LaSalle University’s Bucks County Center hosted a very well-attended discussion this morning.   I was honored to be among the panel members who responded to questions regarding the personal and business applications of social networking/personal marketing.   Those in attendance included faculty, staff, and adult students; their questions and comments revealed a deep engagement in the topic.   Some comments that may not have been clearly communicated:

• Social networking and personal marketing allow us to gain autonomy and independence in the workplace.   Social networking tools allow us to become more responsible for the long-term management of our careers – the “apron strings” to corporate employers are not secure.
• Online networking complements warm networking.  Those who successfully develop and nurture their network demonstrate key qualities: team work, cultural awareness, and service orientation.
• Social networking has launched an era of “giving;” a prerequisite for and a simultaneous part of the “receiving” that most people associate with the new verb, “to network.”
• Career management requires a long-term commitment to social networking.   While numbers vary,  80 – 95% of all jobs are filled through networking.  With that in-mind, tools such as LinkedIn.com allow career managers to conduct a proactive “people search” rather than a reactive “job search.”
• Age is not a predictor of success in the realm of social networking.  While members of Gen X and  Gen Y may have an advantage in the use of hardware and software, the Boomers and Traditionalists seem to have an advantage in the “social” aspects of networking.   Bette J. Walters, Esq., a fellow panel-member, referred to the need for a publication recommending social networking manners; in the meantime, click here for a relevant discussion of such issues.

Here’s what we already know: The demographics of the workforce are a train coming down the track.  While we are currently experiencing a 9.5% national unemployment rate, the burden is disproportionately born by younger workers (more than 50% of non-students are unemployed – referred to as the Dead End Kids).

Here’s what many don’t know: The AARP (Pdf)  predicts that by 2015, there will be more jobs than trained employees – indeed, the group expects a gap of 35 million jobs.  It is becoming more and more likely that those who entered the workforce in the 1970’s will not become “snow birds” anytime soon.  Are they making it more difficult for younger workers to enter the workforce?   More results from the AARP’s  2005 report, “American’s Aging Workforce:”

• By 2015, 20% of the workforce will be age 55 and older
• The highest growth rate in the workforce will be among those 55-64  (an increase of 51%)
• Concurrently, there will be a decrease in the population of workers age 35-44   (a loss of 7%)
• Today, most  middle and senior managers are Baby Boomers, age 42-60.   40% of this cohort  hold college degrees; unlike their  Traditionalist predecessors,  who were more likely to perform physically demanding work,   most of these collegiate Boomers should be able to continue in professional, technical, and managerial roles well beyond retirement age.

The AARP’s data focused on the demographic trends of the workforce:  in September 2009, the Pew Research Center published a report on the impact of the recession on the graying of our workforce.  There are many interesting findings; for now, let’s look at the impact of the current recession on those who had planned to retire at age 62:

• 40% who are working past the median retirement age of 62 have delayed their retirement because of the recession
• 63% of those who were expecting to retire (ages 50 – 61) believe they may need to delay retirement because of the recession;  18% more women than men expressed this concern about their financial security in retirement.

The Pew Research Center analyzed U.S. Census Bureau survey data and conducted their own survey of 1,815 people ages 16 + between July 20 – August 2, 2009.   While the labor force participation rate for older workers is influenced by the current recession, this same survey revealed that 54% of workers ages 65+ state that the main reason they work is that they want to.  As you might expect, the younger and middle aged aged workers  are more likely to express a need to work for pocketbook considerations  (49%).

So what can be done to balance the needs of our economy with the availability of workers across generational lines?

• Re-introduce “job sharing,” a concept that was popular in the early 1980’s.  Maybe some inter-generational job sharing?
• Make it possible for older workers to take “internships.”  As with college students, these could be offered  with minimal pay, but would be designed to meet the desire of seniors “to feel useful, ” grow professionally, and supplement their retirement income.
• Create a cadre of older and younger people who could be national civilian volunteers or employees of the military.  This source of manpower could complement the efforts of our military; perhaps the right people could offer additional training to prepare soldiers for effective nation-building and  a successful return to civilian life.

What do you think?  Look for an upcoming Frontline show and get back to us with your comments…

Godin, blogger and thought leader among personal and permission marketers, has re-framed the thinking of Richard Bolles, author and esteemed guru of career and life coaches. 

I'm always looking for a topic that might add real value to the career space, so I was grateful to a friend who sent me Seth Godin's recent post, What are you good at?    Taking a marketing perspective, Seth appropriately suggests that those looking for their next big gig" should consider the distinction between skills that can be categorized as "content" and "process."

