Encore Careers

At this point in my life, I like to believe that I pretty much know what I think about professional reinvention. As a veteran of several career changes, I’ve given a lot of thought…
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As I gathered my briefcase, purse, and lunch from my car and headed up to my office this morning, I remembered I’d be welcoming a new co-worker today. She comes from another campus…
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Many of us who are of a certain age find ourselves looking for new employment. The reasons are many and varied. What we all have in common though is the reaction we get when we apply for a new position…
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In the classic movie American Beauty, Lester explains to his daughter that he didn’t “lose” his job. He explains that if this were true, he could have found it again. If this were the case for all of us who’ve experienced losing a job, we wouldn’t be a square peg and would have little need to read ahead. Read More

“True happiness involves the full use of one’s power and talents.” — John Gardner. My friend Laurie just retired. At first she was worried. After 35 years teaching at a university, suddenly she no longer had to set her alarm to get up in the morning…
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For many elder boomers, like me, the outdated model of retirement isn’t a good fit today. We’re healthier and living longer than prior generations. Read More

Can you work and collect Social Security? The simple answer is yes. The more complicated answer is that you may not want to. Read More

One of the joys of embracing a portfolio career later in life is that it provides an opportunity to integrate different strands of your professional identity. One challenge I didn’t foresee was how to assemble a wardrobe to complement those multiple selves. Read More

If I asked you to provide some reasons as to why many Boomers want to continue working in retirement, the most frequent answer would be, “for the money.” I don’t doubt that is the main motive, but I would like to further unpack the issue of Boomers choosing not to stop working. Read More

A year or so before I broke up with my therapist, I arrived at one of our bi-monthly sessions one day, plopped myself down, and announced that we’d be discussing career change. It was a few months after I’d been laid off from my job, and I was beginning to contemplate my next professional move. Read More