In this episode, Susan Joyce of Job-Hunt.org joins Marc Miller to read and respond to listener questions. They discuss building your online reputation, marketing your content boldly, pigeonholing, and pivoting. Marc hopes you enjoy this fascinating episode.
[1:43] Marc welcomes you to Episode 116 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot brings you this podcast. CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you, free of charge.
[2:12] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help.
[2:33] Next week, Marc will interview Chris Farrell, author of Purpose and a Paycheck
[2:39] This week is a Question and Answer episode where Marc joins forces with Susan Joyce of Job-Hunt.org, one of the premier job search and career resources on the internet.
[2:57] Marc welcomes Susan to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.
[3:11] Marc and Susan will answer some really interesting questions for you. First, Susan introduces herself. Susan has been doing Job-Hunt for 20 years. She started after she was laid off with thousands of others from a very large company. Web technology was new, but Susan had already worked with it at the company.
[3:41] Susan started working to help people learn to apply the technology for job search, ever since. Susan was previously a guest on the podcast in Episode 105.
[3:54] Q1: I am 61 and have been unemployed for almost two years. I pick up a consulting gig here and there. We’re in a part of Ohio that’s not doing well. We plan to move to North Carolina. My wife and I have been networking there but nothing has come from it.
[4:21] I have a consumer packaged goods and business operations background with startups and big companies. I’m looking at buying a business because I am convinced that getting full-time employment is not possible. What advice do you have for me?
[4:37] A1: Susan says this is not an uncommon question. She tells the listener to Google himself. There could be something negative online, even if it’s about someone else with the same name. Susan shares anecdotes about sharing a name with a notorious figure. Add your initial or middle name to your business card to differentiate.
[7:09] Marc tells people that when they Google their name, if nothing comes up, that’s not good, either. Marc encourages people to build their own online reputation by producing content. Susan points out that recruiters will research candidates online. Provide solid evidence of what you do and who you are.
[8:24] If you don’t have good content that you’ve put out there on purpose, what they find is information aggregator listings of data collected from public records. If you have a LinkedIn profile, Google usually puts it in the first page of search results, unless you’re a movie star.
[8:52] There are probably hundreds of organizations that collect information from public documents and combine it with what they find on Facebook, which has the birthday. If you’re trying to downplay your age, it won’t help to be too private. Make sure you have a LinkedIn profile.
[10:23] Q2: I have been reluctant to publish anything under my own name online because I’m scared of being criticized. I am moving into a very niche area of business analytics where I have a background but no real recent experience. Everyone is telling me I should publish some of my own work but that terrifies me? Advice?
[10:51] A2: Susan says you’ve got to publish. This person should get some feedback from colleagues before publishing, and then put it out there. You have to have proof that you know what you claim you know. 80% of recruiters will do the research and if they don’t find something that supports what you claim, they don’t believe it.
[11:37] That means, what you claim has to be published with the same name that you use on your job applications and your resume. Some people call themselves William on their resume but they’re Bill on their LinkedIn profile. So they make it harder for recruiters to connect those dots.
[12:03] The job market’s getting tight enough that recruiters are going to try harder to connect the dots but if they have a lot of applicants, they aren’t going to. Use the right name and make it clear that you know what you know.
[12:20] This person should do some volunteering or some contracting to gain some experience — something she can add to her social presence that demonstrates that she knows what she says she knows and that she’s right about it.
[12:37] Marc tells people, “Show me you know your stuff, don’t tell me you know your stuff.” Go out and make a presentation and get someone to shoot it on their iPhone. Pick snippets and pieces to put up on YouTube. Take the presentation itself and publish it on Slideshare, which is owned by LinkedIn.
[13:20] Marc suggest getting online and doing your presentation like there’s someone there and record it. Do a webinar with no audience and record it. Put that on YouTube. You can edit it before you put it up to make sure you sound good.
[13:59] Q3: I’m over 60 and was laid off over a year ago and have been looking with no luck. I have done so many things in my career I do not want to pigeonhole myself into looking for just one thing. This is not working. What advice do you have for me?
