Encore Tampa Bay Connecting Boomers to their Encore Careers

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Baby Boomers Aren’t Headed to the Exits. They Are Taking New Highways.

Encore Connect Event Will Help in Creating New Roadmap.

Encore ConnectMany Tampa Bay experienced workers, as they enter mid-life, are struggling with landing a job, finding the right resources for retooling, looking at starting a business, full time versus part time work, and figuring out the best way to connect to non-profits for volunteerism or paid jobs.

Kerry HannonTo address this need, Encore Tampa Bay is hosting Encore Connect: Your Roadmap to What’s Next, an event to explore the ways people 50+ can redefine retirement, find new purpose and do meaningful work that enriches their lives and strengthens their communities.

Encore Connect is set for Wednesday, March 16, 4-7 p.m. at USF St. Petersburg and will provide boomers with an opportunity to learn from national leaders and connect to local resources for education, entrepreneurship, volunteering, job searches and transitioning to their individualized “encore.”

The Encore Connect event will feature keynote speaker Kerry Hannon, a nationally recognized expert on career transitions and retirement. Hannon is the author of numerous books and a frequent television and radio commentator. Her tenth book, Getting the Job You Want After 50 For Dummies, was published in 2015 and hit #1 on Amazon for mid-life career management. Hannon will discuss how the world of work is changing and how people over 50 are making a living and making a difference in their second half of life.

Why is this a critical issue?

The 2015 findings of the White House Conference on Aging state, “The first baby boomers reached retirement age in 2011, accelerating a population surge in the number of Americans over the age of 65. Each day for the next 15 years, thousands more will reach retirement age, creating new opportunities for how we define what it means to be an older American.” In the Tampa Bay area there are more than 500,000 adults older than 50.

  • AARP research shows that 70% of adults over 50 have decided to work beyond 65 in some capacity.
  • Encore.org states that “More than 21 million Americans are choosing an alternative path of retirement utilizing their lifetime of skills and experience.”
  • The Kauffman Foundation finds that “The fastest growing age group of entrepreneurs is age 55-65, with over 45% of all entrepreneurs between the ages of 45-65.”

An expo will follow Hannon’s presentation and showcase numerous resources available in the Tampa Bay area. Attendees will be able to connect to local experts, coaches, businesses and non-profits and benefit from one-on-one conversations on potential next steps. The expo will offer the “take action” guidance needed so boomers will leave with an individualized plan.

Bevan Rogel, founder and president of Encore Tampa Bay, says many baby boomers are both excited and terrified at the prospect of reinventing themselves or launching a new career or business.
“We’ve been raised to think that our lives have three chapters: growing up and getting an education; working and raising families; and retiring to live out our golden years,” Rogel said. “Now those so-called golden years can go on for decades. Today, many boomers are trying to figure out how to leverage their skills and strengths in new ways that meet their needs. There really isn’t a roadmap for this, so our goal is to work together to create one.”

Encore Connect is supported by Presenting Sponsor, Raymond James, and Connect Sponsors, AARP, Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and USF St. Petersburg. Other sponsors include SunTrust, Manpower, Brighthouse, Nielsen, Florida Blue, Greenhouse, Baby Boomers’ Barrister and My Video Voice Productions. To learn more about Encore Connect and to register, visit the Encore Connect page. Registration is $40 ($50 after March 1).

About Encore Tampa Bay

Encore Tampa Bay helps baby boomers understand this exciting new stage of life development where anything is possible. Encore careers combine work (paid and unpaid), with personal meaning and social impact. Encore careers can be as a volunteer, part time or project paid work, starting your own business or non profit or simply learning a new skill/ new job. Our goal is to build an interest by Tampa Bay businesses, educational institutions and community organizations to value and leverage the talent of experienced adults. Encore Tampa Bay is making a difference in the Tampa Bay community by connecting passionate, experienced, talented older adults to organizations that are in need of this level of expertise and experience.

Author/Career Expert Kerry Hannon to Keynote at Encore Connect

“What’s Next: Your Guide to Retirement: Finding Your Passion and Your Dream Job”

Kerry HannonKerry Hannon, a nationally recognized career expert, columnist and regular contributor to The New York Times and Money magazine, will be the featured speaker at Encore Connect, an event to explore the ways people 50+ can redefine retirement, find new purpose and do meaningful work that enriches their lives and strengthens their communities.  Set for Wednesday, March 16, 4-7 pm at University of South Florida St. Petersburg, the Encore Connect program promises to provide boomers with an opportunity to learn from Hannon and connect to local resources for education, entrepreneurship, volunteering, job searches and transitioning to their individualized “encore”.

