50+ What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up

50+ What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up50+ What Do You Want To Be When You Grow UpINBOX Ive been working in the same field for the last 15 years and I got laid off. I liked my work, I was good at my work, but I didnt love it. Now I feel like Im at a crossroads. I thoroughly enjoyed what I did earlier on in my career. But now I dont know how to let the employer know that. How do I get back into what I used to do? Or do I just continue on with my mediocre but more recent work?There are 2 key criteria to consider when youre at, near, or over age 50, to decide whether to continue along your current career trajectory, make a pivot into either something new, or resume work from your past. Evaluate the strengths you bring to the table, then think about whether youll actually enjoy a professional opportunity to put them to use. Lets take a deeper look.Inventory Your StrengthsI offer a litmus test when it comes to inventorying your strengths. Ask yourself, What are the skills I have that an employer would cut me a check for every 2 weeks? These skills are central to the job, not tangential qualities like being, motivated, dynamic, passionate, a good kollektiv player, or a problem solver. Faux-strengths such as those have to do with BEing. The task here is to zero in on what you would be DOing.Searching the job boards can help you with this. Type in titles that strike your fancy at the moment, and pull up a few ads. Read them carefully. An ad for a sales manager will say, Manage high-performance sales teams, generate leads with consistency and determination, and drive revenue from new and existing accounts. Those phrases are what the employer would be paying you for every 2 weeks. Therefore, the skills required are Sales Management, Lead Generation, and Revenue Growth.Emphasize What You EnjoyIn building LinkedIn profiles for and with my candidates, we spend a significant amount of time on keywords these are the drivers of the profile. The first thing I do is identif y opportunities to cut the fat, by asking the person, What keywords currently listed in your Skills & Expertise section can you part with for whatever reason you dont do them, you dont want to do them, you dont remember how they got there Not wanting to do some particular area of expertise that you used to do is an important factor to consider. You can be good at something without necessarily wanting to do it. Early on in my own career, I was actually denied a vorrcken based on this reasoning. I had applied for position X in the organization, after holding position Y for 2 years. I was told, We want to keep you in position Y because thats where you perform well. I resigned from there within 60 days, and got position X at a competing organization. (By the way, thats a prime example of managing your career like a Boss you dont let others define you. You define you.)Cut out what you dont want to do anymore. I know that seems counterintuitive, as if youll miss out on opportunities. Yo u will. But every opportunity is not for you. And whats the point of getting opportunities that you dont.want.to.do?Snap Out Of Analysis ParalysisThe above are the only 2 factors I recommend you consider as you determine what professional path to pursue. Then, pursue it. Clarity doesnt come through thought. It comes through action. Make a decision. Embrace that decision. Then execute that decision and only that decision. Heres what I recommend to the candidates I work with well pursue objective A for some period of time. This approach helps us focus. Where you focus is where you will find what you want. Focus on objective A in order to get objective A. Then, at whatever point the candidate decides hes not seeing any movement, progress, or responses, we can move on to objective B. One focus at a time give it 100% of your attention and energy.Career clarity is essential, especially when youre in the age 50+ category. Statistics say it takes candidates over age 50 approximately 20% lo nger to get hired than someone whos age 41-45. Theres a cheat sheet and video training that will provide you with clarity on how age 50+ jobseekers are landing the right job and right salary in 8 weeks or less. Download yours today, to understand the steps in the correct order, and go from job searching to job found