Mark Anthony Dyson - The Voice of Job Seekers

How To Be Informed About Your Career Regrets By 40

How to Be Informed By Your Regrets Before 40 by Mark Anthony Dyson

Not all career decisions are amusing stories we can tell later, even if things turned out OK. We often lack foresight and insight when we’re in our early 20s. Sometimes our “yes” should have been “no”—and vice versa.

Setting career strategies and goals takes work. Yes, we want to take control of our careers by accepting full responsibility for our actions, creating opportunities for ourselves, and staying connected. There are those times when we put lots of food on our plates, but we will only eat some and often waste the food.

Some decisions seemed horrible then, but it was the right call. You may only appreciate those later, like when you’re over 40. I thought of a few, and perhaps you can spot them sooner than I did:

1. You said “no” and missed out

When you’re young, you value moving up the ladder and want life experiences with friends. You want both, but saying “no” to career opportunities (or a single one) leaves you with feelings of unrequited love. On the trip back to reality, your values mean more than status, and contentment means more than confinement in a career.

It’s bittersweet, but those relationships you built through your experiences were too valuable. Now you understand these relationships start the process way before any crisis.

You gain intelligence from coffee conversations, networking events, and a few informational interviews.

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Only after a few interactions, your resume will take a relevant shape.

2. You were fired, and afterward, your career stalledHow does it feel when you realize being “fired” was either a great new beginning or a shareable life lesson? Being “let go” was not judgment day, but it felt like it. It feels as if Satan, in the form of disappointment, is stalking you. It took years to get over the sting. The needles and pins of pain. The cloudy and stormy feelings of shame.

Some people need help in understanding why it happened, but others discover freedom and relief quickly is what was supposed to happen. You lost a job for reasons not uncommon to man. If you haven’t reframed it positively, now is the time to do so for the rest of your career.

3. You chose life over money.

Our parents told us to have fun and work hard in our 20s. Some of us were underemployed but refused to go home because we loved our freedom. We ate Spam or Ramen noodles to survive because we decided to immerse ourselves in our lives. The sting remained for years, but we can go to that place when challenges cloud our vision.

Sometimes we gain wisdom from there; other times, clarity or novocaine. You can see the ending to your story clearer, so now you save. Even better, happiness used to have a different cash value. Your ability to career management brings a smile and not a competitive smirk.

4. You lost track of tech and professional relationships.

Certain technologies can become old-school in a short time. Your career path can become irrelevant quickly if you are not on top of trends in your industry. Your friends indirectly challenged you to keep up because they were moving, and you knew you had to keep up.

Somewhere along the way, relationships changed, priorities rearranged, and we feel we should start over again. Tech is infused with life now, so you have to catch up. It will take a little while if you work on it daily.

5. You couldn’t accept “no” from a potential employer.

Rejection makes us more robust, and boy, is it painful at the time.

You spent more time over “what could have been” and less on what you have.

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Sometimes it turned out great, and then you’re grateful for the “trial.”

Remember those who benefited from your path and how it turned out because they are not better without you. Whether you just started a new job yesterday or 20 years ago, you can list 20 ways you’re valuable to your next employer. And do yourself a favor: Keep adding to the list.

6. The lousy boss had value, after all.

We may not like the messenger, but the message was on point. Sometimes our jagged little life-saving pill was brought by an ugly carrier pigeon, and we reject the message for the wrong reasons. In our late 30s or early 40s, we realize when a more acceptable package our ugly acting boss was right. We hated the message and the messenger.

Don’t worry, most of us have been there, but it would have saved us or someone else much heartache if we had looked much deeper at the message. The diamond isn’t in the delivery but in the package.

We get to where we realize what’s most useful and valuable lessons are only sometimes recognizable at first. We may have reached a more straightforward space before 40. But the one thing we do know is upon arrival. We appreciate our career journey more because clarity is an irreplaceable part of our experience.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

This is How to Defeat Job Search Depression Today

This is How to Defeat Job Search Depression Today by Mark Anthony Dyson

It’s easy to say get counseling during a job search depression. It’s not simple to do. We focus on the obstacles and forgetting our cheering section. All of the burdens of life are shouldered because you know your family is expecting you to “carry your weight!” It’s not easy to avoid depression, but I urge you to fight it during your job search.

“Get back out there and try!” It hurts to hear it and is somewhat debilitating. Make the chanters understand how it hurts then get back to the job search! What most people don’t get about unemployment–it is the four wall room in lower in the American basement of society.

