Suppressing the Warbles x

Henry David Thoreau once wrote "As the sparrow had its trill, sitting on the hickory before my door, so I had my chuckle or suppressed warble which he might hear out of my nest." As I stepped outside to pick up the paper on this chill February morning, I took a breath, sighed and walked to the mailbox. Nothing wrong with hanging around here. No suppressed warble though, as I spotted my neighbor and first greeted him, then greeted his dogs by name--dogs are people, too, you know. Even on a Saturday morning, the notion of just watching, remains just out of reach, natural as it is. Years of conditioning have reinforced the other natural activity--constantly flowing thoughts of everything but just sitting still. Even so, I'll settle for what comes along, just being here. I listened to two friends talk about last night about their lives, one remarking he was just glad to make it this far alive, "With each year better than the last," he says, "what could be better than just being here?" The other talked about the joy of just being free to experience life in such a beauiful place. He said he has no room in his life for people who whine about their situation. Look on the bright side, he urges. So this morning, I will join them and enjoy just being here, and I'll warble if I want to.

Economic Stimulus and Me

Economic Stimulus and Me

Not that I believe the world is "all about me," but I've now seen what Washington prescribes to help us through the next two or three years of the inevitable business cycle... I'm still looking. I'm not looking for the federal government to take care of it, but I'm looking to me. What is it I am going to do?

The fact is, after whipping up all the hysteria the past several months, our leaders in Washington don't have any better answers than they had at the beginning. These are probably people with mostly good intentions, trying out what they think are their best ideas for turning things around. The sad fact is they don't know what, if anything, they can do to move things in an upward direction. It is a cycle, after all, and we're bound to have downturns like these. While many think they have the answers, the only certainty we have about what works is by hindsight. Oh, well...

So what do I do to get through the next 2-3 years? I'm looking at what I have and what is truly important to me. I have a family, I have friends and I live in a caring community. What's so bad about that? Would I trade any of those things for a few more dollars in my 401K, or a newer car to drive? No way in the world! But here's the challenge--what will I do, now that I am reminded of what is important to me? I can find ways, I think, to spend more time, give more attention to the people I love and the people who are important to me. The researchers on life transition at MetLife's Mature Market Institute have asked the question--"how can we discover what matters?" In framing the question they have hit upon a structure for meaning in life that I like. Meaning is found

• spending time with friends and family you love,
• helping make things better for others,
• using your talents to accomplish things that matter and
• enjoying personal interests like hobbies.

Talking with people of a certain age, they have found that meaning (loosely defined as our family, friends and community) is more important to most Americans than money. So ask yourself this question--what am I doing to put more meaning into my life? There are a host of other questions, but I think this makes a good one for starters.

What Do You Want to Do?

What Do You Want to Do?

It seems like an obvious question, doesn't it? But it has multiple dimensions, especially for people entering the 2nd half of life; including time, type of work and compensation. Many people I talk to are looking for non-traditional schedules. They mean to work, and not necessarily just any time they feel like it, but perhaps only for certain months out of the year. Others want to work only on a contract-basis, perhaps a month or two at a time. This variety of approaches may make these people a form of contingent workforce. That can be attractive to employers needing help, but not in a hurry to expand their full-time, permanent workforce in the face of economic uncertainty. Others simply want to work part-time, a few hours at a time, a few days a week. This can sometimes make finding suitable work difficult. Then again, in certain fields, part-time employees are the norm, rather than the exception.

Next, what kind of work do you want to do? Is this your way of giving back? Is it a way to meet and talk with new people? Do you have a hobby or other special interest you'd like to pursue? I know people who have picked up enough know-how to be dangerous in web-site design and related work to take that up as a part-time occupation, helping those who know a lot less about it than they do. Still others were always intereested in books, so working in a bookstore suits them perfectly. Have you left your first career intending to get as far away from what you did in that time? Do you want to continue to work in the field in which you worked during your first half of life? That is sometimes the best way to maximize your income. Which leads us really to the next question.

Yes, there's the question of compensation. I have heard it said that volunteers are under-valued by their "employers." The mind-set apparently is that volunteers aren't getting paid, so you can waste their efforts with impunity. Much of what I read about the social dividend from retired baby-boomers engaging in the volunteer workforce actually provides dollar-estimates of the value of all the volunteer work being offered by this workforce. Whichever camp you are in, placing real value on their contribution seems to make better sense. The fact remains that you have to gauge what you want out of this new form of employment. If you plan to do it for money, how much will you want to make this employment suit your needs? If you just don't want to fall into the trap of being undervalued (or asked to do very little of any importance) because you are uncompensated, how much will be enough?

There is a growing segment of the population (especially under 65) who want to work to obtain health care coverage. This is not as common in smaller businesses, so it may narrow your options a bit. In the alternative to having employer-provided coverage, you may just want to ratchet up the target for wages you wish to earn to cover the cost of getting it for yourself through someone like AARP (anyone over 50), MegaLife or other health insurance provider.

The bottom line is, think these things through ahead of time and you can avoid chasing rabbit trails that are leading somewhere you really didn't want to go in the first place.

What Me, Practice?

What Me, Practice?

By now, you have what you think is a natural style and way about you. You probably figure you can just wing it in an interview. Not so fast... Yesterday's interviews may have been only about you and not about them. Jobs were a more or less static thing and they were looking for a peg about the right circumference to fit their round hole. Alas, the world no longer works that way. There are many ways that organizations are dynamic and roles are constantly evolving. Consequently, today's interviews are a little different. Prospective employers are often looking for you to tell them how you can solve their challenges. They'd also like to see you have taken the time to get to know enough about them to enable you to show them they need what you have to offer. Or, it might be that together you and the people you are meeting with are discovering what it is you can do for them. If they aren't thinking that way when you walk in, your job is to make sure they are thinking that way when you walk out.

