Career Kuel Category Expert: Gayle Petrillo
I’m so excited to be switching gears a bit in the coming year. While I will still share fashion pointers, my writing will be more in line with the overall topic of boosting confidence in mid-life.
We change jobs, start our own businesses, become empty nesters, assist our aging parents, and help raise our grandchildren. As part of this true “sandwich” generation, you may be experiencing one or more of these changes. We will support you through many of these challenges.
First Impressions are important in our every day lives because we NEVER get a second opportunity to make that all-important first impression. Whether it’s meeting your child’s teacher, a prospective employer, or potential significant other, people make a decision within the first 3-7 seconds as to whether they will like you, socialize with you, trust you, confide in you, etc.
That’s not much time is it?
So, we need to be our best at every opportunity offered. When we smile, we share something so contagious it can make someone’s day, or change the outcome of a conversation or relationship. Your body language, listening skills, eye contact, and even etiquette, (those ‘soft’ skills) are true necessities that make an impression on someone.
What are you ‘telling’ others?
Empty-nesters often find that while their husband’s lives haven’t changed much, theirs do. Men continue to work, as they have, as you’ve raised your kids. Some of us may have worked part-time as the kiddos grew up. Some of us were able to stay at home, perhaps even home-schooling them. It is now our turn to turn the focus on us.
We see ourselves, our identity, as a wife, mom, grandma, secretary, teacher, accountant, lawyer, physician, etc. While some of those roles remain intact, we sometimes struggle with who we are or who we want to be once the kids move out of the house.
As we age, our bodies change, and sometimes we revert to our former selves and struggle with who we now are. How do we build or rebuild our self-confidence?
For any of you re-entering the workforce, you see how the employment world has changed. I may be dating myself now, but how many of you remember applying for the jobs from an ad in the newspaper? Or maybe you even walked into a company to inquire about positions they have open and/or even leave your resume. Those days are gone.
So, creating or restructuring your resume can be daunting. If you haven’t applied for a job in a while you may feel overwhelmed initially. Resumes are attached to online applications, sometimes at a kiosk at the local bank, grocery store, or retail shop. Many companies use recruiting firms and job boards such as ZipRecruiter, CareerBuilder, Indeed, and Glassdoor, to name a few. Application processes often are time consuming and redundant, leading to frustration.
If you haven’t worked outside the home in a while, there are things that you do every day that are transferable to many positions. For instance, time management; multi-tasking; negotiating; and conflict resolution.
Here are a few quick tips to help get you started.
- key words are needed (based on the specific job posting you are responding to)
- no need to go back more than 10 years in work history
- resumes should be no longer than 2 pages
Given all this, this is the time for us. It’s a time to harness our years of experiences and catapult ourselves forward into our next invention of our next best self.
There are many forms this may take. Maybe it’s now about giving back to our community. Perhaps it’s returning to the workforce in a part-time or full-time role. Or, just maybe it’s about taking the time for self-care that we have neglected in order to put our family in the spotlight rather than focus on us and what our needs our.
This time in our lives can be challenging, even intimidating. It can also be rewarding.
Among the future topics I will discuss are:
What it takes to land your ideal job. The more you know….do your research; be confident during every interview (telephone, Zoom and in person). Create a resume that gets you noticed. Use powerful action words. Dress for your next interview, first day on the job, or for that promotion you want. What questions should you ask the interviewer? And negotiate to get what you are worth.
You know you have choices and know that whatever choice you make, many of us here at Kuel Life will be here with supportive ideas. I encourage you to reach out and tell us what obstacles you are facing and how we can help. What topics would like us to cover?
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About The Author:
Gayle Petrillo is President of First Impressions, Image Consulting. Gayle is an image consultant working with both businesses and individuals. Her services include: customer service training; team building skills; secret shopper services; gossip avoidance techniques; closet analysis; wardrobe transformations, personal shopping; employment coaching; and presentation skills.