[14:20] A3: Susan tells job seekers that pigeon holes are where the jobs are, now. If you don’t pigeonhole yourself, you’re going to have a very long, difficult job search. Employers are looking for proof that you know what you know. It’s much better to claim the thing that you’re best at and enjoy the most, and make that visible.
[15:07] If you’re not focused on one thing, with a good personal brand, recruiters are going to think you don’t know much about anything. Pick the field you like the best and market yourself as the person you can do that job very well and you will get a job. It’s taking him so long because he’s not pigeonholed.
[17:12] The keywords are so important. Susan has an MBA in MIS, from when it was a hot term. Now IT is the current keyword for that field. No one searches for MIS jobs. Keep your keywords up-to-date so you can be found. Marketing yourself as an MIS expert isn’t going to get you anywhere, now.
[17:58] Marc spent a lot of his career in Training. Now the current keyword term is Learning and Development. Marc has adjusted the Training titles in his LinkedIn profile to Learning and Development. (But, hopefully, he never has to look for a job again.)
[18:40] Q4: I’ve been in the finance banking industry for my entire career. The profession has gone from where you met with clients and worked with them to solve problems to one where everything is done online and it’s now about pushing through loans to meet tight deadlines.
[18:58] I want to move into HR and I’m working on some credentials, but I make too much money in my current position. How do I get someone at my current company to take me seriously in wanting to make this change?
[19:14] A4: Susan recommends she contact somebody in HR and see if she can do an informational interview. What are they looking for? What would they need for her to prove that she really is serious about HR? Susan strongly suspects she will take a big salary hit, going from sales to HR.
[19:39] If she is OK with that, talk to someone in HR or at another similar company in HR, or go to an HR organization’s meeting. Get to know the people. Buy someone dinner and see if they will spend some time sharing information about how to transition from what she’s doing into HR.
[20:20] People in HR are typically pretty helpful people, and she may end up with a mentor or two that will help her make the transition. Of course, she has to continue the credentialing and finish them.
[20:46] She should do some volunteering, or get a gig, four hours a week helping some organization with HR and build up the experience so she’ll have something to put on her LinkedIn profile and on her resume. Susan says to start transitioning the LinkedIn profile carefully to the new field.
[21:16] People who want to buy from her now may not be excited to learn that her greatest area of expertise is HR but when they talk with her they’ll probably know that she knows what she’s talking about in her current field.
[21:31] Marc stresses that in making transitions like this that you’ll never do it alone. In his career changes, they all have been half-step career moves. He had one foot in the old world, one foot in the new world, and there was always someone who took him across. He never did it alone and it was usually not a massive shift.
[22:04] If you’re an engineer and you want to be a pastry chef, you’re not going to make it in one fell swoop. You’ve really got to get out of your own head and talk to people, and find out the reality. Don’t suffer from Make Stuff Up (MSU) Disorder.
[22:36] We all make assumptions. You don’t know what they’re looking for unless you go talk to them. Don’t assume there’s nothing bad attached to your name online. It’s surprising to Susan how often she does a search on an unusual name to find there are 10 other profiles with the same name.
[23:45] Marc knows a Mark Miller who writes on ageism and the Boomer demographic. He just wrote a book named Jolt. Sometimes they get mistaken for each other. Marc plans to have him on the podcast in the next six months.
[24:47] Marc thanks Susan for helping him answer these questions.
[25:03] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Marc is looking for other experts to help him answer questions in addition to Mark Anthony Dyson and Susan Joyce.
[25:14] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc is forming a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback.
[25:27] You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up.
[25:34] When you sign up, you’ll receive the pre-release version of the chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released.
[25:47] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc is currently recruiting new members for the next cohort.
[25:59] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you’ll receive information about the community as it evolves.
[26:13] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.
[26:34] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.
[26:50] Please come back next week, when Marc will interview Chris Farrell, author of Purpose and a Paycheck.
[26:57] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.
[27:01] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-116.
[27:10] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.
In this episode, Marc interviews Valerie Friesen from Blue Angel Solutions. Valerie is an early-stage Baby Boomer who moved with her husband to Mexico from Canada during the Great Recession with intentions to teach English, on the side. She now has a very successful business providing health insurance solutions to expats in Mexico. Marc hopes you enjoy this fascinating episode.
