Career Strategies
Exploring a Career Change
Q:
Hi,
After being in information technology for dozen years I think it is time to move on. But I am not sure if its the right move and how will it affect me and my family? To give a back ground I do have Engineering degree and experience with dealing people and technology. How do you think I should explore and plan for this? I am in my mid 30s.
Thanks,
Yamini
A:
Dear Yamini,
It’s hard to offer a lot specific advice based on the information you’ve included in your question. But let me suggest a couple of ways to think about your future plans.
Is there a way to shift half your job? By that I mean, move to a role in which half of what you do is based on your current strengths and half the role depends on stretching into new skill sets? The obvious move would be to move to a management role or relationship role related to IT. But there may be other options, if you think about it this way.
Is there a way to leverage the reputation and social capital you’ve built up in your current organization to help you move into a different field? Often the company that’s most likely to support your moves is the one that already trusts and respects the contributions you’ve made to the organization.
Is there a way to begin a new career on the side? Perhaps by starting up a small business nights and weekends while you maintain your current day job?
Could you leverage this recessionary period to your advantage by negotiating a reduced time arrangement with your current employer? Perhaps they’re looking for ways to cut back on staffing and would be happy to have you move to a part-time position. This would allow to look for a part-time job in a new field. As the economy recovers, the track record you’ll have gained in the new field should allow you to switch into a full-time role.
I hope these suggestions are helpful and wish you all the best!
Warmly,
Tammy
Creating an Electronic Portfolio and Learning New Tools
Q:
I’m hoping you can give me a suggestion or two for targeting my current employment search.
I’m a 55 year-old boomer (with GenX tendencies) with a masters degree in engineering, and quite a number of years of consulting experience, mainly in telecom and IT. I enjoyed my choice of projects, for the most part, from 1991 through 2001. Because of rapid changes in the global economy and technology, I have been increasingly running into what seem to be a pattern of roadblocks to gainful employment. For instance, many of the job opportunities I’m interested in now seem to require electronic portfolios or samples, and/or a variety of development tools which I have yet to learn. Moreover, job designs have changed drastically. In addition, since almost all of my work samples are not of the online variety, I can’t seem to get past the recruiter, gatekeeper, or the first phone interview. I suspect that there are generational forces at work, as it seems many of these first contacts are with Gen Xers who don’t seem to understand what I can bring to their organizations. I am willing to make changes to get a different result. Should I get some coaching and support to create an electronic portfolio that can compete in today’s marketplace? If I do invest the required time and effort, how can I be sure that I will be seriously considered? It’s clear to me that in many instances I’m competing with, or looking to be hired by, Gen Xers who may not see the potential that I see. Should I take a different approach altogether, and if so, what should that approach be? Am I looking in the right places? How can I increase my chances of success? I appreciate any suggestions.
PS: I don’t plan on retiring, ever. I am extremely intelligent, focused, productive, and motivated. That’s part of why this experience is so very frustrating for me, in contrast with much of my prior work history.
Josephine
A:
Hi Josephine,
I’m really sorry to hear that your experience has been frustrating. It’s wonderful to find a field that you can pursue with such passion as you clearly feel for your area of work.
Should you create an electronic portfolio? Unequivocally, yes. If that is the way business is now being done in your industry, you must keep pace—or even be a bit out ahead. You should not only catch up, but make sure you’re pushing pretty close to the front of the pack in terms of your technical sophistication and understanding of the latest development tools. I’d be cautious about attributing your frustrating to a generational difference—it may come into play, but it is much more likely that they’re gravitating to candidates with more up-to-date skill.
Good luck—I hope you’re soon back doing the work you love.
Best wishes,
Tammy
Recommending Books on Career Development
Q:
Hi Tammy:
I love your book on Generation Y - and have used it since reading it. I teach at BU and also work at Natixis Global doing training. If you have any additional references or books around career development - especially in light of the market - that would be great. Would love to have you speak.
Thanks –
Gail
A:
Thanks, Gail!
I’m so happy to hear that you’re enjoying Plugged In and using it in your teaching and training. There’s a Manager’s Guide available on my website that you may find helpful, as well – it includes a discussion guide to use in conversations with Gen Y’s.
I think one of the best books available on adult careers is Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career by Herminia Ibarra (Harvard Business School Press, 2003). Ibarra is a respected academic; most of her research-based papers appear in academic journals. This book, written for a lay audience but based on her wonderful research, documents how adults reinvent themselves.
