8 Tips for Mature Tech Workers Delaying Retirement

8 Tips for Mature Tech Workers Delaying Retirement8 Tips for Mature Tech Workers Delaying RetirementIf youre 60-plus but feeling like retirement is not an option for you, youre not alone. According to a survey conducted in late 2009, seven out of ten mature workers in the U.S. are delaying retirement due to financial reasons. And instead of thinking of about leisure activities and relaxation, many older IT workers with years of experience under their belts are looking to upgrade their technical skills so they can remain competitive in the job market. Here are some tips to help you work through your retirement options, transition into your next technical job, and show just how valuable you are to your current and future company, boss, and colleagues. Tip 1 Have a chat with your human resources department. If you have a certain plan in mind in terms of how long you are going to stick with your current job, make sure HR knows they can help you sort out details about your future if youre not sure how things will work out. Tip 2 Remain open to a change in plans. If your current employer has been making plans based on when they think youre going to retire, and you suddenly decide you want to stick around, you might find that this complicates things. Find out whether you might be able to work on other projects if your employer has already decided to hand yours off by a certain time. Tip 3 Networking is key. Make sure you build your network, on both a social and professional level, so that you have some connections and potential job leads in case staying with your current employer is not an option. If youre not on it already, sign up with LinkedIn to make connections online, and get recommendations from people who have worked with you in the past. Tip 4 Get involved with mentoring and cross-training. You have tons of experience and knowledge to reisepass along to others. Offer to become a mentor to a younger employee (or even someone outside of your w orkplace), or to help cross-train someone from a different department. This will demonstrate your value to both your current employer and potential future employers. Tip 5 Make sure your resume is up-to-date and relevant. Especially in the technology industry, skills and certifications can become obsolete very quickly. To avoid looking dated, leave off the floppy-disk-era experience and focus on your most modern areas of expertise. Tip 6 Use your age to your advantage. Rather than getting defensive and feeling like youre at a disadvantage when competing with all the fresh-faced college grads, focus on all the good things your age brings to the table. Youre experienced, youve proven you can adapt to a constantly changing work environment, youve had more time to hone your communication and leadership skills...the list goes on. Tip 7 Dont get discouraged. If youre out of a job and in the market, give it time. Older workers take longer on average to find a new job CareerCast .com reports that the average baby boomer has an 8.5-month long job hunt. Use the downtime to network, update your skills, take a breather before jumping back into the workforce. You could also look for freelance or consulting work to help pay the bills in the meantime. Tip 8 Finally, in addition to using all the regular methods for finding a job, take advantage of job resources for mature workers. Some websites to check out Seniors4Hire, WorkForce50, and Senior Job Bank. notenzeichen Updates have since been made to this article by Laurence Bradford.

3 Ways to Deal With the Office Know-it-All

3 Ways to Deal With the Office Know-it-All3 Ways to Deal With the Office Know-it-AllSome things never change.Remember when you were a kid, and there was always at least one of your playmates who seemed to have the answer for everything? It was annoying back then, and not surprisingly, its still annoying as an adult- especially in a work setting.It was easy enough to avoid the playground know-it-all you probably just ignored him or her and found someone else to play with. But, in a professional setting, its not quite so simple. Depending on the dynamics of your kollektiv and the relationship with your all-knowing colleague, handling his or her perceived omnipotence can be a delicate manner.If youre faced with a know-it-all in the office, try these three strategies to deal, without having to tritt sand in anyones face.1. EngageOne of the first times I encountered someone who had all the answers, I was fairly early on in my career, as was she, and I interpreted her knowledge-sharing as a slight against my own experience. I assumed, because she was telling me all about how a certain procedure really worked, she was implying I didnt know myself.I took offense- and blurted out something about how everyone in the group knew that, and she wasnt on to anything new. She was horrified, and soon, I was, too. Turns out, she was simply excited that shed learned something new and was eager to prove to the rest of the team she was keeping up.I felt like a complete jerk. Rather than simply joining in on the conversation and sharing my own experience on the topic, I let my ego get in the way and couldve easily damaged a great working relationship. Fortunately, we both recognized what had happened and changed how we interacted going forward.Now, when I come across a suspected know-it-all, I remind myself to cool my jets and actually listen to what the person saying- through a professional lens, rather than a personal. I pay attention to whats being said, and then I use it as a ju mping-off point to engage with my colleague. If it feels like someone is telling you his or her way is the only way, ask questions about the process, and share how youve been doing things as well. Who knows- maybe between the two of you, youll find a way that really is the best2. IgnoreOK, I know I said playground tactics wont work in the office, and while thats mostly true, ignoring your know-it-all colleague is probably a good move when its clear he or she isnt just trying to fit in or collaborate with you.Ive worked with a few people like this, but the worst offenders were when I worked for a bank, essentially on a trading desk. (Think long tables with people lined up right next to one anther, with zero space or privacy.) At the time, I was the only woman on the desk, and the fellas enjoyed giving me a good roasting on nearly a daily basis. I have pretty thick skin, so that never bothered me- but when theyd butt in on phone conversations or interrupt me in the middle of complicat ed assignments to show me how things are done, Id lose my cool pretty quickly.Initially, Id unleash my best brand of sarcasm to put them in their place, but that rarely worked. Finally, exhausted from the effort (being sarcastic is hard work) I channeled my inner playground tactics and decide to try ignoring them instead. Every time theyd offer up their help, Id smile politely and just keep going about my business. Sometimes, Id pretend I didnt hear what they were saying, or Id get up from the desk for a few minutes until they lost interest. It worked like a charm Over time, my expert colleagues figured out I actually knew the job as well as they did- if not better- and their helpful advice abated.If your know-it-all is at a similar level to you professionally and isnt offering you any valuable advice, try politely changing the subject or excusing yourself to go visit Bob in accounting. Anything to distract your helpful colleagues from their all-knowingness. Over time, theyll get th e idea and see that their advice is falling on deaf- and completely capable- ears.3. EndureNow, if your wise colleague happens to be someone more superior- say, your boss- handling the situation gets a bit more complicated. After all, your boss is supposed to know it all, right? Yet, theres just something about how that knowledge is dropped that makes all the difference between being a mentor and being a pain in the ass.I had a boss many years ago that really knew his stuff. And if it wasnt apparent by the work he did, hed make sure you heard about it. If I was working on a complicated transaction, for example, hed peer over my shoulder at my desk and say things like, Oh, I wouldnt do it like that. Let me show you the right way to do this. Id been around the block a few times by this point, and I knew I couldnt just shut him down or try to engage. This left me only one, fairly uncomfortable option I had to hunker down and take it.Work isnt always fun or fair, which means sometimes w e have to do things we dont like for the greater good. In my case, my boss got to feel like he was really coaching me, and although I often ended up doing things my own way in the end, he always felt as if hed done his job as a manager and mentor along the way. Definitely painful, but a win-win for everyone.Throughout your career, youll no doubt encounter a few know-it-alls, and while they can be pretty pesky, they dont have to ruin your day. Follow these guidelines to recognize where all that helpful advice might be coming from, whos giving it, and why, and youll be better equipped to handle it like an adult.Photo of office know-it-all courtesy of Shutterstock.

