Extended Job Search--Take Charge!

If you have been out of work more than a few weeks, ask yourself this question: "Who is in emotional control of my job search today--others or me?" Like so many, are you riding a roller coaster of emotions from a wondrous high when a prime job prospect surfaces to an extreme low when that prospect falls through?  You will never eliminate all job-search peaks and valleys but no one can rob you of the unbending faith in an ultimate favorable outcome. Your challenge is to restore positive momentum in the face of inevitable short-term disappointments.   I've been there and done that. After losing my CFO position in 1986, I spent 15 months in a frustrating job search. During that period I was first or second runner-up for no less than five CFO positions--you can imagine how deflating it was when these jobs went to someone else! Following each set-back, I took several weeks to recover positive emotions and recharge my campaign. In hindsight, throughout my campaign I let advertised job postings dictate my job targets, lingered over lost opportunities and consistently failed to seek out and identify viable back-up possibilities.   There is a better way! First, you need to hire yourself as CEO of your own job search or career transition. As I suggested in last week's blog, you begin the process by preparing a detailed description of the position of your dreams. (Subsequently, you may need to modify the this target to fit reality.) Next, you will need a comprehensive job search or career transition strategy, the same as you would had you been hired as PR Agent or Career Counselor for someone else. If you need help, speak with qualified friends or colleagues or hire an outside service.   Once target position and strategy both have been defined, your ongoing task is to execute. This means daily searching out new opportunities, measuring potential jobs against your ideal and marketing yourself to prospects. At any point in the search process, I recommend you have at least three primary targets:   "Up to the plate"--your immediate target employer (preparing for interview, exhaustive research, follow-up, etc.) "On-deck"--your very next in line (scheduling interview, preliminary research, etc.) "In-the-hole"--identify and make contact (screening, networking within company, sending resume, etc.)    At all times visualize yourself performing your dream job functions. Before each interview, modify your dream to imagine working for your specific "up to the plate" employment prospect. Pre-interview, think and behave like an incumbent. In your mind, confront the challenges you and your prospective employer will face as you perform on the job. Once the interview is over and you've done all you can do, move on to imagine yourself working for the next, "on- deck" employer. Exept for identifying mistakes you made, refuse to linger over lost opportunities.   Under the universal law of attraction, so long as you genuinely expect to accomplish cherished carrer objectives you will remain on track and positively engaged.  The universe will provide; ultimately you will succeed! Next week, I will discuss upfront "financing" of career transition to buy peace of mind and the time needed to locate your dream career.   Tell me about your own mid-career job search experience. Please respond to this blog or send your comments to my e-mail address: roy@middleagerenewal.com. For more on the multitude of challenges of middle age, please visit our MART web site, www.middleagerenewal.com.

Middle Age, Out of Work?--Create your Ideal Job

Are you at mid-life and unemployed--perhaps for months, even years? Are you frustrated by traditional job search? Is no one hiring for a position like the job you lost? Take heart--you can first define, then seek out or create the position of your dreams. I know this because I have been through 2 extended job searches myself and today have the perfect job for me.   This is the second in my series of blogs on mid-life career transformation. This week's challenge is to prepare in detail a position description for the job of your dreams. So what do you really want to do over your remaining productive years? Once completed, we can concentrate on turning your ideal career vision into reality.   Take out a clean sheet of note paper or create a new word document on your laptop. At the top of the page, list a job title for your ideal position. On the next line, list your intended next employer which may be "you" if you intend to launch a new business, purchase a franchise or work from home. Targeted employer may be either a specific entity or a general category of business, government or non-profit enterprise.   As a third step, list anticipated primary job functions you wish to perform. Fourth, list required vocational qualifications and educational prerequisites. Fifth, identify the person(s) to whom you will report (this may be "no one" if your goal is self-employment) and those who will report to you. As a final entry, at the bottom of the page write down annual compensation you expect to receive.   Once completed, examine your dream position description as you would an attractive job posting in a newspaper or on the Internet:   1. Would my ideal position as defined provide significant value to others?   2. Am I qualified this very day to assume my dream position? Would a personnel manager     or executive recruiter consider hiring me?   3. If not fully qualified now, can I become so given a reasonable amount of time, effort and     money?   4. Will anticipated compensation along with spousal earnings and other resources be     enough to support targeted family lifestyle?   5. Do my spouse and offspring support my targeted career transition? Will they share in     necessary sacrifice?   As a final exercise, visualize yourself performing anticipated routine daily tasks and functions. Is this truly how you wish to spend the remainder of your productive years? In the past, have you enjoyed and excelled at similar tasks? Are you certain that the vocation of your dreams is not simply a passing fancy?    Should you conclude after examination that your dream position is not a realistic possibility, your secondary task is to define an alternative position which is. At age 50 with no previous medical training you cannot realistically target to become a physician. On the other hand, should you excel at business and desire to promote health, you might target hospital or clinic administration, opening a health food store or marketing health care products from home. Your goal is to identify a realistic secondary career option provides similar gratification. Once fully defined, this secondary position will become your primary transition target.   My primary advise for today is to place yourself squarely in charge of your own job search by first defining in precise detail the position you seek. Next, you continually imagine yourself occupying your targeted position which over time will cause you to think and act like an incumbent. You can measure actual future employment opportunities as they arise against your ideal. Next week I will demonstrate how to establish and maintain a positive mindset tharoughout your search which invariably leads to an ultimate favorable outcome. The following week, I will suggest a method of take-charge, up-front financing which can "buy" you all the time needed to ensure a rewarding career in life's second half.   Please comment on this blog or contact me with questions or suggestions at roy@middleagerenewal.com or call me at (515) 221-9902. I encourage you to visit our MART web site at www.middleagerenewal.com.

Over 40, Unemployed, No Prospects--Time to Renew!

With the US jobless rate hovering around 10% and extended job loss becoming the norm, is it time to panic? Not at all! Assuming you can achieve an optimistic outlook and an unwaivering belief in self, right now may be the ideal time to plan out and launch your second half.   This is the first in a series of blogs on career make-over. Rather than seeking a new job in a vacuum, take time out--days, even weeks, if needed--to define your very own "ideal vocation." As your own CEO, precisely how do you wish to spend the remainder of your productive years? How much emphasis will you place on earning a living? What is your targeted end-point and how much as you willing to sacrifice to get there?   Ignoring for the moment earnings potential and your qualifications, what would you most like to do? What did you like and dislike about prior positions? What do you enjoy when free to set your own agenda? What are your favorite sports, hobbies and leisure-time activities? What vocations do you most admire? Of all those you know, who has the best job? Where do friends and loved ones suggest you would excel?   Your next challenge is to apply a hard dose of reality: "Will anyone pay me to perform the activites I most admire? Will I contribute value? If the answer is no, you will need to follow-up by researching more realistic alternatives which might provide similar satisfaction.   Once a realistic vocation is targeted, your next task is to visualize in exquisite detail your performance of the desired position and to immediately begin thinking and behaving as though the desired position or career were already yours. Trust the universal law of attraction: a consistently positive mind-set invariably attracts a positive result!   In future blogs, I will share insights into choosing a target vocation, wresting positive emotional control and financing an extended career transition. In the interim, please visit our web site www.middleagerenewal.com or e-mail me with comments o questions at roy@middleagerenewal.com.   Good luck in remaking life's second half!