6 ways to score a fulfilling job when youre over 50

6 ways to score a fulfilling job when youre over 506 ways to score a fulfilling job when youre over 50When youve given decades to the job market already, getting a new position can present very real challenges - but there are ways to land one that will continue to help you grow and develop professionally.Heres how to get a great job when youre over 50.Take advantage of your networkAs you gain experience, the chances are that you also have a larger pool of people to network with. Networks arent just rolodexes, contact lists or LinkedIn friends theyre people who are sources of information.Adam Ochstein, founder and CEO of human resources technology and consulting firm StratEx, told TheStreet about why this is an advantage.The more experience you have, the bigger your network should be, and that will be a big asset in your job searchMake it known that you are looking for a new job to as many people as possible. Companies like referrals and its easier to get an in with a company from a referral, Ochstein told the site.Kelly Hoey, a master networker, wrote one of our favorite books on how to make networking work for you Build Your Dream Network. Here are her tips for how to sharpen your people skills.Look as healthy and well-groomed as possibleA look of vitality, and up-to-date clothes, are big advantages for people over 50 who want to show theyre energetic and up-to-date. We all know the risks of trying too hard - please, no leather pants to look hip No Buzz Bissinger shopping addiction - but theres no doubt that putting extra thought into your appearance and making an effort to stay healthy can go a long way.All you need to do is look current. For men, this can currently come down to well-fitting pants Younger men and executives in many fields favor a slimmer fit at the moment you dont need to go full skinny-jeans (in fact, please dont) but buying something with a better fit and lifting hems to break right at the shoe can do a lot for a neat look. A good haircu t can go a long way too, as can up-to-date eyewear. Steve Carell nails a strong casual look that adapts to many workplaces.For women over 50, authoritative clothes can be anything from the usual suit to a well-cut dress with a cardigan or Eileen Fisher-style loose clothes in creative industries. Theres much more of a range of styles for women, but a good, neat cut is best. Well-fitting clothes, particularly well-cut pants and a good leather jacket, go far.Kerry Hannon writes about the importance of presentation for older job-seekersin a Forbes article.If you arent physically fit, get with it. People will judge you by how you look regardless of how politically incorrect that may be. When youre physically fit, it sends the message subliminally that youre up for the job. You have a certain vibrancy and energy that people want to be around. I dont mean you have to groe nachfrage a fast mile. You just need to be in shape. Eating a healthier diet will help you, too. Youre selling the enti re package of who you arenot just your work experience and talent. And, of course, get a great interview outfit, haircut, and manicure, shine your shoes and all that other superficial stuff. Always overdress.If youre managing health problems that cause you to limit your time exercising, find other ways to take care of yourself.Incorporating age-appropriate fashion pieces of the moment and being otherwise well-groomed is also part of looking vibrant.Sell your accomplishments wellHow you market your achievements is a huge factor, but being in the game for a while also gives you a lot to highlight. The key here is not to list everything youve done, but to put the emphasis on a few situations where your experience came in handy and prepared you to tackle future challenges. You can also emphasize your contacts in the industry, which have likely grown as youve seen your work evolve.Needless to say, a title alone wont get you there, and if you just punched a clock at your last job instead of being a big contributor, thats going to be a hindrance. The key is future and forward Be ready to talk about the positive changes and revenue-generating initiatives you created at your last employer and how you can create them for this one.Keep your skills up to dateAn experienced employee whos skilled in the very latest technology is a killer combo for most companies not only does the employee know how things used to work, but he or she is clear on how things should work and how they will work in the future.How to stay up to date? Industry publications are a good start, because their writers are paid to keep on top of whats happening. Networking - which is really just talking to people - is another good way to learn how other companies work, which can provide you valuable perspective for your own. And finally, theres good old-fashioned book learning.Jacob Morgan writes about how older workers can sharpen their skills as part of staying relevant in the future of work in a Forbe s article.Its one thing to agree that you need to keep up to date with new workspace approaches and technology, but figuring out how to go about doing this can be an- other thing entirely. Happily, the same technology thats changing so much about the way we work offers a solution to that problem, too. Sites like Udemy, Lynda.com, Coursera, Khan Academy, and open courses from sites like MIT, Yale, and Stanford give you the opportunity to learn anything from robotics and programming to marketing strategy and philosophy, Morgan writes.Negotiate your salary effectivelyWhen you have experience, youre also more likely to command a