Letters from the Mail Bag

You have questions and I have opinions. These are the top 5 questions from the last few months. If you have ideas, you are welcomed to share.

Why are  Boomers expected to conform to Millennials at work and not the other way around?

Dear Boomer:

While more Baby Boomers (born ages 1946-1964) tend to be in leadership roles and management; the Millinnials are responsible for doing the work. In 2015, the Millennials (born 1982-2000) became the largest generation in the workforce. 28% of millennial responded to a recent survey saying they are already in supervisory/management positions. A full two-thirds say they expect to be in management by 2024 according to a recent study. And yes, there are often generational stle clashes. I hear of more issues when Boomers report to Millennials than the other way around. The oldest GenX members turned 50 in 2015. As long as everyone stays focused on the organization’s goals, you both win! It is important not to label people—this answer was filled with descriptions to define the generations.

How can I update my LinkedIn profile without all my connections, including my co-workers seeing that I am improving my profile? 

When you are on your LinkedIn profile, go to your photo in the upper right corner and tap. In the drop down menu, choose “ manage privacy and settings.” Under Privacy Controls, Choose whether or not to share your profile edits. Voila you are ready to fully update your LinkedIn profile to draw the attention of recruiters. Make sure to add a professional photo. If you need more LinkedIn assistance, I can confidently recommend Wayne Breitbarth’s book, The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success. He’s a good guy, the book easily will become a reference book and he offers a lot of free online information.


Where can I find Social Security projections?     

Dear Pre-Retiree:

I like to go to the source: https://www.ssa.gov/retire/estimator.html is an encrypted site from the Social Security Administation.

There is also a social security calculator on the AARP.org site:
http://www.aarp.org/work/social-security/social-security-benefits-calculator.html

Talk to a certified financial planner about what is best for your personal situation in claiming your Social Security benefits.

Now, I hate long-time job and I am scared to leave because I am not sure I can earn the same salary if I start somewhere new.

Dear Unhappy Employee:

I always go back to the old Tony Robbins quote, “Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” You have to ask yourself what about your job do you now hate? Maybe that will change and you can stay as long as you like the work. Is it a new boss, new company owners, something change in your personal life or your job duties? If you are actively job-hunting, there are ways you can research the salary if the time is not right to discuss it with the recruiter or hiring manager. There is salary.com (I hear groans from the HR readers), glassdoor.com is another site to explore and your professional organizations may have offer salary ranges based on location. You might also consider finding a local career coach to help you manage your next step.

How can I have enough money to live through retirement?  

Dear Future 90-year-old:

Can you imagine being a vibrant 90-something? If I knew the answer to your question, I’d be very rich or in a minimum security government facilty somewhere warm. Outliving our retirement savings is a concern even for those of us with defined benefit pension plans to supplement social security. If you read the blog posts, you’ll see that I am a proponent of “encore careers” and doing something you love after your primary career ends. I have a friend who started a successful winery, Chapin Family Vineyards in Temecula, CA after a 25-year career in medical sales. Another friend brings in extra cash during retirement as a photograher focused on weddings and babies. Some work part-time a couple of days a week.

Share your responses!

OWN Your Career (Part 2)

This week I’ve been inspired by two dear friends that have taken action to manage their careers. If you have not had a chance to read part one, please do.

http://workinglater.blogspot.com/2015/10/you-have-to-own-your-career.html

I received an e-mail this week from someone who has had it! She is done, she is through, she’s worked hard to make a difference  at her organization and you know what?….it is time to move on! That is career management and owning your career. It is knowing when it is time to stop trying to save an organization that doesn’t want to make changes and when you have to take Mahatma Gandhi’s advice personally, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

There comes a point in a career when making a move is a better answer than beating your head against a wall. I have been there. I have done it. It is scary and SO worth it. Even if the move is temporary and you have to make an additional career move; you gain confidence by taking action to stand up for yourself at work. If you have children, you show them the example maintaining self-worth in their careers like they would in a personal relationship.