Hannon’s address, “What’s Next? Your Guide to a Working Retirement: Finding Your Passion and Your Dream Job,” will cover the importance of a working retirement as a pillar of retirement, finding an encore career, starting a business, how to find a job with a non-profit, steps to pivot to an encore career, and how to fall in love with your job again.

“Living longer, healthier lives is revolutionizing the way we navigate what was once considered our retirement years – and our retirement savings strategies,” said Hannon.  “We must re-think the value of longevity and focus on three money-wise reasons to stay in the workforce as long as possible.”

Encore Fast Facts

  • By 2020, 55.9 million people in the U.S. will be 65 or older and by 2030 that number will reach 72.7 million. (Source: U.S. Census)
  • 70% of adults over 50 have decided to work beyond 65 in some capacity. (Source: AARP)
  • More than 21 million Americans are choosing an alternative path of retirement utilizing their lifetime of skills and experience. (Source: Encore.org)
  • The fastest growing age group of entrepreneurs is age 55-65, with over 45% of all entrepreneurs between the ages of 45-65. (Source: Kauffman Foundation, 2015 Kauffman Index of Startup Activity)
  • In the Tampa Bay area there are more than 500,000 adults older than 50. (Source: AARP)

Hannon is the author of ten books, including Getting the Job You Want After 50 – #1 on Amazon for mid-life career management and job-hunting.  Attendees will receive this best seller free with registration.  Hannon also wrote What’s Next? Finding Your Passion and Your Dream Job in Your Forties, Fifties and Beyond and the national bestseller Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy . . . And Pays the Bills.

Louanne Walters, producer and host of The Philanthropy Show, will interview Hannon on areas to help attendees prepare for their next job, new business or volunteer opportunity.  With over 30 years in communications, tourism and finance, Walters has served as a TV news reporter/anchor with three NBC affiliates and a financial advisor with Raymond James.

Hannon is a contributing writer for AARP’s Jobs Expert, Great Jobs columnist, contributing editor and Second Verse columnist at Forbes, and the PBS website NextAvenue.org expert and regular columnist on personal finance and careers for boomer women.

A graduate of Duke University, Hannon is a fellow of the Columbia Journalism School and the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center’s 2015 Age Boom Academy. She is a former Metlife Foundation and New America Media fellow on aging.  In 2006, she developed U.S. News & World Report’s “Second Acts” feature — a regular column that looked at people who successfully navigated a complete career change in midlife, their challenges and their motivations.

Hannon’s presentation will be followed by an opportunity to connect to numerous resources in the Tampa Bay area through an interactive expo.  The expo will offer the “take action” guidance needed so boomers will leave with an individualized plan.

“Our expo is not a job fair,” says Bevan Rogel, founder and president of Encore Tampa Bay.  “It is an opportunity to link to connections for education, entrepreneurship, job searches, volunteering and other organizations to help people reinventing themselves for the future.”

Encore Connect is supported by presenting sponsor, Raymond James and connect sponsors, AARP  Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and USFSP.  Other sponsors include SunTrust, Manpower, Brighthouse, Nielsen , Florida Blue Baby Boomer Barristers and My Video Voice.

To learn more about Encore Connect and to register, visit here.  Early bird registration is $40.  After March 1, registration is $50.

About Encore Tampa Bay
Encore Tampa Bay helps baby boomers understand this exciting new stage of life development where anything is possible. Encore careers combine work (paid and unpaid), with personal meaning and social impact.  Encore careers can be as a volunteer, part time or project paid work, starting your own business or non-profit or simply learning a new skill/ new job.

Our goal is to build an interest by Tampa Bay businesses, educational institutions and community organizations to value and leverage the talent of experienced adults. Encore Tampa Bay is making a difference in the Tampa Bay community by connecting passionate, experienced, talented older adults to organizations that are in need of this level of expertise and experience.

DO YOU LOVE WHAT YOU DO? ARE YOU READY TO MAKE A CHANGE?

You’re invited to ENCORE CONNECT: YOUR ROADMAP TO WHAT’S NEXT!

Living longer, healthier lives has us revolutionizing the way we spend the second half of life. For most of us, knowing what we do NOT want to do may be clearer than what future path we want to take.