higher salary - which, in turn, requires some savvy negotiating. Experienced, senior employees are a bigger investment for a company, and HR people in general are more likely to be conservative about where they use their dollars to make sure that theyll get results for them.When negotiating a higher salary, being able to emphasize the value you bring to the com pany is key, but its also necessary to emphasize what you can bring in the future. Your employer will want to know exactly what you bring to the table, and every bit of your experience should translate to your pay. Good advice from Salary.com is to think of your work in terms of the results youve delivered and beyond These extras could enable you to command a pay premium. Some common leverageable strengths include extensive industry contacts, strong fundraising or partnership-forming skills, or experience with a unique type of opportunity that closely resembles the prospective employers business, even if it is in a different industry.Also remember that as your seniority rises, and expectations go up, so do your perks. You should be thinking of a compensation package, rather than a salary alone. The package could include stock options and should definitely include a decent severance package if youre a highly paid employee with industry standing, the standard two weeks of severance fo r a year of service just wont cut it. Youll need longer than that to find another job if anything happens, and a soft landing is important particularly if you have kids with college tuition or a mortgage.Inc. also points out that you should come prepared with a salary range. The best way to establish that is to look at comparably paid people in your field, and ballpark a few numbers. Needless to say, pitch a number higher than the one you expect to get - and never, ever take the first offer.Resist the temptation to rest on your laurels and say I got this - do a lot of research before the interview and come prepared to talk about your ideas for the company and to show why youre worth more.and dont forget the basics.Regardless of age, personality is a selling point. Being calm andlikableare always a huge advantages, no matter what. And a spirit of flexibility is a huge help. Confidence in your abilities is the key.If you know you have some persistent problems - high anxiety at work , a little rough around the edges - dont rule out working with a career coach. Make sure that your resume is in tip-top shape. And if youve been out of work for more than six months, be open to welcoming change like a move to another state if a good job comes up.Lastly, always- and I mean always- remember your worth.You have a lot to offer, and the right company will be lucky to have you.Good luck

What to Do When Youre Being Mommy Tracked at Work - The Muse

What to Do When Youre Being Mommy Tracked at Work - The MuseWhat to Do When Youre Being Mommy Tracked at Work Four years ago, Lucy Harris welches a creative executive at an advertising agency in New York. She put in long hours at zu sich job, spearheading projects, leading meetings, and meeting with high-profile clients. Then she had herbei first child, returned from maternity leave- and found that things had changed. When I returned I wasnt asked to do any of those things, or even given the chance to, recalls Harris, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect the identity of her employer. I constantly felt that I wasnt being taken seriously and was being pushed aside because I had had a baby. Harris initially brushed it off as her own paranoia- until a major client of hers came in to the office for a meeting. I had no idea about it because the company had shifted them off to someone else, she says. I was astounded. The client wasnt particularly happy about it either. The frustrating re ality finally hit her She was being mommy tracked.What Is the Mommy Track?The mommy track is a common term for a career path for women that can allow for greater work-life balance, thanks to reduced hours or flexible schedules, but often at the cost of career advancement. Its bedrngnis necessarily a bad thing After all, many people want to (and choose to) make their career a lower priority than family. But when your boss or team choose the mommy track for you- and its potentially holding you back at work as a result- thats a problem. The motherhood penalty is absolutely real, says Jennifer Gefsky, a labor and employment partner at Epstein Becker Green and the co-founder of Apres, a digital platform for working women who are pivoting in their careers or returning to the workforce. According to the Bright Horizons Modern Family Index 2018, while 85% of people surveyed feel (rightly) that motherhood is great preparation for facing the challenges of leading a business, 69% also say wor king mothers are more likely to be passed up for a new job than other employees. And 60% admit that career opportunities are given to employees who may be less skilled than the working moms who are being passed over. As if those stats arent bleak enough, the report also found that 41% of working Americans view working moms as less devoted to their jobs, with 38% judging them for needing flexible schedules.No wonder women themselves worry about the motherhood penalty, with 73% of surveyed moms believing they dont get as many career advancement opportunities as women who arent moms, and 72% of both working mothers and fathers agreeing that women are penalized in their careers for starting families. Paranoid? Not so much, as it turns out. So what do you do if you fear youre on the fast track to the mommy track? Heres what the