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Full Employment is Here Except For Baby Boomers

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Full Employment is Here … Well, It Sure Does Not Feel Like It.

Full employment well maybe
Copyright: lightwise / 123RF Stock Photo

All of the data that is being published says we are at full employment. With unemployment rates below 4%, we should all be feeling pretty good.

Why then does it not feel that way? I speak at job clubs every few months and try to attend them on a semi-regular basis. The faces I see are well… old. Some of that is because these people are part of the long-term unemployed. Being unemployed over 26 weeks is a real drag on your health.

According to the AARP Public Policy’s Employment Data Digest, the numbers are pretty good. The unemployment rate for those over 55 years of age is only 3.2%.  This is based on those who are either working or looking for work. The employment rate (sometimes called the employment-to-population ratio) refers to the proportion of the civilian non-institutional population that is employed is only 38.7% which is one percent higher than it was in December of 2007. This includes a lot of people who have retired.

This is not so bad, right? We are at full employment, right?

Why does it not feel right?

Where not to be Old and Unemployed

I live in Austin Texas, where the unemployment rate is under 3%. Wow, that is great.., right? Well not if you are over 50 years of age. The unemployment rate if you are over 50 exceeds 12%.

Back in 2015, The Atlantic published the article Where Not to Be Old and Jobless which listed Austin as the #4 worst place to be old and unemployed.

AARP has funded a program at Austin Community College called Back to Work 50+. This program targets the most vulnerable members of the community, primarily women, who if they do not find work will likely become impoverished.

I was at my breakfast club a few months back where we had a prominent speaker say, in Austin, if you want a job you can have a job.

If we are at full employment, why do we need such a program like Back to Work 50+?

Retired Because You Want to or Have to?

I know a fair number of people who have retired before the age of 65 but they are mostly retiring from government jobs.

I also know some people who have retired because of health reasons, either their own or their spouses.

Then there are those of you who have given up looking for a job, took your social security early and checked out. We know that 40% of people who initiate social security do so at the age of 62. Only 7% wait to take social security until the maximum age of 70. Since you are no longer actively looking for work, you are labeled as retired. If you have retired you will not count in the calculations for the unemployment rate.

I do not know this as a fact but it is my feeling that many of you fall into the last 2 categories, retired for health reasons or because you can no longer find work.

Remember, we are at full employment … right? Everyone who wants a job has a job… right?

Is It a Skills Issue?

There is no question that we have a skills mismatch in the market. We are seeing creative destruction accelerate through so many industries. This is eliminating positions where skills were acquired and honed over many years. I wrote about a couple of clients in the post Living in a “Career Disaster Area” at the Age of 65 where their worlds disappeared in less than 5 years. You will also find this post on Forbes.com. 

You might be saying to yourself, I will refresh my skill set and make myself viable again. There are so many ways to acquire new knowledge and skills. There are many inexpensive and free online educational websites where you acquire the knowledge and skills in the latest technologies and industries.

Once you acquire those new skills, will any consider you for employment? I have lots of examples from the Career Pivot Online Community (which is currently in beta), where members have acquired skills in the latest programming technologies and data science and still cannot get hiring managers to speak with them.

Hiring managers do not want to invest in the careers for people in the 2nd half of life. The way I have heard this expressed in the past is, “they do not have enough career runway”.

When we are at full employment should we be worried about having enough ‘career runway?’

Adapt or Be Left Behind

Marti Konstant, author of Activate Your Agile Career: How Responding to Change Will Inspire Your Life’s Work, who was on episode 82 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast said it best, adapt or be left behind.

You have a choice, you can plan for the future that will be significantly different than today or be left behind. It is a choice!

There are several members in the Career Pivot online community who are working to get ahead of the change. They are taking bold action to put them in a position to be ready for the change.

A classic story of change is Mike Martin who is now a drone pilot instructor. You can hear Mike’s story, which is an extraordinary one on the “Repurpose Your Career” podcast episode #24. When Mike started down his journey to becoming a drone pilot instructor that career path did not exist.

Many of us will want or need to work into our 70s. Working in our 70s will not look like working in our 50s. It will most likely be a combination of different types of jobs.

