Why Hire You?

What are the things which make you the standout among a group of job applicants and among a group of employees?

At any age, the number one requirement is that you enjoy your job; that deep down inside it amazes you that someone will actually pay you for what you are doing.

In Your 20s

You are just starting out.  Your goal is to learn the ropes – as quickly as possible.  Know your job responsibilities, and learn how to do them well.  Then go do it, all the time, every time, without fail.

That includes working overtime, when necessary.  Don’t make overtime a habit – that shows poor planning.  The goal is to do your work without resorting to overtime.  But take responsibility; don’t avoid overtime when it is called for.

In Your 30s

Continue developing your job skills and know-how.  You will probably be given your first opportunities to show your potential managing skills; you may be given your first responsibilities for the workload, progress, and growth of a team with two or three other people.  

Taking the initiative at every opportunity is important at this stage.

In Your 40s

This is the time when your career path has become fully established, whether you are recognized as a manager or as a technical expert.  

Either way, the biggest mistake would be to think you can start to relax a bit and take it easy.  During periods of cost-cutting, 40-year-olds are the prime candidates for dismissal.  Younger employees are less expensive.  If you are not doing much more than they are, you are too expensive.

In Your 50s

With more than 30 years of raises and promotions, in your 50s you are an expensive employee for the company.  It is crucial that you make sure you continuously demonstrate that you are valuable, and worth all that expense.  

You not only create the value that makes you worth the expense, but you also demonstrate leadership by making the other members of your team – and others in the company outside your team – more valuable employees as well.

Make the company need you.

In Your 60s

Your 60s are obviously a follow-on to your 50s.  The company should be cognizant of your skills, and should be confident it can assume that your skills and the skills of those on your team have a demonstrable positive impact on the company’s success and bottom line.  

Look at the company’s balance sheet and income statement, and ask yourself where your efforts improved the numbers.  

In Your 70s

Your old job is gone, but the habits of a lifetime are still with you.  The investment practices and spending habits you have learned and practiced over the decades translate into having financial investments that continue to grow – even while you make the withdrawals necessary for your living expenses.  

The 70s is a good time to begin that second career that is purely for your own enjoyment.  

Your lifetime investments make it possible to pursue a career where perhaps you are a newbie whom nobody wants to pay even a minimum wage.  

In time, it may become more of a monetary success – but there is no guarantee, and that is not the issue.  It can start out being something which is only something that you want to do for your own satisfaction.

Opportunity Knocks for Those Prepared

Singer Billie Holiday had a wonderful way of saying it:  “If you come across, I’ll come across.”

Nobody owes you anything.

Every company must make a profit.  Without being profitable, no company can survive.  

Employees and businessmen know that to be successful they must make it their responsibility to do what is necessary to achieve profitability.  Excuses are meaningless. Blame nobody else.  If you experience a failure, if you make a misstep, then learn from your experience, so you can be sure never to make that same mistake again.  

Determination to become successful is what life is all about.  

The CEO of McDonald’s encourages people to take full ownership of their professional journeys, and not wait for others to open doors for them:  “Remember, nobody cares about your career as much as you do.”

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