Yeah, so Im not laid off. April Fools! (the backstory)

Yeah, so… Im not laid off. April Fools! (the backstory) Read the post to see why maple syrup :) Tuesday was April Fools. An announcement on the blog said Jason Alba was laid off. That, my friends, was an April Fools joke. I mistakenly scheduled the blog post for the day after about a week ago, without realizing that 4/2 should have been THIS post.  So heres some of the before and after of JibberJobbers April Fools for 2014: In 2011 I wrote a really fun April Fools saying we would lay off the boss who laid you off.  It was really quite funny, and had a bunch of JibberJobber users, people who were in-between jobs, who said SIGN ME UP!!  Even after knowing it was a prank, they still would have loved to have their bosses laid off. I skipped the next two years because I was too uncreative to figure something out, but around last April I had the idea of me, the guy who talks about layoffs all the time, the guy who owns his own company, and talks about income security, so no one can take away 100% of your income, and all of that stuff, to actually be laid off from his own company! About a week ago I wrote the draft and passed it by two people: the owner of a PR firm, and a resume writer.  Both of these people are very precise and know the power and impact of a post like this. Oh, I also printed off a copy and had my 13 year old son run it upstairs to my wife.  He read the headline and got very, very somber, and I think he almost got teary-eyed.  He just came to the realization that something very grave happened I didnt mean to make him feel like that, but I couldnt let him in on it until my wife read it.  She said it shocked her, too, for a bit, then realized it must be for April Fools.  I said our son was almost in tears and she said I was almost in tears, too! Great, I thought, this is going to work :) As I slept on it for the next few nights, I wondered what impact this would have, and if I should soften up the message.  The private equity guy was an idiot, and the way I portrayed private equity and VCs was not favorable at all. I also bashed on job boards, and their lack of value for job seekers. I even included the company that paid $1B for Indeed.com thats a company I dont necessarily want to make mad. Would this have a negative impact on my business? Would announcing my layoff to users who really dont know me, or my sense of humor, have a negative impact on them, and give them a reason to have doubt about JibberJobber? Could I take these risks, just for a bit of fun on April 1? Obviously, I decided to.  And I think it is okay. so far.  Hopefully I havent done or said anything wrong that is irreparable. A big part of the prank, in addition to the blog post, was to change my LinkedIn job dates to end in April, and create a new Job: Notice all of my current stuff is under Previous, and there is no Current and, when I changed my current title, LinkedIn replaced my cool Professional Headline with that title (I wish they wouldnt replace it without asking).  I even had a cute in my new title.  In the actual job I put the link to the URL of the blog post, which if you read, youd probably figure out it was fake: So what was the result?  As of right now, over 20 comments on the blog post, which is more than normal.  11 tweets, 39 LinkedIn shares, and 32 Facebook likes/shares, also more than normal. The comments are pretty funny someone said my moms comment was the best (Do you need to move back in with us???) Im not sure if Alex new it was a prank, Fred Coons comments made me laugh because of his wit, Deb and others tip-toed around this just in case it wasnt a joke, Rabbi (and others) jumped right in offering help and emotional support, and Niall declared a ban on maple syrup exports from Canada until the injustice is righted! You guys are awesome ! On LinkedIn I got dozens and dozens of messages I got a lot of LIKES on my new title, and a number of CONGRATULATIONS!  Someone wrote and said that LinkedIn should be smarter about this when someone loses their job and changes it to an obvious downgrade in title/status, LinkedIn shouldnt off a LIKE option. That makes sense who would really LIKE or CONGRATULATE someone if they lost their job and are clearly not happy about it.  I had a frowny face. why like or congratulate? The last time I changed my job, a few months ago (just to update my profile), I had dozens of people who congratulated me even though these were minor tweaks and were essentially the same titles as before. I got a lot more responses on LinkedIn, because of the title change, than comments on my blog again, people having very supportive and kind comments.  At one point I almost felt bad for leading people to believe I was in a hurting place. Oh, let me address one last thing: who would really LIKE or CONGRATULATE someone if they lost their job and are clearly not happy about it? I WOULD!   I do it all the time.  Not every time, but there are times when someone tells me they lost their job and the only thing I can think of is CONGRATULATIONS!  