Does It Feel Like Full Employment to You?

I wrote this post because this employment scene does not feel right.

I would like to get your perspective. If you would be so kind to comment below I would really appreciate it.

Am I smoking something or are the numbers not telling the complete story?

Marc Miller  

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What If You Are Not Passionate About Anything? [Updated]

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What If You Are not Passionate About Anything?

Well, there are a lot of us out there who are not passionate about any ONE thing. We are passionate about a combination of things!

I have talked about those interests that you must fulfill to be happy. In my last post, I talked about my wife and her very high outdoors interest.  She knew about this — kinda but she was not aware of it to the extent that she would go outdoors when she felt blue or just needed a boost.

What happens when you are not passionate about anything?

What if you have so many interests that there is not one thing that drives you? Society tells us that being passionate about one thing will drive you to success.

I hate to tell you but that is BS! I am not passionate about any one thing, but a lot of things, and I am fine just that way I am!

Note: This post was originally written in May 2012 and has been the most popular post on CareerPivot.com ever since. It was updated in June 2018.

Interests = Passions

I do have a lot of interests but nothing I am passionate about.  The following graphic came from my Birkman assessment. A score of 85 or above is a strong interest and a score over 90 is something you must have in your life to be happy. Notice I do not have any interests over 82. I like to do a lot of different things.

What you will notice about me is:

  • I like putting things together, either physically or logically. (Mechanical)
  • I like helping people.  I have run help desks, support groups and been in training most of my career. (Social Service)
  • I like to research stuff and figure things out. (Scientific)
  • I like to propose ideas and communicate. (Persuasive)
  • To a lesser degree, I like the outdoors. (Outdoor)

For More: Do your skills match your interests in your career?

Multipontentialite

Multipotentialites have a lot of different interests. The problem is there is no single interest that drives them. The one common theme is they love to learn.

You could describe me as a multipotentialite. I like to do a lot of things, not just one.

For More: Are you a Multipotentialite?.

What do I not like to do?

  • I am not a reader AT ALL! (Literary)

If you have read earlier postings you would have learned that I graduated from high school reading extremely poorly.  I read at maybe 30-40 words per minute.  Reading was hard work! Even though I have overcome that in the last 30 years, I still do not read for enjoyment.  I read books when required.

I do not love to do anything.  I like to do a lot of things.  This is both good and bad.  On the good side, I have been able to move around in my career: programmer, engineer, trainer, IT consultant, public speaker, salesperson, school teacher, help desk support person, non-profit fundraiser and now a career designer.

On the bad side, I have been directionless from time to time. I wrote about this in my post when I left teaching titled, Dealing with that Directionless Feeling.  Rather interesting –  this post is found by readers using Google search every week. I am not the only one who gets this feeling from time to time.

What Can You Do About It?

I have long accepted that I need variety in what I do on both a daily and long-term basis. In my career, I have typically changed jobs or area every 3-5 years. This means I have made a lot of lateral career moves, which as a baby boomer, I was told was not something you wanted to do. We were supposed to always be looking for that next promotion.

I followed my own drummer!

I now try to make a change to my business every year to add variety.

I started the Repurpose Your Career Podcast in 2016, which has added a lot of variety. Learning how to produce a podcast has stretched me considerably.

The Career Pivot community website project was started in 2017 and is currently in beta. Building a membership website and community is something I have never done before.

In 2018, along with my virtual assistant, we have been re-organizing the website. You will probably notice the section –

Do You Need Help With …

at the bottom of every post and in the sidebar. We spent a lot of time digging through the nearly thousand pieces of content on the website and organized it into portals. This was fun! We created a Start Here page and eight portal pages.

I purposely make changes to keep things interesting. I am not passionate about anything. I am passionate about a combination of things.

How about you?  Do you feel that you are not passionate about anything?

Are you NOT driven by a single calling? Check out my post about being a multipotentialite and let me know if that resonates with you.

Note: This post is found daily! If you have found this article you are not alone. There are a lot of us who are not driven by any single interest. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME OR YOU.

