Posture: A Career Changing Lesson
When I first started my networking career, I was a pretty shy person. The thought of picking up a phone and calling a stranger horrified me.
I used to literally sit at my desk staring at the phone for hours trying to sum up the courage to call my leads. It was ridiculous, but my mind found a way to justify my inaction with one excuse or another.
The problem stemmed from my lack of posture, leadership, and authority, due to a lack of confidence. When I would call my leads, I came from a place of weakness, need, and desperation.
I was spending every spare cent I had on leads and tools, and I had to sponsor a new rep soon or I would be out of money and a failure.
That desperation, need, and lack of confidence came though on the phone and people took advantage of it in order to give themselves power. I came from a position of servitude, doing anything I could to please the prospect and keep them in the pipeline.
This is a MAJOR problem with people new to this industry. You will never build an organization or sponsor the right people until you move out from a Beta mindset to an Alpha mindset.
It is impossible because people only join Alpha leaders. The good news is that your Beta status can be conquered with a little education.
So what does it mean to prospect with posture? Simple. To be blunt: The person on the other end of the phone is a nobody, that must qualify for and justify your attention and time. Until they prove themselves worthy, they are just a voice and a phone number.
I do not care if it is a doctor, lawyer, business owner, etc. They can waste my time just as
easily as anyone else. They have to earn it.
Here is a pretty basic concept that I am adding to this article based on several phone calls I have gotten this week. It is about 800 numbers and whether or not you should use one as a distributor.
I was setting up their websites for them, and they insisted that their 800 number be included because it is easier for the prospect to contact them, and because some people do not want to call long distance.
I have to admit that years ago when I got into this industry, getting my first 800 number was like some cool "right of passage" that meant "now I'm a business owner!"
Ya it was fun to experience that, but I soon learned that an 800 number has no real benefit and can actually be counter-productive.
The only time you should ever use an 800 number is in a direct response advertisement. That is it. I hope by now that YOU can recognize how flawed that above kind of thinking is. ("It makes it easier for my prospects to call me." or "Some of my prospects don't want to call long distance").
First and foremost, why would you even send information to either of those types of people, let alone cater to them? Think of an expert in any field.
Not only do they not have an 800 number, but they usually have a few hoops people have to jump through just to reach them! Receptionist, call screening, etc... forget 800 numbers. They have no benefit to you or your business, and they weaken your positioning.
The best way to build posture if you are lacking it, is to first and foremost, sit up straight or stand while on the phone. Have energy in your voice, and know in your head they you have the keys to the vault. You have already found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
If that is not your normal personality, then change it. This is what it means to become the person you need to be to succeed.
I honestly like to think of Donald Trump, sitting there in the boardroom on The Apprentice. It is an honor for his contestants to have the opportunity to work with him, and they all know it.
It should be no different with you and your prospects. You are the Donald. Act like it. The best way to assert your posture on a call is to keep control of it. Once a prospect asks a question and you answer it, you have lost control.
They are now in charge of the entire call and its outcome. You must take back control immediately! You do not have a choice if you want the call to be successful, not only for your sake, but for your prospects as well. (They just do not know it yet).
The best way to do this is to defer their question and ask them one. Asking your prospect questions keeps you in control of the conversation.
Example Prospect says, "so what kind of business is this? What is the name of your company? You say, "_____, that is a great question, but we are not to that point yet. This is an interview, and I am trying to qualify you for my time. If you would like to continue that is fine, or we can end the call right now. What would you like to do?" (Did you see the reverse question?) Now you have control again.
What does having a strong posture do for your business? First, it positions you as an Alpha leader. If you are not a leader, how can you expect people to follow you? Second, it positions you as an expert instead of a peddler.
Prospects and customers seek out experts because they have the answers they are looking for and because they gain power by associating themselves with that person. Third, it allows you to guide them though your information system on your terms for
maximum effectiveness.