This individual added me to her ‘circle of trust’ as she makes her escape to a better job situation. She is working on her resume, updating her LinkedIn profile, doing selective networking. It is all about taking  constructive ACTION—she is working, updating, doing. She’s not expecting the organization to change; she’s not waiting for someone to save her career and she’s not just going to sit there and let something happen to her. Hint: None of those things work. Even if you wait to get laid off and get a severance, the emotional will impact your confidence to interview for a better job. The severance is never enough money.

People ask me how do you know when it is time to move on. Tony Robbins puts it like this, “Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.” Here are some other signs when you need to do the hard work to make a job change:

1—You are moving toward something, not running from a bad current job situation. You are looking for an opportunity to learn something new, to move into a leadership position and expand your experience or to learn a new skill.

2— Going to work makes you sick, literally. I know a person who had migraines that usually started Sunday evening or Monday morning. Some Sunday nights the back of his neck was so stiff he could barely move his head from side to side. His body was trying to tell him something.

3— From a personal business perspective there’s no compelling reason to stay. You have reviewed options for health benefits, you don’t have to repay tuition reimbursement or relocation benefits if you leave now. You are not weeks away from being vested in a company pension,  401(k) plan or receiving an annual bonus. If you can, do not leave any money on the table when you leave your present company.

4— You are being put in a compromising position. I received a telephone call from an executive assistant I met at a career talk several years ago. Her boss repeatedly asked her to lie to his wife when she called while he managed several affairs with other women. My advice to her was to get away from him as a boss ASAP. She found another role in the company. Anytime you are being asked to do something illegal or you experience illegal behavior toward you—tell HR. They are obligated to investigate. If the offensive or illegal behavior is part of the company or department culture—it is time to find a new role—out of the company or department.

5—Nothing you do is right. You may have done the job for years, but now it is not good enough. Your performance appraisals or other documentation (warning notice, performance improvement plan, suspension or occurrences) put you at risk for being terminated with cause. Your manager tells you verbally your work is poor; your work is returned to you for a re-do or worse yet, it is given to co-workers for a do-over. Unless that manager leaves, it is seriously time to consider a change.

Career Management IS Urgent

I am often asked what is career management. Career management is the steps you take while you are employed to insure that if you are suddenly unemployed or in an unacceptable situation, you can bounce back quickly with a great new job. Those steps include face-to-face networking with key contacts in and outside your organization; updating your resume, managing your profile and presence on LinkedIn, actually attending local meetings of your professional organization and maintaining certification. At that point, most people tell me that with their family and home to manage, kids, grandkids, pets and aging parents, they don’t have time to do their job at work and do that career management stuff.

The comment bubble over my head says, “well, join the club!” What comes out of my mouth is, “wow, you’re really busy.” 

Could you manage being unemployed six months or more? That’s the question you have to answer for yourself if you decide not to proactively manage your career. The situation for 40+ workers is that it takes longer to rebound from an unexpected career transition. That’s how it happens-suddenly, unexpectedly, shockingly fast. Here’s what happened to me.

Memorial Day weekend 1997, I was enjoying a cook-out with family in the Chicago suburbs. A family member came outdoors and said, “Don’t you work for Boehringer Mannheim Corporation?” (badly butchering the Boehringer part) “On CNN they said the company was just sold.” As a member of the human resources leadership team my manager reported to the CEO and I worked closely with the executive team. This made me confident my relative heard it wrong. So, I went inside to listen since CNN cycled the same stories repeatedly on the slow news days of a holiday weekend.

“In a deal exceeding 11 billion dollars Roche Group of Switzerland purchased the German entity, Boehringer Mannheim GmbH in a move that caught industry analysts and experts by surprise.” Everything said after that was a blur. What did it mean? How was I going to be affected personally? Where is my boss? I called his home, no answer. (No cell phones or texts back then.) Finally I reached an HR colleague on the phone. We were both stunned.

