I just revised my Report on the 5 most common (and, some say, the toughest) career decisions most mid-career professionals face. After all, career planning is all about making decisions.

The truth is, most of us spend more time deciding which car to buy than investigating career decisions. (I’m the same way, most of the time.) There’s a good reason. We don’t have simple checklists for quantifiable attributes, such as “gas mileage” or “frequency of repair.” So we’re often in the position of making a decision about how to make the decision.

Based on my experience as a career changer and career consultant, I’ve put together some starting points in this free ebook. You can download here immediately at
http://www.midlifecareerstrategy.com/fivecareerdecisions2012.pdf

As a career consultant, I’m on the lookout for books to recommend to my clients, especially those faced with unexpected job loss. Career Comeback passes the test.

One preliminary note: The cover refers to failed business ventures, but this topic does not appear to be covered. Publishers, not authors, usually write cover copy, so we can’t fault Richardson. I believe you’d have to make major adaptations to these 8 steps if your business goes south.

The most valuable information comes in the first half of the book: dealing with being fired and job loss. I agree with just about everything Richardson says. He’s one of the few authors to recommend sitting down with a financial planner right after you talk to your family. His advice on dealing with an employer after being fired is very sound. And many will find the exercises useful: Review what went wrong — in and out of your control.

So mostly I like Steps 1-4 of Richardson’s 8-step program.

Step 5 (“Find out what matters to you”) is a good start, but I think Richardson underestimates the degree to which we identify with our professions. “You’re still the same person” strikes me as one of those irritating, useless bromides. Many of us will be branded as an “ex” for a long time and will have difficulty losing that identity, no matter how hard we try. And the experience of losing a career we love can change us in deep ways.

“One role is temporarily diminished while another moves into its place…” won’t help those who identify strongly with a profession. And your other roles will be affected by job loss. Friends view you differently. You may not be able to afford the activities you enjoyed with your friends and family. Some arts organizations actually encourage high-level volunteers to leave when they no longer hold jobs.

Steps 6 and 7 – “Find your next move” and “Find your next job” — are necessarily oversimplified because they’re single chapters on topics deserving a whole book. “Go back to an old job” is possible but not likely, and you’ll be in a one-down position. And downshifting to a smaller company probably won’t hurt your career – but it might.

I disagree most strongly with sections on testing. If you’re unemployed and money is tight, skip the tests. At mid-career, they’ll almost always show you’re best qualified for the job you have. And most career tests are so unreliable they shouldn’t be used for guidance.

The section on hiring coaches and counselors needs to be expanded. Many “career coaches” have little experience with careers, except their own. Some offer expertise; others have “training” in asking questions and helping you “find the answers within you.” And you have to decide if you agree with value systems like “law of attraction.”

The fee range quoted for coaches and counselors is low. I think you should expect to pay a minimum of $125 – $250 for a single session, which may or may not include follow-ups and advance reading of materials. I do know of some coaches and counselors who offer lower fees and frankly, you get what you pay for. Packages cost less and (as the author correctly says) are more helpful.

And to choose a consultant, I recommend reviewing his or her website, brochures and other writing. Invest a few bucks in an e-book before signing up. Coaching organizations do not “verify skills.” I once tried to report an “accredited” coach’s unethical conduct. Both coaching school and ICF refused to get involved, let alone take the coach’s name off their “recommended” lists.

Step 8, “back on track,” is quite good, especially sections on buyer’s remorse and admitting you made a mistake. I would add that a return to work, following a long break or layoff, could be the perfect time to start working with a career coach. Learn from experience and make a good first start. I don’t think we ever make a “complete comeback.” We simply make progress. And, as I noted earlier, we’re different.

Despite these quibbles, I’d recommend this book to clients and website visitors who need to go from Setback to Comeback. You could do a lot worse.
Order here.

An article in today’s New York Times Magazine asks, “Why do Harvard graduates work in the mailroom?” You can read the article here.

Author Adam Davidson refers to the best-selling book, Freakonomics, which noted the peculiar behavior of drug dealers. They accepted low pay and dangerous conditions on the slim chance they would hit the jackpot and become wealthy kingpins. Davidson said it’s like entering the job lottery.

Davidson has a point. However, he lumps together all kinds of apprenticeships: working in the mail room while waiting to advance to an executive job, serving tables in a restaurant, working as a law firm associate and spending time as an assistant professor while hoping for tenure.

The truth is that the time invested in this apprenticeship will often have some value, even if the outcome is not what has been planned. Lawyers and accountants can get jobs elsewhere, even if they don’t make partner at a specific firm. College professors often move to other universities (and if they teach in business, law or engineering, they’re not poorly paid). Actors who hang in there often do get some experience or get into a related career; I’ve met successful business owners who learned from their auditioning experience (not to mention their acing lessons).

