Due to the pandemic, so many people have been laid-off, terminated, or let-go, and they are now at a loss as to how they will find their next job or position in an extremely challenging job market. And if you are 50 years old or over, you wonder who will invest in someone who is more “mature”?

In Chapter 8 of “Career Choreography™:  Your Step-by-Step Guide to Finding the Right Job and Achieving Huge Success and Happiness,” I discuss how my dad, was “retired” by the Mays Department Store chain at age 66, and thereafter wound up being hired at age 69, for what turned out to be a legendary 30 more years with the TJ Maxx Company. As I explained, my dad stayed in top physical shape, remained optimistic, read materials that kept him current on the latest trends and issues in his business, and stayed in touch with individuals whom he hoped to once again deal with should he land a new position. He did this with great discipline for three years.

The game-changer for my dad occurred when he re-established contact with Ben Cammarata, his former buyer at Mays decades earlier. During the years after Ben left Mays, he grew to become the Chairman of the Board of the Marmaxx Companies. At the time when my dad and Ben reconnected, Ben was starting a chain of stores called TJ Maxx, and he suggested that my Dad come back to work and train TJ Maxx buyers the way he had effectively trained Ben and scores of other buyer-trainees years earlier. My dad, with tremendous excitement accepted Ben’s offer. Over the next three decades, my dad enjoyed a storied second career until he was nearly 99 years old!

In Chapter 8, I also detail a story about a woman whom I counseled, who was in her fifties and was laid-off by her company during the 2008-2009 economic downturn. At my suggestion, that woman compiled a list of all of the individuals whom she had worked for and with, who knew:

1. how talented she is;

2. how efficient, devoted, and focused she is; and,

3. the content of her top-drawer character.

Once she made that list, she with great objectivity studied it, and then personally contacted each individual on the list to see if they might have a position for her in a nearly non-existent job market. Using this highly efficacious “Career Choreography” strategy, this woman received TWO excellent job offers, one of which, with great appreciation, she accepted. Years later, that woman continues to love her position at her company!

So, your take-away here is that when you are looking to re-enter the workforce, your goal is to identify those individuals with whom you had a positive working relationship and who think highly of you. These individuals should be in positions to hire you, or have the relationship(s) and credibility to effectively and strongly recommend you to employers who can hire you. The second step in this Choreography, is to strategically think about and decide how best to approach these prospective employers, so that you put yourself in the very best position to elicit a positive response and secure the right job for you. The third step, is for you to effectively and compellingly explain to a potential employer why you are an excellent fit for a position that they may have or would create for you.

For many, many more Career Choreography strategies that have led to huge success for thousands of individuals, please read, “Career Choreography.”