In this episode, Marc shares the chapter, “Do You Suffer from MSU Disorder? The Grave Temptation to Make Stuff Up,” from his upcoming book, Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life.
Key Takeaways:
[1:44] Bill writes for a major financial company. He said his dream job is to write for The Economist. How did he know? What did he know about the company? All he knew was the content they produced. He was making stuff up, to fill in the blanks of his knowledge.
[3:30] Judith Glaser says, “The stories we make up have significant impact on our careers.” MSU can cause you to go after jobs that would make you miserable, or prevent you from pursuing a great job, out of fear. It can cause people to lose confidence in you, if you present as fact things you have just assumed to be true.
[4:28] It’s perfectly human to MSU, when the information is not there, but when it comes to your career, don’t do it! We cause ourselves pain by ‘awfulizing’ situations.
[5:03] Rhoda, a former CEO, had applied for a job as a COO of a national association. She was excited about the job, and felt like the feeling was mutual. When she didn’t hear back, though, she looked at their website and saw something she misunderstood, and began to panic. Marc suggested she call the company. When she did, she got the facts.
[6:13] Marcos was in a long negotiation with a prospective employer. Every question Marcos had took a long time to get resolution. Every time, his anxiety increased. He was in a panic. Marc encouraged him to call the recruiter (who had been absent with a very ill mother). Eventually Marcos did get the job.
[7:24] Susan started a new job with a major drug company, and knocked the ball out of the park. They loved her. But when her division announced a 200 headcount reduction, she went into panic mode. One day later, she learned she was to lead a highly-prized project. She had ignored every sign that she was highly-valued. She just MSU.
[8:17] Sally works from home. She meets with her boss to show him her activities, and he criticizes the list abusively. This has been their pattern for years. Marc suggested that the next time, she go without a list. Her boss had not asked for one. Although she MSU and became fearful beforehand, he took notes on her activities, without a problem.
[10:48] Take a mental bookmark of all the times you have panicked about something, and it turned out you were wrong. Think back to all the times you have awfulized something. Someone didn’t call within a given window that you made up, and you assumed something terrible had happened, or was about to happen, that was false.
[11:41] The best thing to do is to realize that you don’t know what’s happening. Make reasonable efforts to get answers, and breathe through the moment. You don’t know, and that’s OK.
[12:08] Stop drop, and roll. Don’t panic. Mary has a boss who is rude on the phone. She let her boss’ call go to voicemail while she was in a meeting, then texted to see how she could help her. It was simply to let her know that her boss was on her way.
[14:09] Manage communications. Nancy’s boss said she was not easy to work for. Nancy dreamed up awful situations that caused her to panic. She avoided her boss. Marc suggested having a weekly planning meeting. It turned out her boss was just moody.
[16:48] Describe situations where you made stuff up. Write out the story you dreamed up. How did it compare to the facts? Have you tried to create a stop, drop, and roll process? I now find myself catching myself when I start to MSU!
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life, by Marc Miller, available in early 2017
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In this episode, Marc interviews Mike O’Krent. Mike O’Krent, Founder of LifeStories Alive, LLC, specializes in making personal history videos for families that value their heritage. They create family heirlooms in video — digitally mastered records of life stories with personal accounts, photos, and mementos of family history. Marc has known Mike for about 10 years, and it has been fascinating, watching him grow his very unique business. Marc and Mike often hang out at the same coffee shop, so they see each other fairly frequently. Marc and Mike discuss several topics, including what Mike did in the first half of life, why he quit without a plan, the life-changing experience of interviewing Holocaust, or Shoah, survivors, and, the nudge from a business coach that set him on the second half of life. Listen in to get inspiration for your own career pivot.
Key Takeaways:
[2:15] In the first half of life, Mike was in floor coverings, in his grandfather’s business. He started his own carpeting business, but sold it in ‘04, without an idea what to do next.
[3:06] In the early days, Mike and his grandfather went to markets in Chicago and Dallas, where 200 carpet mills vied for their business. By the time Mike sold his business, there were three carpet mills left. The competition, and the fun, had gone.
