when I finished reading an advanced copy of Lindsey Pollak\u2019s<\/a> smart new book, \u201cRecalculating: Navigate Your Career Through the Changing World of Work\u201d (available for purchase March 23), <\/em>I interviewed her. We spoke by phone during what we called \u201ca walk and talk,\u201d as she took her morning power pace through the streets of New York City.<\/p>\n

Read: Once considered on the cusp of retirement, these workers are taking a \u2018gap year\u2019 after successful careers<\/a><\/p>\n

I was interested in learning more about how workers 50+ impacted by the pandemic can recalculate. I admit I\u2019m one of them, and always on a quest for savvy insights. Pollak is a member of Generation X and an expert on career and workplace issues.<\/p>\n

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Here are edited excerpts from that recent conversation with her:<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kerry Hannon: What do you see as the big trends coming out of this work transformation we have undergone?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Lindsey Pollak; photo courtesy of Pollak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lindsey Pollak:<\/strong> The headline is it\u2019s not that things are happening that weren\u2019t happening before. It is that everything that was beginning to build pre-COVID is now accelerated 100-fold. That includes more remote work opportunities. I don\u2019t believe everybody is going remote or suddenly all companies will be remote, but there will be more remote opportunities.<\/p>\n

Number two, there was already a trend toward gig workers and consultants and short-term work and contracts, and we are going to continue to see that.<\/p>\n

Read on MarketWatch<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n

Multi-generational workforces are rising. People are living longer, working longer into their 70s and 80s, and that will keep building.<\/p>\n

Companies, who were maybe aware of that, but not doing anything about it, are going to realize that their workforce is a lot more age-diverse than they ever imagined. I think some companies will realize that is a real opportunity<\/em> for them.Let\u2019s do a speed round on your top strategies for job seekers in the new world. I\u2019ll toss one out from your book, and you can riff on it. Let\u2019s go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Control w\"\"<\/a>hat you can<\/strong><\/p>\n

I remind myself of this every day. I can\u2019t tell you how many people during a workshop, or through email say \u2013 \u2018I think everybody else has more experience than I do.\u2019 Or \u2018I think everybody else applying is younger.\u2019<\/p>\n

They focus so much on the competition, and that doesn\u2019t help you at all. There is absolutely no upside to focusing on other people. You have to stay in your lane.<\/p>\n

Control you. Control your habit of every day reaching out to three people who can help you with your job search. Watch webinars. Apply for jobs.<\/p>\n

Ask for help<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have to get over the shame of telling people that you\u2019re job hunting, and a lot of people feel that. I don\u2019t have a ton of great psychological advice about getting over shame, but you have to get past the fact that you are job hunting. That doesn\u2019t make you needy or lesser than.<\/p>\n

Nobody is going to be critical for losing your job or looking because of Covid. What could possibly be your fault about that?<\/p>\n

Remember that life and career transitions are often extremely stressful, tiring, and anxiety-inducing. Honor that.<\/p>\n

Asking for help is really hard. For people who won\u2019t do it, or simply can\u2019t get past the discomfort, the corollary is to offer to help others.<\/p>\n

Form a group of people who have been laid off from your company and help each other. Reach out to someone in your network and say \u2018what can I do for you?\u2019<\/p>\n

And people use LinkedIn wrong. They go in and say what can I get? It should be who can I help today? By the way, help means \u201cliking\u201d an article someone posted. Help means responding to a question. So if you go in knowing you are giving help, it can also be a lot more comfortable to take help in return.<\/p>\n

Tune out the negative self-talk<\/strong><\/p>\n

I need some help with that and am personally working on it. I\u2019m happy to say that. Recruiters have told me that when people ask how they can avoid ageism, or if the company is going to not like them because they are older, is that they are thinking that about themselves.<\/p>\n

One of the first things out of their mouths is \u2018I am probably too old for this job,\u2019 or \u2018I am probably old enough to be your mother.\u2019 Ageism is real, and it is upsetting, but also don\u2019t shoot yourself in the foot.<\/p>\n

The antidote to negative self-talk is action. If you are submitting a r\u00e9sum\u00e9, if you\u2019re attending a webinar, if you\u2019re updating your LinkedIn profile, if you\u2019re mock interviewing with someone, you shift from thinking to action, you start to get out of that cycle of negative self-talk.<\/p>\n

Adopt a growth mindset<\/strong><\/p>\n

The word is: yet.<\/em> It\u2019s that tiny little three-letter word that is incredibly powerful.<\/p>\n

The exercise I use in the book is to say or write down\u2026I don\u2019t have a job \u2026yet.<\/em> I can\u2019t take any credit for this. It\u2019s from psychologist and Stanford University professor Carol S. Dweck, who literally wrote the book on the subject in \u201cMindset: The New Psychology of Success\u201d.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how it works: whenever you find yourself in a fixed mindset, \u2018I just don\u2019t have the experience start-ups want\u2019 or \u2018I don\u2019t have the interview skills to succeed\u2019\u2014just add the word \u201cyet\u201d at the end of the sentence, and it will open up a whole new world of possibilities.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about making a conscious choice to change your perspective and focus on the opportunities in your situation. Ask: \u2018What do I want now?\u2019 to move your attention from what you\u2019ve lost to what you want to create.<\/p>\n

When you add the word yet<\/em>\u2026anything can get a little bit better. Anything can change if you have that mindset. I love baby, baby, baby steps.<\/p>\n

Keep building your contacts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most job opportunities come from other people. It is so easy to apply for jobs online now, and the pandemic has exacerbated this. Plus, there are so many virtual tools like one-way job interviews where you aren\u2019t even interviewed by a person, but a computer program.<\/p>\n

The more automated the job market becomes the more valuable it is to have a human being advocating for you. That only comes by meeting people.<\/p>\n

Reach out to people who went to your college, or your high school\u2013almost anyone who shares a school with you is probably going to take your call or respond to your email. That is such an untapped network. Your college career center will help you, even if you graduated 50 years ago. They will make introductions for you. It\u2019s so powerful.<\/p>\n

What is the biggest surprise in the writing of this book for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The importance of mindset and attitude.<\/p>\n

By Kerry Hannon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Photo by Elizabeth Dranitzke, Photopia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kerry Hannon<\/a><\/em> is a leading expert and strategist on work and jobs, entrepreneurship, personal finance and retirement. Kerry is the author of more than a dozen books, including <\/em>Great Pajama Jobs: Your Complete Guide to Working From Home<\/a><\/em>, <\/em>Never Too Old To Get Rich: The Entrepreneurs Guide To Starting a Business Mid-Life<\/a><\/em>, <\/em>Great Jobs for Everyone 50+<\/a><\/em>, and <\/em>Money Confidence<\/a><\/em>. Her on Twitter <\/em>@kerryhanno<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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