experts say.1. Set Expectations EarlyIdeally, avoiding the mommy track starts even before you go on maternity leave, by sitting down with your manager and being c lear about your career and professional goals. Once youre back from leave, meet with your boss as soon as possible to review the status of your projects, figure out where (and how) you fit back into the picture, and- most importantly- reemphasize your ambition and dedication to your job. Be super-explicit Heres my expectation, heres my plan. Do you see any reason why this wont work? says Angela Smith, a career coach at The Muse. It comes down to being really specific with your supervisor. A lot of times these things are unsaid and we assume our manager knows them, but actually saying it is important. Setting that benchmark also makes it easier to go back to your boss if things arent going according to that plan.2. Find a Mentor or CoachIs there a working mother in your company whos killing it? And is she someone you want to emulate? If so, seek her out and ask her to be an informal mentor, says Gefsky. Say, Id really like to talk to you about how to handle this. A mentor can help yo u process your experiences, evaluate your performance, and reaffirm your ambitions. If no one at your company comes to mind, or youd prefer to work with someone outside of the office, a maternity leave coach can be a great resource, too. This is a schriftart of career coach who can help you with things such as transitioning your workload, navigating your leave, planning your re-entry, articulating boundaries, and advocating for yourself as a working mom. Some companies even offer maternity coaching as a perk, but if yours doesnt, a regular career coach may be able to help you strategize as well. 3. Honestly Assess Your PerformanceIf you feel like youre hitting roadblocks, its important to step back and assess your work. Are you doing the best you can do?Take your emotions out of it and look objectively, Smith says. Is there something you need to improve in your performance? For example, are you keeping expected hours, or are you regularly arriving late or leaving early without havin g gotten your bosss approval for a flexible schedule? This also gives you another opportunity to have a results-oriented conversation with your boss. Ask, What constructive feedback can you give me on what I could be doing better, so youll consider me for XYZ assignments in the future?The bottom line Make sure youre delivering before you bring up any mommy track concerns. You cant have these conversations and be half-assing it at work, Gefsky says.4. Talk About Your Plan- Again and AgainGood communication with your supervisor is essential, Smith says. Be clear with your ambitions and be able to back it up with actual work product. But if youve checked those boxes and still feel youre being mommy tracked, have another conversation with your boss. Unconscious bias is real, Gefsky says. Is it possible people look at a woman with a brand new baby and think she should be at home? Yes. But they might also be trying to be helpful, and think its a good thing that theyre not giving you a tra vel assignment. Remember that the best approach is to be a positive advocate for yourself. Keep emotion out of it, and let your manager know youre dedicated with measured, well thought-out, and objective conversations. Make sure your tone is non-accusatory, and focus on being as collaborative and positive as possible, says Gefsky. You can say, I would have really liked XYZ assignment, and I want to make sure you know Im going to do whatever I can to make sure you think of me next time, she says. If youre still not getting the results you want, you might directly address the issue with your manager (again, in a non-accusatory way), Gefsky says. Say, Is it possible youre not giving me this assignment because I have a young child at home? This gives you the opportunity to reassure them that you have the coverage and support at home that you need to take on high-profile, time-consuming projects or travel.5. Finally, Approach HRIf you really are intent on being successful at your company , the best way is to work it out directly with your supervisor, Gefsky says. Unless someone has made direct discriminatory comments to you, dont go to HR and file a complaint without serious consideration. Once HR gets involved, that takes it to another level.If you do bring your complaint to your HR department, be prepared with documentation of your conversations with your manager and specific examples of how you feel youre being mommy-tracked. Again, in your first exchange with HR, it may be best not to be accusatory but to simply raise the issue in an attempt to clear the air. HR may be able to partner with you to resolve the situation- which is what happened in Harris case, after unsuccessful attempts to raise her concerns with her supervisor. After talking with the HR manager things improved a lot, she says. They had assumed I was going to take a step back, and I was able to inform them that that wasnt the case at all. Thankfully, they heard me out, and I was able to get back i nto the work I was doing prior to my maternity leave.The experience helped Harris, who eventually left the company for unrelated reasons, understand the value of open, honest dialogue in the workplace. I wish I had communicated with my boss prior to my maternity leave- it probably would have saved a lot of time and frustration, she says. But after that experience, I made sure that I communicated with my boss more and in detail, so everything was understood on both sides and there was no chance of miscommunication.