[1:33] Marc welcomes you to Episode 115 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. CareerPivot.com brings you this podcast; it is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you free of charge.
[2:01] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help.
[2:23] Marc is not completely sure at this time what next week’s episode will be. He is scheduled to record a Question and Answer episode with Susan Joyce of Job-Hunt.org fame, but Marc also has appointments with Chris Farrell, author of Purpose and a Paycheck, and previous podcast guest, John Tarnoff. You’ll see which one, next week.
[3:03] This week, Marc interviews Valerie Friesen from Blue Angel Solutions. Marc reads her bio by way of introduction.
[3:32] Marc welcomes you to the podcast and presents Valerie Friesen. Marc bought his health insurance from Valerie after three recommendations from other clients.
[3:54] Valerie is a first-stage Baby Boomer. Blue Angel Solutions is a boutique health insurance brokerage with relationships with several insurance companies. That gives an opportunity for new and returning customers. She tells how she chose the name.
[5:08] Valerie and her husband moved to Ajijic from Canada in late 2009. They came partly for the climate, at the tail end of the 2008 economic meltdown. Their careers were impacted in Canada and on the advice of a relative who had been to Mexico, they decided to move.
[6:34] They checked out the possibilities and within six months they had divested themselves from their careers, home, and investment properties. Then they moved.
[6:52] Valerie had worked at two banks and through the banks, she had offered disability and health insurance to her banking clients. She had also taught English as a Second Language much earlier in her career and she had liked it, so she planned to teach again in Ajijic, Mexico. She enrolled in a fast-track program for accreditation in Guadalajara.
[7:40] Valerie passed the accreditation class, but then her husband saw a newspaper ad for insurance sales and he asked her to check it out. She started at a full-service insurance agency. That’s how she got started in health insurance in Mexico.
[9:00] Unfortunately, the founder of the agency passed away and things changed. Her husband encouraged her to move on. In five months, she launched Blue Angel Solutions, in November 2012.
[9:40] Valerie’s vision for Blue Angel Solutions was not to be the largest agency but to be the best in responsiveness to clients — current and prospective. Everyone shows up on time, answers the phone, answers emails and is respectful. She holds her insurance providers to the same standard of service.
[11:03] Valerie’s initial clients were fellow expats from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Primarily from Canada and the U.S. Their ages generally ranged from 62 to 67. That was the age of people retiring at that time.
[11:53] The bell curve has widened now. Her current prospects and clients range from age 38 to age 80. Some have children in college in the U.S. and teens at International Schools in Mexico.
[13:40] One of the reasons people are moving to Mexico is that technology allows them to do business around the world from home. In Ajijic, the cost of living is less and the community is great, and the environment is attractive.
[14:33] Marc has worked around the world, in 40 different countries. He can adapt to any culture. Mrs. Miller has not. When Marc first looked at moving, he asked a Chapala area Facebook group for recommendations for endocrinologists for his wife. He got 28 responses in 48 hours.
[15:18] Valerie compares the area to a college town. Everyone is new. Everyone is helpful. The norm is to pay it forward.
[15:55] How did it turn out differently for Valerie than she expected? She had expected to teach English as a Second Language. She got a contract to teach for one year in the a.m. in Jocotepec, while she worked at the insurance agency in the p.m. After a year, she knew it would burn her out so she continued in the insurance area.
[16:45] Valerie’s typical day is to rise early, do some reading, make some supplier phone calls, and look at the day’s schedule. She and her husband walk the dogs. She comes to the office at 10:00 when it opens. She has a receptionist who opens if she is not yet there.
[18:01] Valerie’s workday is a number of appointments, her primary method of doing business. On Monday mornings, she deals with the inevitable Monday walk-ins. That way, everybody is happy. Valerie compares business to the three parts of a golf swing — the setup, the swing itself, and the follow-through.
[20:22] Valerie runs her business like a consulting business. She always provides a personal orientation to the product for her customers.
[21:01] Marc comments on the personal orientation he and his wife received when they bought a policy.
