The long run

This newsletter is republished from my email newsletter. If you aren't currently receiving the email newsletter, I send FREE career tips to your inbox each Friday - you can see past issues and sign up here.

What do investing and career progression have in common?

A lot of things, actually.

One of the first things that I learned in MBA school was that investing is a long-term game. Building your career works the same way: your efforts may not pay off today, but you are working towards a longer-term plan.

Regular newsletter subscribers may know that I was a contributor to The Motley Fool. During the 2008 recession, I was tasked with coming up with tips for job searchers (and investors) in a tough economic climate. Starbucks, GM, Wachovia, United Airlines, and Abbott Laboratories were among the layoffs then. The companies laying off may be different today, but my advice on how to position yourself still holds.

Here are the toplines (if you want to see the original article, it's here):

Dig into the numbers: You wouldn’t invest in a stock without running the numbers behind the business, would you? Well, potential employers feel the same way about job candidates: they want to see real numbers behind your performance. No matter what your current job is, look for quantifiable results to illustrate what you can do for the new boss.

Be clear about your goals: The most successful investors typically set clear goals. The same can be said for successful job hunters: think about what types of jobs you are best suited for and what roles you have enjoyed the best.

Know the buzzwords – but use them wisely: Listen, it’s great to have the industry lingo down, and it’s great to display to future employers that you understand concepts like core competencies, synergies, or paradigm shifts. But a sentence like “I introduced key continuous improvement core competencies, creating valuable corporate synergies and paradigm shifts” can come off like a game of buzzword bingo to potential hiring managers.

Keep it simple: Great investors insist on keeping it simple. Peter Lynch boiled his investment summaries down to a few lines, focusing on top corporate highlights and growth strategies. Resume writing is the same way: List your top accomplishments, but don’t drone on about your daily meetings, weekly conference calls, or other day-to-day work in your resume unless they really show results.

Don’t make it personal: In resumes and in investing, it’s hard to stay objective. Your resume is one of the few tangible documents you have that outlines what you have done not only over your career, but over the course of your life, so it's hard to not get emotional. In your investment portfolio, itcan be difficult to shed poor performers. Either way, your personal soft spots can be inadvertently on display, so try to keep emotions out of it.

Exclusives for email newsletter subscribers

I've been publishing my email newsletter on LinkedIn for a few months now and it's been great to share in both spaces.

I appreciate those of you who have subscribed to the email newsletter and have 2 exclusives for my email newsletter subscribers.

I know how tough things are for many folks right now, so I'm giving all email newsletter subscribers free access to my 43-page guide to Writing Your Ageless Resume.

FYI - it's part of the Ageless Careers Toolkit (those who purchase the toolkit receive templates and videos to help them along with the resume writing process).

I also have 9 free 2-month LinkedIn Premium trials to give away to email newsletter subscribers.

So, how can you get these freebies? If you aren't subscribing to the email newsletter, you can sign-up here. Once you confirm your subscription, you'll get the free resume writing guide. If you'd like the free Premium trial, subscribe to the email newsletter and reply to your welcome email that you'd like a free trial - I will put all of those interested in a raffle (winners will be notified via email).

Question of the week

I was a software technical support engineer for about eight years at a software development company, and was promoted to support services manager within the same company. I was laid-off in 2023 and unable to find work in my field, so I started 1099 work as a licensed real estate salesperson in 2024. That hasn't worked out for me, and I'm looking for a full-time W2 job as a support manager again at 60 yrs old. I've been using my LinkedIn profile to market my real estate services for almost a year now, and I'm concerned that my current position as a real estate salesperson may cause a problem attracting a company to hire me as a support manager. How can I best make changes to my LinkedIn profile to attract companies now that I have the additional time as a real estate agent on my profile?

This is a lot more common than what many people may think. With as difficult as this market is, many experienced workers have had to take interim roles outside of their initial career path in an attempt to pay the bills.

In your case, I would use your LinkedIn Headline and About section to emphasize your goals and highlight your biggest impacts. I would set your Headline to start with your target title so that it's clear that you are looking to make a transition. I would also add in the skills/keywords that are most important for these target roles.

I love how you started your About section (name-dropping key clients) - I'd add additional highlights of the biggest impacts that you have delivered. I'd also share more about your early career experience since your LinkedIn experience ends in 2010. You don't necessarily have to share that experience below in the LinkedIn Experience section, but I'd weave it into your About section (especially if it pertains to your goal roles).

I think it's OK to share that you started 1099 work as a licensed real estate salesperson as a way to build your skills while you were out of work. So many highly-skilled people are out of work right now, so it's not uncommon for folks to try new things in the interim. If you have any transferable skills coming out of this that you can apply to new roles (i.e. customer service), then emphasize those in your profile and resume.

Do you have any questions about how to position yourself in this job market? Any potential LinkedIn poll questions that you would like to see? Reply to this message and let me know what's on your mind.

This week's LinkedIn posts:

AI is only going to work as well as its inputs.

Poll: Do terms like "non-regrettable attrition" affect how laid-off employees are seen by future employers? (700+ votes)

"I'm looking for fulfilling work, something that matters."

Let's bust a common myth: Not everyone plans to retire

My 67-year-old client called me yesterday to tell me that his phone is ringing "off-the-hook" - here's how we attracted attention for him on LinkedIn.

Want to up your game on LinkedIn? Need an new resume or executive bio?

I deliver resumes, executive bios, LinkedIn profile optimization, and 1-hour strategy calls.

Learn more about 1:1 Coaching & Services

Set up a 15-minute initial consultation

I'm committed to delivering cost-effective job search help and am keeping the Ageless Careers Toolkit price at $49 for the foreseeable future.

The Ageless Careers Toolkit is a self-paced job search program with 5 modules:

• Build Your Ageless Career: I answer your biggest job search questions and troubleshoot common issues for Gen X and Baby Boomer job seekers
• Write Your Ageless Resume: I've written 1000s of resumes - this is my 43-page guide for writing a winning resume
• Craft Your Ageless Cover Letter: My tips for writing a cover letter in 10 minutes or less
• The Art of Ageless Interviewing: Boost your confidence through my biggest interview tips
• Create Your Ageless LinkedIn Presence: We are going to optimize your LinkedIn profile so that opportunities find you

The toolkit includes both written guides and video presentations with 10 sample resumes across various functions (marketing, finance, engineering, manufacturing, sales, etc) and roles (Project Manager, Director, VP, C-Suite).

Get instant access for $49

Other ways that I can help:

Corporate Presentations: I deliver customized presentations for businesses and universities, offering webinars/in-person presentations across topics including ageism, resume best practices, LinkedIn optimization, job search, and more.

Hiring Help: Reach out if you have any open roles that you would like to share with this community.

Sponsorships: Reach Gen X and Baby Boomer executives by sponsoring this newsletter (we're currently at 4000 subscribers for the newsletter and 67,000+ followers on LinkedIn, so you can easily reach a wide base of readers).

Question of the Week: Do you have a question that you would to have answered in the Question of the Week? Reply to this email and let me know.

Learn more about Ageless Careers

Take care of yourself and have a wonderful weekend!

Colleen