You and I both know it wasnt the right job or company for you, and you hated it, and there was no more opportunity I know how much it sucks to get let go.  You take it personal, you second-guess yourself, you go through a range of emotions, doubt and depression can set in. BUT, for many people, including myself, getting laid off was only the nudge I needed to leave a bad situation, which was a choice I wasnt ready to make on my own.  Getting laid off was the beginning of a journey to much better things for me, and Im convinced that it can be a journey to much better things for many people. So, while I offer my empathy, I also offer encouragement that in fact this can be a time to say CONGRATULATIONS! Yeah, so… Im not laid off. April Fools! (the backstory) Read the post to see why maple syrup :) Tuesday was April Fools. An announcement on the blog said Jason Alba was laid off. That, my friends, was an April Fools joke. I mistakenly scheduled the blog post for the day after about a week ago, without realizing that 4/2 should have been THIS post.  So heres some of the before and after of JibberJobbers April Fools for 2014: In 2011 I wrote a really fun April Fools saying we would lay off the boss who laid you off.  It was really quite funny, and had a bunch of JibberJobber users, people who were in-between jobs, who said SIGN ME UP!!  Even after knowing it was a prank, they still would have loved to have their bosses laid off. I skipped the next two years because I was too uncreative to figure something out, but around last April I had the idea of me, the guy who talks about layoffs all the time, the guy who owns his own company, and talks about income security, so no one can take away 100% of your income, and all of that stuff, to actually be laid off from his own company! About a week ago I wrote the draft and passed it by two people: the owner of a PR firm, and a resume writer.  Both of these people are very precise and know the power and impact of a post like this. Oh, I also printed off a copy and had my 13 year old son run it upstairs to my wife.  He read the headline and got very, very somber, and I think he almost got teary-eyed.  He just came to the realization that something very grave happened I didnt mean to make him feel like that, but I couldnt let him in on it until my wife read it.  She said it shocked her, too, for a bit, then realized it must be for April Fools.  I said our son was almost in tears and she said I was almost in tears, too! Great, I thought, this is going to work :) As I slept on it for the next few nights, I wondered what impact this would have, and if I should soften up the message.  The private equity guy was an idiot, and the way I portrayed private equity and VCs was not favorable at all. I also bashed on job boards, and their lack of value for job seekers. I even included the company that paid $1B for Indeed.com thats a company I dont necessarily want to make mad. Would this have a negative impact on my business? Would announcing my layoff to users who really dont know me, or my sense of humor, have a negative impact on them, and give them a reason to have doubt about JibberJobber? Could I take these risks, just for a bit of fun on April 1? Obviously, I decided to.  And I think it is okay. so far.  Hopefully I havent done or said anything wrong that is irreparable. A big part of the prank, in addition to the blog post, was to change my LinkedIn job dates to end in April, and create a new Job: Notice all of my current stuff is under Previous, and there is no Current and, when I changed my current title, LinkedIn replaced my cool Professional Headline with that title (I wish they wouldnt replace it without asking).  I even had a cute in my new title.  In the actual job I put the link to the URL of the blog post, which if you read, youd probably figure out it was fake: So what was the result?  As of right now, over 20 comments on the blog post, which is more than normal.  11 tweets, 39 LinkedIn shares, and 32 Facebook likes/shares, also more than normal. The comments are pretty funny someone said my moms comment was the best (Do you need to move back in with us???) Im not sure if Alex new it was a prank, Fred Coons comments made me laugh because of his wit, Deb and others tip-toed around this just in case it wasnt a joke, Rabbi (and others) jumped right in offering help and emotional support, and Niall declared a ban on maple syrup exports from Canada until the injustice is righted! You guys are awesome ! On LinkedIn I got dozens and dozens of messages I got a lot of LIKES on my new title, and a number of CONGRATULATIONS!  Someone wrote and said that LinkedIn should be smarter about this when someone loses their job and changes it to an obvious downgrade in title/status, LinkedIn shouldnt off a LIKE option. That makes sense who would really LIKE or CONGRATULATE someone if they lost their job and are clearly not happy about it.  