Introduction


Well, this kinda blows.

Work your ass off and then what? You feel like you are at the very top of your game, but you are being treated like crap or you can’t get hired.

My guess is that you picked up this book because something isn’t quite right. Either you have stalled out at work or you are having trouble getting the career opportunities you want (and deserve). Maybe you have lost your job, or left it to care for children, parents, or a loved one who needs help. Or you are among the millions of people fired, furloughed, reduced to part-time, or working at home and having to learn on the fly due to COVID-19 and its short- and longer-term impact. Maybe you have been forced to reinvent yourself, or maybe you are choosing to do it because, well, it’s time.

Several years ago, I noticed an increasing number of emails from people who had seen me speak and wanted to know why, despite long, successful careers, they suddenly hit the wall. They felt disrespected and unwanted. Many were sure they were being discriminated against.

Suddenly, my usual positive message of using the Law of Attraction (you manifest what you think) to create your greatest success was falling flat. There was no way to repeat affirmations and wind up back on the fast track.

This situation required serious work.

After a leadership conference in Orlando, I went for drinks with several of the nation’s top corporate heavyweights from the executive board. I was shocked when, as the liquor started to flow, they shared their career struggles as the corporate brass prepared to push them out. Their stories were the same as those of the people who’d been writing me, and the same stories I heard from my friends and neighbors.

What the hell?

I assumed the issue was age. How could it be anything else? So I started this project to focus on how to get seasoned professionals back on track in a workplace that, in many cases, has devalued their brilliance.

But it’s not just age, and it’s not just happening to middle-aged or older people.

The issue is relevance. You may be brilliant, but you may not be relevant. You may be experienced, but you may not be relevant. And the one thing you absolutely must be to make it today is RELEVANT. It is an issue if you are over forty and it is an issue if you are in your twenties.

My editor, George Witte, wisely realized that the obstacles faced by seasoned professionals are similar to those faced by others trying to return to work after taking extended time-outs to raise their babies, care for loved ones, deal with medical leaves, get more education, or travel the world. This book also speaks to you.

I have interviewed more than three hundred people for this book. Do you know the most surprising thing I found? That everybody is so shocked that these slaps in the face happen to them. They don’t see it coming and they think they are exempt. They think they get a pass.

If you are in denial and think this isn’t going to happen to you, or if you think, “You don’t know my track record,” then you need to keep reading very closely. It happens to the best of us. The people you look up to. The people you assume wouldn’t have to worry about a thing.

If you are feeling discouraged, hang in there. I’m here to help. This book is designed to move you into action, taking the sometimes uncomfortable steps that will make you a viable, hirable professional once again.

Some thoughts to begin with:

There is no resting on laurels or skating. Jobs that allowed skating were eliminated years ago. We must constantly prove ourselves in a constantly changing world.

We are witnessing the death of experience. Many, many companies want innovative thinkers and big communicators who are ahead of the curve. They don’t care about seniority and aren’t all that interested in what you’ve done in the past.

It no longer matters whether you are the best person for the job today. What matters is where you are on the runway to deliver tomorrow and in five years.

If you learn about future trends from people at work, or rely on others to do things for you, you aren’t taking responsibility for your own relevance. You must study how artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, machine learning, and blockchain could impact your work.

Success grows when you continue adding new skills. Fortunately, it is easy to learn and grow with online learning, and most of these opportunities cost very little or are free.

It’s time to stop networking like a wimp.

If you want to be seen as current, you have to dress current.

If you are unwilling to do all of these things, find a company that is slow to change. They still exist. Somewhere. But ask yourself, will such a company last in this climate of change and upheaval?

So many people don’t just need to work financially, they want to work—and can’t get the opportunities they desire. They apply for dozens, hundreds, even thousands of jobs but rarely land interviews and haven’t found anything that pays what they believe they deserve. They shared with me their feelings of being insulted and treated rudely in this process.

Many older workers sneer about millennials, resenting them for taking their opportunities or shoving them aside during the hiring process. If that is you, stop seeing millennials as the enemy. Right now, they are in leadership positions and doing much of the hiring. You must learn to appreciate and work with them or suffer the consequences: an inconsequential career.

Others blame changes within their companies—restructurings, acquisitions, mergers, and outright sales have really shaken up job security.

And while all of those things are to blame, it is time to stop insisting that you have all the skills you need, are delivering more than everybody else, and are being victimized by nasty corporations that favor inexperienced, cheaper employees. Some of that may be true, but honestly, millions of us are so behind in so many areas that others see it as laughable when we claim we are current.

I’m not here to beat you up. I’m here to wake you up so you can succeed again.

This post by “DownTrodden” really summed up what so many people have been experiencing:

“I’m only forty-six, but to employers, I might as well be eighty-six. I only include ten years work experience on my resume. I speak to recruiters and hiring managers on the phone, and they are usually very interested … We meet face to face that all goes out the window.

“At my last interview, the CFO was a total jerk. I’ve only had four full-time jobs in the last twenty years. He kept saying, ‘And what did you do before then? And before then? And before then? So when did you graduate college?’ I knew I wasn’t getting the job. It’s been nearly seven weeks now and they keep reposting the position. I’ve never heard from them. I emailed the recruiter and she said, ‘The CFO wants to do some more comparison shopping,’ as if I’m a pair of pants at Nordstrom’s. Of course, that’s code for ‘The CFO really wants to find someone exactly like you, but fifteen years younger.’ This is a smaller company so I was hoping I would have a chance, but no such luck. The larger companies seem almost pointless to apply to.”

Of course that person is “downtrodden.” It’s hard to stay positive taking that kind of a pounding while trying to get a new job. Companies are often cruel to experienced, accomplished professionals and heartless to those who had the nerve to take a time-out for child-rearing, caregiving, medical reasons, or something else.

It may feel as if the universe is telling you that your career is over, but don’t tell yourself that. There is a way. There is a way. There is always a way.

It’s not that easy.

But there is a way.

I’ll tell you something I hate. It is the statistic for our peak earning age. It’s forty-nine for men and forty for women. That’s when our salaries stop going up. Salaries generally decrease after forty-five, either by the individual being pushed out or aside, or not being compensated for cost-of-living increases.

Huh?

Did you get that memo? I sure didn’t. Most of us just figured our paychecks would keep increasing with our growing experience—all the way to retirement.


Copyright © 2020 by Fawn Germer