Godin uses 21st Century terminology to make his point:  "Content is domain knowledge. People you know or skills you've
developed… Domain knowledge is important, but it's (often) easily learnable."  While Bolles' terms may not resonate with Millennials, his discussion of this topic is as relevant today as it was in 1980, when the Quick Job Hunting Map was first published.  Bolles describes skills residing in the content domain as "I know skills" ,e.g."I know how to use SAP, "I know financial accounting," "I know movers and shakers in the logistics field."

Godin  uses the term "process" to describe "emotional intelligence" – what Bolles would call "I am skills."  When explaining process skills, a speaker is likely to start a sentence with "I am able to manage multiple projects," "I am persuasive," "I am adaptable," etc.  These are the skills, abilities, and personal qualities that can differentiate a candidate from the many others who share their credentials and knowledge skills.  As Godin says, the process "…stuff is insanely valuable and hard to learn." And I agree that these personal qualities are likely to be overlooked by screeners and scanners. All the more reason to dig-deep and seize control of your personal marketing campaign – to manage your career.

An infinite number of people share the same content domain, but precious few offer the same mix of process skills and personal qualities. Long-term career health, preceded by successful assessment, preparation of marketing documents, interview preparation, and offer negotiation, is dependent upon your understanding of these ideas.

Veterans perform tasks and achieve a variety of successes in environments that civilians have trouble understanding.  In honor of Veteran's Day, I'd like to offer some basic training to help Vets make a successful transition to the civilian workforce.

Veterans are like all candidates: it is imperative to demonstrate that their skills, abilities, and areas of knowledge are transferable to the needs of civilian employers.  Vet's can talk about what they have accomplished in the military and in previous positions.  Like other candidates, it is important to present a "mini-business plan" to relate to the
needs of a prospective employer.  Review the following list to be sure
you are prepared to interview successfully:

• You have
  clearly and concisely described one – two "success stories" for each of
  your previous positions, using the Problem (Challenge) – Action -
  Result model.
• You have analyzed your accomplishment
  stories to identify the personal qualities, skills, and areas of
  knowledge that made it possible for you to achieve your successes.

Step #1
- Study the job description and organization to identify the criteria
for the job (not "requirements"). The criteria are likely to be "soft
skills," e.g., flexibility, team orientation, interpersonal skills,
etc. Create a grid, with the criteria on the left and your previous
employers across the top.

Step #2 – Fill-in the cells
with a note about each employer/accomplishment that addresses the new
job criteria. (Without the ability to post a table on-line, I can't
provide a good-looking sample – contact this author for a complimentary
copy of this worksheet..)

Step #3 – Once you've
completed this "homework," use your notes to prepare for questions and
conversation with the interviewers. Be careful to limit your responses
to three – four crisp sentences, using the Problem (Challenge) – Action
- Result model.

SimplyHired, an on-line aggregator of job postings, has created a Vet-Friendly filter that may make it easier to complete local labor market research.  I found 124 potential leads with the keywords, "Operations Manager" in my 5-digit zip-code.  The idea is to use these leads to develop a list of target organizations and keywords/job titles – don't become obsessed with "cutting and pasting" in response to postings.  Use the Internet to conduct a proactive campaign: Vet-friendly organizations are a great place to start!

Studs Terkel died in Chicago yesterday at age 96.  He enjoyed a full life to be sure, with the possible loss of an opportunity to cast his ballot for a fellow community organizer, Barack Obama.  Click here to read an excerpt from an October 23rd interview with Studs about Election 2008.

As one whose first "professional" job was with a community-based employment development agency... …with two sons who work to repair the earth, one through higher education and another via social entrepreneurship/BOP…whose family has walked the talk, I join Studs Terkel and Barack Obama in celebrating the value proposition that "community organizers" can bring to the workplace.

Some may scoff or snarl at the idea that "do-gooders" offer value to the traditional world of employment (e.g. Rudolph Guiliani at the Republican National Convention), but with the perspective of an interviewer like Studs Terkel, let's look at what a hiring manager may find:

• Excellent interpersonal skills – listen twice as much as they talk to people who are not often heard
• Needs assessment ability – understand the needs that are underneath the expressed frustrations
• Problem solving/Resourcefulness – able to identify needed resources and people
• Project/Program management – ability to keep a lot of balls in the air, all headed for home-plate
• Sales/Marketing ability -  accountable for outcomes; identify continued and new funding sources
• Communication tools – written, verbal, print, visual, audio, Web 2.0, and in several languages

The service that community organizers perform is as valuable as that offered by our military, our teachers, our police officers and fire-fighters, and by journalists, broadcasters, and interviewers like Studs Terkel, who respectfully chronicled American workers since 1957.