Encore Connect

Encore Connect can help you go from THINKING about how you want to redefine your next chapter to actually DOING something about it. Encore Connect is set for Wednesday, March 16, 4-7 pm at University of South Florida St. Petersburg and will provide boomers with an opportunity to learn from national leaders and connect to local resources for education, entrepreneurship, volunteering, job searches and transitioning to their individualized “encore.”

Kerry HannonKerry Hannon, keynote speaker, is a national recognized expert in job transitions and the new retirement. She will provide key insights for how to stay relevant and engaged in this new world of work. Her top 10 bestselling book “Getting the Job You Want over 50”, will provide you with valuable tools and tips. (Every attendee will receive this book).

The second half of the Encore Connect event is dedicated to helping you literally connect to the amazing resources in our area that will help you to discover, retool and connect to your encore. We have over 30 resources, including coaches and mentors ready to help you take the next step wherever you are on the “encore journey”.

Register now for Encore Connect!!

Early bird registration has been extended to March 1 (leap year bonus) $40.
$50 after March 1.

Making Job Boards Work for You

Guest post by Lisa Levinson and Doris Reeves-Lipscomb, Women’s Learning Studio

job searchOur alliance with Encore Tampa Bay has made us aware that many baby boomers wish to keep working in a new style of retirement that includes earning income. But many might not have looked for a job in many years.

Finding a job used to be classified, as in classified newspaper advertisements. Help wanted ads also existed on job boards physically located in employment or Human Resources offices. Now job postings, job searches, and job applications are overwhelmingly done online. Because of these changes, Bevan asked us to offer perspective on the “new” job boards for boomers to assist their search for work as employees, freelancers, and flexible project specialists.

What are job boards?

 

hiringJob boards are websites that match employers’ vacant jobs with job seekers. Most job boards use traditional job descriptions to entice prospective workers into full time employment opportunities. But we found a few that specialize in “alternate” work arrangements that boomers favor such as part-time, flexible hours, and contract work. The Bankers Life Center for a Secure Retirement’s research in 2015 documented that many boomers want “more flexible work arrangements and scheduling, and many try new career paths in different industries.”

What are the types of job boards?

 

Online job boards are categorized into four types.

  1. Aggregators, also called job search engines, “scrape” the web for job listings. Indeed and SimplyHired are arguably the best known & most comprehensive with listings gathered from all other job boards and employers’ career pages. Indeed’s tag line is “One Search. all jobs.” SimplyHired also scours social media for job listings. LinkUp aggregates job listings from employers’ career pages only, which reportedly results in the most active, up-to-date listings with no duplicates.
  2. General job boards rely on employers to post jobs on their sites. Employers have a wide variety of job boards to choose from. Monster and CareerBuilder may be the biggest.
  3. Niche job boards may be industry or work preference specific. For instance, Dice serves employers and workers in the tech sector. FlexJob is for those who want flexible work hours while com offers seasonal and hourly work. Upwork and Freelancer cater to freelancers on a transactional project-by-project basis. TheLadders is for executives looking for new opportunities. Other specialized job boards that remind at least one of us(!) of staffing companies are in engineering (ThinkJobs.com) and legal work (Law Jobs). The nonprofit employment niche is covered by either national or localized job boards such as the Nonprofit Leadership Center of Tampa Bay.
  4. Business social networking- job board LinkedIn may be unique, or not. The JobBoard Doctor blog claims that more and more job boards are copying LinkedIn’s social networking features bringing together employers, recruiters, current and potential employees to accelerate connection building for faster recruiting and referrals.

What makes one job board better than another?

 

A site we studied, Reviews.com, has identified 36 attributes to recommend the 15 best job boards from 197 online job sites. While the ratings they made could be disputed (because they receive revenue from some of the products/services they evaluate), their measures made sense to us. Factors they identified included:

  • mobileHow easy it is to browse for jobs on the site. Are the searches free, can the most recent jobs listed be the first ones to come up in a search? Is it possible to broaden the focus to national vs. international jobs? Is the site easy for job seekers to comprehend and use or cluttered and confusing with other revenue producing ads for the job board?
  • How robust the search features are. Can one filter by city or zip code, experience, job title or job type, or other focusing criteria, and save searches to expedite future job scans?
  • How job searchers benefit from establishing a job board account. Is there valuable content, does it distinguish between employers, and does it have features such as tailored job criteria, filters for focusing a job search, easy upload and storage for resumes, and email alerts to notify job seekers of new job postings?
  • Career resources. These could include specialized forums, tools to improve resumes, interview preparation, discussion forums, and salary information. Some might be more important to some job seekers because of their career development phase.
  • User friendly help and support. Does the job board provide a FAQ section or email support?
  • Mobile capability of job boards. Are the same information and features available on mobile-optimized websites for tablet and smartphone users on-the-go?