I had a frowny face. why like or congratulate? The last time I changed my job, a few months ago (just to update my profile), I had dozens of people who congratulated me even though these were minor tweaks and were essentially the same titles as before. I got a lot more responses on LinkedIn, because of the title change, than comments on my blog again, people having very supportive and kind comments.  At one point I almost felt bad for leading people to believe I was in a hurting place. Oh, let me address one last thing: who would really LIKE or CONGRATULATE someone if they lost their job and are clearly not happy about it? I WOULD!   I do it all the time.  Not every time, but there are times when someone tells me they lost their job and the only thing I can think of is CONGRATULATIONS!  You and I both know it wasnt the right job or company for you, and you hated it, and there was no more opportunity I know how much it sucks to get let go.  You take it personal, you second-guess yourself, you go through a range of emotions, doubt and depression can set in. BUT, for many people, including myself, getting laid off was only the nudge I needed to leave a bad situation, which was a choice I wasnt ready to make on my own.  Getting laid off was the beginning of a journey to much better things for me, and Im convinced that it can be a journey to much better things for many people. So, while I offer my empathy, I also offer encouragement that in fact this can be a time to say CONGRATULATIONS! Yeah, so… Im not laid off. April Fools! (the backstory) Read the post to see why maple syrup :) Tuesday was April Fools. An announcement on the blog said Jason Alba was laid off. That, my friends, was an April Fools joke. I mistakenly scheduled the blog post for the day after about a week ago, without realizing that 4/2 should have been THIS post.  So heres some of the before and after of JibberJobbers April Fools for 2014: In 2011 I wrote a really fun April Fools saying we would lay off the boss who laid you off.  It was really quite funny, and had a bunch of JibberJobber users, people who were in-between jobs, who said SIGN ME UP!!  Even after knowing it was a prank, they still would have loved to have their bosses laid off. I skipped the next two years because I was too uncreative to figure something out, but around last April I had the idea of me, the guy who talks about layoffs all the time, the guy who owns his own company, and talks about income security, so no one can take away 100% of your income, and all of that stuff, to actually be laid off from his own company! About a week ago I wrote the draft and passed it by two people: the owner of a PR firm, and a resume writer.  Both of these people are very precise and know the power and impact of a post like this. Oh, I also printed off a copy and had my 13 year old son run it upstairs to my wife.  He read the headline and got very, very somber, and I think he almost got teary-eyed.  He just came to the realization that something very grave happened I didnt mean to make him feel like that, but I couldnt let him in on it until my wife read it.  She said it shocked her, too, for a bit, then realized it must be for April Fools.  I said our son was almost in tears and she said I was almost in tears, too! Great, I thought, this is going to work :) As I slept on it for the next few nights, I wondered what impact this would have, and if I should soften up the message.  The private equity guy was an idiot, and the way I portrayed private equity and VCs was not favorable at all. I also bashed on job boards, and their lack of value for job seekers. I even included the company that paid $1B for Indeed.com thats a company I dont necessarily want to make mad. Would this have a negative impact on my business? Would announcing my layoff to users who really dont know me, or my sense of humor, have a negative impact on them, and give them a reason to have doubt about JibberJobber? Could I take these risks, just for a bit of fun on April 1? Obviously, I decided to.  And I think it is okay. so far.  Hopefully I havent done or said anything wrong that is irreparable. A big part of the prank, in addition to the blog post, was to change my LinkedIn job dates to end in April, and create a new Job: Notice all of my current stuff is under Previous, and there is no Current and, when I changed my current title, LinkedIn replaced my cool Professional Headline with that title (I wish they wouldnt replace it without asking).  I even had a cute in my new title.  In the actual job I put the link to the URL of the blog post, which if you read, youd probably figure out it was fake: So what was the result?  As of right now, over 20 comments on the blog post, which is more than normal.  11 tweets, 39 LinkedIn shares, and 32 Facebook likes/shares, also more than normal. The comments are pretty funny someone said my moms comment was the best (Do you need to move back in with us???) Im not sure if Alex new it was a prank, Fred Coons comments made me laugh because of his wit, Deb and others tip-toed around this just in case it wasnt a joke, Rabbi (and others) jumped right in offering help and emotional support, and Niall declared a ban on maple syrup exports from Canada until the injustice is righted! You guys are awesome ! On LinkedIn I got dozens and dozens of messages I got a lot of LIKES on my new title, and a number of CONGRATULATIONS!  