[4:39] In 1995, Mike was volunteering with the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, visiting schools and teaching about the Holocaust. Steven Spielberg was filming Schindler’s List, in Poland, and survivors were coming up and saying they have a story they want to tell.
[5:04] Spielberg started The Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. He set a goal of capturing 50,000 survivors’ stories, and ended up with 52,000, in 39 languages.
[5:30] The foundation asked the Jewish Federation of San Antonio if they had someone to volunteer for training to interview local survivors. Mike jumped at the chance. He interviewed survivors from ‘96 to 2000 — one of the most fascinating periods of his life.
[6:14] So, Mike had the process, and he loved the interviews, but then they were over in 2000. When he sold his carpeting business, he went to Administaff and worked, until he realized the corporate world was not for him. He still had no plan.
[8:41] Through his wife, Mike found a good business coach, who gave him an exercise: make a list of everything you’ve done, that 1) you liked and 2) you thought you did well. Exclude activities that don’t meet both tests. The next week Mike read it to the coach.
[9:51] The coach picked up on Mike’s excitement over the Holocaust interviews, and asked him to talk about it. When Mike finished raving, the coach asked, can you make a business doing something like that? The lightbulb went on, and Mike was on his way.
[11:59] Mike got his first client, Bill, through his wife. Bill was a bank officer with a corporate background. Mike did his video for free, as a test. When he saw it, Bill called his connections; said, “You need to do business with Mike,” and gave him the phone!
[14:54] Besides personal life stories, Mike has done documentaries for businesses and nonprofits. These stories pull in customers, or donations, with their emotional appeal.
[18:43] Mike does only the interview. Videography, sound, editing are hired out to professionals, so Mike can listen solely to the interviewee, with no distractions.
[20:04] Marc wants solopreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs to realize they don’t have to do it all. Let the experts make you look good. Marketing can be outsourced, too.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
Email: MOKrent@LifeStoriesAlive.com
Website: Life Stories Alive
Phone (512) 431-8166
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In this episode, Marc interviews Kerry Hannon, a nationally-recognized expert on career transitions, personal finance, and retirement. She is a frequent radio and TV commentator, and a sought-after keynote speaker at conferences across the country. Kerry is currently a columnist, and regular contributor to the New York Times. She is AARP’s jobs expert and Great Jobs columnist. Kerry is also a contributing editor and Second Verse columnist at Forbes, and the PBS NextAvenue.org expert and columnist on personal finance and careers. She is a contributing writer for Money Magazine. Kerry is the author of 10 books. Marc and Kerry discuss several topics, including ageism and how to shift around it, the power of purpose over paycheck, and the preparation it takes to shift a career without driving into disappointment or disaster.
Key Takeaways:
[3:32] What are the biggest challenges for job-seekers over 50? What employer concerns do they need to combat?
[6:12] If you haven’t done a resume in 20 years, you have a whole new set of skills you need to ramp up for yourself, to prepare for an interview. You need to learn to “brag.”
[7:42] Kerry traveled for three years researching her book What’s Next? She found people who had great conviction and courage to make dramatic shifts with meaning.
[8:35] We reach a stage in our lives when initial goals have been met, there have been losses or health problems, and we ask what we should be doing with our life.
[10:28] Nothing is forever. People who have made career shifts may choose to change again after five or seven years.
[13:55] Find ways to get lean and mean. If you’re financially fit, possibilities open for you to try new things, to take on jobs at a lower salary, and shift into new areas of work.
[14:47] People who have successfully changed careers may prepare for years to move into their new line of work, including adjusting their spending to a stricter budget.
[16:13] Kerry strongly recommends physical fitness. Walk a mile or two regularly. Eat nutritiously. When you’re fit, you bring positivity. You show that you’re up to the job.
[17:45] Spiritual fitness is also important. Find a place to center yourself, de-stress, and focus, so you can prepare to move down this path. It will help you.
[19:00] Shift slowly. Prepare for a change. Look where you want to shift. Network with people doing those jobs. Ask how they got there, how they do their jobs, what they love about it. People love to talk about themselves and their work.
[20:00] Find out if you need additional skills or certifications to qualify for the work. Get those before shifting. Moonlight a job before you shift into it, so you are not surprised.
