Over 50, out of work and in despair - Washington Post article includes quote from 40Plus Executive Director Eric Hertting on 40Plus program and support for professionals in career transition

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/work-advice-shes-over-50-and-desperate-for-a-job-how-can-she-land-one/2018/07/30/f47f1442-807f-11e8-bb6b-c1cb691f1402_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.733a0c113f4e 

@KarlaAtWork @wpmagazine @40plusdc

This week’s True North podcast features a brief interview with Eric Hertting, Executive Director with the nonprofit
40Plus of Greater Washington, and Ken Schoppmann, 40Plus’ Director of Partnerships and Programming.

The career resources provided by 40Plus combine training, motivation, and support for individuals – a formula that’s produced success for job seekers in the DC area since 1953.

In this brief podcast, we discuss:

• What 40Plus is and it’s lengthy track record of success in working with experienced professionals and executives who are in a career transition
• The three aspects of the programs offered by 40Plus that benefit career searchers
• How the nature of work and the Gig Economy is changing the search process
• Insights about what makes 40 Plus especially effective for individuals in career transitions

Podcast

You may be asking yourself why an item on volunteering is appearing under “What’s New” on our home page.  After all, volunteering has been the sine qua non of 40Plus of Greater Washington since its founding in 1953.  It is the center of everything we do.

We always have new volunteers stepping up to help in many ways and for many reasons.  For most, we think it is because they both enjoy it and it makes them feel good.  40Plus volunteers have a special opportunity to touch the lives of an underserved group of people, many of whom arrive at 40Plus after a very frustrating time and with severely shaken self-confidence.  The feedback that we get, suggests that our unique intensive program profoundly affects many of these people.  So, while volunteering itself is not new, new volunteers bring fresh energy, ideas, and perspective to the mission.

But the real reason for this item under “What’s New”, is that we sometimes get new feedback that we weren’t expecting, and it touches us back in a profound way.  In connection with our Annual Meeting and Celebration dinner, we received a very large donation from a graduate of the program a number of years ago.  It was our very first donation in connection with this event.  The donor took the time to include the following note:

I'm retired now, but when I was laid off around age 45, I was a lost soul until a friend told me about 40+. There, in a basement office…I found friends, support, and a framework from which I was able to venture out into the job market and reestablish myself as a person of worth and merit. I will never forget the blessings I received by being associated with 40+. I can't attend the "40+ Reignited" affair, but would like to help two members who might have trouble with tickets (and their guests) to attend. G-d bless you all!

For the “feel good” part of volunteering, it doesn’t get any better than this.

On Thursday, March 9, 40Plus held its first ever Resume Swap and Speed Networking event as an experiment during our evening networking session.  The event was attended by about 40 people and about 30 participated in this new exercise.  Preliminary feedback was very positive, but with some great suggestions about how to enhance the format.  We will be refining the concept based on this feedback, and plan to host an even better event in a few months.  Watch this space!

The event was designed to be fun, and also and to bring home certain truths about the way things work:

1.  Employers and recruiters spend very little time reviewing a resume.

2.  In most networking situations you have a very short time to make a good impression.

3.  Making a good impression is easier if you are prepared to quickly and compellingly convey concrete achievements.

The skills to manage these realities are the heart of the 40Plus training curriculum which has been helping mid-career professionals find new opportunities since 1953.

Our event started out with one of our favorite sounds: the wonderful 40Plus ship’s bell sounded as a graduate of our most recent class, Edmund Fleet, has found a great new job and ‘rang in’ the event with panache.  Our heartiest congratulations to Edmund.  During the rest of the event, our Deputy Director got to commune with his inner 3-year old, ringing the bell repeatedly to move the participants from one task to the next as we rushed the participants through 5 rounds of very fast resume review and networking.

Hope to see you at the next one!