Other factors depend on a job seeker’s needs. An aggregator such as Indeed or SimplyHired offers a big-picture of job availability within a geographic zone or industry. Personalized career tests offered by some job boards would help job seekers understand their interests and skills. This insight could be valuable to those re-entering the workforce after a long absence. Once work opportunities are identified, a job seeker might want a job board that could assist with specific information about potential employers as Glassdoor does with salary information and employee reviews. If a job seeker wishes to stay in a well-defined industry, a niche board specializing in that industry could be the fastest way to find work coupled with connection building on LinkedIn for employee referral assistance.

How effective are job boards?

 

Job boards are not a panacea. Lisa’s blog post in January notes that “The effectiveness of job boards for those seeking employment depends on whom you read, as statistics range from less than 10% of users getting jobs to 20% of all hires from Job Boards (for example, CMO.com from Adobe believes the stats are less than 10% while USGreenTechnology.com states 20% of all hires are from job boards).”

Also remember that job boards, and most mid-to-large sized employers, use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to weed out resumes so job boards will not be effective for you unless you optimize your resume for these systems. See our blog on ATS to learn more.

termination-110301_640Another of our recent blog posts cites studies showing that employee referrals far outpace job boards in hiring decisions as 50% of job hires flow from referrals. In today’s world with social media and the internet, job seekers would be wise to use a number of tools in combination. These tools include job boards and employers’ career pages, employers’ pages on LinkedIn & Facebook, and Twitter streams to get as much information and as many human connections as possible to potential employers.

In closing

 

What has been your experience with job boards? Do you have a favorite? What job board assistance have you found to be most valuable?

All photos courtesy of the talented artists at Pixabay.com

Living Life on Purpose – A New Year’s Resolve

Living on purposeThe New Year is the perfect time to step back and reflect on the past year and identify what you want to accomplish in the upcoming year. When people reflect on the past the biggest questions they ask is “What did I accomplish?”

I would like to add a few other equally important questions:

  • Did I accomplish my goals and check off everything on my to do list? Success is often measured by job status, wealth, influence and busyness.
  • Did I spend most of this year focused only on advancing my goals while sacrificing time with family and friends?
  • Was it all work and no play?
  • Was I busy pleasing others and neglecting myself?
  • Did I get stuck in this place of doing what I have always done, something safe?
  • Did I constantly live in the future instead of being fully present in the now?

PURPOSE

The most important question we can ask ourselves at this time of year and time of life is: “Am I living my life on purpose?” Dr. Richard Leider, author of “The Power Of Purpose”, says that living on purpose is a choice that we make every day.   Living on purpose means becoming aware of who we are and what we bring to life each day. Dr. Leider suggests a good place to start living on purpose is to ask the question: “Why do I get up in the morning?” This requires taking time everyday for a brief moment of reflection, being still and asking this important question. Meditation or sitting quietly in the morning works best for me.

Now don’t get me wrong. There are lots of obstacles in this fast paced digital world and there never seems to be enough time in the day to get it all done! But taking time for that inner stillness can provide clarity, help you discover your true self and purpose and really understand the true person you are trying to become?

Another great article I recently read nailed it for those of us pursuing our encore career –  “Five New Year’s Resolutions for Older Adults:

  • I resolve to embrace uncertainty rather than avoid it. The world of work and life has changed dramatically. It is time to explore and embrace new trends and tools in business, technology and work.
  • I resolve to seek opportunities in changing conditions. Dealing with change is hard but if we can begin to see change as an opportunity and to identify the benefits for that change we will be ready to move forward.
  • I resolve to stop and reflect on my second act. Carve out time at the beginning of the day to reflect and make adjustments moving forward.   Journaling and Meditations are great ways to capitalize on this inner reflection time.
  • I resolve to remove and improve. This is a perfect time to not only talk about what you want to start doing but also to identify what activities and relationships you want to drop.
  • I resolve to make friends with risk. This means stepping out of your comfort zone and taking action instead of letting the future just happen to you. This may mean going back to school, learning new technologies, starting your own business or following your dreams.