[21:25] Valerie works to 5:30 of 6:00 to do “cleanup” although the official hours are 10:00 to 4:00.
[21:50] Valerie had no expectations about how much she would earn in insurance. With her good listening skills, good initiative, and commitment to excellence, she believed she would be successful.
[22:28] Valerie continues to work because she wants to work.
[22:40] Marc shares a story of meeting two elderly women at Tacos Frida in Ajijic who were thrilled with all the activities in the area. Marc told them he does not want activities; he wants purpose. Valerie agrees. Neither have any plans to retire.
[23:23] Valerie will mentor someone to take over her business. She separates herself as an entity from the business. She wishes to leave a legacy of her business.
[24:06] Valerie will never sell 100% of her business. She will find someone to run it for her. She will work fewer hours and be more mobile. In her business, she has the opportunity to experience and evaluate the aging process better than most people. She says it is sad that people used to retire and then pass within two years.
[26:09] On January 1, 1960, the visionary Del Webb opened up Sun City Arizona with five model homes and a strip mall. He had 10,000 cars lined up to visit. At that time, most of them were smokers and would not live long.
[26:46] Today, for a married couple, age 65, the odds of one of you living to 100 are enormous. Valerie’s receptionist has two aunties — 104 and 102 — who take care of themselves.
[27:20] People are living longer than they expected. There are a lot of economic refugees in Ajijic. They can live a good life on their Social Security.
[27:50] Marc thanks Valerie for sharing her story and asks her for some final words of advice for the listeners.
[28:04] Valerie knew when she arrived that she would live it and she would be successful in any endeavor. At age 21 after University, she had served overseas in the Canadian equivalent of Peace Corps. She had learned to be self-reliant in a third-world country. She had learned flexibility, respect for cultures, and a sense of humor.
[29:24] Valerie knew she had those qualities. She advises you to chill out and have a great time. This is no dress rehearsal; this is it.
[29:48] From 200 to 2004 Marc spent a lot of time in mainland China, where he learned the more he ‘understood’ the Chinese people, the less he understood them. It’s similar in Mexico. The U.S. perception of Mexico is not correct. In Austin, in the last two years, there was a SWAT team set up within 100 yards of his house. In Ajijic, he is safe.
[31:02] Valerie says, “Que sera, sera!” Marc thanks Valerie for the interview.
[31:14] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Marc has several more interviews like this one lined up to introduce you to the many possibilities of working outside the U.S.
[31:24] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc has formed a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback. Marc has already released the opening chapter to the release team.
[31:41] You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up.
[31:50] When you sign up, you’ll receive the pre-release version of the chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released.
[32:03] Marc and Susan are adding about eight new chapters to the book and re-writing several others. Marc will release a new pre-release chapter on this podcast and to the team every four to six weeks in the coming months. Marc has been delayed by his move to Mexico. Susan has been delayed by moving to Portugal.
[32:32] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc is currently soliciting members for the next cohort.
[32:42] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you’ll receive information about the community as it evolves.
[32:58] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.
[33:21] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.
[33:41] Please come back next week, when Marc will likely be answering questions with Susan Joyce — subject to change.
[33:48] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.
[33:52] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-115.
[34:06] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.
In this episode, Marc and Karen discuss her book. Taking the Work out of Networking: An Introvert’s Guide to Making Connections That Count.
Karen is a veteran connector, editor, and communicator and has worked in and around Silicon Valley long enough to have appeared in Wired 1.4. Even before that, she wrote one of the very first guides to what was called the World Wide Web. Now it’s an amusing relic of a more innocent time.
As a corporate writer, she has developed stories, styles, and cadences for Google, Twitter, and many startups. As an early ‘Googler,’ she joined when there were 500 employees. She left nine years later when there were 50,000. She has been in a fair share of war rooms and fire drills and has crafted scores of posts covering products, pivots, shake ups, corporate apologies, and company culture. More recently, she advised a range of companies that want a strategy or a reality check on their messages and the content they produce.
Sometimes, friends introduce her as someone who “knows everybody.” Not exactly true but usually, she does know who everyone is. That may be her secret power, along with common sense. She can see around corners and ask questions that matter, all in order to help get to the next steps and real solutions for teams, companies, and individuals.