Why marrying out of your league could increase divorce risk

Why marrying out of your league could increase divorce riskWhy marrying out of your league could increase divorce riskMen who marry women who are out of their league - that is, significantlymora attractivethan they are - may have less committed wives and a higher risk of divorce, experts say.A variety of research suggests that couples who do notlage match one another in their approximate levels ofphysical attractivenesstend to have less successful romantic relationships, Madeleine Fugre, a professor of Social Psychology at Eastern Connecticut State University, wrote inPsychology Today.People are understandably attracted to others who are out of their league- onerecent analysisof online dating data indicated that men and women pursue prospects up to 25% more attractive than they are. Nonetheless, most people seem to have a fairly good idea of how attractive they are and whom they can expect to attract,researchsuggests, and largely maintain relationshipswith more similarly matched in dividuals. Most men dont bat out of their league.But when couples do mismatch, the outlook is bleak. Women who report that their partners are significantly less attractive than they are, onestudyfound, are more likely to flirt with others and report feeling less committed to the relationship.Otherresearchsuggests that physically mismatched couples may have shorter, less successful relationships, not because the more attractive party is less committed, but because the less attractive one is more prone to jealousy.There is some hope in the research, however. When Benjamin Karney of UCLA interviewed 82 newlywed couples about the challenges in their relationships and day-to-day lives, he found that men who had married much more attractive women (as rated by a panel of brutally honest undergraduate students) were doing better, overall. The interesting thing is that those husbands were happier than the other husbands, he said in astatement. And those husbands were more helpful. And they w ere more effective and more positive when helping their wives with their problems.Furthermore,Fugre suspects that couples who were friends prior to becoming romantic may be able to get away with greater disparities in attractiveness. She cites onestudythat found that longer acquaintance predicts reduced assortative mating on attractiveness. In other words, if you have a long friendship before you begin dating,writes Fugre, then physical attractiveness may be less important to relationship initiation or maintenance.This article welches originally published on Fatherly.Why marrying out of your league could increase divorce riskMen who marry women who are out of their league - that is, significantlymore attractivethan they are - may have less committed wives and a higher risk of divorce, experts say.A variety of research suggests that couples who do not match one another in their approximate levels ofphysical attractivenesstend to have less successful romantic relationships, Madelein e Fugre, a professor of Social Psychology at Eastern Connecticut State University, wrote inPsychology Today.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and morePeople are understandably attracted to others who are out of their league- onerecent analysisof online dating data indicated that men and women pursue prospects up to 25% more attractive than they are. Nonetheless, most people seem to have a fairly good idea of how attractive they are and whom they can expect to attract,researchsuggests, and largely maintain relationshipswith more similarly matched individuals. Most men dont bat out of their league.But when couples do mismatch, the outlook is bleak. Women who report that their partners are significantly less attractive than they are, onestudyfound, are more likely to flirt with others and report feeling less committed to the relationship.Otherresearchsuggests that physically mismatched coup les may have shorter, less successful relationships, not because the more attractive party is less committed, but because the less attractive one is more prone to jealousy.There is some hope in the research, however. When Benjamin Karney of UCLA interviewed 82 newlywed couples about the challenges in their relationships and day-to-day lives, he found that men who had married much more attractive women (as rated by a panel of brutally honest undergraduate students) were doing better, overall.The interesting thing is that those husbands were happier than the other husbands, he said in astatement. And those husbands were more helpful. And they were more effective and more positive when helping their wives with their problems.Furthermore,Fugre suspects that couples who were friends prior to becoming romantic may be able to get away with greater disparities in attractiveness. She cites onestudythat found that longer acquaintance predicts reduced assortative mating on attractiveness.In ot her words, if you have a long friendship before you begin dating,writes Fugre, then physical attractiveness may be less important to relationship initiation or maintenance.This article was originally published on Fatherly.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people