I quote several of Ibarra’s key findings in the book I wrote for Boomers, Retire Retirement: Career Strategies for the Boomer Generation. Like Plugged In, this book contains frameworks for thinking about the work that you’ll find most satisfying and engaging – in this case, if you’re a Boomer, looking to shape a second career path.
Another book I recommend is Portfolio Life: The New Path to Work, Purpose, and Passion After 50 by David D. Corbett and Richard Higgins (Jossey-Bass, November 2006). As the title indicates, the book discusses how to blend a variety of activities into a satisfying life.
And, I’d love to speak to your group. My speaking engagements are handled by Jacqueline Lewis of Monitor Talent; her information is included on the “contact” page of this site.
Thank you again,
Warmly,
Tammy
Finding a Career that is More than Just Going and Coming from the Office
Q:
Hi Tammy,
I’m from India. I’m unable to sculpt my career path and am just going and coming from the office. I’m an Information Technology engineer in India’s most respected software company. How can I decide my way?
Please help me.
A:
Oh dear – I’m sorry to hear that your work experience is not proving to be stimulating or engaging for you. I strongly believe that everyone deserves to enjoy their work – life is too short, and work is too large a component of it, not to find something that you are excited about.
I talk about this in Plugged In and have developed some self-assessments that you might find helpful. You can download them from this website.
Try to pinpoint the characteristics of situations that you do enjoy – outside work, perhaps in school, or sports, or any other sphere of activity where you have a passion. What exactly are you doing when you feel completely focused on the task, when you perhaps lose track of time, when you’re “in the flow,” as some would say? Then consider whether you can identify work experiences that would have similar characteristics.
For example, maybe you get really excited when you’re interacting with a lot of people, while your current role involves primarily independent activity. Or that you thrive on time-pressured challenges, but your current work is focused on a long-term, distant goal. Whatever you conclude, these considerations will help guide you as you evolve toward a more satisfying role.
It may be that you will need to look for options for work that are quite different from what you’re doing now. Or, once you have a clearer understanding of what you enjoy, you may be able to request roles within your current firm that are better aligned with your interests.
Whatever you conclude, I hope you’ll continue to look for work that you find personally stimulating and rewarding – and that you succeed in your search.
Sincerely,
Tammy
Planning for the Seconf Half of Life—Not Retirement!
Q:
Dear Tammy,
I’ve worked hard for 40 years in business and in “encouraging and enabling people to realize their full potential in Christ,” basically discipleship training in all sorts of settings. My net worth is $1-2 million, miraculously. (Long story!) I am the husband of but one wife for 30 years; our 3 children all had Masters by 24 and are standing firm on their own feet. Aged 60, I plan to take the next 9 months as a Sabbatical to prepare for the rest of my life – the second d half! Any thoughts on how best to do that?
Thanks and may God grant you and yours a great Christ-mas.
Roy
A:
Dear Roy,
Congratulations – on multiple counts! It’s nice to hear how successful your first half has been – and wonderful to hear that you’re thinking explicitly about how to have an equally great second half.
My book Retire Retirement is about just that – preparing for a second round. Here are several key suggestions:
1. Think about creating a portfolio of activities. Most people I’ve interviewed want to do a variety of things in the second half – learning, giving back, earning money, enjoying family, and so on. Don’t limit yourself to trying to pick one thing.
2. Reflect on the characteristics of the work that you’ve enjoyed most during the first half – not the specific work itself, but the attributes that would describe it. Was it team-based, for example, or when you were working alone? Was it when you were working against a deadline or at a steady, predictable pace? And so on. The book lists a number of other possible characteristics – the key is that you want to choose activities that have similar characteristics, if possible, even if they are in very different fields.
3. Assess the practical realities of your life going forward. For example, how do you anticipate interacting with your grandchildren? Will you want to live near them and see them multiple times a week, perhaps even share in the care-giving – or are quarterly visits more your style? How much additional money, realistically, will you need? These considerations, and others outlined in Retire Retirement, should guide your choices.
4. Try things! Adults shift careers most effectively through experimentation – not intellectualized planning. Develop a list of possibilities and find ways to ‘test run’ your top candidates until you settle into ones that bring great satisfaction.
As you’ve realized, you – and all Boomers – have the great gift of a long life expectancy. Warm wishes for much happiness as you make full use of yours.
Sincerely,
Tammy
