• Challenges faced when changing career
• Useful tips for anyone confronted with a career change
• Transferable skills
• Similarities (and differences) between the business world and the world of sport
• Transition from sport into a “normal” life

Listen to the interview LINK

 If you are interested in speaking to me about your own career challenge, feel free to email me at julie@sc-careertransition.com to set up a call.

The post Transition, Change and Career Reorientation (even for Sports Stars) appeared first on SC Career Transition.

But whether athletes achieve their dreams or not, when the Olympic flame is extinguished at the end of the games, the dying embers of the flame signify for many the start of a challenging journey into the unknown. And this is not just limited to Olympic athletes. For all professional athletes, whatever their sport and wherever they compete, they are all faced with similar concerns upon retirement from sport.

My own career journey took me away from sport into the corporate world, where I worked in human resources. I grew to understand the demands of the business world and spent many years supporting companies and their employees in their quest for excellence. But I never forgot the world of sport. Frequently I would read stories in the press of a former sporting star fallen on hard times. And I began to wonder how I could help.

Putting pen to paper, I started writing down what I knew about tough transitions and the world of employment. I used the information gathered from years of work, study, and research in order to produce a document that, I hope, will serve as a useful resource for people contemplating life after sport. This book combines the information gained from my own business experience, from my own tough career transition, from research in the fields of sports psychology and positive psychology as well as from many aspects of life and executive coaching to provide a framework to help athletes succeed in their life after sport.

Whether you are a professional athlete, uncertain of what the future holds, or already retired and seeking direction, this book will provide you with an excellent basis to start your search for meaning and purpose for life after sport. If you are a partner or spouse of an athlete, it will give you an overview of the concerns your partner may be facing and, if you are also unsure of your own future, it will provide concrete exercises to get you thinking about your own next goal.

Transition out of sport can be challenging. Advance preparation is very helpful. This book will serve as your stepping stone to life after sport. So start your journey of discovery now.

Career After Sport: Career Planning Guidance to Help You Move On is now available on Amazon.

The post Career After Sport: Career Planning Guidelines to Help You Move On appeared first on SC Career Transition.

If we invest so much time and effort in complying with one European law change, why don’t we put similar energy into another urgent matter requiring a new law: employability of the over 50s in Switzerland?

Two years ago I wrote a blog entitled: “Unemployment rate in Switzerland: too old to work at 50” and the response amazed me. I had hit a nerve and I was and continue to be inundated with comments from people who identified with my comments or who were personally affected by the situation. This week, a documentary on Swiss television (SRF: ”Aussortiert und diskriminiert” ) reported on the same issue. It appears the situation continues to get worse, with no real hope in sight.

As a recruiter and career coach, I see first hand the devastating effect on careers, and indeed lives, that unemployment in the over 50s causes and it seems that there is no help at hand. As it is likely that the official retirement age will continue to rise, are we going to end up with people unemployed for twenty years or more? What can we do to fix the problem?

Recruiting in the UK recently, I was amazed at the difference. CVs did not have dates of birth on them, applicants only detailed the last ten years of their careers and it was impossible to discover their true age. Even face-to-face interviews didn’t offer more clarity. Of course, you can tell the difference between a 20-year old and a 40-year old, but if the person is “well maintained”, you have no idea if they have passed the dreaded 50-milestone until they are employed and have completed the onboarding documentation. And experience seemed to be valued in the UK, rather than seen as a sign to throw the application in the bin (metaphorically speaking, of course, as I believe that privacy policies state that we have to put it through the shredder)!

So, why is it so different in Switzerland? What can we do to bring our hiring practices in line with other countries? Nowadays some applicants don’t put their age on their CV, often to their detriment, as employers tend to presume that the candidate may be older than he/she wants you to believe. Even if you go through the interview stage without knowing the age, when you see the employment certificates from past employers, the age is clearly stated in the opening paragraph. In fact, the specimen employment certificate from the “Centre Patronal” clearly indicates the need to put the date of birth on the certificate.

If we want to support the over 50s and make use of their invaluable professional experience, let’s follow the lead of many countries and make it illegal to put the age on the CV, employment certificates and educational diplomas. And for all those school and employment certificates established over the last forty years, we should make it obligatory for candidates to “tippex” out the date of birth, or at least do the digital equivalent of this.

From a candidate’s point of view, make sure you fulfil your side of the bargain. In addition to keeping your skills up-to-date, be aware that appearance matters. I am definitely not calling for everyone to undergo cosmetic surgery to look younger but you should understand how personal grooming impacts your appearance and your employability. Think about what you can do now to ensure that you look fit and healthy at your next interview.

Of course, I am aware that the solution to this massive problem is far more complex than hiding your date of birth and getting fit. Other steps will involve educating decision-makers on the benefits of hiring the over 50s, and perhaps, more controversially, taking a fresh look at how certain benefits impact the hiring decision. Is the cost of hiring people of a certain age prohibitive to many companies? Will the over 50s have to forfeit their entitlement to the additional week’s vacation customary in some industries, or perhaps pension companies will have to review the structure of the contributions which make employing older people more expensive? All this will take a lot of time and debate. Progress will be slow.

So, let’s start with something simple. Make it illegal for the date of birth to appear on Swiss CVs, employment certificates and educational diplomas. If we are capable of putting all our efforts into complying with the European GDPR, we can definitely do something positive today for the employment market in Switzerland.

The post Unemployment rate in Switzerland: still too old to work at 50? appeared first on SC Career Transition.