Encore Careers in Unlikely Places

Monday Morning Pep Talk

Working past the age most people retire improves the chance that you won’t outlive your money. 70 is the target age to stop working according to a study from the Center for Retirement Research and was reported in the most recent issue of Money magazine. One of the big questions I am asked both online and at presentations is, “who will hire me at 64 (insert any age 50+)?” Actually there are jobs for older workers and as the economy continues to improve more and more people who dropped out of the workforce are finding there way back. Here are suggestions and if you know great careers for experienced workers, please share. I would love to hear about them.

• Work for Yourself: You don’t have to begin Kentucky Fried Chicken like Harlan Sanders did when he was 65. You could turn a hobby into a business or use your business expertise to provide consulting. I know a couple in their mid-50s who quit their corporate jobs to start a promotional item/event planning business that carried them into a more secure retirement over the next 15 years. If you have the good health, energy and risk-tolerance to start a big business, go for it! Remember my friend chronicled in this post who began a vineyard after a 25 year career in medical sales?     http://workinglater.blogspot.com/2011/11/turning-your-passion-into-career.html   I’ve heard real estate, professional organizers and home stagers are new favorite encore careers that will require certification and/or licensure to be competitive.

• Teaching: Yes teaching! It is not what it used to be. There are so many options. With a Master's degree you can teach at the community college level in your area of expertise. Many time your students are also non-traditional, so you are interacting with people who want to be in class hearing the knowledge and experiences you have to share. You can also teach online in your bunny slippers and no one will know. One of my “retired” neighbors teaches a few days a week at a preschool and she loves the interaction. Visit ccteach.org to learn more about teaching at higher grades.

• Health Care: While some positions in health care are being downsized, there are entire new health care job functions being created. Jobs for patient navigators or patient advocates are worth looking into if you like the idea of helping people and have an interest in health care. There are certification programs to make you more competitive. You can learn more by visiting the National Association of Healthcare Advocacy Consultants.

• Government Work: Am I crazy? No, I am not. Check USAJobs.gov to see which agencies are hiring in your area. I met a woman who mid-career decided that a government position would provide her the pension that none of her corporate jobs had offer even thought she spent 18 years in the workforce. So, she transferred her corporate training skills into a position with a federal agency and transferred to the Department of Homeland Security when we met. That agency didn’t even exist when she moved into the public sector. Since its inception in 2002, the Department of Homeland Security employs 240,000 with an annual budget of $60B in fiscal year 2013. Oh yeah, and that pension…they still have them through the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS).

Think creatively about encore careers especially if could not imagine doing your current job until age 70. You may want to go back for certification or training earlier (in your 40s or 50s) to make yourself more competitive and prepared for a new career when you are ready to make your move. Also, watch out for scams offering training, certification or education that sounds too good to be true.

Size Does Matter: Dream Big!

Monday Morning Pep Talk!

How much longer do you want to perform the work you do today? Even if you are in job search mode are you searching for your dream job or are you looking for work?

There is no right answer because each reponse is as individual as our fingerprint. Financial obligations, family responsibilities and priorities change throughout our lives and impact how much we are willing to indulge in career dreams. In the process of doing what we do for a living don’t neglect to do what it takes to fulfill your life. According to the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, in 2013 the average life expectancy for a woman in the United States is 81 years and the average life expectancy for a man is shorter at 76 years, so plan accordingly because time is running out.

Here are five questions for your consideration:

(1)  What career/work would make you excited to wake up on Mondays?

(2)  Can you turn your passion into something you can make a living doing?

(3)  Who can you talk to and move your career dream closer to reality?

(4)  Can you learn more about or pursue your field of interest part-time or online?

(5)  What one step can you take this week to push your dream closer to reality?

I provide these five thought-starter questions because at the end of this week---the same 7 days, 168 hours and 10,080 minutes will pass for all of us. Your career dream will remain just that without you initiating some action.

