Having a multigenerational workforce is not a new thing. What's different now is that as of 2016 we now have five distinct generations in the workforce. People are working and living much later in their lives. There are more Americans over 85 in the workplace now than ever before.

My guest Lindsey Pollak and I discuss the impact on the office when you have that many generations working at the same time. Although generations are only one aspect of what people are, they impact how we work, communicate, experience the office among other things.

Managing in this new environment can be challenging and according to Lindsey "...it's not about doing it all the old way or all the new way. It's about the combinations of having a toolkit that combines the best of every era's different ways of working to find a diversity of styles in your management toolkit."

We discuss all the recent research about women leaving the workforce in large numbers in 2020 and the need for institutional and governmental solutions.

Lindsey talks about her new book Recalculating: Navigate Your Career Through the Changing World of Work. It's your personal GPS to succeeding today and into the future because Covid-19 has upended job hunting and career planning forever.

We discuss Lindsey's predictions about what the workplace looks like after COVID-19 and how working from home impacts career advancement and opportunities. Here are a few tips:

1. Look at your culture and what is valued and think about how you can show your value.
2. Get more comfortable tooting your own horn
3. Personal branding is still very important
4. The relationship that matters most is your direct manager

There are many young people who are entering the workforce during this time that never experienced the traditional experience of working in an office and those starting their careers virtually. "I think we have to really take time to mourn what we're losing as much as thinking about the future." - Lindsey

You can find Lindsey Pollak here:
https://lindseypollak.com/
Preorder her new book Recalulating here: https://lindseypollak.com/books/recalculating/

Jamie is the daughter of legendary basketball coach Jim Valvano and she’s got a fantastic story to share. Jamie has wonderful insight to share about adapting her dad’s practice of clearly defining a mission for their life and then going after it. She gets personal about identifying what her unique gifts are and deciding on a path for her life that put those gifts to good work. It wasn’t easy, either - Jamie has faced her own battle with cancer, been through a divorce and is the mother of a child with special needs.

I was so inspired by her journey and loved the honesty and candor she puts into telling her own story. I can practically guarantee that after you listen to this episode you’ll grab your own notecard and put an amazing vision for your life down in writing. And once it’s written down, it will be hard to stop you from achieving all that you are destined to achieve!

Find Jamie Valvano at JamieValvano.com

Don’t miss her TedX Talk: What I Learned About Leaving A Legacy

Sarah Green Carmichael is an editor with Bloomberg Opinion and a former executive editor at Harvard Business Review, where she hosted the HBR Ideacast. She recently wrote a piece in Bloomberg titled “Covid-19 Explodes the Myth That Women Opt Out” and she presents a compelling case for her conclusion that “When women leave the workforce, they’re not exercising their options — they’ve run out of them.”

Sarah cites 3 factors that conspire to make it difficult for women to remain in the workforce after having children: inflexible workplaces, the reality that women shoulder more of the burden of taking care of running the house and raising the kids and bad public policy.

Data released in the McKinsey Women in the Workplace 2020 report shows that in August and September of 2020, more than a million people dropped out of the workforce, and 80% of them were women. Furthermore, 1 in 4 employed women and 1 in 3 mothers are thinking about quitting or downshifting their work hours.

The long-term implications of this trend are alarming. Less diverse teams, fewer women’s voices setting corporate policy, and a diminished pipeline of women for promotion to executive-level roles.

Join Sarah and I as we explore the data, share our own personal experiences with work and talk through solutions that could help make the workplace a more female-friendly environment.

Find Sarah Green Carmichael here:

Covid-19 Explodes the Myth That Women Opt Out on Bloomberg

More articles by Sarah Green Carmichael

On LinkedIn

On Twitter @skgreen

As Dawn says, “Switchers are the future of work.” Meaning, everyone making a career or job change of any kind is switching things up in their career and will benefit from the ideas Dawn shares. As the job market trends away from traditional roles, job seekers need to be even more creative in the way they market themselves to future employers.