But, go and get counseling. Professional counseling for your depression. My anecdotes are temporary, but it won’t solve your long term issues.

My friend Keirsten Greggs said it perfectly as it may apply to some of you:

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And of course, follow up on any and every lead handed to you. Yes, even UPS! Oh, you might like Amazon better.

It’s not that you’re not appreciative, but you’ve internalized the relationships, found a comfort zone, and liked some of the career-defining work. It’s disappointing when there were circumstances you couldn’t control, and it wasn’t under your terms. Dysfunctional or not, your last coworkers were like family even if they didn’t know you outside of work.

Counseling is good and maybe needed. But it’s maybe one hour. You have 167 hours to fight on your own. I’ve been down there before but found ways to deal with it. Mostly, people who exited without a say so deal with loss differently than those who do:

Read Three Signs Underemployment Has Stole Your Soul

1. Bring closure to the loss of your last job(s)

People can sense your loss and how negatively it affects you when you talk (or don’t talk). Even if it is all your fault, come to terms with the loss. One job is not everything you are. Your job is to find who you are and promote your value. Until then, it’s difficult to be rational and positive.

Job search depression is real, but you’re not going to get permission to give up. Nor should you want it.

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2. Focus on others, and be solution oriented

No pity parties, no “should” party, and don’t let others should all over you. Serving others is the best distractions and also a way to rediscover your strengths and gifts. You often get back by giving first. Great conversations often end with value exchange and follow-up.

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3. Focus on and serve family

Unemployed or in-between employment, this is the time to put extra focus on family, household duties, and parents. Everyone should benefit from the extra time you have.

Let them give the emotional support you need to re-tool and repurpose during your career transition.

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If you have children, you will gain perspective, and they will gain more emotional security by the increased involvement.

Read Do You Treat Your Career Search Like a Stuffed Cat?

4. Exercise

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It’s the great stress reliever and equalizer. In fact, create significant visual and mental goals. If not losing weight, make it a goal to gain muscle or both. Go to YouTube and look for household or playground workouts. These are intensive enough to make moderate gains in your fitness goals. The more rigorous, the better to achieve level-up concrete goals.

5. Do encouraging and confidence building activities

For many people, this also means stop the small things that trigger negative thinking. Television and some movies are small deterrents, yet many “little” distractions could add up to one big “fed-up!” Volunteering could serve you well to build your confidence. You will be appreciated when the value added is through your strengths. You can control your schedule and if strategized, use skills to increase your career market value.

Listen to 3 Ways to Manage Your Fluctuating Emotions During Your Job Search

We could go on to discuss taking courses, journaling, and or blogging could help build your career. What’s important is how you intrinsically deal with depression and changing behavior associated with it. Job search depression cannot be allowed black cloud space over your head or heart.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

How Does Illiteracy Affect Job Seekers? [INFOGRAPHIC]

America is a country of forward-thinking innovation. In our rich history, we’ve revolutionized vehicle production, walked on the moon, and produced successful entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. However, despite this progress, we still have a long way to go, especially in education.

A National Adult Literacy Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education in 2003 revealed that one in five Americans lacks skills beyond the fourth-grade level. That’s a hard pill to swallow, especially when you stop and think about how the current job market is becoming increasingly global and pits our citizens against job seekers worldwide.

This reality means that there are still more eager candidates than available jobs, and positions that once required less education and experience are being pursued by overqualified individuals. In some cases, people with some to no high school experience compete with college graduates. While this is clearly an uneven playing field, not all hope is lost for the less-experienced, lower-performing candidates.

There are still many ways they can attractively market themselves to prospective employers. The key is for them to find a way to illustrate strengths that require no education, like drive, work ethic, and willingness to learn and improve. They might not have academic accolades comparable to their competitors, but that doesn’t mean they lack ambition. Many people who perform at a lower level than their peers are merely there because of circumstances such as financial standing and upbringing.

Luckily, there are several ways they can illustrate their determination. For starters, they can enroll in one of the many free, open courses available on the web as this alone will show a natural curiosity and desire to learn—not to mention it will help improve comprehension and reading ability. Another option is to present their potential employer with a plan for the future and how they intend to make it happen. Regardless of circumstance or adversity, this will display a candidate’s motivation to improve. Any way job seekers can convey their perseverance and adaptability will help set themselves apart from the competition, as those are qualities every company desires.

While there is no one way to succeed in today’s economy, illiteracy is definitely not helping anyone. It is a national problem that needs to be addressed to keep our citizens competitive and successful.

Thanks to (@OCC_com).