Making Space Safer with Electrolysis

Making Space Safer with Electrolysis Making Space Safer with Electrolysis It was a moment that bordered on catastrophe A fire aboard the Mir space station in 1997 almost caused the loss of the orbiting platform and the deaths of its crew. With their route to an escape capsule blocked by the flames, the crew could only watch as the fire licked at the aluminum hull before dying out after 14 minutes.That fire was traced to an on-board oxygen generator. The generator relied upon an exothermic chemical reaction to create a breathable atmosphere for the crew of the space station.The successor to Mir is the International Space Station. It too has an on-board oxygen generator, though of a radically different design. The generator operates on a simple principle electrolysis, the dissociation of oxygen and hydrogen from water through the application of electricity. What makes the generator safe? The device uses a proton-exchange membrane (PEM) to separate the generated hydrogen and oxygen.In a PEM electrolyzer, water is oxidized at the oxygen electrode, or cell anode, to produce oxygen gas, releasing hydrogen ions (protons) and electrons. The hydrogen ions migrate from the cell anode to the cell cathode, or hydrogen electrode, under the effect of the electric field imposed across the cell, while the electrons are transferred by a dc power source. The protons and electrons recombine at the cell cathode to produce hydrogen. Liquid water is also released at the cathode due to a process called electro-osmotic drag. Oxygen and hydrogen are generated in a stoichiometric ratiotwo volume units of hydrogen for every one of oxygenat a rate proportional to the applied cell current.Because the membrane is non-porous, a PEM cell can safely separate product gases at superatmospheric pressures.Most of the design elements used to produce a water electrolysis cell stack were originally developed during the 1980s for submarine-based life untersttzungsangebot ordnungsprinzips. An advanced cell design was built by Hamilton Sundstrand in the 1990s that permitted high-pressure gas generation without the need for a pressure vessel or complex pressure control system. A sintered powder metal porous plate provided structural support to the electrolysis cell membrane while operating at high differential pressure, simultaneously allowing fluid transport both to and from the bulk water stream and the electrode surface.The result of this unique design was a greatly simplified fluid system, with only the oxygen fluid circuit maintained at elevated pressure. Although the requirements called for 6,000 hours of operation, a single cell assembly operating at nominal recharge conditions operated in the laboratory for over 54,000 hoursmaking this sort of high-efficiency oxygen-generating system ideal for the International Space Station. Installed in 2006, the system employs a 28-cell liquid cathode feed PEM electrolyzer operating at a current density of only 200 amps per square foot t o produce oxygen at ambient pressure with 80-percent efficiency.Whats more, because the power from the photovoltaic cells rises and falls with the stations day-night cycle53 minutes of daylight followed by 37 minutes of darknessthe cell stack can switch rapidly into a standby mode where its electrical draw drops by 97 percent. Because its critical to get as much use as possible from the water, the water-hydrogen mixture exiting the cell stack is spun in a rotary device that separates the two components. Water recirculates through the loop to a heat exchanger to reject waste heat from the process before returning to the cell stack.The International Space Station is not the only orbital destination where this technology can be used. A high-pressure vapor feed electrolyzer was recently designed, built and tested as an alternate propulsion system for advanced satellites. The Water Rocket can electrolyze water using power from the vehicles solar array to charge storage tanks to 2,000 psi a. When required, the high-pressure gases can be delivered to a hydrogen-oxygen thruster array to provide orbital reboost and maneuverability to satellites to improve their useful life, extend their capability and enhance their overall versatility.Energy storage solutions using water electrolysis and fuel cell systems are being examined for applications ranging from backup power systems and lighter-than-air vehicles to extraterrestrial bases on the moon and Mars. The basic architecture of a regenerative fuel cell energy storage system includes a high-pressure water electrolysis system, a fuel cell, a fluid management and storage system, a thermal management system and a power management system. Depending on whether the system has access to atmospheric oxygen, the oxygen from water electrolysis can either be stored as a pressurized gas or simply vented as a waste by-product.Fuel cell-powered vehicles hold the promise of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector , provided the hydrogen fuel is produced from a renewable energy source, such as a high-pressure water electrolyzer operating from wind, solar or nuclear power.Adapted from Backwards Runs the Reaction by Robert Roy, for Mechanical Engineering, April 2008.Most of the design elements used to produce a water electrolysis cell stack were originally developed during the 1980s for submarine-based life support systems.