Career Development Plans in the 2nd Half of Life [Updated] - Career Pivot

Career Development Plans in the 2nd Half of Life [Updated] - Career Pivot Career Development Plan?? When was the last time you had a career development plan? Most of us who joined the workforce during the 60’s, 70’s or 80’s remember sitting down with our managers once a year to work on a career development plan. That was when you started your career with one company and planned to stay there for thirty or more years. I started my career in the late 1970’s working for IBM. I did not appreciate the value of doing those plans back then. Boy, those days are over! I was asked the other day about the value of creating career development plans for those of us who are in the second half of our working lives? Our employers no longer get invested in our career development. After all, the average employee stays 4.4 years. Who cares? I sure hope it is you! This post was originally published in July of 2017 and was updated in January of 2020. Baby boomer career development plan So, sit yourself down and create your own career development plan. You will see at the end of this post why this should look like a business development plan rather than a traditional career development plan. What do you want? The first question to address is what do you want to do in your career and life? For many of us, what we wanted at the beginning and the middle of our career is no longer valid. Listen to the most recent episode What I now want in life is highly correlated with what I want out of my career. Do you still want to work for the “man”? I hit that boundary almost 10 years ago when I had an unethical boss. This can be very hard for many of us. We rarely have thought about what we want to do versus what will employers be willing to pay us to do. If you plan on working into your 70s now is the time to create a career development plan that will get you there. For More:Want to Work in Your 70s at Something You Love? Plan Now. What is the Direction of Your Industry? The second question is what direction is the industry heading? Creative destruction is playing havoc with so many industries. You need to keep track of the pulse of your industry. What are the strategic directions? How do trends in your industry correlate with what you want to do? If they do not match up, you may need to go back to step one OR look at a different industry or career path. Things are changing so fast that you do not want to end up in a career disaster area like a few my clients landed in at the age of 65. For most of us in the 2nd half of life what we did in the past no longer aligns with what we want to do in the future. We just need to make sure our industry outlasts our plans to transition out. For More:Surviving Creative Destruction in the 2nd Half of Life Future Skills The third question is, what skills do you currently have and what skills do you need to acquire? Many of us in the second half of our work-life did not think we needed to acquire any more skills. Boy, were we wrong! Technology is changing the world at an incredible pace and no one can afford to ignore the ways it’s morphing the work world. If you think your career will not be affected by automation or robots, then you are smoking something and you are inhaling. You are probably saying to yourself, “I need to go back to school and get another college degree.” NOPE. For most of us that will be a money pit. Read my post â€" College Degree After 50 â€" Worth It? but make sure you read the comments which are quite fascinating. Start looking at online training, certifications and other forms of online learning. For More: Beware Automation and Robots Will Sabotage Your Career. Past Skills The fourth questionis what skills do you want to leave behind. Many of us have acquired skills that are not tied to our talents. If you are not sure you can differentiate your talents from your skills please readTalents versus Skills â€" Do you know the difference? Just because we are good at something does not mean we have to continue to use that skill. There will be times when we just want to leave things behind. For More: What Skills Will You Use in the 2nd Half of Life? Promoting Your Personal Brand The fifth question is, how do you integrate these new skills into your online presence (LinkedIn profile, blog, Twitter feed …), your resume and your personal brand? How are we going to advertise and actively promote our newly-acquired skills? A good place to start is to create a blog. If you say what, please take the time to listen to my interview with Barbara Weibel, owner of the HoleInTheDonut.com travel blog. Listen to the interview here â€"Inspiring Story from One of the Top Baby Boomer Travel Bloggers [Podcast]. Once you have started a blog, the next logical step is to write a book. When I ask people whether they have considered writing a book, they look at me and go, “huh?” Today you can do this at a very reasonable cost. Russ Eanes, a member of the Career Pivot online community has done this and has started a business helping others do the same. For More:Russ Eanes Turns the Walk of a Lifetime into a Writing and Consulting Career #143 [Podcast] Writing the Plan This final step is the new piece of your career development plan. How is anyone going to know that you know your stuff? Many of us in the 2nd half of life are leaving the corporate world and entering the world of entrepreneurship. If you’re one of them, you absolutely have to add the promotion step to your career development plan. Essentially, you are moving away from writing a career development plan and working on a business development plan. The business is YOU! When you start looking at what you do as a business rather than being an employee the plan changes. When are you going to start working on your career development plan or rather your business development plan? 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 ...