Living Life on PurposeEncore Tampa Bay is committed to help you take that next step on your encore journey. We have been creating a wonderful network of individuals and organizations that can help connect you in three ways:

  1. Connecting to who you really are and your true purpose.
  2. Connecting to each other. You don’t have to go on this journey by yourself!
  3. Connecting to your encore. Whether it is learning new skills, finding part time contract work, connecting to a non profit to share your talents and experience, or starting your own business.

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE FOR UPCOMING DISCUSSION GROUPS AND PROGRAMS THAT CAN HELP YOU TAKE THAT NEXT STEP AND TO ACHIEVE YOUR NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS!!

I would like to leave you with two inspirational quotes:

“You must do the thing you cannot do, it’s the only way to overcome the fears we all face in doing something new, take a leap into the unknown.”    -Eleanor Roosevelt

“ The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one’s feet”  -Lau Tzu

Happy New Year- Let’s all commit to living our life on purpose in 2016! We are happy to help you along the way….

A Closer Look at Unretirement

UPDATED: 6/8/15

Evening with Chris Farrell

UnretirementJoin us on May 20th as author, Chris Farrell speaks about “Unretirement” at the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, FL!

 

For almost two years I’ve been writing blog posts about the exciting opportunities around the ever growing encore movement. There is an increasing number of inspiring “encore stories” about people aligning with their purpose , making a difference and redefining ways to earn continued income. At the same time there is a constant barrage of demographic projections by economists, futurists and the media that paint the picture of the boomer generation depleting our social security and Medicare, along with a significant (25%+) exit of boomers from the workforce and confoundedly, boomers continuing to work which many feel would take jobs away from younger generations!!

It was a welcome surprise when I found an author who had all the right facts and statistics to dispel this doom and gloom, along with laying out the realities of unretirement.  Chris Farrell, an economist (who can argue with an economist?) outlines in his new book, Unretirement: How Baby Boomers Are Changing The Way we Think about Work, Community, and the Good Life, that these dire predictions aimed at aging America are dead wrong!  There is in fact a silver lining, that this boomer generation is healthier and better educated than previous generations. They want to stay engaged and active in this third chapter of life. Chris Farrell explains,

“The last third of life is being reimagined and reinvented into ‘unretirement’

 

This book is packed with humor, stories,  and history along with solid facts, trends and statistics that portray an aging workforce as an economic asset that wants to live a good life and leave the world a better place!   Farrell explains how the rise of unretirement will create significant changes in how we reward work, create jobs, start new businesses, share the wealth and deal with old age.

Work or retireUNRETIREMENT: IN THE WORKPLACE

Farrell does a great job of peeling back the onion with all the different ways that the “unretirement movement” is shifting the paradigm within our organizations. Several chapters are devoted to the evolving nature of work and the workplace such as:

  • The rise of the non traditional workforce with part time or freelance work.
  • The similarities and opportunities of intergenerational learning and collaboration (Mentoring both ways between millennial / boomers)
  • The realities of ageism and negative stereotypes held by far too many employers.

UNRETIREMENT: HISTORY AND FINANCIAL REALITIES

It was helpful to learn about how the whole concept of retirement evolved, starting in the later part of the 19th century with pensions, into the 1930’s with the establishment of the Social Security Act and then into the 1950’s with the evolution of the retirement lifestyles. (Del Webb/ Sun City).   He also digs into the real truth about the financial projections of social security and Medicare in light of the significant changes with work and new sources of continued income later in life.

UNRETIREMENT: THIRD AGE ENTREPRENEURS

Farrell does a great job of laying out the facts, stories and  a positive outlook for older entrepreneurs. He recognizes that many of the start ups founded by older Americans may not be creating large scalable businesses but they will provide continued income to this fastest growing age group of entrepreneurs (which will also postpone the draining of social security)

In a recent op ed Chris summarizes the “unretirement movement”. “The rise of unretirement calls for a whole cluster of changes, including overhauling corporate benefit policies, the design of social safety net, and debunking stereotypes that wrongly assume older workers aren’t creative. Taken altogether, aging boomers are constructing a new vision of the good life!”

What is most exciting about this movement is that we are creating a positive productive model or trajectory for what life after 50 can really be for future generations!

We have a tremendous opportunity to have Chris Farrell in our Community to talk about Unretirement on May 20 at the Poynter Institute.

Come join me!