Dr. Dawn and I talked about some of the specific strategies she recommends in her book for career switchers, particularly those returning to work after a career break. Join us as talk through:

• Spotlighting transferable skills (tip: “soft skills aren’t soft anymore”)
• Having a Plan A that is very specific and focused (check out Dr. Dawn’s Bullseye Brainstorming Worksheet on pgs 68-69 of Switchers - it’s amazing!)
• Making a stepping stone switch (a very effective strategy for career relaunchers in particular)

Dr. Dawn also shares what she sees as the benefits of our current Covid situation to career switchers. This crisis has forced change on the job market and she sees some opportunity for career switchers in all of that change.

As Dr. Dawn says, “clarity comes through action.” So if you’ve been thinking about making a career switch, pick up a copy of Switchers and listen to this episode of the Get A Job, Here’s How! podcast to get your action plan in gear.

Here’s where you can find Dr. Dawn Graham:

Her website: https://www.drdawnoncareers.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdawngraham/

Twitter: @DrDawnGraham

Dawn’s TEDx Talk is a must-watch for career switchers: Your Next Job Is One Conversation Away

We discuss the issues Black working moms are facing and she introduces me to the idea of “ambient belonging”. Listen up! You’ll learn a thing or two, just as I did!

Christine Michel Carter is the Associate Editor for ModernMom, a Senior Contributor to ForbesWomen and her work has been featured in Time and Parents magazines. Big brands seek her out for her insights into how to talk to moms effectively in their advertising and how to hire and retain moms.

You can find Christine on her website at https://christinemichelcarter.com/

After first approaching his job search using more traditional methods like applying online to job postings, Austin Belcak discovered this simply isn’t effective. Now he coaches job seekers through his company Cultivated Culture on leveraging unconventional strategies to get a job even if you don’t have connections or traditional experience. Hint: It does not involve applying online!

Find out what a “Value Validation Project” is and why it will truly distinguish you as a candidate who can add value to an organization. Also, learn why Austin’s strategy works beautifully during COVID times when we’re not meeting people face-to-face.

Be sure to check out Austin’s website and the amazing free tools he provides for job-seekers at https://cultivatedculture.com/

And Follow Austin Belcak on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abelcak/

Tip: Austin posts daily on LinkedIn and his posts are always incredibly insightful and helpful.

Amanda shares some creative ideas developed through her experience as a Certified Professional Career Coach and a Certified Professional Resume Writer. Amanda is also the resident career expert for TopResume and previously served as the media spokesperson at Ladders where she provided guidance for professionals looking to improve their careers.

Amanda believes that job seeking is a sales and marketing exercise. You are the product, so being able to articulate what your brand stands for is critical. We also talk about some of the crowdsourced spreadsheets that have been created and circulated as people generously help each other out in this difficult job market.

In this episode, we dig into the importance of building online rapport as you expand your network of personal and professional connections. Also, use your social media to spread the word about what you’re great at and focus on the value you have to offer.

Don’t miss Amanda’s advice on the “Power of 3” - using job boards, recruiters and your personal network to uncover job leads - because relying on just one of these is not enough to bring you success in your job search.

Here are links to the resources mentioned in this episode (with thanks to Amanda Augustine for cultivating this list!):

This article provides a list of crowdsourced resources, as well as job boards and apps that focus on remote jobs: https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/find-work-during-coronavirus

Some of my favorites are:

• Torch Capital spreadsheet (they actually recently moved it to a website)
• Upstream app-based community platform designed to help professionals give and receive help. You can download the app from the App Store.
• Ryan Robinson's Remote Job Websites Collection - 60 job boards in total
• Levels.fyi, which verifies the open positions with the company hiring

Receive a free resume review from TopResume here.

To find professional associations:

• Director of Associations: https://www.directoryofassociations.com/

To find a recruiter (without a Google search or without going through a job board/social media):

• i-Recruit: https://www.i-recruit.com/recruiters-directory.php

To find networking events and job fairs:

• 10times: https://10times.com/ (also available as an app)
• Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/d/online/events/
• Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/
• Also, don’t forget to check with your alma mater’s alumni or career services teams. Many are hosting virtual events for alumni, including job-search specific events.