Great experience today – my first as a guest on BlogTalk Radio!  I was honored to join a few other JibberJobber Partners who have talked with Jason about issues of importance in the Web 2.0 world of career transition and job search.

We talked about McCain and why he appears to be losing the job to Obama, despite his "hard copy" credentials and experience.  The conclusion appears to be that McCain has not responded well to the behavioral question of the day – the economic crisis. 

• Obama has been able to convince the interviewers, a.k.a. voters, that he "feels their pain" and has practiced the time-honored strategy of listening with 2 ears and talking with 1 mouth. He has learned from the interviewing process and has offered need-based plans that appeal to voters whose issues are health care, education, foreign policy and war, and of course, the economy.
• McCain and Palin talk a lot about themselves – a commentator on NPR suggested that McCain is asking the voters to reward him for his military and government service – he is not offering success stories via examples or testimonials that speak directly to the concerns of voters.  Indeed, one commentator observed that he appears to be a veteran of WWII, rather than a Vietnam War-era veteran; perhaps his POW experience shielded him from the cultural shift that affected his chronological peers.  His problem is not his chronological age, but the perception that he
  lives in the past and is not equipped to lead in the future.

The lesson for job seekers and career changers is to identify the needs of prospective employers; identify and emphasize transferable skills and personal qualities that are prized by this organization; and offer your brand and mini-business plan in a WIIFTm (What's In It For Them) context. 

The Recruiting Animal joined the conversation and added value by sharing his perspective as a Recruiter and a Canadian.  We discussed the impact of age, race, personality, and blogging in the interviewing space.  Listen to the recording and offer comments to keep this topical discussion alive:  <http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jibberjobber>

The Wall Street Journal (Career Journal) recently posted an interview suggesting that women are more likely to experience difficulties with job retention, promotion, and transition during a recession than are their male counterparts.

The interview suggested that the high cost of childcare and commuting has a disproportionate affect on women, cutting their real wages below the differential that already exists. (On average, women with children earn $0.76 for every $1.00 earned by men; women without children are likely to earn close to $0.90 compared to their male counterparts). 

Certainly economic downturns exacerbate the factors affecting the most vulnerable in the workforce, e.g. working mothers,  fathers who are primary caregivers, as well as Boomers who are caring for disabled family members.  The prevalence of cases related to family responsibilities discrimination prompted the EEOC to issue guidelines for employers in May 2007:

“These EEOC
family responsibility guidelines condemn stereotypical perceptions of
employees, sex-based stereotypes of working women and pregnant women,
and discrimination against working fathers. The EEOC
also makes it clear that an employer’s “benevolent” stereotyping, such
as assuming a mother would not want a promotion if it meant moving to
another city, still has adverse effects and may be illegal under Title
VII.”

Clearly, the recession affects all of us; to paraphrase George Orwell, it may affect some of us more than others.  What is your experience or opinion?

The Philadelphia Business Journal reported today that Comcast Interactive Media intends to buy Plaxo, the operator of an online address book and social network called Pulse.

What does this mean for those who value the social Web as a tool to:

• share ideas freely;
• build and nurture connections; and,
• experiment with innovative ideas, products, and services?

According to Ben Golub, CEO of Plaxo, here’s what Comcast has in-mind:  "Comcast has an exciting vision to bring the social media experience to mainstream consumers…To help users connect with all the people they care about, across all of the devices they use, with all the media they love to consume, create, and share…"

Comcast  Comcast Interactive Media is the Internet business unit of Comcast Corporation  (NASDAQ:CMSCA,CMCSK), the nation’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services.  Comcast is
principally involved in the development, management and operation of
broadband cable networks and in the delivery of programming content. Some statistics about the company:

• 24.7 million cable customers
• 14.1 million high-speed Internet customers
• 5.2 million voice customers

Have you looked at your Cable-TV bill lately?  The cost of your Internet Service?  The cost of your land line or cell phone contract?  If yours is like mine, the cost has grown exponentially while the value of the service has remained fairly constant.

Now think about what you pay for social networking tools like Pulse, Facebook, LinkedIn.com, MySpace, etc?  To paraphrase George Orwell’s famous line in Animal Farm, it is good and necessary for communications tools to change, but not all communications changes are good or necessary.

What do you think this acquisition will mean for users of the social Web? 

In my head, I’ve been re-playing our Mind the Gap:Connecting the Generations presentation in Minneapolis; let’s continue the conversation about the 4 generations in the workforce. I’d like to propose a new approach to career transition, one that promotes strategies to understand and transcend generation, and accepts challenges toward achievement of career success in this multi-generational workplace. 

