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Fishers, Indiana, United States
Brenda gained career expertise as a human resources leader at a global company before becoming an HR consultant. Her functional experience includes a variety of sales roles in the health care industry achieving success for over 30 years. She is currently in Consulting & Analytics Business Development for a health care firm. Her passion is participating in, writing about and observing the evolving workforce. For the first time in history four generations work together. It keeps things interesting. Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) are redefining retirement and what it means to age in the workforce. It is not just about money. Okay it plays a role! At 76.4 million members strong, Boomers are leveraging technology to continue their careers and the personal fulfillment working brings. Managing a late-stage career requires a strategy. There is no roadmap or one size fits all answer. This blog is about sharing, networking & finding your own right answer to working later, managing your career, redefining retirement, looking for work in your 50s & 60s and reinventing yourself.

Monday, March 30, 2015

Career Wisdom from the Experts, Part One

"This is a time in your life when you can take your time and be picky. Weigh all options and choose wisely. Talk to people who have the job you want. Ask how they got there. The route may be unconventional." (employee with 20+ years experience)

In six weeks newly minted college graduates will begin entering the workforce and according to USAToday.com this year they have a higher chance of finding employment. If it is true, it’s great news because seven of ten college seniors will graduate in debt. The amount ranges from USNews.com’s estimate of $27,666 to $28,400 from the Project on Student Debt. TheLadders.com is currently providing tips for recent grads searching for their first career on their site. The experienced friends of Work, Careers and Jobs @40+ offer career advice for 2015 graduates in this two-part blog post.

#1: Keep a positive attitude. EVERYONE wants to have and keep people around with a good attitude. A good attitude can get you through even some tough early learning experience. And get everything in writing prior to starting a new position. (employee with > 20 years experience).

#2: Advice...be your authentic self. First you have to figure out who that is as an adult, but once you do, answer this question: How does my authentic self fit and how can I contribute to this company's goals? Once you are "in" observe the organization and determine if it is a fit for your personality, professional and personal goals, your current skill set, your passion, and your future desires. This is something that you should do periodically, because your needs change and so does the organization. Observe the leadership and find someone you admire that you feel you can develop an authentic mentor/coach relationship with. If it feels forced then it isn't right. It is great to have peers that you have relationships with, but it is equally if not more important to develop relationships with leaders that you can learn from. (employee with 16 years at the same company-practically unheard of these days)

#3: Do research on a company BEFORE interviewing with them. Have an appropriate email address on your resume. Use professionals as references like a Professor or previous Supervisor. (human resource professional)

#4: Use proper grammar and punctuation along with speaking clearly and not mumbling. Drop any ego or attitude you have. No job is below you when newly hired. You need to work your way up like everyone else does and you're not smarter than anyone there. Say good morning to everyone in the morning, it makes big points. People will remember you. Never stop asking questions. You will always learn something from someone at every level. (20+ years work experience)


#5: Appearance counts during the interview and on the job. Even if the job is behind the scenes, dress for the job you aspire to no matter what position you start at in the company. Understand the company culture and job you are applying for and dress accordingly. (retired, 30 years telecommunications experience)

9 comments:

  1. LinkedIn, get on it before you graduate and learn to use it to search for a job. Most recruiters use LinkedIn and it is free.

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  2. Hi Brenda,
    Your blog was forwarded to me from my Mom. She wanted me to share my story of getting my first professional job as a member of the Class of '15. I am graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and recently accepted a position with a large retailer in Marketing. I have worked in retail sales for two Christmas seasons. I did an unpaid internship for class credit. I met a lot of people and begin talking to my internship coordinator about a full-time position last summer. I hope this helps you and your readers.
    Bridgette

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  3. Really nice blog.Your all points and advice are very helpful.I am agree with you.Career Tips

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  4. Thanks for this, Brenda. Sometimes, the most necessary tips are the ones we treat as a given, such as being ourselves or keeping positive. But that's where our career paths lie: our sense of comfort in engaging with the job environment, and working with people for a considerable amount of time. We can't have those if we aren't comfortable with ourselves. We project that to others, whether consciously or not.

    Waylon Grimm @ All Force Labour Solutions

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  6. Thank you for sharing valuable information about car services. Very Nice post. I enjoyed reading this post.

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  7. I have read number of posts on various other blogs, but this blog is really informative about the latest job opening. I love almost every post here and share another job openings in Delhi NCR

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  8. Thanks for an awesome article! The choice of one’s career reflects his personality. If you want to show your skill so at first your need write a great resume. My university teacher recommended me Top5resumeservicereview.com for write a fantastic resume. Also, I think is really good idea to have someone who helps you in your resume writing.

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  9. Thumbs up..nice,informative explanation about career advice

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