[1:05] Marc welcomes you to Episode 114 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. CareerPivot.com brings you this podcast; it is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you free of charge.
[1:35] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help.
[1:57] Next week, in Episode 115, Marc will interview Valerie Friesen from Blue Angel Solutions. Valerie is an early-stage Baby Boomer who moved with her husband to Mexico from Canada during the Great Recession, intending to teach English. She now has a successful business providing health insurance solutions to expats in Mexico.
[2:27] This week, Marc interviews Karen Wickre, the author of Taking the Work out of Networking: An Introvert’s Guide to Making Connections That Count. Marc reads her bio by way of introduction.
[4:09] Marc welcomes Karen to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Karen emphasizes the word “connector” from her bio; her ability to connect people is one of the reasons she wrote her book.
[4:37] Karen is considered a social introvert. She likes meeting with people, but she has to avoid overscheduling. She needs time to regroup at home.
[5:50] The difference between introverts and extroverts is in how they energize. Introverts energize in quiet spaces; extroverts energize from other people.
[6:27] Chapter 1 of Karen’s book is “Unleashing the Introvert’s Secret Power.” Karen’s theory is that introverts have the three qualities that help make connections that matter. The first quality is listening (not just waiting for your turn to talk). Introverts don’t want to reveal too much until they feel safe.
[7:41] Karen cites interviewer Terry Gross, saying “There’s no better question than ‘Tell me about yourself,’” when you’re getting acquainted with someone.
[7:58] The second quality is the power of being a good observer of the scene and of how a person you are meeting presents themselves. Are they nervous, are they proud of their accomplishments, what’s their style? Do they talk about their family a lot? Being observant of things and of behaviors is very helpful for understanding your audience.
[8:57] The third quality is curiosity. Be curious about people, their stories, and where they come from. Karen often tells anonymous stories that help people relate to the experiences of others.
[9:43] These three qualities — listening, observing, and curiosity — are qualities introverts are likely to have and that people need, to make good connections.
[9:56] Marc refers to Thom Singer of the Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do podcast. Thom’s observation about introverts is that they know how to listen. Marc always recommends introverts to have a set of questions to use to find something that you have in common.
[10:25] Karen is on a nonprofit board and she recently did an exercise with them to go off in pairs and take five minutes to find what they had in common.
[10:41] When Marc was living in Austin, he would start conversations by asking “How did you get to Austin?” People always had a story and they wanted to tell it.
[11:02] Karen says keeping in “loose touch” is making occasional contact with people to whom you are connected in some fashion online. Send a link with “I saw this and thought of you. Hope you’re doing well. (Let’s catch up soon.)” You can do this on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or text. It doesn’t require an immediate response.
[13:25] It’s simply to say, “We’re both still out there and I’m thinking of you.” You might set aside a few minutes a day to make these loose touches. Marc refers to this as cultivating your network.
[14:36] How should you reach out to your network? First, understand how they want to be touched. If you’re not connected on a platform, email may work. Marc notes that Baby Boomers are still getting used to texting people. Marc prefers a text to a phone call from an unknown number.
[15:37] Karen calls email the killer app. Karen suggests using it when you don’t know who prefers what platform. She uses it in a three-step process to introduce one person to another. Send it to one, ask concisely, with details, for permission to introduce the other, wait for the response, and, if positive, make the connection in a new chain.
[19:45] Marc advises that when you make an introduction, always make what you are asking for simple. He gives an example from emailing a connection at Capital Metro, where he asked, “Who can she talk to?” for information about working there. All his contact had to do was forward the email to the right person.
[20:34] People often don’t ask for what they want, or they are not clear enough. Karen suggests asking, “If not you, is there someone else you can connect us with?”
[21:17] Marc advises job seekers to send connection requests to recruiters, asking “Are you the right recruiter for this position? And if not, could you direct me to them?”
[21:45] What is the next killer app after email? Karen suggests LinkedIn, used for a simple connection, and then pivoting to email.
[23:17] Marc asks as an introvert, why he would need to network for his job search. Karen advises on the parameters of proper networking. It is a one-to-one connection with people who have leads and information for you, related to your question. It’s not a mass outreach but connecting to a few people who are, in part, experts on your need.
