"Getting back to work when you're over 50?" It's a question that occupies the mind of more and more people these days. In the previous post we talked about it and by way of a practical sequel here are some thoughts on doing something about it.
Start thinking change and opportunity! The "unthinkable" of not getting the same job again needs to change to "thinkable." Be prepared to do something different. More than that ...want to do something different. It can still be the same profession ...but there are different ways to secure it:
- Renewable short term contracts or Interim Assignments can develop into on-going arrangements with the same employer. 
- A portfolio of 2 or 3 part-time roles with different employers not only provides variety but can also be more profitable. And the market is there with smaller businesses seeking a viable way of securing your kind of expertise.
Change employer attitudes and perceptions! Rather than accepting that we will be at the back of the queue for jobs ...we need to be up front confronting employers' negative preconceptions:
"Less adaptable to change! ...Uneasy with a younger boss ...Over-qualified!" Whatever the concern ...anticipate them. Recall personal situations that not only show that you've experienced and therefore understand the particular issues ...but also demonstrate your positive attitude and handling of them. Get good at turning problems into opportunities.
Create a compelling CV! Is your's a CV that lists the jobs you've had over many years accompanied with impressive data on turnover, budgets, people etc. That's not persuasive! With an emphasis on your most recent past, list your achievements ...the things you achieved ...the differences that you made. Identify your distinctive skill, talent or quality that makes you successful ...make it concrete not too abstract! Develop compelling stories that describe these achievements and illustrate your distinctive skill at work. Practice telling these stories. Work on a compelling verbal CV that you can get across in a minute.
Get out and talk to people! Getting that job you want is a full on marketing exercise. It needs other people to help you to make a success of it. So talk to the professionals. Career Counsellors tend to be nice people!
But also talk with your pals and your business network. Tell them what you are looking for and why ( your 60 second verbal CV.) And ask them to let you know if they hear of something on the grapevine.
When I worked in Outplacement 20 years ago I learned that 75% of job vacancies are never advertised. Even in today's recessionary times there are jobs out there needing to be filled now or in the immediate future.
The people filling those jobs will know people that you know. The more people you talk to the nearer you will be to those opportunities.
I came across some interesting statistics in the last few days:
"823,00 UK pensioners over 65 have returned to work in the last 6 months!"
"1 in 12 British Pensioners are now working!" 
There are of course several financial reasons for this: It's well known that annuity rates have fallen ...I watched with dismay and disbelief as my pension forecasts fell. Other less well known financial reasons include Gordon's raiding of the pension pot by £100 billion when removing tax relief on dividends. And 12% of 65 - 74 year olds still having a mortgage of £60,000 to pay off according to Aviva! And so the bottom line is that people, particularly outside of the public sector, are finding it increasingly difficult to manage on pension income.
But another reason for this trend is that an increasing number of pensioners actually want to continue working. Which is why these statistics from Age UK made disappointing reading:
"over 170,000 people over 50 have been out of work for at least a year, an increase of 52% since the beginning of the decade, and the highest figure in ten years!"
Yes it is disappointing to read that this is the case. But it is also disappointing that a potentially discouraging statistic is put out. Getting a job when you are out of work has always been difficult...at any age! And especially difficult if you've never thought about change affecting you!
Have you noticed how so many things are changing that we just seem to accept:
- Cheque books are not used in so many places now.
- Good old Woolworths and others have shut down as we shift our shopping to the internet.
- We even scan our own shopping at the supermarket checkout.
- CCTV watches us wherever we go.
- We cheerfully sort out our re-cycleable household rubbish.
Yet when it comes to our job ...we don't expect this to change. And we can't seem to accept it when it does happen. That is the key theme in the excellent book "Who moved my Cheese?" It can be read in a couple of hours but the lessons will last a wee bit longer!!
And the key lessons taught by the different behaviour of its four characters when discovering that their "life long" hoard of cheese has finally been eaten are:
- Accept that is has happened. It's not coming back and you have to move on and be prepared to find something different somewhere else.
- Accept that it was always likely to happen, that the signs were there. And that it will probably happen again some time and to prepare for that eventuality.
And I learned every truth in those lessons 20 years ago ...eventually!
These days I very happily find my own cheese. And I am always looking for the freshest because it is so much better!