IMPORTANT: People do not partner with you in business because of your product. They do not partner with you because of your compensation plan. They partner with you because of YOU and/or your system.
They partner with you because they see you as an Alpha Networker and someone who can help them achieve success they want. Everything else is secondary.
A great way to help you develop your posture is to just say no to your next five prospects. Do it. Tell them you are sorry, but they are not who you are looking for right now.
This exercise will change your mindset and your posture instantly because it gives you all of the power and it will help you adopt a mindset of abundance which is a critical trait that all Alphas share. Your mind will finally understand that you are the leader, and that the success of your business is not dependent upon any one person or handful of leads.
In all honesty, you should be telling this to at least 50% of everyone you talk to each day if you are building your business correctly! The vast majority of people you meet will not have the characteristics you want in a business partner!
Becoming a Marketer
Following is part one of an interview with Cheryl Benton, owner of 747 Marketing. Their website says, "We've built a consulting business that helps our clients gain unfair competitive advantages by outwitting the other guys." Visit Cheryl Benton’s website simply by Googling 747 Marketing. Q. Why did you choose marketing as a career?A. Actually, I didn't choose it as a career. It chose me. I started out thinking I was going to be a high school English teacher. I believe John Lennon said, "Life happens when you're making other plans." I was substitute teaching, because there was such a glut of English teachers. I was there until the end of the school year, and I thought, "I'll have to go back to substituting in the fall." I thought, "I'll get some kind of summer job." But, if you told businesses you were going back to teaching in the fall, they wouldn't pay anything. So, I thought, "The next place I go, I'll act like I'll stay here forever." And, that turned out to be a 10 year summer job in a technology firm. I got into advertising there. I became the Ad Director, and then the Marketing Director. After 10 years, I left there and started my own ad agency on Long Island. I had that for 10 years, and it was acquired.Q. What made you decide to start your own agency? A. I was on the client side, and we were working with agencies. I was at a point where I wanted to try the agency side. It would be more interesting and challenging. And, ironically, people were saying, "Even though you've been a marketing person for 10 years, you haven't had experience on the agency side." So, I was finding that the agency door was tough. At that time, some of the big agencies had training programs, but my time for that had long since gone by. I thought, "At this point, I don't want to start all over in my career." So, I said, "I'm going to start my own agency and figure it out along the way."Q. Did you find it fairly easy to pick things up, or was it challenging, or stressful?A. Yes, all of the above. Whenever you're starting something new -- and especially when you're going from something very secure -- all of a sudden, you take this giant leap into uncharted waters. This is particularly true when it's an entrepreneurial project. But, there's a lot of adrenaline, and you have to believe you can do it. My first client was the firm I was working for, and then I had a couple of clients. That was terrific, because they all believed enough in me to allow me to do that. They were enormously helpful. I learned, and part of growing and doing anything is making mistakes. And, saying, "OK, what did I learn from that?" Then, you pick up and move ahead. For example, when you're starting up something, any client who came your way, you say, "Oh, I can do that," or, "I'll take that on." Then, you start to realize that you have to focus your effort more. I found that it took as much time, if not more time, to handle a very small client with a very tiny budget, than it did to pursue clients with bigger budgets. That was a big lesson: When to say no, and when to say, "OK, I'm not going to say yes to this kind of client -- even if it would provide some short-term income. I need to focus on the bigger things that will ultimately be more beneficial." Q. You've worked in Manhattan most of your career. What strengths are required to succeed in this competitive environment?A. You've got to be willing to accept failures, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start over again. In Manhattan or Boise, if you love what you do, and you keep at it, you will succeed.Q. The Manhattan work world has changed since you started. Tell us a change that affected you, and how you adapted. A. Now, with computers and the Blackberry, it's the total commingling of your business and personal life. You're always on 24/7 call, even on vacation. You're getting off a plane and checking your Blackberry. And, there's a good and bad side to that. The good side is: You can work remotely and you can handle certain business things a lot easier