Someone wrote and said that LinkedIn should be smarter about this when someone loses their job and changes it to an obvious downgrade in title/status, LinkedIn shouldnt off a LIKE option. That makes sense who would really LIKE or CONGRATULATE someone if they lost their job and are clearly not happy about it.  I had a frowny face. why like or congratulate? The last time I changed my job, a few months ago (just to update my profile), I had dozens of people who congratulated me even though these were minor tweaks and were essentially the same titles as before. I got a lot more responses on LinkedIn, because of the title change, than comments on my blog again, people having very supportive and kind comments.  At one point I almost felt bad for leading people to believe I was in a hurting place. Oh, let me address one last thing: who would really LIKE or CONGRATULATE someone if they lost their job and are clearly not happy about it? I WOULD!   I do it all the time.  Not every time, but there are times when someone tells me they lost their job and the only thing I can think of is CONGRATULATIONS!  You and I both know it wasnt the right job or company for you, and you hated it, and there was no more opportunity I know how much it sucks to get let go.  You take it personal, you second-guess yourself, you go through a range of emotions, doubt and depression can set in. BUT, for many people, including myself, getting laid off was only the nudge I needed to leave a bad situation, which was a choice I wasnt ready to make on my own.  Getting laid off was the beginning of a journey to much better things for me, and Im convinced that it can be a journey to much better things for many people. So, while I offer my empathy, I also offer encouragement that in fact this can be a time to say CONGRATULATIONS!

How Do You Get Your Boss On Board with Employer Branding

How Do You Get Your Boss On Board with Employer Branding Does your company ignore employer brand? Does your boss still think it is just a marketing buzzword? If your answer is yes to any of those questions then keep reading! Employer branding has proven to be imperative to the recruitment strategies of companies worldwide. But some people just cant get their boss on board with it. So weve put together 10 reasons from some employer  branding superstars that will help you talk your boss into employer branding. Carmen Collins How do you get your boss on board with any new project or initiative? You tell a story of what you want to achieve and how that impacts the business. The key is that “impact the business” part. For every social media channel, event we attend or web page we drive to, we have a business impact to show for it. If we drive employee referrals from happy employees, we can take the cost to acquire down to zero. If we drive candidates into the pipeline from social media, we can lower the cost to hire but also time to hire. Tell that story from tactic to impact. Carmen Collins, Social Media Talent Brand Lead, Cisco Estela Vazquez Perez The first time I did it, I had in front of me a group of leaders with influence at a global level so I took my chance and delivered a global proposal to design, develop and adopt the employer brand in many countries, across languages, across businesses and across cultures. The many other times were far less complicated, it was targeted. I define the KPIs and how much these affect ROI. There is nothing fluffy about employer branding, you have to know your numbers, cause and effects. If the KPIs are sponsored, then you can move on to strategy. You still need your sponsors to feel comfortable with your ways.  Once KPIs and strategy are approved, the tactical approach comes next and it is the most visual part, where everyone wants to play and there is no need for convincing anyone to come along. This is a fun ride. Estela Vazquez Perez,  Global Employment Brand Director, Royal Bank of Canada Ton Rodenburg Tell him or her how world class leaders like Steve Jobs, Tony Hsieh, Sergey Brin (Google) and Reed Hastings (Netflix) build winning teams by attracting, inspiring and developing great people. Or keep it closer to home. Take the biggest and most successful competitor and check how they manage HR or see what their recruiting vision is. If not convinced, show graphs on labor market development and compare that to the strategic manpower planning you (may) have built expressing quality shortages in digital, leadership, and most of the other 21st century skills everybody is fighting about in today’s labor markets. If still not convinced; tell that you plan to visit the supervisory board to ask them to get him or her fired. It might make him or her change minds and and embrace your plans. Ton Rodenburg, Employer Branding Strategy Director, ARA M/V Human Resource