The first strategy:  A-b-C:  Accept but Challenge

• Accept differences – We cannot adopt homogeneous personal qualities or value propositions. It is important to identify and fine-tune the presentation of our brand or unique selling point in conversation, via resume, online, etc.  Accepting differences was one of the contributions of Generation X, e.g. those who now fall roughly between the ages of 30-45. Remember the rock musical, Hair, the first Broadway show that celebrated different thinking about politics, sexuality, and race?
• but – As interpersonally aware people, we prefer to use the connecting word, "and." I submit that the word "but" allows all those involved in career transition to engage in a process that may include discomfort and chaos, hopefully leading to equilibrium.  (More on this adaptation of Chaos Theory in another post…)
• Challenge – This is our raison d’etre: the challenge to "be all that we can be" is what makes life exciting.  To achieve our work/life goals and succeed in a work environment in which 4+ generations work side-by-side, we must challenge ourselves to transcend the limitations of our own generational box.  Ellen Sautter, whom I met at the Career Management Alliance Conference, suggested that she is the embodiment of the trans-generation: she is a Traditionalist by birth, who recently co-authored a book that is likely to appeal to all generations, Seven Days to Online Networking.

We can Accept differences and search for commonalities, but we must poke ourselves, our clients, and our colleagues to accept the Challenge of a trans-generational workforce – one that takes a "so what" approach to the issue of age. 

So with AbC in mind, here’s a challenge for you to chew on; your comments are encouraged:

 

How should we distinguish between personal and professional
networking? Is online networking similar to meeting associates and
friends at the 9th Hole? Are these online networking tools superficial
and self-promotional?

• Is LinkedIn an electronic Roladex? Can it promote real relationships?
  
• Is posting to Facebook
  superficial or does it promote connectedness? Should "friends" be
  expected to cleanse their page for evaluation by employers?

Please respond to this blog, or directly to my e-mail address:  Karen@CareerAcceleration.net

The daily dose of "political gotcha" reveals the soft underbelly of the paradigm shift that is occurring in the political sphere and in society.  Those born between 1965 – 1990 are known as Gen X and Gen Y, or Generation X and Millennials: most will be eligible to vote in November 2008.  If they continue to show interest in the election, it is indeed possible that young voters will pick the next president (Jean M. Twenge).  Based on an analysis of the generations in the workforce, what can the candidates learn to evaluate their appeal to the "GenMe’ers?"

Together with my colleague, Billie Sucher, I’ve been preparing a
presentation for the Career Management Alliance later this week. If the
three candidates for President of the USA were in our audience, I’d ask
them to consider the following points:
Values: 

• Millennials are likely to care about green policies, volunteerism, and social entrepreneurship, an interesting juxtaposition to their need for approval and self-centeredness.  Their Gen X older brothers/sisters are more cynical about institutions and leaders; they want to be at the cutting edge, and are willing to break some rules to achieve their goals – they have been at the vanguard of the "free agent" workforce.
• It may surprise you to learn that McCain and Ron Paul – with their individualistic and libertarian messages, have been well received by younger voters, along with Barack Obama.  Hillary Clinton’s promise to return to the "peace and prosperity" of the 90’s, is suspect and less appealing to this  demographic.

Clashpoints:

• Traditionalists, those born before 1945, believe that things get done right through Chain of Command. Boomers agitate for Change of Command – a chance to become the leaders; Generation X prefer Self-Command – free agency, while Millennials expect NO Command – they want to collaborate. 
• Clearly John McCain represents the best of the chain of command philosophy, but respect doesn’t necessarily mean support.  While Boomers may believe their efforts to change the world in the 1960’s and 1970’s qualifies them for acceptance by their children, the fact is, most Boomers didn’t tune-in and drop-out – they tuned-out and gave-up.  Collaboration is a new style that is promoted by the Brand called Obama – whether it can withstand the politics of "gotcha" remains to be seen…

Paradigm Shift:

• The Golden Rule, that most of us accepted while growing up, calls for us to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  It assumes that we are homogeneous; it is a product of the "Melting Pot." 
• The Titanium Rule, which many GenMe’ers subscribe to, calls for us to "Do unto others, keeping their preferences in-mind."  This assumes that we are diverse; it is a product of the uni-cultural or trans-cultural point of view, a perspective that is supported by the demographic changes occurring in the USA.

Mrs. Clinton, Mr. McCain, Mr. Obama – hope to meet you in Minneapolis so we can help you "Mind the Gap."