than you could 20 years ago, when you had to physically be in the office to do something. The downside is: You're never free! (Laughs.) Q. You've been active in many associations and groups. Did they help you with transitions?A. Yes, it's been great to be in them. I've been involved in advertising industry associations. They've been great for a number of reasons. Early on in your career it's fantastic because you can reach out to other people. It expands your network. I've been in the B/PAA (Business and Professional Advertising Association) and the BMA (Business Marketing Association). Some of my very closest friends are from those organizations. We're friends to this day.You find you have a nationwide network. And that is so critical because when you're ready to do something new, you sit down and say, "Who is in my network?" I would say to anyone at any stage: Get involved with groups in your industry. In your younger days you're taking from those groups. And, when you get more experienced in whatever you do, you will give back to those groups. Q. You continue to have a very successful career. To you, what is career success?A. I think it's loving what you're doing. I've always felt very fortunate that I've always loved what I was getting paid to do. I always loved advertising, I loved marketing, and I love what I do now at The Three Tomatoes Newsletter. I think that's the key to anyone's success. I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who has been successful in an endeavor who has hated what they do. It doesn't mean every day you get up saying, "Oh, my gosh, this is great." Obviously, there are lots of days you get up and say, "Oh, gosh, I have to face this client or that challenge." But overall, it was loving the business I was in, and the people in that business, and feeling that adrenaline. And yes, I loved doing that.Q. What's next for you?A. Who knows! (Laughs.) I have no idea. I love The Three Tomatoes. That's the thing I'm having the most fun with these days. I'm spending a lot of time on it, and we'll see where that takes me. I started out teaching, so kids and education have always been very important to me. So, I've become very involved with a couple of non-profit groups that work with New York kids and education. That has fulfilled that other piece of me. And, that goes back to figuring out what has been important to you all along. Look at what you are passionate about.````````````````````````````````````````
James O. Armstrong, who serves as Editor and President of NowWhatJobs.net, http://www.nowwhatjobs.net, which is The Resource for Job Transitions over 40, also wrote "Now What: Discovering Your New Life and Career after 50." In addition, he is the Cofounder with his wife of Armstrong Solutions Inc., http://www.armstrongsolutions.net, which is a Counseling, Coaching and Career Management Practice with a reduced fee schedule to expand their services to a larger group of men and women with needs. Armstrong also serves as President of James Armstrong & Associates, Inc., which is a national and international media representation firm serving Central US and Canada out of his Suburban Chicago base.
Wanted: Baby Boomer Teachers!
Today, there is a greater demand for teachers nationwide than there has been in many years. Of course, there is not an equal demand for every teacher in every specialty, but there is a tremendous need for teachers precisely because so many baby boomers are leaving the teaching profession due to retirement. This development, in turn, offers a great opportunity for other men and women, who are also baby boomers, to take those positions from the retiring teachers.
Let me give you an example. A person who came into the picture as a substitute high school math teacher for our then junior in high school the following year joined the staff of Woodstock High School and became a full-time math teacher in her late 50s. I believe this is the type of transition our nation will see happen with greater frequency all across America.
In the past, my mother also went back to school to finish her Associate of Arts degree in her early 40s. Then, she earned her Bachelor's degree, received her Master's degree, and subsequently taught high school photography through the age of 70 at Parkway South High School in St. Louis County, Missouri.
And while the individual paycheck may not be significant relative to private industry, public sector pensions for teachers are really excellent. For example, the formula in the State of Missouri for a retired teacher is 80% of your previous income after 30 years of service. Teachers are paid a salary based upon their education level, with the max pay level probably being a Master's degree plus 30 hours.
In my own circle, I have a good friend in St. Louis, who earned a Master's degree plus 30 hours, and let us estimate that he retired at $60,000 in annual income from his Suburban St. Louis position. His retirement at 30 years would be 80% of that figure. However, since he actually worked 33 years, the percentage on the retirement formula was 88%. So, by taking 88% of $60,000, my friend made approximately $52,800 per year, which began at age 55.