Communications Audra Knight It really depends on your boss’s management style. If they like stats, show them how many people view your Glassdoor, LinkedIn and Indeed pages each month. It’s also a good idea to ask people that interview if they did any research online before applying and share that info. Audra Knight, Recruitment Operations Manager, Tenable Hannah Fleishman If you’re having trouble getting your leadership team bought in on employer branding or inbound recruiting, simply things. It’s easy to miss the bigger picture when you’re trying to get more resources or budget for a particular project, campaign, or technology. But at the end of the day, employer branding is about people. You can’t grow a great business without great people, period. And competition for talent is only going to become more fierce. Being proactive about employer branding isn’t an option anymore if you want to hire and retain top talent. That’s the bigger picture that leadership can’t ignore. Hannah Fleishman, Inbound Recruiting Manager, HubSpot Sarang Brahme Employer branding is often viewed in silo, sitting either in marketing, recruitment or HR teams. The best results come when we combine the forces and collaborate. HR needs to show the impact of talent attraction, engagement and branding on talent pool / funnel which has direct impact on quality and quantity of hire along with retention. We have enough surveys and studies available to show case  why employer branding is key. Show your boss the magic of talent marketing! And yes, start small. Asking for big budget investments upfront may not fly. Sarang Brahme, Global Social Recruiting   Talent Brand Manager, Capgemini Shaunda Zilich I got my boss on board by showing.   We have got to stop talking and take action.   The minute I showed that we had 275K employees on LinkedIn and other social platforms talking about GE or representing GE in some shape or form… and that on low average our 10M applicants per year were telling 2-3 people about their experience, I was able to make her ‘jaw drop’ to realize we NEED to DO something!   When looking at impact on people’s lives employer brand actually becomes more important than company brand. Shaunda Zilich, Global Employment Brand Leader, GE Jörgen Sundberg A good place to start is to do an audit of your current employer brand, or call it reputation/perception as an employer if that makes more sense. Are you attracting/retaining the right people? If not, what should be improved? Who are your talent competitors, what are they doing? Once you’ve benchmarked your current situation and where you stand vs. competitors, you tend to get interest from management. Getting your boss on board is one thing, releasing budgets for employer brand project is another matter Jörgen Sundberg, Employer Brand Consultant CEO, Link Humans Jaclyn Campbell Thankfully, the Head of Talent Acquisition here at Optus sees the value in employer branding so there wasn’t much convincing needing to be done. However, as employer branding is still in its infant stages, together sometimes we have to spend some extra time to walk our stakeholders through what we’re doing and why. From experience, as soon as they see the data and the progress we’re making, they’re on board. Jaclyn Campbell, Employer Brand Consultant, Optus Jennifer Johnston The thing that works the best to get mindshare is data. Lucky for employer brand marketers, the data on employer reviews sites is public, so you can see how your employees are rating you vs. your competitors for talent. Careers social channels are also public, so you can see what your competitors are doing on there. And you can also easily see how you stack up vs your competitors for talent on best place to work lists. Remind your boss these are the activities candidates and current employees are doing when deciding whether to join or to stay with your company. Jennifer Johnston, Senior Director of Global Employer Branding, Salesforce

The Desperate Need for Women in the Tech Industry

The Desperate Need for Women in the Tech Industry The stereotypical image of someone in the tech field is an unkempt young man with thick glasses, bad posture, and a flippant attitude ? and there is nothing the industry wants more than to change that. For this reason and several more, tech needs women. Unfortunately, women remain woefully underrepresented in tech fields. According to the National Center for Women and Information Technology, women currently hold less than a quarter of all tech jobs. Despite the fact that girls and women account for more than half of the passing grades on advanced math tests, only about 22 percent proceed to take even a single computer science course. In fact, the number of women in tech has been decreasing for about 30 years; in 1985, about 37 percent of computer science grads were women, but in 2014, that number had fallen to under 15 percent. There are several reasons women aren’t attracted to a career in technology, but none of them are particularly good. Conversely, the reasons why women