[26:10] Kerry shifted from full-time columnist to book author and career expert when she found she had achieved everything she wanted, and was miserable. So she carved out her own new path. She is always learning something new, and working harder than ever.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
Contact Kerry: Kerry@KerryHannon.com
Website: Kerry Hannon
Twitter: @KerryHannon
Read Kerry at PBS Next Avenue
What's Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job, by Kerry Hannon
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In this episode, Marc answers employment pivot questions with his trusty sidekick, Elizabeth Rabaey. Listen in for ideas to go forward!
Key Takeaways:
[1:07] Elizabeth introduces herself and her background, including a career pivot she is executing. Elizabeth presents questions for Marc.
[2:14] Q1: A 68-year-old facing forced retirement has skill in journalism, IT, and pharmacy tech, and also has health and mobility problems, but wants to keep working part-time from home. Any ideas, Marc?
[3:21] A1: Focus on health first. Then look into freelance writing. Build a portfolio by pitching to write guest blogs on blogs and sites that interest you.
[5:25] Once you have a portfolio of work, ask a website to hire you at low cost, to get some street cred. When people see you have done work with good ratings, you can look at Upwork.com for freelance opportunities.
[6:13] A second opportunity is at Flexjobs.com.They have a variety of flexible and remote opportunities, for a small monthly subscription fee.
[7:53] Q2: I was fired with cause by a previous employer. I have since worked at a campus Starbucks, which is seasonally closed. What should I do now?
[8:21] A2: When fired with cause, immediately register with a temp agency, and get an assignment. When that assignment comes to a close, you are eligible for unemployment benefits based on the last nine months, so don’t wait too long.
[10:11] Also apply for food stamps while you are unemployed.
[13:00] Q3: A company with an online employment application had required fields for date of high school graduation, current salary, and disabilities (including diabetes). Are those questions legal to ask? How should I respond?
[14:17] A: Those are all illegal questions, which are now commonly asked. You can report them to the EEOC, and not get that job, or you can overlook them and apply.
[16:58] To submit your question, go to CareerPivot.com, click Contact Me, and type it in. Marc will award you a $25 Amazon gift card if he uses your question on the podcast!
[17:35] (Elizabeth starts working on her question!)
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
Take a moment -- go to iTunes. Give this podcast a review!
In this episode, Marc shares the chapter, “Career Failures, and How to Recover from Them,” from his upcoming book, Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life.
Key Takeaways:
[1:35] Is failure an option? If you’re like most people, it’s inevitable, and essential. If you are unwilling to fail, you are unlikely to venture into anything very impressive.
[2:50] Failure 1: Marc was ‘seduced’ by a former manager to leave a job at IBM, and join her at IBM Consulting. Why was it one of the biggest mistakes of his career?
[6:17] Failure 2: Taking his ‘dream job.’ Marc went to teach Math in an inner-city high school. He was not prepared to teach kids whose problems reached far beyond his ability to help them.
[9:33] Failure 3: ‘I can make this work!’ Marc took a job that was not optimal, working in fundraising for a non-profit that was not aligned with his goals, just before a major downturn in the economy.
[11:56] Failure’s upside: Marc is happy he took all three jobs. He learned a tremendous amount about consulting, public education, and non-profits. He also learned a lot about himself.
[12:47] Rules of Reinvention: Have a Plan B. Be prepared to pull the plug on the reinvention project.
[13:05] You might have three or five goals you’re working on, in terms of finances, skills learned, or happiness. Give yourself short windows to achieve these.
[13:33] Make sure the work you’re doing is something from which you could pivot into something else.
[14:57] Take stock of your choices and actions from your past, and what you can take away that will make tomorrow’s choices and actions better.
[18:21] If you have a laptop, an Internet connection, and some hustle, you can start a business right now, with no money down.
[20:06] Have a plan, have a way to gauge whether it’s working, and jump ship when it isn’t. If you planned it right, another ship will come along, soon enough.
[20:25] Questions on this chapter: Have you failed, and hung on too long? What did you learn from that experience? Does that experience deter you from taking a risk?