Marc Miller  

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I Want to Be Hired Before I Move Dilemma

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I Want to Be Hired Before I Move

hired before I move
Copyright: lculig / 123RF Stock Photo

I live in Austin Texas and over the years I have heard, “I want to be hired before I move.” They do not want to commit to moving here until they secure employment.

Austin is the 11th largest city in the United States according to Wikipedia with over 900K people. Yet it still behaves like a little city. Who you know is key to finding a job.

If you are looking for a job in Austin, do not live here,  and in the 2nd half of life with family and a mortgage, the employer will assume you will want a moving and living package to get you here. That is a non-starter for most employers.

In order to get hired, you will need to build a network in the location where you wish to move AND make it appear that you are already there.

Building a Network Remotely

You will need to get very strategic in building a network of connections in the location where you want to be hired.

You will want to find people who look taste and smell like you, which are people with similar backgrounds, certifications, and are employed in the kinds of jobs you are looking for. Reach out to these people and send them a LinkedIn request like the following:

[Name], 

I see you are employed at [insert company name] as an [insert job title]. I am looking to relocate to [insert location] and would like to find a job similar to yours. Would you have a moment for a short phone call so I could get some of your sage advice?

In the meantime, please accept this invitation to connect.

[Insert your full name]

Notice I did not ask them for help finding a job. I only asked for advice which is a compliment. You should read my post title Asking for AIR – Advice, Insights, and Recommendations.

I would start with acquiring 100-200 contacts in the target location. You are not going to stop there but you should follow Gary O’Neal’s advice to plan on contacting with 600 people. I would highly recommend you listen to Gary’s interview on the Repurpose Your Career podcast episode 58.

Gary runs the recruiting operation for AustinHR an outsourced HR company.

Build a Target List of Companies

Finding people who look, taste and smell like you is a great way to build a target list of companies for your job search. Where you find these people employed are companies that are capable of hiring you. Not every company should be on your target list as you will need to vet each company.

Look for other resources like Chambers of Commerce, The A to Z Database which you can commonly gain free access at your local public library, and professional organizations. For example, if you are supply chain professional, I would look at the local APICS chapter.  If you are a project manager, I would look for the local PMI chapter.

You are going to scour high and low looking for companies that are capable of hiring you. Notice I said capable of hiring you and not that they have current openings.

You have no idea what positions are available by just looking online. If you think you know please read my post 5 Things You Will Never Know About the Hiring Process.

Create a Persona

You will want to create a persona that gives the impression that you live and work in the location where you want to be hired.

Set your location on your LinkedIn profile to the location where you want to be hired.

Set the location of your current position to the new location. If you are currently employed you may have to create a new position. You can have multiple current positions. If this is unclear check out my post Why Are You Not Being Found? Try Thinking Like a Recruiter.

Next, you will want to acquire a phone number with an area code in the location where you want to get hired. You can acquire a number from Google Voice or Skype. I have both a Google voice number which is free and a Skype telephone number which I pay an annual fee. I use the Skype telephone number so that people can dial me on Skype where I record podcast interviews. The number at the top of this page is a Google voice number and it forwards all calls to my iPhone.

You may want to enroll in a service that will give you a local, physical mailing address. A good example of this is PostScanMail service. For a monthly fee, they will receive mail for you at either a street address or a P.O. box, scan the mail and email you the contents. My plan is to use a service like this to receive business correspondence for Career Pivot after we move to Mexico next year.

Make Regular Visits

You will need to make regular visits to the new location. Maybe once every other month you will plan a 3-4 day visit and plan on having a packed schedule on every trip.

Having face time with all of the contacts you have developed is critical to building relationships that will get you a job.

I know, I know – you cannot afford all of these trips. Well, you may have to couch surf, find discount airline tickets, or take the bus – but you cannot eliminate this last step.

In other words, get your butt there and meet people face to face. Make the most of every trip by having meetings scheduled to make the most efficient use of your time.

Finding a job in a remote location without having to move is hard work. Do it strategically!

Marc Miller  

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Combat Age Discrimination with Strategic Relationships [Updated]

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Combat Age DiscriminationCombat Age Discrimination with Strategic Relationships?

Have you used a strategic relationship to combat age discrimination?

