Adding Sparkle One Slash at a Time

Are you thinking about a second career? Do you struggle with having a short answer to "What do you do?" If so, you could be a slasher. It's OK. I am one too!

In the last year, I have interviewed more than 400 people and discovered that many want a job that brings more purpose to their lives. Some people are taking the next step by completely re-inventing their careers to pursue more meaningful work. For me, it's imagining what it takes to bring a sparkle into someone's life who is in need of ideas to achieve goals that move a company or person forward.

The idea that we need to have one main career path shifted a few years ago. Marci Alboher, Vice President at Encore calls this having an “Encore Career.” You know you are in an Encore Career when someone asks, “What do you do?” and you have to think about an easy answer. If you are over the age of 50, you rarely hear someone answer with a one word answer such as being a doctor or lawyer.

If you are thinking this is like having multiple personalities- it’s close. In Alboher's book One Person/Multiple Careers: The Original Guide to the Slash “/” Career, she uses the word “slasher” to describe people like me. The term is starting to grow on me and now I want to not only find ways to live out my slash, but also encourage other people to also look beyond the simplicity of a one-dimensional answer to discover their true potential with multiple responses.

The desire to fully share who we are leads us to describing our lives with slashes ( | ). I learned about slashes in a recent LinkedIn workshop when the group was coached to include slashes in a profile description to mark off the different facets of our skills. True confession; once I started, I couldn’t stop adding slashes until I ran out of space on my Linkedin Profile. Here's how I describe myself today: Special Project Consultant | Social Media Strategist| Career Developer | Recruiter | Mentor | Journalist.

If you are ready to take the leap and explore an encore career, here are three good resources:

1.     “One Person/Multiple Careers” by Marci Alboher

2.     “Outliers” by Malcom Gladwell

3.     “The Gifts of Imperfection: Letting Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are” by Brene Brown

Brene offered the following ideas to get going: “Make a list of the work that inspires you. Don’t be practical. Don’t think about making a living; think about doing something you love. This doesn’t mean you have to quit your day job to cultivate meaningful work.”

What's your second career encore going to be? How are you living out your slash today?