"What the Tarnation?"
Dear J.T. & Dale:
I spent in the neighborhood of 16 years in the fields of electronics and metrology (not meteorology). During this time I filled several administrative posts while still being a technician. A couple of years ago I decided to change careers to focus on my administrative skills (esp.: MS-Office Suite, design, and photography). It’s been an uphill battle ever since. I know I cannot prove age discrimination, and my actual typing speed has diminished since my arthritis has developed, BUT WHAT THE TARNATION CAN I DO???
-- Bill |
Dale: Ah, Bill, I wish you could have seen JT’s face upon encountering the word “tarnation.” She’s younger than you or I, and using such a word is the verbal equivalent of showing up for an interview wearing spats. Which may suggest the problem: it’s not enough to keep your skills updated, your appearance and language must likewise be refreshed. No, I’m not talking about tats or earrings or wearing a ballcap sideways; find some your contemporaries who look… well, contemporary, and emulate them. You don’t have to pretend to be 20, but you have to look like someone who pays attention to what’s going on in the culture. And simultaneously, you can start to work on developing a skills image to go along with the personal image.
JT: Yes, we live in a society that pays for performance. Meanwhile, the definition of performance changes over the years. You’ve just got to work with what you’ve got and keep trying to find your niche. I suggest you look at your strengths. So your typing isn’t as fast as others, but what administrative skills do you knock out of the park? It’s important to promote your specialty and find employers that will be ‘wowed’ by what you can do.
Dale: Some people do a “strengths inventory” and walk away wow-less and discouraged. If that happens to you, then consider finding something new for your specialty – in your case, it might be becoming expert with voice recognition software, thus allowing your typing speed to be exceptional despite your physical limitations. Or, perhaps you find something outside the normal skill set – it could be that you’ve raised your family and thus you’re in a position to work weekends. For some employers, that’s “wow.”
JT: Perfect example. So the real questions for Mary are these: Do you find satisfaction in the work you do? Are you building your skills while getting the things you NEED from a job (that is, good pay, benefits and perks)? If so, then it’s a job worth keeping. If this is your situation, don’t rock the boat with your flip-flop clad feet!
Dale: You figure out what makes you unique and market it. Your maturity offers you options for uniqueness – for example, your background in electronics giving you’re a vocabulary that valuable to the right employer. You’re not getting younger, but if you do it right, you’re getting smarter, and that needs to extend to your job hunting.
Best of the Month
Dale: It’s time for our suggestions of valuable career resources, and OK, I know it seems self-indulgent to suggest something I wrote, but I recently did an interview that I want to make available to our readers. It’s an interview with Tony Little… yeah, the guy with the blonde ponytail you see on infomercials. He is the ultimate example of someone creating a personal brand. Turns out that Little’s a quiet and thoughtful man who figured out how to make himself unique. It’s terrific information that you can read at jtanddale.com.
JT: And here’s an idea that’s useful for everyone, but especially for those of an age to be wondering “what the tarnation can I do?” Try getting in touch with the other generations on-the-job. Many people think and act their age; yet, I also know lots of mature employees who work exceptionally well with the younger generations and have no problems finding work as a result. Here’s a link to a free on-line test that let’s you see how well you relate to the generations in today’s workplace: generationalprofile.com. (This link is also on the ‘Career Resources’ page of our website/blog, jtanddale.com.) If you learn to better connect with the other generations in the workforce (there are four!), you just may tap into a way to make yourself eligible for more job opportunities.
Copyright © 2007, King Features
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