Science Proves Boomers Deliver Strong Thinking in Tough Jobs
If you follow the news about the job market, you’ve read that the market stinks for Boomers, those 61 and older. Bullsh*t.
There are plenty of good jobs out there for professionals in their 60s and 70s. The market is a bit complex, but winnable if you stress the right skills and contributory value.
Being a Boomer doesn’t mean you are a decrepit old geezer. All Boomers do not go around in walkers. In the summer, I play a senior softball league for men age 55+. The league is competitive. The players can still make the peg from deep short to 1st in the air and still hit home runs over the fence.
A 60-something player recently landed a Big Data analytics job in a med tech company. He is working with very complex analytics software, and was far from an expert in the program when he was hired. There were plenty of people more qualified than he, but he’s a very smart guy. The med tech company’s boss realized he could bring a great deal of value and perspective beyond just knowing the software.
“Smart” is what counts. According to The Week magazine, university researchers in Australia analyzed decades of data to chart how intellect, judgment and personality evolve over a lifetime. They concluded that overall cognitive functioning reaches its high point between ages 55 and 60. The study found that middle-aged minds tend to be wiser, steadier and more capable overall than younger minds. “While some people may find this obvious,” says lead author Gilles Gignac, “it had never been quantified and established scientifically.”
I specialize in mid-life (and older) career change for attorneys and professionals. They are able to make career and/or industry changes because of their overall capabilities, not their specific specialties. I have a 60-year-old current client whose entire career has been spent in healthcare middle-management roles. She is very close to landing a new position as the Chief Operating Officer for a company in an entirely different industry, one far removed from healthcare, with a $30,000 salary increase.
I would rather write about the experiences of others than about my own, but I am representative of what older professionals can do, so here’s another story. Since Career Strategies has been good to me, a few years ago I decided to cut back on my practice so I could enjoy the fruits of my labors. I have done that. I now take on a few clients each month, but had thought I’d spend a few days each week doing fun, part-time, $15 per hour jobs at a nearby resort renting out kayaks in summer and skis in the winter.
Instead, I ended up being hired as the part-time Executive Director of a moribund County Bar Association. I’d never worked for a professional association or a non-profit, but I had the transferable business skills to do it. It was, I must admit, odd working for lawyers when until then, lawyers worked for me! Revitalizing that organization was a big challenge involving everything from technology to grant writing to event planning to helping callers in legal distress, all things in which I had very little to no experience.
I accomplished what I needed to accomplish there and was getting ready to start renting out kayaks at the beach. But that was not to be. I was hired to be the paid, part-time Executive Director of a regional consumer affairs agency for the state Attorney General. Once again I have lawyers working for me – the natural order of things! – but it is mostly a volunteer workforce, which has presented a new type of managerial challenge. It’s been great and I intend to stick with it for many more years.
As it turns out, as a senior citizen (albeit is a fairly young one) I have been hired for top-level positions in two organizations, both in areas in which I had no prior experience.
But that’s not the end of it!
I made new contacts in these positions, and was invited to sit on three different Boards of Directors, two of which involve some heavy responsibilities. Between the three Boards, the work for the Attorney General, and my ongoing coaching at Career Strategies, I am living a completely different life than I had planned. I am having some wonderful adventures, doing things I never thought possible, and still making a good living.
I am relating this story only to show you that Boomers can make career changes, be hired for positions they had never done before, make good money, and continue growing personally and professionally. If I can do it, you can do it. I can show you how, and how to do it while minimizing career and financial risks.
In my next newsletter, I will talk with you about career and life risks. Stay tuned!
If you are an attorney or senior executive and you have been thinking about “what else is out there,” or if you are not sure how to start a career transition process, get in touch with me for a virtual cup of coffee. You will receive a confidential, no-cost consultation to discuss your situation and goals, and will also get expert advice on how to launch your job campaign. To schedule a strategy call, click here: https://live.vcita.com/site/bruce.blackwell
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