Please bear in mind that teachers throughout our nation do NOT qualify for Social Security. So this becomes both a substitute for Social Security and a private pension added together.
But, if someone goes back to school and they qualify to become a teacher in their 40s, they could still work for the next 20 or 25 years. In other words, taking my mother's case as an example, age 45 + 25 years = age 70.
The school districts, in turn, want good teachers, so they may continue to extend that teacher's contract even beyond the normal retirement point, if it's appropriate in a unique circumstance.
Continuing adult education instructor
One of my best friends from St. Louis retired as a public school teacher in mathematics after a 33 year career in a suburban high school. But, his real love has always been music over the years. So each week, he takes a one hour lesson on the mandolin and a one hour lesson on the guitar.
Then, at the local junior college during both the fall and spring semesters, he teaches a class on guitar. He said he doesn't make much money doing it, but it's very gratifying to him on an emotional level.
Ministry
Individual men and women may also feel the call to ministry later in life. That scenario pertained to my own father and my wife. My father went to seminary and graduated in his mid 40s and went on to a longer term career in the ministry. My book, "Now What? Discovering Your New Life and Career After 50," contains 19 profiles, one of which is of my 85 year old father. My Dad is literally the senior associate pastor -- senior meaning oldest -- on the staff of St. Louis Family Church, which is perhaps the largest Protestant church in the Greater St. Louis area.
Ministry today is actually a common career track for men and women, as we get older. This happens with Catholic priests, it happens in the Protestant clergy and it happens in the Jewish clergy as well. My wife is also an ordained pastor, who is a full-time minister in charge of Fresh Harvest Church in Woodstock, Illinois and who is also the point person for Fresh Harvest Ministries. She is also involved with a ministry organization, which has a call to our nation and is located in Washington D.C.
Fitness trainer
I am also a member of the McHenry County College Fitness Center, which has every kind of conceivable exercise machine you can imagine from rowing machines to stationary bicycles to treadmills to a cross country ski apparatus, as well as all sorts of different weight-related machines. MCC's Fitness Center employs fitness coaches, who have degrees, and these trainers come in all different ages. The oldest one, who once served as a coach for one of the Olympic teams, is today in his 70s. But, he still works on a part-time basis at McHenry County College in the fitness center.
I believe fitness should be one part of the transition we pursue, as we get older. In fact, many of the people in my exercise group, who work out three to five days per week at the same time in the early morning, when I use the facility, are actually in their late 60s, 70s or even 80s. The name of this group is "the Wild Bunch," where I am perhaps the youngest person in the group.
Of course, it is always good to be "the youngest," no matter how the group is defined.
Creating Positive Career Changes
You and I are lucky. We live in a world rich in possibilities. We are able to select from an unlimited variety of occupations, and have the right to find happiness and personal fulfillment in our daily work.
The fact that you live in a free society gives you the privilege to decide your own fate. You have as much power in determining where you work as you do in selecting a spouse, a home, a car, or a pet. Your choice of jobs really depends on how much you want to shape your career, and how much effort you're willing to spend to make the necessary improvements in your life.
If you're considering a job change, it's likely related to three reasons :
1 - Personal - You want to change your relationships with others.
For example, you may have discovered that you're incompatible with the people in your company. Perhaps they have different interests than you; or they communicate differently or have different educational backgrounds.
2 - Professional - You've determined the need to advance your career
For example, you have found that you won't reach your professional or technical goals at your present company; or that your advancement is being blocked by someone who's more senior or more politically oriented; or that you are not getting the recognition you deserve; or that you and your company are growing in different directions; or that you are not being challenged technically; or you are not being given the skills you need to compete for employment in the future. Or you have simply lost interest in your assigned tasks.
