Mailbag — Divorce, and Later-in-Life Job Search Questions [Podcast]

Episode 38 – Marc and Elizabeth answer some of your career questions about getting a master’s degree later in life, stress, and using weak ties to find new employment.

Description:

In this episode, Marc answers questions with his trusty sidekick, Elizabeth Rabaey. You can learn about her career pivots in Episode 020. Listen in to this episode for ideas on planning a path to the end goal, harvesting contacts in similar and adjacent industries, coping with stress before searching for a job, and pivoting to a new industry using your core value proposition!

Key Takeaways:

[2:44] Elizabeth introduces herself. After pivoting, she is the marketing coordinator for an international company. Elizabeth invites listeners to connect with her on LinkedIn to share experiences. She enjoys working with Marc, and helping on the Mailbag episode!

[3:27] Q1: I am 49 and am going through a divorce. I’ve been a housewife since 1992. I’m going to college for an MBA. I have eight years ahead of me. I am hoping to support myself by a job in Hawaii after I get my MBA. I will have no debt. Any ideas what to do?
[4:06] A1: Marc notes she will be in her late 50s, with no experience, after getting her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Rather than looking at an MBA, she should look at her actual goal. Marc connected her with contacts in Hawaii, to understand that economy. Marc suggests buying a franchise or business, learning trade skills, or something else.
[6:49] Marc says many of the best jobs today didn’t exist five years ago. What will exist in eight years? Divorce later in life often leads to poverty. This client doesn’t want to leave Hawaii. Marc put her in touch with a Hawaiian workforce specialist to help her.
[7:33] Q2: I am a 56-year-old account manager. I was just laid off from a position that I held for 18 years in the moving industry. I’m getting depressed, as I have been unsuccessful in my job search. I have been applying to jobs every day, but never hear back. What should I do?
[7:51] A2: Account managers are becoming rare in B2B sales. The need for account managers has been greatly decreased. Marc helped someone very similar to this. See the: Introverted Sales Guy Job Search” blog on Marc’s website. The key piece is, your next job will only come from somebody you’ve worked with over the last 10-15 years.
[8:43] You’re going to have to go back and carefully harvest all of your contacts, people you have worked with, reach out to them where they work now, and see if they are willing to help. The answer is most account managers are really nice guys. Usually, they’re very good at relationships. Very often people will remember them positively.
[9:25] As Marc did with the Account Manager who came out of the equipment manufacturing business, he had the client very carefully go on LinkedIn to find his previous employer’s page, look for similar companies, and adjacent industries, who need the same skills, and look for weak ties at those companies.
[10:27] This is a long process. Look for connections every day. You don’t know when you will find the right contact who can help you, who has a job, in an industry where you fit. Start taking really good care of yourself, eating right, exercising, and getting up at the same time, and managing your own health. Your mental attitude is absolutely critical.
[11:26] Q3: I am a 52-year-old traffic manager. My job has gotten toxic after I was transferred and I uncovered fraud. I cleaned up the mess, but it has taken quite a toll on me emotionally, and after everything was cleaned up, the owner brought in someone over me who has ethical flaws. I have been looking for a year. What should I do?
[11:57] A3: This is a family-owned business. The challenge with working for a family owned business, not being family, is that it can get ugly. He’s an emotional guy. When he was getting rid of people, and getting his tires slashed, it really took a toll on him. If you’re stressed out, no one is going to hire you. First, chill out.
[13:14] In this situation, he will need to stop caring about doing a great job. He needs to work on his own emotional health, and get rid of stress. Marc suggests the book Positive Intelligence to get out of stress. The point is to stay in the positive mind three times longer than in the negative mind. Find your emotional saboteurs. Name them.
[15:20] Then you need to find your core value proposition. This gentleman’s core value proposition was recruiting drivers. We don’t have enough drivers in this country. Build a brand that sells your core value proposition, in your LinkedIn profile, your resume, and more importantly, when you talk to people. That is your primary selling point.
[16:04] He needs to look at himself as a product, understand what his core value proposition is, and go sell that ‘product.’ He’s getting offers that are not local, but his wife has a good job, and he doesn’t want to move. He can move into a different niche because his recruiting skill is transferable. He should think of himself as a consultant.
[17:57] When Marc left corporate America, he was completely stressed out. It took him six-to-nine months to distress before he was useful again.
[19:30] Marc has started recording the audio version of his book. He is also working on the Career Pivot Community website. This will be a membership area of the current CareerPivot.com website. An initial cohort of members is helping develop the content. Look for more on this, in the coming months.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. When you get done reading the book, please leave an honest review on Amazon.

Careerpivot.com
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me

Episode 020 Elizabeth Rabaey

Elizabeth Rabaey on LinkedIn

CareerPivot.com Introverted Sales Guy Job Search

Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential AND HOW YOU CAN ACHIEVE YOURS, by Shirzad Chamine

CareerPivot.com Episode-38

Take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. Please give this podcast a review and subscribe! If you’re not sure how to leave a review, please go to CareerPivot.com/review, and read the detailed instructions there.