Don’t kick yourself if you just can’t make a move yet and you feel stuck. There may be a host of complex reasons. Maybe you feel like you don’t deserve to pursue your passion. Some of us are more comfortable in a pain that is familiar than stepping out into an unknown that is more fulfilling. I can recommend a popular older book you might consider checking out of the library, downloading or listening to on audible.com.

Your Own Worst Enemy: Breaking the Habit of Adult Underachievement by Ken Christian.

Personally, I’ve found it is often better to explore career fulfillment in baby steps than throwing everything overboard and starting fresh. When I left corporate America in 2001 as a single mother to become an entrepreneur, I developed a few clients while I still had a full-time job and income. After four years, I found my way back to corporate life in a different profession. However, I’ve known others who suddenly quit their jobs or invested severance packages into a franchise or starting a businesses and become very successful long and short-term.

If you are ready to get off the sidelines of wondering or wishing—“can I make a living doing something I love” and you want to “get in the game” with your dream, then do one thing to push your career dream forward this week. Maybe you make an appointment to discuss your idea with someone if you are taking a few vacation days next week for the 4^th of July holiday in the U.S. If you need an accountability partner, tell someone what you plan to do or post it on your Facebook page. Take that first step toward getting unstuck. I have one last question for you. If not now, when?

Make it a great week!

Turning Your Passion into a Career

A dear friend of mine turned 65 Wednesday with 9,999 others who reach that milestone daily in America. He didn’t celebrate with a gold watch and there is no retirement party in his immediate future. He worked really hard all day at a job he loves and said there was no where else he would rather spend a birthday. His career has transformed since we met 22 years ago when we worked as medical sales representatives. Now he’s the owner of a successful boutique winery in the Temecula Valley east of San Diego that bears his family name.

Twenty years ago, it was a dream. During a break at a sales meeting, he was reading about vintners in Napa Valley that gave up their day jobs to follow their hearts into the wine business. “One day I would love to do something like that,” and sighed one of those sighs after you buy a lottery ticket when the jackpot is $200 million. One of these days. Ever the cheery, encouraging friend, I suggested he just go for it. “No, it’s just a dream of mine,” he replied and we were off to the next sales training workshop.

Years pass and things begin to fall into place without him seeing the big picture of what was happening. (It happens like that sometimes). My friend acquires some land to grow palm trees for sale on weekends as a side business to generate extra income. He and his family built a farmhouse on the property by hand. The commercial palm tree business was sizzling and sales of capital medical equipment was still booming in the 1990s.

Over time, as you know, work situations change and what we want out of our lives continually evolves too. Retiring about eight years ago, my friend stood at a professional crossroad. He just dedicated twenty-five years of his work life to one company. At 57 years old, finding a mid-career position in Corporate America providing fulfillment seemed unlikely, so he threw himself into volunteer work and earning a real estate license. Through those two endeavors, a lot of interesting (and helpful) people crossed his path. If you are in good health and have a passion, 57 years old seems too early to call it quits and live out our days watching reality television.

It helped that this friend also had an undergraduate degree in microbiology (read: mad scientist) and an MBA in Finance from a top notch business school (read: brilliant business mind). Of course, this true corporate fairy tale has a happy ending—or I never would have posted it.

Over time, the palm tree business’ season came & went. In the meantime, the Temecula Valley became known as a great place to grow wine grapes and wineries were moving in all around. “Amazingly” the right mentors, advisors and helpers showed up in his life and he listened, learned and most importantly acted. Now, Chapin Family Vineyards is not a dream; it is a reality. It is a blend of passion, science and the art of wine-making. Several years from the 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon release in 2006 followed by a fruity Syrah, later a Zinfandel and Summit Meritage—the “dream” is being written about in Southern California media, served in upscale restaurants and wine club members are buying by the case. One reviewer gave the vineyard perhaps the ultimate compliment calling it, “an undiscovered gem, on the edge of something big.”

No matter our age or circumstances, if we’ll nurture our passion and stay open to the possibilities; a world of opportunity can still open for you. So Happy Belated 65^th Birthday, Steve! Lift a glass for me.