"Reduce the amount you eat just a little each year!" That advice from Gardner Mulloy on how to prolong fitness into later years was given out around the time he won the Wimbledon Men's Doubles Title in 1957 at the age of 44. I've never forgotten him saying it...obviously! And I can't remember how many times I've quoted it to others.... 
...and also illustrating the point about how we eat more when we're younger with my personal anectdote of a hungry 16 year old with 6 cheese rolls in my pack up lunch!
A photograph of me taken during the recent World Cup shows that lately I possibly haven't been telling the story quite so much!
But now 4 weeks on....I'm 12 pounds lighter, feeling decidely fitter and also a little bit self-satisfied...especially after reading an article in Thursday's Daily Mail
Dealing with the worryingly accepted issue of obesity in this country, the article reports on a study carried out by Lighterlife on our eating habits.
It seems that when it comes to over-eating we all blame everyone but ourselves. We blame our parents for telling us to finish what's put in front of us.....yes I can relate to that.
Us fellas blame our partners for putting too much on our plates...yes I've used that one.
The ladies blame us, in that they serve themselves the same size portions as we get ...heard that too!
We blame food manufacturers for stealthily upsizing food. Apparently a hot cross bun is now typically 40% larger.
The confectionery guys are at it too so we can blame them. Have you seen the huge bag of M&M's on promotion at £2...a nice round price!!
And finally we blame the catering industry who from coffee to burgers are incentivising us with clever pricing to trade up in size...in more ways than one?
And of course blaming everyone else is a lot easier than blaming ourselves. I've found that three things work for me to keep weight down:
1) Recognise that sugar is an addictive substance that is put in food to make it more'ish. Which is why I will finish a pack of Digestive biscuits in a day. And why if I "quit" ...after a week the craving stops.
2) Understand that unpleasant "hunger pangs" encourage me to eat so they'll go away, and so I eat plenty to be sure. When in fact the pangs are simply the digestive acid my belly has been "trained" to create in anticipation of the amount of food I'm eating. Eat less and the pangs reduce!
3) Accept that if we really want to remain fit and active and keep our weight down to a healthy level then we have to start by shifting the blame for over-eating back to ourselves.
Gardnar Mulloy is still lean and fit and playing tennis in his 90's ...and probably glad he never listened to his mother!
Is your memory as good as you would like it to be?
My "ex" would often tell people that she was a former Southern England ballroon dancing champion although she never was!
On the other hand I'm absolutely certain that I can remember horse-drawn refuse lorries ...and old boys on bicycles extinguishing street gas lamps.
But it is quite possible that my "ex" honestly believed that she was a dancing champion ...and that my recollections of horses and lamps are completely phoney! Well that is the case according to a report in The Daily Mail last Monday. Referring to studies carried out with 1600 students at the University of Hull it seems that 20% of us have vivid recollections of events that never happened! Events as memorable as seeing dinosaurs and being kidnapped. Apart from highlighting the fallibility of memory the researchers suggest it also offers explanation of how people can have differing accounts of an event or conversation when recalling the detail.
Personally I find this quite reassuring! Knowing that others have memory problems. Mine are the popular varieties: The common short-term recall and the more exclusive retrospective black hole!
I know that psychologists dislike comparisons between the mind and computers but I think there is a useful metaphor here.
I see my retro black hole problem being a "hard drive" storage issue. Loads of data ...which is only to be expected after all these years. But also too many "corrupt files."
The corrupt files are bad memories. We try to bury them in the archive but they just sit there slowing the system down and impeding access to the good memories. The answer? A "disc clean up and defrag." Going in and rooting out those bad memories. Which of course can be done with the help of a trained hypnotherapist but there are some simple DIY techniques that are also highly effective.
- One is just talking it out with somebody else. It's amazing how what we see as major issues others can see quite differently.
- Another is to write down a full account of the problem. Then take the piece of paper and screw it up and throw it contemptuously over your shoulder.
- Try also picturing yourself in a cinema watching the problem as a movie on the screen. Then step out of yourself and stand to the side looking at yourself watching the movie. Tell yourself that you have now moved on.
Practice these simple reframing techniques over and over and they will work... and you'll find that remembering the good stuff will come easy.
So let me think... when did the "ex" and I win the Southern England Ballroom championships?
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