Plan B opportunities still abound, especially for those who don’t reach their original goals. They’re just not called jobs anymore. They’re small business owners, often in service businesses. I recently talked to a woman whose “Plan B” teaching job went away. She started her own dog walking company. Her parents were horrified but she’s making more money with less pressure and certainly lower wardrobe expenses.

What do you think? Comment below (if you don’t see a place to comment, click on the title of this post).

Recently a question was posed in an online forum. Jeremy Lin was not expected to be a star. He was waived by other teams and wasn’t considered good enough to hold a starting position.

Surely many companies have employees who aren’t performing to potential, creating a huge opportunity cost for these organizations. What can they do to identify these individuals and take advantage of them?

Lin finally shone when he became a starter. I’ve seen that happen on a smaller scale with other players (I’m a WNBA fan) who became starters when the coach got desperate: once they got the playing time, they showed what they could do.

There’s a saying, “Nobody believes you’re a sergeant till they see the stripes on your sleeve.” Companies tend to label their employees and the labels stick like cement. As a result, some people never get a chance to show what they can do, while others keep getting more responsibility even when they blow it over and over again.

From the worker’s perspective, it’s critical to enter an organization from a position of strength. It’s hard to overcome a perception of, “Well, he was the best we could get but frankly we don’t expect much … ”

One study of basketball players showed that players drafted in the first round tended to have longer careers in the league, regardless of their actually performance. I’ve seen some anecdotal evidence, in my role as ardent WNBA fan.

What do you think? Comment below (if you can’t see a place to comment, click on the title of the post and you’ll be taken to a new page with just this post and a place to comment).

For information about your mid-career tune-up, click here.

Today’s New York Times “Social Q’s” column addressed this question:
For the last 7 years, Anonymous had received a “generous cash bonus” from her boss – “in addition to the regular company bonus.” She explains, “I do many personal errands for him during the year.”

This year: no bonus. She wonders why. (I’m assuming the writer is female.)

Philip Galanes, the moderator of Social Q, deals purely with the etiquette issue. He urges her to speak privately with her boss, asking if there was a performance issue.

From an etiquette perspective, Galanes may be correct. From a career planning perspective, you would need a different perspective.

First, doing personal errands for the boss is always a slippery slope. (I’m assuming you’re not a personal assistant, like the main character of Devil Wears Prada.) So are cash bonuses.

If your official job does not call for personal errands, I would suggest drawing the line early.

You can also check your company’s policies on outside work. If you find no conflict, you can start a small concierge business, where you run errands and carry out personal services for money. These services charge $35-$75 an hour. Some charge more for difficult errands.

Yes, you would need a business license and you would pay taxes on your earnings. However, a sharp accountant would help you spot some legal deductions. In fact, if your boss is “a millionaire many times over” (like the one in the column) he will probably find a way to deduct your services from his taxes, all nice and legal.

Once you have this business, you can find other executives to hire you. You might even call on your neighbors. Some concierges will walk dogs and take pets to the veterinarian. Some pick up dry cleaning. Just about all services will shop for groceries and stay home and wait for packages (if you do this, make sure you’re bonded and insured).

You can expand your service on weekends. If you get laid off, you’ll have a business all ready to go.

Your mid-life career takes a detour when you deal with a bad boss. Fast Company Expert Kevin Kruse wrote a gem of an article: When You Work For A Jerk: A 6-Point Plan For Dealing With A Bad Boss. Read it here.

Kruse presents 6 career planning steps to take, which I will summarize in my own words with my own comments.

Is the problem about you or about the boss?

In any career planning, your first step is to separate yourself from the situation. If you’ve had a series of bad experiences, consider investing in a life coach, career coach or even a psychotherapist. Sometimes people re-enact patterns dating back to childhood … even when they 52 and working as a senior manager.

But I would add: Sometimes a repeated set of problem is not about your psychological issues but about your career choices. Industries, companies and professional fields have different patterns of working. In academia, you have a much looser authority structure than in many corporations.

And if you just can’t work for anybody, you may be wise to work on starting your own business, even if it seems impossible. Not all elements of style and personality can be changed, even with the best therapy and coaching on the planet. Some people are naturally gifted at working with any boss or colleague, so it stands to reason that some people aren’t. Gifts aren’t distributed evenly or fairly.

Try to be objective about your boss and your job.

This advice also makes sense. Your boss’s unrealistic demands may be a reflection of pressures from above. At the same time, I’m not sympathetic with people who bring their problems to the workplace. If your boss is going through a divorce or facing her own career challenges, she should be working to deal with them outside the office. If management tolerates inappropriate behavior, something is wrong with your company culture.