[25:33] Your quest is to find selected people who have relevant information for you, get introductions to them, and follow up with some kind of exchange or conversation as needed. Karen advises how to tout your qualities without bragging.
[27:00] Most of us Boomers got our jobs from other people. A lot of the people who pulled us along are no longer in power or are retired or dead. So, we need to build relationships with younger people. Marc sees LinkedIn as a database to find people he should network with before he needs a job.
[28:05] Karen says the point of her book is to have informal, low-pressure outreach with people and connections all the time. When you actually need it, it is less daunting if you’ve already been cultivating your network. Karen shares a case study of a woman who had let her network go, over the years and now needs a new one.
[29:03] Marc paraphrases Scott Ingram, “Networking doesn’t occur at networking events. It occurs afterward.” Karen tells people that getting the business card at an event is all about the follow-up. Karen gives people processes and strategies to try. Do what works for you.
[30:41] Karen gives her final suggestions: LinkedIn gives canned language for making a connection Don’t rely on that. Use your own language. Make your own explanation of why you want to connect with them. Tell what you have in common or connections you share with them. Be specific about your need and your quest. Personalize.
[32:05] It’s when it’s kind of vague and unstated and unclear, that it’s really hard to move ahead in any direction. Karen might wait a good long while to respond to a generic connection request. She may not reject it, but she lets it sit. She has a hundred or so that she will not do anything with unless they come up with a reason she should.
[33:22] Marc refers to a conversation on this that he had with podcast host Mark Anthony Dyson, a frequent guest. Mark and Marc take different approaches. Marc will accept it, and respond back, “I accepted your connection, [first name]. How did you find me?” About 75% will respond. If they are selling services, he cuts them off.
[34:27] Marc really, really enjoyed Karen’s book. See the link to it above. You can also connect to Karen on Karenwickre.com or @KVox on Twitter and KarenWickre on LinkedIn. Marc thanks Karen for being on the Repurpose Your Career podcast.
[35:43] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc has formed a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback.
[35:56] You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up.
[36:04] When you sign up, you’ll receive the pre-release versions of the chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released.
[36:20] Marc and Susan are adding about eight new chapters to the book and re-writing several others. Marc will release a new pre-release chapter on this podcast and to the team every four to six weeks in the coming months.
[36:40] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc will be soliciting members for the next cohort, shortly.
[36:56] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you’ll receive information about the community as it evolves.
[37:12] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.
[37:36] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.
[38:01] Please come back next week, when Marc will interview Valerie Friesen, owner of Blue Angel Solutions, in Mexico.
[38:11] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.
[38:15] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-114.
[38:24] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.
In this episode, Marc covers Gen X and Gen Y, the events and technologies that shaped them, the differences between them, and why we need to adapt our method of communication to them.
[1:29] Marc welcomes you to Episode 113 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. CareerPivot.com brings you this podcast; it is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Please take a moment to check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you free of charge.
[2:01] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your friends, neighbors, and colleagues. The more people Marc can reach, the more he can help.
[2:23] Next week, Marc will have an interview with Karen Wickre, the author of Taking the Work out of Networking: An Introvert’s Guide to Making Connections That Count.
[2:36] In this week’s podcast, Marc completes a short series of episodes based on his Multi-generational Workplace Workshop. Marc will deliver this workshop on March 7th at the Texas Hospital Insurance Exchange and it was suggested to him to get this on the podcast.
[2:50] If you have not listened to the first two episodes in this series, Marc suggests that you stop this podcast and listen to the first two episodes, first. Those are episodes 111 and 112.
[3:02] Find the handouts that accompany this episode at Careerpivot.com/Multigen.
[3:18] Marc welcomes you to Part 3 of the Multi-generational Workplace podcast episodes. In this episode, Marc will finish up with Generation X and Generation Y.
[3:40] There were a set of changes that occurred in the mid-1960s that set up all the problems we are having today with immigration and the changes to the racial makeup of the work population.