3 - Situational - You are motivated by other circumstances that all contribute to your satisfaction in the workplace. Maybe you are commuting too far from home each day, you are too compartmentalized in your duties, you are forced to travel too much, you are working too many hours, or you are under too much stress. Maybe you want to relocate to another city, or stay where you are rather than be transferred?
Whatever your personal, professional, or situational reasons may be, you're motivated by the desire to improve your level of job satisfaction and make a positive change. You'd be surprised how many people are unclear about what they actually do for a living, and the way their jobs make them feel. In order to translate your wishes and needs into results, let's begin by evaluating your present position it's the first step to any job change.
For example, whenever I interview a candidate, the first thing I ask for is a complete narrative job description:
"So tell me, Bonnie", I begin, "What is it that you do at your present company?"
"Gee Dave, I thought I told you already. I'm a systems analyst."
"All right", I reply. "But would you please describe to me in detail the following two things:
1- What are your daily activities? That is, how do you spend your time during a typical day
2- What are the measurable results your company expects from these activities? In other words, how does your supervisor know when you're doing a good job?"
Often, I discover that people are hard pressed to come up with solid answers about the specific nature of their work. They're not exactly sure about their job responsibilities, and their lack of focus results in stress or counter-productivity. Many employers expect you know what they want and how that should be done, often without giving you feedback till after you were passed over for that promotion you felt was deserved. It is your job and part of being fulfilled in it for you and your employer is to be on the same page and meet or exceed expectations and goals you both set.
While a little bit of stress may is natural in any job, a steady diet of it can destroy your incentive to work and dramatically effect happiness in all phases of your life. When you count your work week combined with your average commute, most people work more than they sleep (or do anything else), so minimizing any stress in your life contributes to life's satisfaction. A recent study confirms this and indicates a direct correlation between a person's lack of task clarity and their level of job dissatisfaction. Knowing what you want is the crucial first step for getting what is most appropriate for you. Every compromise you make undermines your goal of vocational satisfaction and personal achievement. Asking for what you want shows you are focused, thoughtful, and confident about your skills, goals, and abilities. Proactively approaching your work this way will more often than not impress the people you want to (if they are the right people), and will pave the way to you finding satisfaction and an optimal match in the workplace.
Try this exercise:
On a sheet of paper, write a complete, current job description in which you list your daily activities and their expected, measurable results. This exercise will not only help you clarify your own perception of your work, it'll be useful later on when you begin to construct a resume and communicate to others exactly what you've done and what you are looking for.
Once you've described all the facets of your job, the next step is to understand the relationship between what you do and the way you feel. I use the term 'values' as a descriptor of personal priorities, as a yardstick to help you:
* Understand what types of work-related activities you really enjoy;
* Determine which goals or accomplishments are important to you and give you a feeling of satisfaction; and
* Evaluate whether your personal priorities are in balance, or in harmony with your job situation. new position.
Although it's fairly simple to decipher which daily tasks you really enjoy, the task of scrutinizing your personal priorities can be tricky. That's because there are often factors unrelated to your job that can come into play.
To demonstrate this importance of values in our decision-making process, consider the following:
* A job-seeker can turn down a position because he was an amateur athlete and he didn't like the air quality where my client company was located.
* A candidate who was a long distance runner. He took a position largely because his new boss was also a runner, and would understand his need to take off work twice a year to run the New York City and Boston marathons.
* An engineer that took a job with a company that offered him a demotion, since being highly visible within his current employer's department made him feel uncomfortable.
The theme here is, we all have highly personal motivations which guide our career choices. It is important to prioritize and make these known.