should flock to the tech industry are growing every day, and those below should be more than enough to convince young girls to pursue an education in tech. Tech Needs Workers The simplest and most obvious reason more women should look to tech is that the industry is in desperate need of more workers. Tech is an astoundingly large industry, netting an annual $3.7 trillion globally ? for which the U.S. is responsible for almost a third ? and it is only continuing to grow. According to the National Center for Women and Information Technology, by 2024, experts predict there to be more than 1 million job openings in tech-related fields, and it isn’t feasible to expect one gender to fill that massive gap in the job market. Tech needs women because it needs smart, motivated, and educated bodies to fill its many open positions. Women should look into tech-related degree programs to become qualified for these high-paying advanced career opportunities. Tech Jobs Provide Features Women Like Dozens of studies have concluded that women and men tend to have different priorities when it comes to jobs. Though both genders have concerns about salary, other features of careers and employers tend to attract or repel candidates based on gender lines. While men are primarily concerned with advancement opportunities and financial stability, women more often flock to employers that provide benefits such as schedule flexibility, location flexibility, and meaningful work. Perhaps surprisingly, tech companies generally offer these features and others that appeal to women. Because most tech innovation occurs online, and because the web is available anytime, anyplace, hundreds of tech jobs are extremely flexible, allowing women to create an incredibly stable work-life balance. Unfortunately, one sought-after feature tech has difficulty providing is female mentors because there are so few women in the industry. However, when more women see the advantages of entering tech fields, they can become role models for future generations of women in tech. Tech Wants Women This year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued concerns over the disconcerting lack of gender diversity in tech, to which many industry leaders responded that they are trying hard to entice women ? it just isn’t working. Good business leaders understand the benefits of having a diverse team, which include higher first and last valuations, wider knowledge base, faster innovation, more effective customer service, and better access to resources. Companies with higher percentages of female board directors outperformed those with lower percentages of representation by about 42 percent. Unfortunately, women don’t appear widely interested in tech (whether because of the field as a whole or widely known problematic issues within). Fortunately, a number of women organizations are working to change that. Groups such as Girls Who Code reach out to young women looking for career opportunities and provide training and community to guide them through the sometimes-antagonistic industry. Though tech does want women, it isn’t well-equipped to generate interest in young girls or retain young women, so these groups provide a much-needed service. Women Can Create Change Through Tech Technology is extremely influential in modern life, and by working in tech, women have the ability to shape culture in unique and interesting ways. In fact, simply committing to working in the tech industry is a disruptive act that can have positive ramifications for women and men for years to come. Rather than bemoaning the gender disparity, women who enter tech fields can actively work to end it, creating the change the world (and the tech industry) desperately needs.

Healthy Food Tips to Help Fight Summer Dehydration

Healthy Food Tips to Help Fight Summer Dehydration With summer comes warmer temperatures and lots of outdoor activities.   With all thats sure to be going on in your busy schedule, its easy to forget that your body needs more water.   Dr. Christopher Calapai has  created a tip sheet of his seven favorite healthy foods to help fight summer dehydration. Watermelon Watermelons contain around 92% water and one of the most hydrating foods out there. They can be a great alternative to snacks like pretzels, chips and peanuts. These popular snacks have large amounts of sodium and can make you more dehydrated. Cucumber Cucumbers are about 96% water and they contain no saturated fat or cholesterol. They are high in Vitamin B6 helping to produce serotonin, which is the brain chemical that controls mood. I suggest making small cucumber-watermelon bites, which are both incredibly hydrating and delicious. Strawberries Strawberries have the highest water content of any berry, 92% to be exact. This berry is a great source of vitamins C and K. You can enjoy the tart-sweet flavor without consuming too much sugar. Cantaloupe This popular melon is 90% water and packed with rich flavor. One cup of cantaloupe provides 100% of the daily recommended values of Vitamins A and