Career Crisis where do you want to be in 5 years

Career Crisis where do you want to be in 5 years There I was sitting in a coffee shop having a delightful networking meeting when I was caught completely off-guard by a simple question: where do you want to be in 5 years? My career immediately felt like it was spiraling out of control. In hindsight, it was a wonderful moment a gift, really. Enjoy my story below but first heres one of my favorite career crisis quotes: You cant connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. -Steve Jobs Many of my readers know that I made a huge career transition to move from the corporate world to my current role as an entrepreneur and Career and Leadership Coach. I had so many  dots that lead to my career transition today. Of course, I did not realize these were all  dots as I was experiencing it. I now have the luxury of looking back and making all of those connections. Heres one of my favorite dot stories  below. It was 2004 and I had just moved to Austin, Texas. I worked in the Human Resources Consulting and Outsourcing Industry and didn’t find a lot of companies in Austin that focused in the market. Here is what I knew: I needed to find a job and knew only two people in Austin. Neither of them worked in my industry. Since LinkedIn was only about a year old at this point and wasn’t the ‘go-to’ place for networking, I reached out to my Alumni database. I then found 100 alumni from Marquette University living in Austin! I emailed all of them individually asking for help in my career transition and many of them responded and offered their help. I am still overwhelmed today by the support I was shown by complete strangers. They all had the same questions for me: What type of job are you looking for? Since I didn’t know of any jobs in my industry, I let them know I was looking for a role that was tangential to my current job: Human Resources. My new network did their best to connect me with individuals in HR. I had a lot of coffee meetings with these individuals to network and build relationships in hopes to land a full-time career. At one of these coffee meetings, my world came crashing downor so I thought. I was introduced to a friend of a friend of my Marquette network who worked in HR and we agreed to meet at a coffee shop to learn more about one another. We had some nice pleasantries and he asked me to talk through my career history. So far, so good! This was a pretty commonplace conversation. Then he asked me this question: Where do you want to be in 5 years? For me, this was not a simple question. Suddenly my head started swirling and I felt dizzy. Answering, where do you want to be in 5 years? shouldnt have been THAT hard! There was a rush of powerful and negative emotions that hit me at that moment as I realized â€" I don’t want any role in HR in 5 to 7 years. I don’t want to work in Human Resources for the rest of my life. Then, my next thought â€" if I don’t want a role in HR in the next 5 to 7 years, what do I want to do? That question kept echoing in my head and there were no answers. What do you want to do? I honestly cannot remember to this day how the rest of the meeting went. Did I coherently explain that I didn’t know? Did I say that I wasn’t feeling well and needed to leave? How did I answer where do you want to be in 5 years? I have no idea. I simply remember getting into my car and hysterically talking to myself about not knowing what I wanted to do. This was the first time in my career journey where I didn’t have a plan or even an idea and I was overwhelmed. That question launched me into a full career crisis. The silver lining of this moment is that I found a career coach who helped me work through a career management process: reflection, finding clarity, creating a plan and taking the actions to achieve my goals. This moment, this dot that led to my overall career crisis has helped me understand what many of my clients experience and what they are feeling when I ask, where do you want to be in 5 years? For example: sheer panic over my career overwhelming feelings fear lack of clarity or ability to focus not knowing what the steps were to obtain clarity not believing in myself being unable to assess my strengths or value 12 years later and I can still tap into the emotions I felt on that day in the coffee shop. It was a turning point for me, but I couldn’t realize it the moment. This was one of my dots that has led to my current career. Dots are not always easy to experience; they can bring a myriad of emotions, thoughts and behaviors. I was lucky to find someone to help me take what I learned in that dot and move forward. I encourage all of you, as you experience some of the negative dots, to reach out for help, seek resources; individuals, books, videos, courses, articles, podcasts, etc.) who can help you navigate this part of your career journey. If you would, please share one of your dot stories below! Or share your answer to, where do you want to be in 5 years?