Now that you know how to clearly define your values, the next step is to describe the changes you'd like to make in your new job. To further illustrate, listen to the way Pat, Craig, and Neil talk about their respective situations, and how they take their values into consideration:
Pat:
"I want to have more autonomy where I work. That would mean having a flexible schedule, working different hours each day at my discretion, without having to ask permission. I'd be able to leave early on Thursdays to take my daughter to her acting class, and in return, I'd be willing to spend several hours working at home during the evening and on weekends. With my personal computer, I'd have access by modem to the database in my department, and I'd be able to make a significant contribution to the workload, any time, day or night. Most importantly, I'd be evaluated solely on my performance, not by the number of hours I've punched on a clock."
Craig:
"I'd prefer to work closer to my home. I didn't think the amount of time I spent commuting was very important when I joined the company two years ago, but now it really wears on me to sit for an hour a day in traffic. It's not only nerve-wracking to deal with all the crazy people on the freeway; I could be using the commuting time to be with my family. The reduction of stress would improve my attitude, and give me a higher quality of life. If I could find a job similar to what I have now within a few minutes of home, that would make me happy."
Neil: "I'm interested in my own career advancement. If I stay at this company too much longer, I'll work myself into a corner technically and never achieve my potential. The people here are nice, but I don't share their 'lifer' mentality. Look at Ed, my boss. He's been here 17 years, and although he's a really solid engineer, he's not familiar with any of the latest advancements in technology. He'd have a hard time finding another job in this market, and it makes me worried, knowing I might someday be in his situation. Besides, I won't be promoted until Ed retires. So I'd better leave soon, while I'm still attractive to other companies. That would give me the salary increase I deserve and the opportunity to learn new skills with people who are upwardly mobile and aggressive like myself."
Someone recently asked me whether I helped people get "better" jobs or jobs that made them happier. My answer was that the two were one in the same. As any advocate of goal-setting will tell you, the more specifically you're able to communicate what you're looking for, the faster and more efficiently you'll be able to get what you want and need.
Another consideration is, if you were to look at your career from a purely strategic point of view, I could give you four poignant reasons why it makes sense to change jobs within the same or similar industry three times during your first ten years of employment:
1 - Changing jobs gives you a broader base of experience:
After about three years, you've learned most of what you're going to know about how to do your job. Therefore, over a ten year period, you gain more experience from "three times 90 percent" than "one times 100 percent."
2 - A more varied background creates a greater demand for your skills:
Depth of experience means you're more valuable to a larger number of employers. You're not only familiar with your current company's product, service, procedures, quality programs, inventory system, and so forth; you bring with you the expertise you've gained from your prior employment with other companies.
3 - A job change results in an accelerated promotion cycle:
With a change you can jump, for example, from project engineer to senior project engineer; or national sales manager to vice president of sales and marketing.
4 - More responsibility leads to greater earning power :
A promotion is usually accompanied by a salary increase. And since you're being promoted faster, your salary grows at a quicker pace, sort of like compounding the interest you'd earn on a certificate of deposit.
While there's no denying the strategic virtues of selective job changing for the purpose of career leverage, you want to make sure the path you take will lead you where you really want to go. There is ultimately little reason to make a job change for more money if the resulting frustrations make you unhappy to the point of distraction. Not long ago, I placed a project engineer with a company that offered him a $47,000 a year job. He later confided to me that the same day he agreed to go to work for my client, he'd turned down an offer of $83,200 with rival company. The reason? The higher offer was a consulting position with an aerospace company in Detroit -- a job that would have taken him down a road he felt was a dead end.
The "best" job is one in which your values are being satisfied most effectively. If career growth and advancement are your primary goals, and they're represented by how much you earn, then the job that pays the most money is often the "better" job. Your responsibility when contemplating a change is to evaluate what's most important to you. Whether you focus on a single aspect of your job (like Pat, Craig, and Neil did), or on the overall nature of the job you'd like to improve, the more clearly you connect your values with your work, the greater the potential for job satisfaction.
Looking For a Job or a Career Change Idea
This is something that is of interest to all at this time because it is likely that in this time and era a lot of changes are likely to accrue. Which will effect a massive amount of people. In spite of all this there are some great job opportunities. Also Career change opportunities along with the chance to start a new business or work from your own home.