We first want to look at what we mean by age discrimination.

Most of you reading this are over fifty years old and probably have had to combat age discrimination.

I have heard it many times where someone has said, “I walked in the door for the interview, the expression on the face of the interviewer said it all. He/She is old!”

They are probably thinking one of the following:

  • They will never be able to keep up!
  • Their skills are out of date!
  • They will not be able to get along in an office filled with younger people!
  • They are out of date in this world of Social Media!

Why do they think that way?

I want you to go back to your first memories of your grandparents. Over the years, did they slow down? Did they not understand the younger generation?

Many of our biases are based on our own experiences. Could you see your grandfather working next to you? My guess is probably not.

If the hiring manager is in his thirties and sixty-year-old walks in, his thoughts will be shaped by his life’s experiences.

Strategic Relationships

How do you combat age discrimination? You take the fact that you are older out of the equation. It all comes down to having strategic relationships. This is how you combat age discrimination!

If you walk into the interview, and this is the first time the interviewer forms an opinion of you, well… you are in trouble.

I have previously written about a Targeted Job Search. This is where you target the company and not the position. You develop strategic relationships with the target company with the idea that they call you when a position is available.

I had a discussion recently with a friend, Tom, who is over sixty years old. He had his own business for the last twenty years, but the recession had wiped out his customer base. He was now looking for a job, and it was not going well. He had a few interviews, but everyone told him he was overqualified.

I told him his next job would probably be based on a strategic relationship. His eyes lit up as he had just completed a six-month contract that came through a lifelong contact, a small business owner.  The small business owner had hired some twenty-somethings to do a project. He was very unhappy with their work and he called Tom and said are you interested?

That small business owner did not think of Tom as his grandfather. He was not concerned Tom would not be able to keep up. He knew Tom!

Weak Ties

When I left the high-tech world the first time and got certified to be a high school math teacher, my strategic relationship was with my chiropractor! My chiropractor knew me well and knew my values. More importantly, she knew a lot of people. Strategic relationships can come from anywhere in your life.

My chiropractor is a weak tie. A weak tie is a relationship that could have been dormant or someone that you have a loose connection with. I saw my chiropractor every few weeks but would I call her a close friend? No. The advantage of weak ties is they know people that you do not know. If you want to learn more about weak ties check out my post — Discover the Power of Weak Ties After 50.

Has Your Network Aged Out?

A common theme with many of us in the 2nd half of life is our network has supported us throughout our careers. Many of our career moves were presented to us by mentors or peers. As we grow older so do our mentor and peers.

What happens when those people retire, leave positions of responsibility or worse die? Our network withers and the strategic relationships that supported us through the years disappear.

If you want to combat age discrimination you need to be ever vigilant on building relationships. More importantly, you will want to build those relationships strategically at your target companies. You can read more about this topic in my post — Search Aged Has Your Network Aged Out and Abandoned You?

Strategic Relationships are Nothing New

Most of us have been building strategic relationships throughout our career. We did not think about it, we just did it. Now that we are in the 2nd half of life, we can no longer let it just happen. We need to be purposeful in building relationships if we want to propel our careers into our 60s and 70s.

Every interview I have had in the last ten years has been acquired through a strategic relationship. When I walked into the room their initial opinions had already been formed. This is nothing new.

Are you ready to be strategic in developing relationships to combat age discrimination?

Let me know what you think with a comment below!

Marc Miller  

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Over Sixty and Out of Work – Options [Updated]

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Over Sixty and Out of WorkOver Sixty and Out of Work

Being over sixty and out of work can be a very daunting experience. I want to expose some issues and then offer options.

Your Home is Your Castle

Home ownership has been a tenant of being middle class. Unfortunately, we have traditionally recovered from recessions by moving to where the jobs exist. That has not happened in this recovery. The house is a giant boat anchor!

Note: I originally wrote this post in April 2013. It was updated in December of 2017

We have the lowest level of mobility since this has been measured. The collapse of the housing industry has frozen many in their homes.

On the other hand, I live in Austin, Texas. We did not experience the housing bubble to the extent the rest of the country did.  I was talking with an over sixty and out of work woman whose profession can no longer be found in Austin, but she is bound and determined to stay here. She loves her house and lifestyle.