[4:14] In 1964, the Bracero Program for agricultural workers was ended. It was started in 1942 to provide men to work in agriculture while American men were at war. As the war ended and men came back, a couple of things happened. The G.I. Bill provided college for many; others, after seeing the world, didn’t want to return to work on a farm.
[5:38] Corporations and farms that hired migrants housed them in poor conditions and paid them poorly. Because of this abuse, the government ended the Bracero Program in 1964. The need for agricultural workers didn’t end. Until 9/11, 90% of undocumented or illegal migrant workers were men. After 9/11, the U.S. tightened the border.
[6:30] With the border tightened, it was no longer easy to cross the border back and forth. So the men brought their families across with them and stayed. Our policy at the border is still on apprehending single men, as opposed to families.
[7:09] The 1965 Immigration Act also played a role. Because the Silent Generation was so small, there was a great need to allow more educated people to enter the U.S. We went from a quota system to a family-based system, targeted toward educated Asians.
[7:45] In 2017, when Marc’s wife went into the hospital, she saw seven doctors in one day. One of them was Caucasian. Six were Asian of Generation X. This demographic shift is largely due to the changes in immigration policy.
[8:17] In 1965, the pill was introduced. The pill had dramatic effects on Generation X and forced divorce rates up in the Silent Generation. It changed the dynamics of our population. Worldwide, the more education women have, the fewer children they have, and the later they have them.
[8:54] With Generation X, birth rates are at an all-time low. There will be fewer people alive in the workforce to pay their Social Security benefits.
[9:17] Generation X is a tiny generation, primarily due to the fact that their parents, the Silent Generation, was a very small generation, and due to the pill. Birth rates after the introduction of the pill were not very high.
[9:47] Many people of the ages of Generation X do not categorize themselves as being Generation X. Why not? Mainly because there were no catalyzing events as they grew, to bring them together as a group. It was a time of peace and general prosperity. The Challenger explosion and the Persian Gulf War didn’t change anything for them.
[10:42] Generation X is the generation that has the least amount of group identification.
[10:53] What was the technology that affected Generation X the most? Marc suggests you pause the podcast and think about it.
[11:09] Home computers — like the Apple II and the IBM PC — came out. Computer technology had a tremendous impact on Generation X.
[11:46] How did Generation X communicate after they left home? Marc suggests you pause the podcast and think about it.
[12:00] This is the first generation who had electronic communication, including email, and chat networks, like CompuServe and Prodigy services. They still use the phone but they started the shift back to written communications.
[12:32] The Greatest Generation wrote letters. The Silent Generation were the first to use long-distance calling. Baby Boomers like to talk. As we move through Generation X, the communication goes back to written.
[12:55] How did Generation X research the question, “What is the capital of Madagascar?” Marc invites you to pause the podcast and think about it.
[13:10] Generation X still had to go home and might use a paper encyclopedia, or more likely look it up on Encarta CD or online, using their PC. This is the first generation that had access to online or computerized information.
[13:40] This generation has not yet produced a president. There were three Generation X candidates in 2016. Marc invites you to pause the podcast and think which candidates were from Generation X.
[14:13] Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, and Marco Rubio were all Generation X candidates. What did they have in common? They all come from immigrant parents.
[14:29] Besides being small, Generation X is the least Caucasian generation and the most immigrant population generation, up to this point.
[15:24] The demographics of Generation X and Generation Y shift dramatically. Who are their parents? The Silent Generation, and to a lesser extent, Baby Boomers. In an echo effect, Generation X has very low divorce rates — because they don’t get married or they get married much later.
[16:08] Half of Generation X grew up in single-parent homes. Their parents divorced like crazy and this generation doesn’t want to go through that again. Many people you know between 35 and early-to-mid fifties will be from a single-parent household.
[16:37] Generation X has children much later. This will show up in Generation Z, the children of most Gen Xers, which Marc will have to add into this workshop presentation.
[16:55] Generation Y, or Millennials, were born between 1982 to 2000. The most impactful event was 9/11. They don’t remember travel when it was easy. The 9/11 disaster threw a lot of instability into their lives. The Great Recession also greatly affected this generation. Marc’s son graduated from college in 2006 and got a job.
