Equal Opportunity for All

Today we honor Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, who fought for equal rights and opportunities for all people, no matter their race, color, or creed. He was adamantly supportive of fair labor laws, and warned against deceptive practices designed to diminish the value of individual workers.

     “In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as ‘right to work.’ It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights.Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone…Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer and there are no civil rights. We do not intend to let them do this to us. We demand this fraud be stopped. Our weapon is our vote.” —Martin Luther King, speaking about right-to-work laws in 1961

Not to take away from the celebration of his life and work, but we still have an awful lot of work to do. Some would say that the best way to celebrate Dr King's legacy is to continue to fight on for better conditions for all workers, everywhere.

Aside from fair labor laws, perceptions must be addressed that harm a worker's - any worker's - ability to prove themselves. These perceptions include those about age. I wrote about this awhile back, recognizing that the best way to destroy perceptions that limit our opportunities is to refuse to bow down to them.

Five Things that Make a Difference in a Later Career Job Search

Revisiting this particular issue, because it's been a few years and it's apparently still a thing - perhaps even more so.

A recent PBS Newshour segment further elucidated the general public on this problem. Clearly, it's still a great idea to de-emphasize the length of your work history in favor of highlighting skills, accomplishments, and knowledge. In fact, this is where those of us with long work histories should be shining. After all, with years of experience we've had enough time to gather rosebuds and honors in bulk. Instead of listing each one in chronological order, we have the distinctive capability to pick and choose among the best of those.

Don't let some of the general public's perception of older women be the rule: that is gender bias at work. In study after study, the facts remain clear: there's no good reason for this. Women often work harder, persevere longer, think more creatively, juggle priorities and tasks more skillfully, and are better at focusing efforts toward a positive outcome than men. Why wouldn't we be able to continue being valuable, productive members of any team as long as we wish it?

Why, indeed.

In an article published by the John C. and Nancy D. Whitehead Chair in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, Dr Gary Burtless, of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, describes his study that makes it clear that aging does not affect productivity. In fact, his research shows that older workers frequently command a premium wage that reflects their contributions to the workforce.

Unfortunately, in a time of hard scrutiny of a company's bottom line, this premium - even well-deserved - can be a factor in a decision to hire a new, older-aged worker. Sometimes, we are forced to agree to wages that are competitive with those earned by younger workers, or lose the job. Counter-acting these decisions may not be something that is in everyone's control. Only by demonstrating repeatedly how well we do can we expect to change the perception that our value may be diminished by our age.

We must continue to educate ourselves, to diversify our incomes, to seek out opportunities to cash in on our knowledge and experience. One way to do that is to publish. Another way is to teach. Of course, the wiser employer will encourage knowledgeable, experienced employees to mentor and demonstrate to younger, less experienced. However, we can't always count on this. As employers continue to pare back (whether or not it is in anyone's best interests, even their own), we cannot limit ourselves to what "the market will bear." The promise of capitalism isn't The American Dream, no matter what we once believed. It's just a chance to compete. That is all.

The American Dream is the fact that we actually can imagine ourselves better.

What does this mean, exactly? To be quite honest, it's a myth that creativity and imagination coupled with hard work that leads toward a better life exists solely in the United States. It's a human challenge that frankly, other countries do just as well, perhaps some even do it better. The real challenge for all of us no matter what our age is to do our best, every single day. Some days will be better than others. Some days will plainly be forgettable.

Don't settle for less than your best, every single day. And it's up to you to define exactly what that is.

Source: National Geographic

winter, warm and humble

Then came old January wrapped well in many weeds to keep the cold away

Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene

Cold weather tends to bring out the hibernation in some of us. I happen to subscribe to this tendency, and do not apologize. Nothing seems more apt when the wind howls at the door than to curl up with a good book, snuggled deep in the blankets, the better to doze when the inclination takes us.

“I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumns that there were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair

I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see

For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different green

I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago
And people that will see a world
That I shall never know

But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before
I listen for returning feet
And voices at the door”

J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring 

5 Things that Make a Difference in a Later Career Job Search

This is the season for career moves - it's the end of the fiscal year, and companies are re-formulating business plans, testing the investment waters, and placing ads for new hires.  At the same time, individuals often look for jobs over the summer while the children are out of school, and present work demands may be slow while co-workers go on vacation.  What makes an experienced person a better choice than someone younger and perhaps more open to being molded into the employee a company is looking for?  Here are five things I've found really help to keep in mind when putting together letters of interest and polishing up your resume or vita in preparation for getting an interview for the position you really want.  These can make you stand out in a crowd of job seekers, and help you land that next important job offer:

1.  Delete all references to years over a decade.  If you wanna impress with length of time spent in a field or doing a certain skill, just say "over a decade."  Unfortunately people in positions to hire you won't be impressed if you're approaching 50, no matter how awesome you are. Fifty means higher health insurance premiums for them, possibly more sick days, and stuck-in-the-mud work habits, not to mention the all-too-real fear that older people are not as adaptable or as flexible as younger people are.  Whether or not any of this applies to you or even to 40-somethings in general, the perception is strong enough to make it logical and even smart to get them to "look the other way" and focus on why these skills make you an excellent choice, which has everything to do with your abilities, and absolutely nothing to do with how long you've been doing something.  Make them think you're in your 30s, and they'll immediately believe you are on top of things because you're clever, not because you've been doing the same thing for decades, which can just translate into "it took me this long to figure things out," not "I'm sassy and smart."

2.  Get what you want to say on paper by making a draft letter of interest that can be tailored to specific job inquiries.  State what you do and why you want the job.  Tweaking should include making the person who reads this believe you are the person they've been looking for, they just honestly didn't know you are out there.  Change that by re-stating anything with the word "if," "might," "should," or similar perhaps-words to "does," "can," and "do."  The meaning is, you're doing what they want and you're the answer to their prayers, not you and that company might be a good fit.

3.  I wouldn't state outright that you've googled them, which is what they'll think if you say, "I've looked at your website and your company Facebook profile." That should be implicit without stating it.  Just say, "Having familiarized myself with your products and services, here is what I can do for you."  Let them think you've read all their wonderful advertising, and are blown away by their wicked skilz.

4.  Link up what they do to what you do.  Like this:  "Your service X dovetails nicely with my experience Y.  We should totally hook up."  Of course you want to not say it in ValleySpeak, but you get the idea.

5.  State things you really want to happen as if they're already true, because hai, they are (or certainly should be).  Example:  Instead of "I'm looking for ways to blend art and music into my graphic arts/administrative professional type career," try saying "I combine my passion for art and music into everything I do.  It keeps me tuned to the importance of communication and creativity when dealing with clients, and makes me keenly aware of nuances that others may miss."  See?  They'll wonder how they got by without you.

This way you're more likely to have multiple job offers so that you can choose the one you like best.

I'll write more later, but chew on these for a bit and let me know what questions bubble to the surface.

Finally:  REMEMBER YOU ARE AWESOME AND THAT YOU'RE ALMOST ANYBODY'S DREAM COME TRUE.  You just need to find the Anybody(s) who is/are YOUR dreams come true!