The article suggests “coaching upward,” i.e., helping your boss do his job better.

An example from the article:
“I just wanted to follow up on that item that came up a couple months ago. As we had discussed, I’d be much more efficient with that widget for my computer. Did that request ever go in…have you heard anything about it? I don’t mind following up on it myself .…want me to call David for the request?”

That’s great advice. But if your boss responds, it’s just a matter of communication style: you don’t have a bad boss, just an overworked or inattentive one.

Look at your return on investment. Are you getting good money? Gaining marketable skills? If so, then you may be well advised to hang on if you can do so without damaging your mental or physical health. If not, get thee to a career coach and start transitioning.

Wait it out. In some companies (and in the military) this advice makes sense. One of my academic friends says, “You don’t like the college president? They come and go. So do deans.”

But in some companies, nobody moves. If that’s your situation, you have to ask yourself, “Where will I be in 5 years?” If your boss is still there, chances are you will be too. You don’t have much choice. You have to move on.

Sometimes you have to bite the bullet. This nugget of wisdom is a real gem:

“If all else fails, you have to quit. For the sake of your mental and physical health, and for the sake of your friends and family, you have to find a new job. The truth is that if you’ve been working for a bad boss for long, you probably aren’t in a position to get a better job. I hate to be so direct, but great talent always has options, and usually doesn’t work for a bad boss.

“This is the key point: You have to be the CEO of your own career–you have to be mindful of your career. Not just when you get a bad boss, but always. In good times and in bad you need to be doing the things necessary to give you career options…”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. But if you’d like to pick my brain, visit this page and learn about my services.

We tend to think of “Career Planning” as moving to a better job in the future. But sometimes instead you need a career divorce. That’s today’s topic – and a good one from author and “dreamer in residence” Valerie Young.

And, just like a relationship that’s gone bad, it can be hard to walk away from a career — or a small business — you’ve put so much time and effort, to say nothing of the financial investment.

Take my friend Donna. After earning her master’s degree in social work some fifteen years ago, she went into private practice as a family therapist. For the first five or so years, Donna got a lot of satisfaction out of helping others. For the last ten though, her work has felt more like a burden.

So what keeps her there? It’s simple. Donna doesn’t want to “waste” the degree.

I know it’s not easy to turn your back on an established career, especially if it’s one that pays well, has some prestige associated with it, or required earning some kind of advanced degree. And yet, think about the logic here.

What you’re really telling yourself is, “I’ve wasted the last 10 years of my life so I might as well throw away the next 20 as well. To hell with my true gifts, I’ve got more suffering to do.”

John Powell once said, “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” The fact of the matter is we all get lost from time to time. That’s life. The danger comes when we fail to heed the road signs and thus remain stuck in the breakdown lane.

I have an abiding belief that everything in life happens for a reason. The key is to find the lessons. Even my own job with the boss from hell offered invaluable lessons and experiences.

In addition to getting to travel the country, I learned in no uncertain terms to trust my instincts. That job was also just the catalyst I needed to make my final exit from the j-o-b world. And, as importantly, it introduced me people who’ve been integral to helping me succeed as a solo entrepreneur.

What should you do if you find yourself on the wrong career path? We’ll, if you’re living with the consequences of having long ignored your better instincts, get a pen and paper, find some quiet space, and put your listening ears on. Then write down everything that little voice has been trying to tell you — but this time without censor or rationalization.

If you find, for example, that you’ve been living someone else’s dream, ask yourself:

What does having other people’s approval or meeting someone else’s needs help me avoid or get?

What price am I paying for this approval?

Do the costs outweigh the benefits? If so, it’s time to start exploring your own dreams.

If you’re hanging onto a job or career solely because of all the time and money you’ve invested, then the first thing to do is to let yourself get close to your fear. I’m not talking about the fear of letting the world know you made a mistake or the financial angst.

What I’m talking about is getting in touch with the one thing that should really scare the heck out of you — namely, never getting to experience what your life would be like if you pursued your true gifts and passions.

Once you let that little reality sink in, sit down and write a “Dear John” letter to your past love. Talk to your career or business. Explain that while it has been a good and faithful partner for some time, you have simply fallen out of love. It will understand.

Then pick up a paintbrush, look into culinary school, or otherwise start courting your new love interests.

It’s easy to find yourself on the wrong career track. When that happens, the key is to stay alert for warning lights, watch for the signposts along the way, learn from those inevitable detours, ask for directions, and then start slowly inching your way onto that big expansive highway called Your Life!

