I encounter clients every day who absolutely know when the time is right for them to make a career move. They are the folks who call me and sign right up for resume writing services. In today’s economic climate, changing jobs can be a scary proposition, so I admire those folks with the guts to go full speed ahead and plunge into finding a better way of life for themselves. But there are many others who stand still, paralyzed by fear but stuck in a job that does not make them happy.
Can you imagine working with a recruiter on your seemingly confidential job search, and you find out your recruiter crossed the line?
When my client told me he was terminated from his job, I wondered why. He was an absolute star performer and had a track record of success that didn’t quit. In fact, he was actively being sought after by multiple companies.
I don’t know whether you agree, but I think there is always a cost to leveraging your career in the workplace. I’m talking about the emotional, physical, spiritual, or just plain psychological toll that we pay when we push to achieve our career goals and delay gratification in other areas of our lives.
When my boomer buddy, a global SVP, informed me that he landed a new job in less than 60 days after getting laid off from his company after 20 years, I shouted with joy. With over 3 million baby boomers currently unemployed, we all know how tough it is.
I asked him, “Do you realize that you just shattered your own myth about not being hireable because you are ‘over the hill’, have grey hair and are 64 years old?”
I get knots in my stomach when I hear about how twisted this job market is becoming. Frankly, the stories are never ending. From nurses at Penn who are completely skilled in their profession but have new educational mandates to complete by a certain date (or else!), to recent college graduates who are overwrought with confusion about what to do next, to baby boomers who are pressured to take severance packages before the ax hits, it’s no wonder that we’re all losing it.
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