What Features Do You Need in the Best Software For Writing Resume?

What Features Do You Need in the Best Software For Writing Resume?The best software for writing resume is the one that can effortlessly turn your resume into a brochure or a postcard, which can be easily mailed to the employers who were most important to you. The software can automate the whole procedure and you can get done with all the tedious job of writing resumes fast.It can do the work for you because it can present your end result in a professional way that people can easily see. This software for writing resume will automate the whole process of putting together your resume and writing a resume. You just have to find the right one.It is very easy to use because you can find the features that are available in a good software for writing resume. First, you can choose the length of your resume.If you need to add some information after your resume, you can click the 'add additional fields' option. This feature is available in all software for writing resume. But if you want a ful l-fledged way to put together your resume, you will have to choose a full-featured software for writing resume.Second, you can choose the format of your resume. When you use the software for writing resume, you can put your information in columns or bulleted lists.This feature is also available in software for writing resume. You can use these to organize your information as you will not be put through the trouble of reading through your resume.Last, when you use a full-featured software for writing resume, you can choose your font and type your resume with great ease. All the bold type and fancy fonts you have created for your resume will be automatically transferred to the software and used in your resume.When you have chosen a software for writing resume that can do all the above mentioned features for you, you are almost there. Now you just have to make sure that you have picked the best software for writing resume. All the features mentioned above can be found in a good softwar e for writing resume.

How to Write a Resume

How to Write a ResumeWriting a resume is a challenging and useful process. The business world thrives on resumes and so does the workplace. However, as in every other profession, we should tread with care when it comes to writing a resume.First, let us look at why EDP is so difficult. EDP is simply an acronym for Executive Resume Preparation. When you create an EDP, you will be preparing your own executive resume.So, how can you make EDP easier? I recommend that you work on a solid understanding of the job you are seeking, your qualifications, your credentials, your skills, and your experience. What type of candidate do you want for the position?After you have created your job description, write up a page or two. Use as much of the job description as possible, but don't try to give all of it. The page or two should focus on specific skills and responsibilities you wish to highlight. You should cover more than just your expertise, but your capabilities in the given areas.Then, you sho uld add in your skills and experience. Try to include them in a few sentences, so that you can use them as an introduction to your skills. Also, remember that experience is a major factor when it comes to your resume.Finally, as I mentioned, you should include experience in those specific areas. And, don't forget to add a brief paragraph describing the experience you have had working with particular people. Give some examples of where you worked and the level of expertise you provided to them.Writing a resume is a challenging process, but you should never overlook the importance of making it as attractive as possible. By taking time to prepare a decent EDP, you will find that writing your own executive resume becomes an easy task.

Vital Pieces of Writing Your Federal Resume Opm, Ppt

Vital Pieces of Writing Your Federal Resume Opm, Ppt What is Truly Going on with Writing Your Federal Resume Opm, Ppt Lots of people assume the sole method to submit an application for a federal job is with USAJOBS. If you haven't completed a level, list the variety of credit hours you've got and course work completed. Just take the opportunity to carefully comply with the aforementioned advice, and begin revising (or creating) your federal resume! A lot of the advice around federal resumes focuses on the value of vital words. Speak to us for a completely free consultation if you wish to know more or if you truly feel prepared to start on your high-quality federal job resume. If you're on the lookout for professional federal resume writing services you may trust to secure you the federal job you've always wanted, SES Resume Writers is just what you will need. Resumes are written depending on the physical fitness evaluations. Government resumes are likely read by means of a computer at first, therefore it's important to make certain you begin with a very clear summary statement with specific key phrases. What You Don't Know About Writing Your Federal Resume Opm, Ppt Among the huge advantages of the national government is there are positions in every area. You must organize your resume to assist agencies evaluate your experience. The pricing for federal resume services varies based on quite a few important aspects. Instead, tailor your federal resume to fulfill the demands of the particular opening. Click the next link for more info about what to have in your federal resume. The sentences are choppy, incomplete and don't tell a complete story. Concentrate on these sections to understand whether you meet the requirements for the position. Do not neglect to include things like the occupational series numbers together with the start and ending grades of the national positions you held.