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life, by Marc Miller, available in early 2017
www.Flexjobs.com/blog/post/webinar-career-failures-future-success/
Take a moment -- go to iTunes. Give this podcast a review!
This podcast is where those of us in the second half of life come together to discuss how to repurpose our careers for the 21st Century. Come listen to career experts give you proven strategies, listen to people like you tell their stories on how they repurposed their careers, and finally, get your questions answered. Your host, Marc Miller, has made six career pivots over the last 30 years. He understands this is not about jumping out of the frying pan into a fire, but rather, to create a plan where you make clear, actionable steps, or pivots, to a better future career. Are you ready to repurpose your career? Let’s get started!
In this episode, Marc interviews Dr. Joel Dobbs. Dr. Dobbs is an experienced life sciences executive, with over thirty years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He has served in a variety of senior leadership roles in information technology, as well as general management, clinical research, regulatory affairs, post-marketing surveillance, academia, and consulting. Dr. Dobbs has served as a member of top-tier executive teams of dynamic organizations, in startup, rapid-growth, turn-around, merger, integration, and change phases.
He currently serves as the Executive-in-Residence at the University of Alabama Birmingham's Colatt School of Business, where he also directs the school's office of innovation and entrepreneurship, teaches, and works with entrepreneurs within the UAB environment and the greater Birmingham business community to help them develop and grow their business. He is also the CEO of the Compass Talent Management Group, LLC, a consulting firm that assists organizations with the identification and development of key talent with designing organization strategies and structures to maximize their ability to compete in the business world of today and tomorrow. Marc and Joel discuss several topics, including Joel’s intentionally varied first half of his life, some of the triggers that started his pursuit of goals for the second half of his life, and how giving back through mentoring, from his extensive experience, is so gratifying.
Key Takeaways:
[2:52] Joel majored in Chemistry, went to pharmacy school, and got a doctorate. He followed a purposefully varied career path, until he retired five years ago.
[8:03] Today Joel is a business school professor at UAB Colatt School of Business.He also runs a leadership consulting business, teaching from the multitude of mistakes he has made over the first half of his life. He finds it tremendously gratifying.
[9:35] In his late 40s, Joel started considering his life’s impact. Around 50, he read Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance, by Bob Buford, and it set his path.
[11:28] Halftime is a period to ask: how do I turn the second half of my life into one that leverages my success, but focuses on significance?
[12:00] Joel began really thinking about what did he want to do next? Was his ladder of success leaning against the wrong building?
[14:25] What did Joel think about his company’s offer of a voluntary retirement?
[16:59] What areas of focus did Joel put in his plan for the second half of his life?
[22:40] Marc comments on how Joel drove his career agenda. He knew when to move on, and he left, always with the goal in mind.
[23:35] If you know what you want to do, and you're able to answer that question clearly, concisely, and decisively, you'd be surprised how often you get to do that.
[24:13] Spend time thinking about the perfect life and writing it down. That very act sensitizes you to opportunity.
[24:22] When Joel checked his perfect life list after years, how much had he achieved?
[26:22] Intentional achievement takes clarity. Usually, clarity does not come overnight.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
LinkedIn: Joel H. Dobbs
Email: Joel.Dobbs@iCloud.com
Website: The Compass Talent Management Group
Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey
Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance, by Bob Buford
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In this episode, Marc interviews Chris Farrell, Senior Economics Contributor at Marketplace, American Public Media’s nationally syndicated public radio business and economics program. He is the economics commentator for Minnesota Public Radio, and host of its series, Conversations on the Creative Economy. An award winning journalist, Chris is a columnist for Next Avenue, and the Star Tribune, and a contributor to the New York Times. His most recent book is Unretirement: How Baby Boomers Are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community, and the Good Life. Marc and Chris discuss several topics, including the ageing of the population, and why that’s not such a bad thing; aspects of entrepreneurship; and that living longer, means working longer.
Key Takeaways:
[2:14] For 25 years the personal finance conversation has been on saving for retirement, and the ageing of the Baby Boomers. The economy conversation has been demographics -- the ageing of the population.