These are all great ways to get ahead of the game. I am sure that for most of us it is important to find something we love to do and turn that into our career like construction or graphics, meal preparation, office work, or even helping other find out what they want to do for the rest of there lives.
There are so many Job resources out there it is sometimes very intimidating to most and so you need to find one that work best for you. Maybe one that is highly recommended by a family member or Friend of former coworker. It is always wise to do a little research on this to make sure you have the right people working in you favor.
I have found that if I let other know that I am in need of a job most people are more than willing to point me in the right direction but alternately the the decisionis up to me. Like I said there are some great sites and organisation out there that will point you in the right direction. Like this site try them all and see what fits you best.
JOBINFORMPROJECT
http://sites.google.com/site/jobinformproject
Questions and Answers About Career Transitions
Q: Who is James O. Armstrong?I am an author of a book about career transitions for baby boomers which came out last spring. The name of the book is "Now What? Discovering Your New Life and Career After 50." The book is being sold at retail bookstores and by virtually every online bookstore in the U.S. today and in Canada. In addition, I'm a website entrepreneur, where my focus is on job transitions for men and women over age 40, as well as on subjects like college and training options, relocating, volunteering and other subjects of interest to baby boomers and younger seniors as we transition into the next chapter of our lives. I am also the President of James Armstrong & Associates, Inc., which is a northwest suburban Chicago national and international media representation firm. Today I see my role as being one of speaking hope into my generation of fellow baby boomers that the best may be yet to come instead of past tense. Men and women today are visiting our website which is http://www.NowWhatJobs.net because they probably just lost a job or a loved one, friend or neighbor just lost a job. And, they are beginning to look for answers that make sense going forward into the next chapter of their lives.Q: What challenges have you faced that reflect what you just talked about –- in terms of speaking hope to your generation?During the 1990s, I personally went through three reorganization or downsizing exercises, which put me into the position of needing to find a new job. In each case, I emerged victorious from that search process. In addition to those personal experiences, I should also point out that over the past 30 years I have had an extensive amount of experience as a marketing consultant with all sorts of economic development organizations in the United States and Canada. Those organizations have included foreign countries, states and provinces, cities, regional chambers of commerce, economic development corporations and partnerships, ports and airports, real estate developers, commercial real estate companies, builders and engineering companies, among other companies in this market niche.Q: Have you reinvented yourself, and if so how?Early in my career in the media industry, I discovered that the sales career path was significantly different than the editorial or creative direction. Specifically, my sales and marketing direction led me to a 13 year employee status with BusinessWeek Magazine, where I was a national and international account manager. It also led me to an eight year career with Industry Week Magazine, where I served as Director of Economic Development among other responsibilities. And it resulted in recent years in an involvement with The Financial Times of London in the Midwest with selected accounts and working on special reports. Beyond those assignments, I have also functioned as the Director of Economic Development for a series of magazines, including my current assignment at Inbound Logistics, which is the leading logistics and global trade magazine in North America in editorial and advertising pages. This background has also allowed me to interact with people up to and including governors of states, lieutenant governors and directors of commerce or departments of economic development. These individuals tend to be cabinet level officers covering the economic development or commerce department area for states throughout the United States.Q: What would you say to someone who has career anxiety?I believe those anxieties are certainly justified, but perhaps magnified unnecessarily by the national media, which tends to provide an incomplete picture of what is happening in the jobs and career area in the United States. Specifically, the major TV networks and big city daily newspapers in the U.S. especially tend to focus on layoffs that occur in large companies. As a result, men and women get the misimpression that jobs are constantly decreasing, when in fact the small business sector is busy generating jobs in our economy. Government at all levels also has job opportunities. The healthcare sector, including dental health in such areas as dental hygienists, is also creating jobs for our society. And, so, we need to focus on where the jobs are available and not where some large company eliminated 3,000 jobs yesterday. Look at