C. Tomatoes Tomatoes are made up of about 95% water. Along with their sweetness they are perfect to take the place of higher calorie condiments. One medium size tomato contains only 22 calories. Zucchini Zucchinis are 95% water and help to give you more energy. They also contain a good amount of potassium helping to reduce blood pressure. The veggie also promotes skin health giving a glow and restoring moisture. Lemon While I dont think a lot of people enjoy eating lemons, adding them to water is a great way to change up a plain glass of water. Besides enhancing the flavor, lemons are a great source of vitamin C and aids in digestion. About Dr Calapai Dr. Christopher Calapai, D.O. is an Osteopathic Physician board certified in family medicine and anti-aging medicine. Proclaimed the The Stem Cell Guru by the New York Daily News, Dr. Calapai is a leader in the field of stem cell therapy in the U.S. His stem cell treatments have achieved remarkable results in clinical trials on patients with conditions as varied as Alzheimers, arthritis, erectile dysfunction, frailty syndrome, heart, kidney and liver failure, lupus, MS and Parkinsons. He has worked with Mike Tyson, Mickey Rourke, Steven Seagal, and Gothams, Donal Logue; and as a medical consultant for the New York Rangers. Connect with him via twitter @drcalapai or at  www.drcal.net

Baby Boomer Walkabout - A Moment of Clarity - Career Pivot

Baby Boomer Walkabout - A Moment of Clarity - Career Pivot Baby Boomer Walkabout Wikipedia defines a walkabout as the following: Walkabout refers to a rite of passage during which male Australian Aborigines would undergo a journey during adolescence and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months. I have a client who just completed a baby boomer walkabout. Bill (not his real name) was laid off from his job in the fall of 2014. It came as a complete surprise to him. Bill is in his late 50s and has always worried about money. He has been fanatical about saving his money for retirement. One Month Walkabout Bill decided to wait until the next year to start his job search. He also decided to buy a Rail Pass and travel the US for an entire month. What he did not realize was that this would turn out to be a baby boomer walkabout. He spent the month sleeping on friends’ couches, park benches (illegally), in a rental car, and other odd places. He spent a lot of time by himself. He met many people who were living a very minimalist lifestyle. What he noticed about them was that they were happy! He spent a month in utter simplicity. He found that all he needed was healthy food, a place to sleep, a place to exercise, and good coffee. His walkabout was a true moment of clarity! My Walkabout 35 Years Ago In 1980, I was working for IBM…and was very unhappy. I decided to take my own walkabout! I had two weeks vacation and asked for 12 more weeks off without pay. Listen to the most recent episode The reaction from management was, “You want what?” My request was turned down. My boss did some research and discovered he could give me two weeks off without pay without needing to get approval from upper-level management. He granted my request, and I spent four weeks hiking through Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. The last excursion of the trip was to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and camp. It took two weeks into the trip to wind down and relax. By the third week, I did not know what day of the week it was and didn’t care. I spent most of the month by myself. I met a lot of fascinating people. When I got back, I was a changed person: I now saw life through a different, relaxed lens. Like Bill, I realized I needed very little to make me happy. One week after my return, I met my lovely wife. Hmm…I’m sure this was no coincidence! I considered selling all of my worldly possessions and joining the Peace Corps. Did I? NO! I went back to work, got married, had a child…but I did know myself a whole lot better. I still believe I missed a valuable opportunity. I had my moment of clarity but I let it pass! Bill and His Walkabout Before Bill’s trip, I sent him a link to an article in the Huffington Post about Tim and Lynne Martin called, “How We Downsized 2,000 Sq. Ft. Into Two Rolling Duffles To See The World.” Tim and Lynne sold all of their possessions and traveled the world. They chronicled their adventures on their Home Free Adventures website. Bill has since returned home and is interviewing for a new job, however, with a very different perspective on life. He is thinking of selling his big house, disposing of many material possessions, and following a similar path of Tim and Lynne Martin. Bill has a level of contentment and peace that he has rarely experienced in his life. His walkabout experience was truly life changingâ€"but now what? Bill is giving himself two years to prepare AND two years to negotiate with his spouse on what is next. Have you taken a walkabout? If you did, what did you learn? What did you change? Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...