My Lifestyle Career
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I'm Nancy Collamer, a career consultant, speaker and author of Second-Act Careers: 50 Ways to Profit from Your Passions During Semi-Retirement. My passion is helping people find fun, fulfilling and flexible ways to profit from their passions during their semi-retirement years.
My Lifestyle Career
4y ago
As subscribers to my newsletter know, I’m a big believer in the power of questions. So I was delighted to recently find this article The Only List of Icebreaker Questions You’ll Ever Need on the the MuseumHack.com website. I combed through the list and pulled out ten questions that I think are particularly useful for readers thinking about their second acts.
After you’ve had a chance to think about these questions (and don’t forget to follow up each question, by asking “why?”) reflect on what your answers suggest about your second-act interests, values, motivators and sensibilities. And if you ..read more
My Lifestyle Career
4y ago
If the economic downturn has you, or someone you love, starting a job search, it can be confusing to know where to turn for trusted advice. Below are sites I recommend for high-quality guidance, tools and resources:
LinkedIn.com has a collection of free videos for job seekers, “Finding a Job during Challenging Economic Times” featuring over eleven hours of training on topics like video interviewing, digital networking and writing a resume.
Indeed.com recently launched a COVID19 Career Resource Center that includes job search webinars, links to state job resources, and a list of major na ..read more
My Lifestyle Career
4y ago
In many ways, now seems a crazy time to talk about your second act. The impact of the coronavirus on our economy, health and well-being is staggering and paralyzing.
Most of us are just trying to make it through each day. Figuring out how to get groceries from the supermarket is a big enough challenge, let alone focusing on our plans for the future.
Still, if you’ve read this far, my guess is that there’s at least a part of you that is looking for a way forward. Small, but impactful, steps that you take now to help you be in a better place once this crisis passes.
So let me offer up a suggesti ..read more
My Lifestyle Career
4y ago
I often hear from clients that finding a satisfying volunteer role in retirement often proves more challenging than expected. It can take several attempts before you land the right role at the right organization. So before you begin to search for opportunities, spend some time thinking about what a good fit means to you. A few questions to consider:
What roles appeal to you? In other words, do you want to be involved with policy decisions, advocacy, program design, fund raising, etc. — or do you want to work directly with those in need?
What roles do you want to avoid? Think about the job ..read more
My Lifestyle Career
4y ago
As most of you know, I write a monthly column for NextAvenue.org, a PBS site where “grownups keep growing.” I took some time at year-end to read over my posts, and I enjoyed them so much, I decided to share them here as well! Here are my top five favorites:
Finding Passion and Purpose Through Work: You can’t find great part-time work without first understanding what “great” means to you. In this post, I explain how to reframe and broaden your definition of passion as an acronym — P.A.S.S.I.O.N — that highlights the different ingredients you want in a career you can be passionate about ..read more
My Lifestyle Career
4y ago
Whether you’re eager to start a new side-gig, find a part-time job or just want to get inspired about the possibilities for a fulfilling second act, these five books can help get you launched:
100 Side Hustles: Unexpected Ideas for Making Extra Money Without Quitting Your Day Job by Chris Guillebeau is a terrific read that tells the stories of “ordinary” people who’ve found clever ways to make money in the new economy. It will open you up to a multitude of ways you can generate income without working a full-time job.
Never Too Old to Get Rich: The Entrepreneurs Guide to Starting a Busine ..read more
My Lifestyle Career
4y ago
As frequent readers of this blog know, I am a big fan of Chris Guillebeau’s Side Hustle School podcast. Recently, Chris ran a story about two friends who have a side hustle selling cork sunglasses to wine aficionados. It’s an entertaining story that illustrates it really is possible to make money from your hobbies, if you’re willing to think outside the box.
In the podcast, Chris points out that there are 84 million regular wine drinkers in the US. That means there is a heck of a lot of money being spent within the wine industry.
But—and this is the important point—it also means that th ..read more
My Lifestyle Career
5y ago
In today’s increasingly gig-centric economy, there are endless ways to repurpose your professional expertise into a more lifestyle-friendly career. For example, you could consult, freelance as an independent contractor, temp, or work as an adjunct professor, just to name a few.
It takes time to find just the right fit. But with drive and creative thinking, you’re sure to craft a satisfying solution. So, if you’re eager to expand your world of possibilities, here are 10 questions to ponder:
1. What services or products are being overlooked in your industry that you could fill? Within every ..read more
My Lifestyle Career
6y ago
I was delighted to be interviewed recently by Dorian Mintzer of RevolutionizeRetirement.com. Dorian hosts monthly calls with experts on the topic of retirement transition and navigating the second half of life (learn more about these free monthly calls here).
I hope you’ll listen in to our conversation where we talk about:
Why so many boomers are choosing to work part-time after retirement
The four main categories of second-act careers
Examples of fun and unusual second-acts
Easy steps you can take to discover your own “what’s next ..read more
My Lifestyle Career
6y ago
It’s not easy to find a high-quality flexible job in retirement. But there is one strategy that beats all others. That’s why I want to share this excerpt from a recent newsletter I received from my colleague Kathryn Sollmann of the website 9livesforwomen.com that explains what works best – and why:
“The best place to start looking is close to home at smaller, growing businesses filled with ex-corporate executives tired of bureaucratic red tape. Lots of big corporations are offering flexwork, too—but it’s much more widespread at smaller companies where nimble, innovative thinking and doing reig ..read more