the total picture in regard to the job situation in America and elsewhere. The simple truth of the matter is there is a labor shortage in America and there is especially a skills shortage, which will become increasingly critical in the years to come. Q: Tell us about an obstacle that you faced in your career and how you overcame that.When my office closed at BusinessWeek Magazine in St. Louis, I wound up exploring other options in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. Then, I wound up moving to Chicago because no similar jobs were available at that time in the St. Louis area. That was a successful transition, but I had to be willing to move physically and I had to be willing to explore options at another national magazine other than my current employer, whether I wanted to do so or not, for the sake of the financial needs of my family. In other words, by being willing to move to Chicago, I was able to take care of the needs of my family. The follow through in this process meant that I had to demonstrate flexibility plus a willingness to do whatever it would take to get the job done.Q: Someone says to you, "What can I do right now to help my career?"More education is always an option even if that means going to a truck driver training school for six weeks to become a truck driver. The income levels you're talking about there range from perhaps $35,000 to $75,000 a year as a truck driver, depending on how many hours you're driving each year and several other factors. But, the opportunities are there in that area just as they exist in warehousing and some types of manufacturing jobs. It's all about being willing to explore options that perhaps you haven't considered in the past. You may even conclude that today is the day to begin exploring those options.Q: Tell us a little about your book, "Now What?"My book profiles 19 men and women from all over the U.S. in all sorts of different jobs and career paths, at all different ages ranging from early 50s to 85 years old and with the fullest possible range of educational levels. Each of the transitions for these men and women were successful. As a result, the stories are inspiring to other men and women, especially those in difficult circumstances. For someone who has been feeling a little down in the mouth lately or might be anticipating a transition in careers coming up soon, the book would make an ideal purchase.Q: Someone tells you, "I see a transition coming up on the horizon. What would you say to me?"You need to start planning now for what your strategy will be. The biggest point is not to simply send a resume out once or twice a week, but to work hard in the job transition process just like you have worked full-time in the past. To land a new job, make sure to interact with friends of yours from the industry, with vendors that you've known over a period of time, while developing a database program in your computer, and keeping track of people you've contacted, including what they had to say, and then getting back to them with appropriate follow-up correspondence. That effort includes your resume and letters of endorsement of you as a person. By the way, your resume needs to cite specific accomplishments in terms of what you actually achieved in the job while you were there, because everyone wants to hire someone who is outstanding. If 10 people have the very same experience and the same education, the one that actually accomplished something while he or she was in the position will be selected. Q: Someone says to you, "Jim, I cannot do it. I want to give up."Well, if you do give up, then that becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy where the end conclusion is failure. So, if you want to fail, then simply don't make any effort. If that's your disposition, then there's nothing I can say or do to make you think or act differently. But, if you're willing to make an effort, the more effort you make, the better will be the outcome. If you choose to contact 20 different prospects every day and follow through with the appropriate correspondence, that's the kind of aggressive approach you need to take as compared to a passive effort, which might only include contacting perhaps one or two people per week. More contact is the better approach and interacting with people who you know, including friends and neighbors, and men and women in the same company or industry, plus vendors to your former company will all be part of a winning process. Q: Someone says to you, "I know there aren't any jobs in this town, but all my family and friends are here. And I'm even taking care of an aging parent here."Everything has to be taken into consideration. If you can afford not to work in the future, then the aging parent consideration might become foremost. But if you have to continue to receive a paycheck, then you may want to consider moving to where jobs are more plentiful, such as the Rocky Mountain states. The unemployment rate there typically falls into the two to three percent range. Q: "But my kids are in high school here."That's unfortunate. But having a job is more important than where your kids are in high school. Flexibility in terms of pursuing all your options is very important to your ultimate success.Q: Why did you decide to devote so much of your life to helping your fellow baby boomers?I believe it's a calling which the Lord has given to me.