As George Bernard Shaw once observed, “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”

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About the Author

Profiting From Your Passions? expert Valerie Young abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at ChangingCourse.com offering resources for people who want to work at what they love. Her career change tips have been cited in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today Weekend, More, Kiplinger’s, Woman’s Day, and elsewhere and on-line at MSN, CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. Valerie is also the author of The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It with Crown Publishing/Random House available October 11.

One of the monster.com sites came up with these tips – 5 worst career change mistakes. Read the article here.

Here’s my take on these mistakes (which are actually written up as tips and warnings, but that’s another story):

They advise, “Don’t Look for a Job in Another Field Without Some Intense Introspection.”

Well, I don’t know what “intense introspection” is, but I’ve seen more people make a mistake the other way. Most people get so hung up on navel-gazing that they never get around to searching for info, let alone taking action steps.

Often you don’t realize you need something till you see it … or till it’s gone.

Second, they advise, “Don’t Look for Hot Fields Unless They’re a Good Fit for You.”

That’s actually good advice. They refer to fitting yourself into the right job; I’d add that there’s no such thing as a “hot” field. You can’t believe everything you read in the papers.

Similarly, they advise, “Don’t Go into a Field Because Your Friend Is Doing Well in It.”

That one’s easy: you are not your friend. Even if you have similar profiles, likes, interests, etc., you enter the field at different times with different opportunities.

Fourth, they advise, “Don’t Stick to Possibilities You Already Know About.” VERY true. I get SO frustrated when I work with clients who refuse to explore an idea I suggest to them. Of course the idea may be all wrong for them, but just the act of exploration will change you and introduce you to new possibilities.

However, I don’t recommend self-assessment “exercises” and testing. Have fun with them but let experience be your guide.

Fifth, the article says, “Don’t Let Money Be the Deciding Factor.”

Generally I agree. I’ve found that people who take pay cuts often catch up to their old salaries. They also spend less on things they used to use to relieve their stress – everything from medication to therapy to eating out.

But you have to know yourself. Living on a lower income also causes stress, especially if you have a family. How do you tell your child there’s no money to pay the vet to keep the family dog alive? How do you deal with lower health care quality? Should your kids give up music lessons?

These points are the first five mentioned in the article. i’ll continue this discussion in the next post. To get more ideas on career change, download my FREE guide here.

Recently Fast Company published an article that seemed related to career planning. They asked if twenty-somethings and college students would trade off financial rewards to get more freedom to use Facebook on the job. Read the article here. The respondents insisted that Facebook access and social media were more important than money. The article said:

“More than half of the college students surveyed indicated that if an employer banned access to networks like Facebook at work, “they would either not accept a job offer from them or would join and find a way to circumvent.”

The problem is that career planning doesn’t work this way. It’s hard to know what we would say when confronted with those choices in reality, especially during tough times.

I’d like to see the question asked differently, limiting the respondents to people who actually had a job. I would ask, “Have you ever turned down a job because of limited social media access? Have you ever had to choose between two jobs: higher pay + no facebook vs. lower pay + facebook?”

The truth is, people are notoriously poor at predicting their own future behavior. That’s why criminal trials get so bizarre when jurors are asked to imagine themselves in specific situations. Unless we’re prepared (the way airline crews prepare for crashes), we usually don’t know.

On the other hand, the article goes on to note that younger people often want to meld their work and home lives, with shallower boundaries. They want to use company-issued devices for personal business. They want to work from home. In other words, they want to be freelancers with benefits.

Ultimately, we’ll probably see fewer jobs and more opportunities to earn income as freelancers. We can see that health care as a company benefit doesn’t work anymore.

Penelope Trunk’s recent post featured 5 career planning tips for being a good manager. I think they have fairly general applicability. You can read the full post here.

Some tips from the article:

– Manage conflict. Don’t run from it. Whether it’s your conflict or someone else’s, it probably won’t get resolved on its own. Learning some conflict management techniques will be a good career planning move.

– Develop genuine empathy. People can tell when you genuinely care about them or when you’re just going through the motions. When you genuinely like your job and peers, this one’s easy.

And here’s the best career planning tip: Manage your personal life.

As author Penelope Trunk says:

“You are kidding yourself if you think people don’t see what’s going on with you at home…Stress shows up in nonverbal, unexpected ways that make people uncomfortable to be with you and worried about your competence.”

If you’re drinking a lot or getting into debt, she says, your coworkers won’t necessarily realize what you are doing. But they will sense something is wrong.

You’ll use energy hiding your personal life at work. Instead, direct your energy to dealing with your personal life. In the short run, you may feel you don’t have time. However, in the long run, you’ll make more career progress (and maybe have a happier career too).