My story ultimately had a happy ending. The acquisition was an opportunity to learn a lot about HR very quickly since I had just come to the function from sales a year before. There were more opportunities to learn about global issues. Four years later, because of contacts made and experienced gained, I was able to launch an independent human resource consulting firm. It didn’t have to work out that way and many times it does not.

Managing a career does not have to be a time-consuming activity. You can exchange resumes with a friend and share critiques over a quarterly face-to-face catch-up. Once a week I spend 10-30 minutes managing LinkedIn connection requests, deleting connections trying to sell me anything, hiding inappropriate posts, reading articles and using the “settings” feature to prevent connections from being notified of my maintenance. Once a quarter, I try to enroll in a free webinar, attend a workshop or attend a professional talk. Arizona State’s, ASUx has free courses online and MOOCs (massive open online courses) are offered by many colleges. Over the course of a month, it is a couple of hours at most.

Proactive or reactive, it’s your choice. It’s your career.

Career Wisdom from the Experts, Part Two

"Be willing to put in the work and also if you have a deadline that you don't think you will make, don't wait until the date passed to communicate where you are. Over communicating is always better, especially early in your career." (16 years in the corporate workforce)

Millennials often make the argument that 40+ workers gained their experience during a booming economy, without social media pressures and in a less competitive business environment. According to a new survey from Michigan State’s College Employment Research Institute, hiring for new college graduates with Bachelor degrees is expected to increase by up to 16%. It is important for newer graduates to remember, the hiring managers and leadership of companies are generally 40+ years old. While their experience may be from the 70s, 80s and 90s—they are the managers new grads will interview with today. Their perspective counts. This is part two of advice from experienced workers to newly minted graduates in a project initiated by TheLadders.com to provide tips to new college grads about to enter the workforce.

#6: During the interview process, new graduates should attempt to be more open, relaxed and honest. It is important that they don’t try to “oversell” their skills and abilities. (retired, 30 years experience including HR and recruiting)

#7: After interviewing new grads, I would advise them to carefully consider the companies they are interviewing for. Not to jump at the first offer if the fit isn't right. There is more for a new grad than "just a job" and the culture, the opportunity and the experience can sometimes outweigh that first paycheck. (hiring manager, 45 years work experience)

#8: After a 25 year career, I switched to a nonprofit where I have worked the last 9 years. At my nonprofit, we had Americorp VISTAS for 3-4 years, six at a time. It pays a poverty level stipend. They all worked in different departments, working on a variety of projects. They gained real work experience, sometimes gained a clearer career direction, gained contacts. Many chose assignments in their home towns to lessen the affects of their low salaries. Some Americorp VISTA participants chose cities new to them. Many obtained jobs in their fields afterwards. Not all assignments are what you might think. (34 years of work experience)

#9: Never underestimate the value of early experience. Finally, I have my dream job in my 50's. It was a combination of related basic job skills experience I learned in my 20's, plus contacts and friendships I made in a completely unrelated field in my 40’s. (30 years of work experience)

#10:  (a) Once on the job, be a team player and go the extra mile. (b) Keep your mouth shut, eyes open, listen and don't expect "to get," earn it. (a working couple with 40 and 41 years in the workforce)

#11: Be realistic about what job you get/want, what your responsibilities will be and how fast you will progress. Use this realistic perspective to ask informed questions during the interview to gauge the business culture of the organization to see if it aligns to your immediate 0-5 year goals. (15 years of work experience)

#12: I'm responsible for the grads and interns at my company and I see how some young people act once they have the job. Many believe they still hold the same value of being new, young, energetic without adding any additional value to a business. Some expect unrealistic super assignments, special accommodations, etc. Companies may provide this if the new grad provides return on the company’’s investment in them. Younger workers need to appreciate  their value beyond their youth and make a tangible contributions to the organization. (hiring manager, corporate mentor, 30 years work experience)