[18:10] Those who graduated from college in between 2007 and 2012 were greatly harmed by the Great Recession. They could not find good jobs.
[18:26] What technology affected Generation Y? Marc invites you to pause the podcast and consider.
[18:40] The smartphone and personal communications are the technologies that most affected Generation Y. As a junior in high school, Marc’s son had a cell phone with a 60-minute plan. In college, before Wi-Fi, Marc’s son could take a cable and plug in his laptop anywhere on campus to access the Internet through Ethernet.
[19:20] Generation Y was the first generation that was completely connected. Gen Y are used to having instantaneous communications and access to information.
[19:40] Marc recently updated a blog post on “The Ubiquitous Access to Information and a Generational Rift. Generation Y doesn’t have to memorize anything, and because of ubiquitous access to information, they may not pay attention.
[20:04] When Generation Y left home, how did they communicate? Marc invites you to pause the podcast and consider.
[20:18] They text! It’s a kind of written communication. If you want to communicate with a Millennial, text them. They won’t answer the phone or listen to your voice message. Don’t leave them voicemail! Marc also prefers to receive texts, because people get to the point with fewer words.
[21:20] Text is a kind of written communication, but texting actually hurts the Millennials because their writing skills are not all that good. Marc has a friend that used to teach in the PR department at Texas State. Marc pointed some nonprofit organizations there to have some communications done, but the quality of the writing was bad.
[22:11] In email communications among Millennials, spelling errors are common.
[22:18] How did Generation Y research the question, “What is the capital of Madagascar?” Marc invites you to pause the podcast and think about it.
[22:30] Easy — when Gen Y researches, they Google it! Marc refers again to his blog post. The lack of memorization skills hurts Gen Y if they are in customer service, where they need to know people’s names, or if they don’t remember incidents that could teach them things. It’s a very different world today.
[23:04] This group was raised to be good team players. Baby Boomers were raised to be strong individuals. We raised our children to play well on a team. They are not necessarily good in isolation. Everything they did in school was around groups. They are “pack animals.” They like collaboration. They like to be involved in work decisions.
[24:12] They do not like when a decision affecting them comes out from behind a door. They want to know, at least, the process and to be informed. Why? Because that’s what we told them. We Baby Boomers are their parents. They are the opposite of us and we made them that way. Everyone got a blue ribbon/trophy!
[24:53] Millennials created Facebook. This generation is the opposite of us. We look at them like they are us, but they are not. Marc refers you to an infographic in his handout on how Millennials perceive themselves and how HR professionals perceive Millennials. Marc describes the big differences in perception.
[26:06] Most Millennials are not tech savvy. They are great consumers of technology,
[26:27] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Marc hopes you have a better understanding of the cultural and demographic shifts that are occurring and why. His workshop mantra is: “If I want you to listen to me, I have to adapt to you — not the other way around.” In workplace communications, we all have to adapt to one another.
[26:58] Susan Lahey and Marc are working on the next edition of Repurpose Your Career, and Marc is looking for your help. Marc has formed a release team of readers who will get access to pre-release chapters of the book to provide feedback.
[27:12] Marc has already released the first chapter to the release team and he is working on releasing the second chapter. You can be part of this team by going to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam where you can sign up.
[27:27] When you sign up, you’ll receive the pre-release versions of the chapters when they become available. What Marc asks in return is for you to provide feedback and be prepared to write a review on Amazon.com when the book is released.
[27:41] Marc and Susan are adding about eight new chapters to the book and re-writing several others. Marc will release a new pre-release chapter on this podcast and to the team every four to six weeks in the coming months.
[28:02] The CareerPivot.com/Community website has become a valuable resource for the almost 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project. Marc will be soliciting members in the coming weeks for the next cohort.
[28:19] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you’ll receive information about the community as it evolves.
[28:35] Those in the initial cohorts will get to set the direction for this endeavor. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it will be a community where you can seek help. Go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.
[28:59] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you heard Marc on this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.
[29:29] Please come back next week, when Marc will interview Karen Wickre, the author of Taking the Work out of Networking: An Introvert’s Guide to Making Connections That Count.
[29:41] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.
[29:45] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-113.
[29:54] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.