Ugg! How Do I Explain THAT On Interviews! - Work It Daily

Ugg! How Do I Explain THAT On Interviews! - Work It Daily Do any of these apply to you: Do any of these apply to you: You got fired for poor performance but don't agree with management about it. You've got a DWI or felony conviction on your record. You quit your last job in a rage and left them hanging. Your last boss was a total jerk and let you go because you couldn't get along. You were caught stealing and were let go. You were accused of sexual harassment (but never convicted) and was let go. You jumped jobs for several years and then got laid off and can't explain why you can't stay employed long-term. m , mm These can be tough things to explain in an interview. Unfortunately, most job seekers don't know what to say (and what NOT to say) in each of these cases. Click below to watch the 3 taped segments on how to deal with tough interview questions that deal with your past. Segment #1 Segment #2 Segment #3 Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!

Does Your Resume Have A Strategy Or Is It Just A Pretty Format and Fluffy Words -

Does Yur Resume Have A Strategy Or Is It Just A Pretty Format and Fluffy Words -In the last couple of years resume writing has changed dramatically. Weve seen a shift in formats, trends, content, and positioning. Gone are the days of objective statements and lists of duties in short bullet point format. The drive for branding, positioning, compelling presentations, and captivating content have taken over.I started Great Resumes Fast after 10 years working in philanthropisch resources and staffing. I saw a desperate need with job seekersso many had no idea how to develop an interview-winning resume, and I was on a mission to help educate them I think thats one of the reasons why so much of what we do offers free tips, advice, and resources to job seekers. Im still on that mission to educate the masses. Be that as it may, I started this journey with a passion to help, and my team has grown by a few people, but theyre as equally passionate as I am.Our writers are some of the fruchtwein sought after, elite writers in the industry. Highly credentialed and trained by the prestigious resume writing academy, our writers do more than just develop resumes and titelseite letters. They craft career documents that position our clients as leaders in their industry, they create strategies that produce immediate results, and they develop and incorporate personal branding into each and every resume.Yes, there is a difference between that $150 resume service and our service. We are not a budget resume service. When you hire us you get quality time and attention. But far more important, you get immediate results. In the past month alone more than 90% of our clients have had 3 or more interviews within the first two weeks of using their new resume and cover letter. Our clients get these results because of our exclusive resume development and branding process. When we craft a resume and cover letter for you, youre not just getting any resume and cover letteryoure getting a branded, bold, and authentic document developed with a customized and targeted strategy catered to your specific job search. Our strategy development and branding process is exclusive to our service you wont find it anywhere else, and Its the main reason why our resumes and cover letters are significantly more successful than the other guys.So my question to youdoes your resume have a strategy? If it doesnt, then its directionless and will most likely stumble, fall short, and be a source of disappointment for you. If your resume has no clear direction, intention, or mission, then you have no edge in the marketplace and will ultimately find your job search taking significantly longer than it should. Take some time to think about what it is you want from your job search, what positions youre looking for, what the requirements are for those positions, and how you can brand yourself. Then develop a strategy for how to best communicate that information in your resume. If youre overwhelmed with t he resume development process or arent sure how to create your brand or your resume strategy, then call and speak to us today so you can start interviewing tomorrow. Visit http//www.greatresumesfast.com or call 800.991.5187.