[2:41] Both conversations were negative -- Baby Boomers weren’t saving enough to support themselves in retirement; and there will be too many elders supported by too few young people, and that will undermine the economy.
[3:15] There is a whole body of economic work that says this negative view probably isn’t right. Unretirement was written to give this perspective a voice.
[6:03] As an entrepreneur, you control your hours. You are the boss. You make less money. Benefits are more expensive. Yet, all the surveys show that the self-employed and the small entrepreneur are happier than their peers of the same age.
[6:20] Marc cites The End of Jobs, by Taylor Pearson. Written for Millennials, it’s an important book for Baby Boomers, who face the same life and job questions.
[9:17] Pat Flynn’s book, Will it Fly? helps guide entrepreneurs on how to test markets for their products and services.
[10:25] Some Boomers may consider the nonprofit sector. Volunteering is a good way to find if you are interested in that cause, and if you want to work for that organization. Inside the organization you’ll hear about job openings, and you can network.
[14:43] Unretirement is based on the idea that we are going to work longer. What are the personal finance implications of working longer?
[17:08] If you combine working longer with a natural frugality -- having more experiences, like eating out, and getting fewer things, like new cars -- your finances will be pretty good.
[19:23] One problem with planning to work into your 70s is that your own health, or the health of your spouse, or a parent, may prevent you from continuing the same hours. Entrepreneurship may be an answer.
[23:42] Some companies have made adjustments to the ageing workforce. They have strong incentive to keep skilled manufacturing employees on the payroll longer.
[26:35] When transitioning, look for people of your demographic. Where are they working?
Mentioned in This Episode:
Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me
Contact Chris: CFarrell@MPR.org
Listen to Chris on MPR
Read Chris at nextavenue.org
Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey
The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-to-5, by Taylor Pearson
Take a moment -- go to iTunes. Give this podcast a review!
This podcast is where those of us in the second half of life come together to discuss how to repurpose our careers for the 21st Century. Come listen to career experts give you proven strategies, listen to people like you tell their stories on how they repurposed their careers, and finally, get your questions answered. Your host, Marc Miller, has made six career pivots over the last 30 years. He understands this is not about jumping out of the frying pan into a fire, but rather, to create a plan where you make clear, actionable steps, or pivots, to a better future career. Are you ready to repurpose your career? Let’s get started!
In this episode, Marc introduces the podcast, defines some terms he uses, and tells how the episodes will run. Finally, Marc outlines the episode topics for November through January.
[1:44] The easiest way to explain the second half of life is by defining the first half of life. In the first half of life, we: are born, grow up, get educated, start our career, get married, have kids, get a mortgage.
[2:05] At some point in time — it could be in our 40’s, 50’s or 60’s — our career means something different to us and our focus changes.
[2:18] Marc’s change of focus occurred in his mid-forties. After working at IBM for 22 years, he left, to join a successful engineering startup.
[2:32] Marc received a retention bonus that allowed him to pay off his mortgage and finance his son’s college education. He also experienced two pivotal events: a serious bicycle accident, and the death of his mother. His focus changed.
[3:47] For you, it might be when your child leaves, or you pay off the mortgage, or you plateau in your career and you want a change.
[4:09] What it is to repurpose your career? Changing careers by half-steps, and repurposing skills learned in one career, to a different, but related, career that involves some of the same skills.
[5:02] Marc explores the journey he took to develop this podcast with input from the Career Pivot community.
[6:33] Marc outlines and describes the four weekly show formats: Expert Interviews, Interviews with people who have successfully repurposed their careers, and Chapter Reviews of Marc’s upcoming book, Repurpose Your Career.
[8:46] Upcoming episodes in November include interviews with author Chris Farrell, and Joel Dobbs (who repurposed his career), a book chapter preview, and Mailbag.
[9:52] Episodes coming up in December include interviews with author Kerry Hannon, and entrepreneur Mike O’Krent, a book chapter preview, and Mailbag.
[11:06] Episodes coming up in January include interviews with author Taylor Pearson and entrepreneur Vicki McCullough, a book chapter preview, and Mailbag.
Contact Marc: Contact Marcm
Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers, by Marc Miller
The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-to-5, by Taylor Pearson