Enough about attitude, I said you need to practice. If you are going to do as well as you can, you need a plan. Talking points aren't just for politicians. Anyone who has a message to send can use three to five. What are the three to five key messages you want to get across in your interview? You need to compress the mountain of benefit they would receive if they hire you into just three to five simple ideas. Then you need to dream up some questions that you might use to launch your ideas in response to. There are, in fact, some formula-questions. They are questions that interviewers can't help asking, if only out of habit. "Tell me about yourself." "What are your strengths?" "What would your last employer say was an area where you could improve?"

I have a book of questions that people ask in interviews and you could probably pick up something similar. It's not really important which one you use. What's important is practicing the art of turning those questions into a means to instill one of your key messages. But have ready an example of how you used these skills in your work or personal life. Any question that is not looking for a specific piece of factual information can be adapted for your use. An interviewer might lob one of those softballs in the preceding paragraph and you can bat that one out of the park, or you may just have to turn one of those "behavioral questions" into your vehicle. "Tell me about a time when you used your problem-solving skills." Search your memory bank for a few real-life situations you went through to be ahead of the game. Being able to describe a specific case of how you have done just what they need done will convince them they need what you have to offer. If you're like me, those ideas don't turn up in the interview setting because your smooth, easy style tends to unravel a bit in the pressure of an interview. So, plan ahead and practice. You will enhance your chances of success and feel better about your effort to put your best foot forward. How you feel is as important to good delivery as what you say.

Deal With It

You struggle for what seems like months to get an interview, and then it happens. You go to the interview and everything seems to click. You walk away convinced you are perfect for the job. Why? Who knows? You just fall in love with the idea that they plan to hire you. Why else were they smiling at you and nodding their heads during the interview. And it is just like falling in love, you can't remember anything that was other than a perfect fit for you. You quickly forget (or may not even notice) that one of the decision-makers challenged your fit for the job and you were unable to convince him otherwise. or correct that impression. You ask at the conclusion of the interview what the next steps will be and when they will be making their decision. You leave feeling certain they will call you shortly. Two weeks stretches into three, and you are alternately brooding and dreaming about the opportunity (you don't even call it a job anymore). Do they have your number? It's on your resume, of course. Why haven't they called?

Deal With It

The reality is that this is a chore to them. Some of them dread the prospect of making a mistake, knowing the cost in time and stress of choosing the wrong person, so avoidance is the most effective strategy. Others are blithely ignorant of the possibility of such a disaster and just can't be bothered with all the time they are being asked to spend on this. Somewhere there is someone who is accountable for getting a person hired, but few organizations measure how long it takes to hire someone to fill a vacancy, so getting the principals to move in one direction is like herding cats. It will happen eventually, but not on the kind of schedule that someone guessed at at the conclusion of you interview.

The other thing you need to face? The odds are they will not be calling you. What? Is that possible? They seemed to like me. I had all the necessary qualifications and I know they bought my pitch about the skills I could bring to bear. Sure, you could be right. You may just be the best person they could hire. But remember, I said "the odds are..." Fact is they likely received a hundred resumes, invite seven to ten in for interviews, will invite three back in and will hire one. So, you were a hundred-to-one shot.

What to do? Take the time to look at this in a cool, rational way. There are lots of activities you still pursue despite the odds, and you don't beat yourself up about it. You date, you spread grass seed, you swing a golf club hoping to hit the green, you bowl hoping to make that spare, you buy the occasional lottery ticket (oh no, not that one), you ball up a sheet of paper and throw it at the wastebasket, you cut the grass, you spread weed killer on your lawn, you diet, you exercise, you buy raffle tickets, you sign up for drawings, you play tennis against your sister, there's more, I am certain. Some of these activities are just like hunting for a job, you pursue them and dream about the possible outcome, even though you know the odds. So, what it this about? Let go of the outcome on this one, and on all of them. Send the resume, go to the interview and let them worry about it. You just remember to just keep plugging away and don't let your emotions get wrapped up in the outcome. You don't have any control over the outcome. Deal with it.

So you think you want to go back to work...

So you think you want to go back to work...

With all the angst about the stock market decline and the real estate slump, it's little wonder that loads of people are rethinking retirement lifestyle. The "risk" of longevity is becoming too much for people to deny. With that said, you might be thinking "I'll just find a job somewhere to supplement my income and I'll be fine." Sort of like turning on a faucet, huh?

Not so fast there, folks. Everybody and his uncle is out there pounding the pavement looking for a job. What will set you apart? Here's a clue, it is the same thing that will enable you to find a job in the first place--your network. Just by letting the people you know that you are looking for a job, you will be taking the first step.

But in this economy, jobs will be snatched up before they are even advertised or listed, etc. So how do you tap into the source? Your network. They will hear things by word-of-mouth and can pass it along to you, if you have told them you are looking. If you haven't, then it won't even come up in the conversation.

But I said your network will set you apart, what does that mean? Well, each one of us is connected to a unique collection of people, for one thing. Not everybody knows the same group of people or talks to the same people you do. So, your network will be collecting information uniquely, just like two different-shaped nets would sluice through the water in two different ways. One way you hear about positions before they become known to the general public is when a member of your network hears about somebody who is leaving a job. Someone they know may just have given notice (or said it out loud for the first time and not yet given notice). Your network can pick up on this one before anyone is out there looking for a replacement.

Another way you'll tap into the job market and capture the jobs that haven't been advertised is by persuading people they need what you have to offer. A network can introduce you to people you can help who are just beginning to realize they need help, especially your help. Someone I know has "interviewed" with a Company for no specific position, but the conversation has been a "lightning-rod" that has set them thinking about how they can use her help. Something to think about....