There are times when it is time to throw in the towel and move.

Yeah, yeah, I know you love the big house, yard, garage to store all of your stuff!

Is your home a boat anchor?

I Need a Job that Will Last 10 Years Until I Retire!

I hear this over and over. It ain’t happening! A little over ten years ago Facebook did not exist!

What skills will be required in ten years? I do not have a clue?

I just read the Intuit 2020 report that stated that 40 percent of the workforce will be freelancers or contractors by 2020.

Note: The Intuit 2020 report was written in 2010. It is almost spot on with most of its predictions.

We have seen creative destruction accelerate at an amazing rate. I wrote about creative destruction in my post, Surviving Creative Destruction in the 2nd Half of Life. Your next job will not last 10 years because there is a high probability that it will be SMACed. Social, Mobile, Analytics, and Cloud.

Are you ready to freelance or work contracts?

Are you a Knowledge or a Service Worker?

The Great Reset as described in Richard Florida’s book The Great Reset: How the Post-Crash Economy Will Change the Way We Live and Work states that we are rapidly moving to two-tier employment scheme:

  • Knowledge workers
  • Service workers

The middle tier skill jobs are being replaced by automation. I just saw an article that stated that manufacturing is returning to America but just not the manufacturing jobs.

If you are over sixty and out of work you really need to assess whether you are a knowledge or service worker. If you want to be a knowledge worker you may very well need to beef up your skills! There is nothing wrong with being a service worker. It just does not pay as well!

You cannot buy happiness!

Options

Downsize everything! We sold the big house and bought a condo. Greatly reduced our living expenses. I traded in my 2003 Honda Element last year for a two-year-old Subaru Outback and my wife drives a Honda hybrid. I drive 3-4000 miles a year. We spend half of what we used to spend. By the way, we are happy!

Expand your geographic boundaries. Like I stated earlier, I live in Austin Texas. Austin is still a government/university town. The metro area is over a million people, but we have little manufacturing or distribution, few major company headquarters, and lots and lots of small businesses.

In the last few years, Dell, which is headquartered in Round Rock just North of Austin, has cut back on their manufacturing, and therefore, they have let go some very talented logistics people. There are not a plethora of logistics jobs in Austin. I tell them to look to relocate. They do not want to relocate!

Relocate Abroad

Part of my business plans is to move abroad and take my business with me. You can read about the process in the following posts:

I created Career Pivot to be a virtual business where I could serve my clients from anywhere. I am now creating an online community where those of us in the 2nd half of life can gather together to support one another and I can provide training and group coaching.

Would You Want to Participate?

I have created a waitlist you can join if you would like to participate in the group. This is not a commitment to join but I will choose the next beta group from the waitlist. People in the beta groups will have a lot of influence on the content and structure of the community.

You can also go to https://careerpivot.com/community to join the waitlist.

We Are Moving!

Yes, my wife and I have decided to move to Ajijic Mexico in 2018. The decision centers around cost of living, health insurance and taxes in the United States. You can learn more by listening to the podcast Why The Millers are Moving to Mexico and How They Will Do It! [Podcast]

You Do Have Options

Jobs are changing and moving around the world. You may have to move to the job!

If you are over sixty and out of work, are you willing to relocate? At your own expense? Are you willing to have a sense of adventure and relocate abroad?

Be prepared to freelance. With the right skills, many employers will hire you for 6-12 month contract positions. I have two former clients who have their project manager certification, PMP, and are happily working 6-12 month contracts. I know of many people doing this today!

Build an Online Business – In 2017, I joined the Flipped Lifestyle community to assist me in creating the Career Pivot Community. This is two former Kentucky school teachers who help people build online businesses, primarily membership websites, to assist their members in flipping their lifestyles.

In Conclusion

I know this is the message you want to hear! The world is changing, and it is not going to stop for you.

I am now over 60 and this is not what I expected when I wrote this post in 2013. I am drinking my own Koolaid and moving where it make the most sense.

Have I missed something? You tell me by leaving a comment…. please. Particularly, if you are over sixty and out of work!

Marc Miller  

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