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Ageless Careers Insider Weekly

by Colleen Paulson

I'm a Career Consultant and 5x career changer who helps Gen X and Baby Boomer job seekers find jobs quickly. I've written/reviewed 1000s of resumes, so I know what works (and what doesn't). As a former Fortune 50 leader, I use my insider knowledge to help you position yourself for your next role.

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Featured Post

Reach Out (I'll Be There)

Reach Out (I'll Be There) My clients are often not excited about reaching out to others on LinkedIn. I'm a Gen Xer, so I completely get it. I joined LinkedIn back in 2007 and wasn't very active for a long time. The best practice back then was to only connect with people that you had met in real life. So, I kept my network small and really didn't reach out to connect with others. I regret that now for a lot of different reasons. The good thing is that it is never too late to build a strong...

1 day ago • 3 min read

Money isn't everything I wasn't surprised by these recent poll results showing that both flexibility/work-from-home and sense of purpose were more motivating to employees than money. I talk with executives in their 50s and 60s all of the time who are looking to make a pivot. Let's be clear: they want to be paid what they are worth. But, they're willing to take a bit of a cut if it means they have flexibility. Sometimes they want to shift into not-for-profit work and help their communities in...

8 days ago • 2 min read

Money isn't everything I wasn't surprised by these recent poll results showing that both flexibility/work-from-home and sense of purpose were more motivating to employees than money. I talk with executives in their 50s and 60s all of the time who are looking to make a pivot. Let's be clear: they want to be paid what they are worth. But, they're willing to take a bit of a cut if it means they have flexibility. Sometimes they want to shift into not-for-profit work and help their communities in...

8 days ago • 2 min read

Great expectations I've talked at length in this newsletter and on LinkedIn about how difficult this market is. I was glad to see the Wall Street Journal discuss the difficulties that white collar workers are facing and acknowledge how brutal this market really is. Today's release of the April Bureau of Labor employment data is mixed. Yes, historically, the unemployment rate is low at 3.9%. But if you dig into the numbers, there's some interesting tidbits: 1.3 million Americans are considered...

15 days ago • 2 min read

6 weeks ➡️ new job I'm very skeptical of any *quick fix* strategies for anything. I've been doing career coaching work for 15+ years, so I know that finding a new role typically takes some time. The average job search takes 5 months (but this includes entry-level roles, which are often easier to land). In this market, I'm seeing it take Gen X and Baby Boomer job seekers at least 6-12 months to find a new role (if not longer). However, I recently worked with a client who was able to land a new...

22 days ago • 3 min read

Make it easy for yourself I don't know about you, but we're heading into a busy season here. I'm excited about all of the milestones that are coming. But I don't have a lot of time for busy work. When clients come to me, they often have ignored their LinkedIn profiles and resumes because they just had too many competing priorities. They haven't needed to update, so they just put it on the backburner. The good news is that if this is you, you can make up for lost time fairly quickly. Here's...

29 days ago • 3 min read

Least complicated A recent client confided in me that he hadn't interviewed in about 20 years. He was a high-level executive at a Fortune 50 company. For every promotion that he earned, he really hadn't needed to formally interview - he had worked hard in the roles that he was in and that was enough. Now, he had interviewed lots of folks, so he knew how to interview others. He just wasn't sure about how to present himself in an interview. For me, an interview really should be a conversation....

about 1 month ago • 2 min read

Times like these It's easy for us coaches to give advice. The truth is: career development and job search is a lot harder than anyone gives it credit for in practice. I'll often tell my clients to not focus on the quantity of jobs that they are applying for (and instead focus on how the roles match with their goals, skills, and experience). I wasn't completely surprised that 39% of respondents in one of my recent polls applied for 100+ jobs in their most recent jobs search. For me, it really...

about 2 months ago • 3 min read

Flip the script Being told that you are *overqualified* for a role just hurts. But, it's very common feedback, with 92% of respondents in my recent LinkedIn poll saying that they have heard it. If you are hearing this a lot, you may want to rethink the roles that you are applying for. Let me tell you about a recent scenario. My client is a Gen Xer who has been out of work for 8 months. He was VP for a high-profile firm for 10 years. That's a long time, friends. When we spoke, he was applying...

about 2 months ago • 3 min read

Wish you were here It helps to have a community behind you. Unfortunately in this messy, virtual world, it can be really tough to figure out how to best become part of an online community. For those of you looking for a place to ask questions and find support, you might want to check out Glassdoor. (Full disclosure: I just joined the Glassdoor Content Creator program and am a paid contributor over there). I've recommended Glassdoor to my clients for years as a way to check out companies and...

2 months ago • 3 min read
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