Top 10 Career Pivot Posts

This will be the first of two posts that details what Career Pivot readers found interesting in 2015. This post focuses on the most popular articles published in 2015. Next month’s post will list what readers found most often via Google. That will be an interesting list!

Let’s get started.

#1—4 Signs That You Are Working for a Failing Company

I have multiple clients who currently work for failing companies.

These companies fall into a variety of industries:

• High Technology
• Pharmaceutical
• Telecommunications
• Oil and Gas

Each of them have worked for these companies for many years. Do they see the signs that the businesses are failing?

Click here to read the entire post.

#2—Is It Time to Move On In Your Career?

Are you reaching the point where it is time to move on in your career?

Why are you staying?

Inertia. Inertia is a dangerous thing.  You might be saying:

I have been here too long to just leave.

I am too valuable to let go.

I will wait for the next package to come along.

Or, are you just too comfortable in your position, and to move on would be a lot of work?

Either reason is dangerous. In most cases, you probably have not yet formulated a Plan B.

Click here to read the entire post.

#3—8 Best Baby Boomer Career Websites

Good career websites that focus on baby boomers are few and far between. Recently, Hannah Morgan, The Career Sherpa, published her list of the Best Job Search Websites 2015.

Of course, Career Pivot made the list in the over 50 category. There was only one other website in that category, Kerry Hannon’s website. Kerry regularly writes for Forbes, AARP, and PBS Next Avenue.

When Career Pivot made the Forbes 2013 Top Career Website list, I wrote a post where I dissected the list, and was very disappointed—there were only three career websites that focused on baby boomers.

Click here to read the entire post.

#4—Are you a Multipotentialite?

I was introduced to the term multipotentialite by a prospective client last week.

You are probably thinking, “What the….yet another classification, just another way to put me into a box.”

One thing I can say after giving close to 300 Birkman assessment feedback sessions as part of my Career Pivot evaluation over the last three years, none of us fit neatly into a box!

The term “multipotentialite” comes from Emilie Wapnick and her website Puttylike.

Click here to read the entire post.

#5—Top 5 Unspoken Objections To Hiring A Baby Boomer

Note: This was a guest post from Chris Morrow.

There are certain universal unspoken objections that exist when considering whether or not to hire a Baby Boomer. You need to know what they are so that you can deal with them without them manifesting into an insurmountable problem.

Self-talk, at times, can be a wonderful thing. It can persuade us all to be more positive, it can lead us to achieve greater things, to step outside of our comfort zone and to do things we did not think were humanly possible.

Self-talk is not only a power for good, however.

Negative self-talk is built into the fabric of each and every one of us. We make negative assumptions about the world around us in every way imaginable. We talk ourselves out of great things. We look for ways to discredit. We find faults in everything. We do this every single day of our lives. Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise is a liar! It is an inevitability that negative self-talk will happen in the mind of every recruiter or employer when considering whether or not to hire a Baby Boomer. To make matters more complicated they exist only in the minds of the recruiters or potential employers. They will NEVER admit to them or say them out loud.

Click here to read the entire post.

#6—College Degree After 50 – Worth It?

Is attaining a college degree after 50 years of age worth the effort and expense?

There is a lot of conversation about whether higher education is worth the money.

Robert Reich recently wrote a piece for Salon.com titled:

Robert Reich: College gets you nowhere

The Author writes:

This is the time of year when high school seniors apply to college, and when I get lots of mail about whether college is worth the cost.

The answer is unequivocally yes, but with one big qualification.

A college degree no longer guarantees a good job. The main reason it pays better than the job of someone without a degree is the latter’s wages are dropping.

If this applies to a high school senior what about a 50+ year old who has seen their industry or profession disappear?

It all comes down to what you expect to gain from attaining the degree.

Click here to read the entire post.

#7—The Demise of the Paycheck – Good Riddance

Paycheck…where is that dang paycheck? Oh, I did not get one in 2014. That’s right. I have not had a paycheck since 2011.

Because it is January, I started to gather my papers together to do my income taxes. I paid my property taxes today. I made sure to file my quarterly estimated taxes. What was missing is the W-2 statement I used to get from an employer.

It still feels strange not getting a paycheck!

I was raised to be an employee and to work for a father-like company that would take care of me.

Does this seem familiar?

For most baby boomers, we were encouraged to take the safe path, to work for a solid company and get a regular paycheck.

When I started to work for IBM in 1978, I got paid weekly. Every Monday, my paycheck was deposited into my credit union account like clockwork. It was always there! There was security in knowing that there was a steady flow of money coming in.

Click here to read the entire post.

#8—Re-entering the Workforce – Marketable Skills After 50

Note: This was a guest post from Debra Ann Matthews.

Are you over 50, re-entering the workforce, and wondering about your marketable skills?

There are those of you who have served as housewives; still others, who raised their children, then raised other people’s children. You may have taken extended time off to care for a parent.

You who have lived great lives but now desire to get busy and get a job outside of the home may feel that you can’t compete in today’s workforce. We will shed light on your dilemma.

Let’s look at 3 recommendations for those re-entering the workforce with few marketable skills after age 50.

Click here to read the entire post.

#9—3 Signs You Are a Closet Introvert and What to Do!

I will admit that I am a closet introvert!

I am not alone. There are many of you out there who appear to be extroverts, but are really closet introverts.

Is there a 12 step program for this condition?

Why do naturally introverted people start behaving like extroverts?

They get paid to be extroverted! DUH! The awards and kudos all go to extroverts!

Click here to read the entire post.

#10—Recovering from My 3 Biggest Career Mistakes

In my last post, I chronicled My 3 Biggest Career Mistakes. I want to discuss how I went about recovering from those mistakes and give you a model to follow. If you have not read that post, please go read it now.

Recovering from Reinvention Failure

I have been in “reinvention mode” for much of the last twenty years. I started in my early 40s, when I was seduced by a former manager to move to IBM’s consulting group.

After a near fatal bicycle accident, I blindly went off to what I thought would be a dream job teaching high school math in an inner city high school.

After I left teaching, I decided to try my hand at non-profit fundraising. I went to work for a Jewish Community Center. As I said in my previous post, being a non-Jew as the face of a Jewish organization is…interesting! I told myself that I could make this work, but I could not.

Click here to read the entire post.

In 2015, CareerPivot.com received over 160,000 visits to almost 700 posts on the website. This was more than 40% growth over 2014, and this year, I hope to cross the quarter million line!

What do you think of this list?

Wait until you see the list of most found posts in 2015.

Marc Miller Career Design Specialist

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Personal Branding for Baby Boomers: What It Is, How to Manage It, and Why It's No Longer Optional

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