2018 Career Pivot Reader Survey Results - Career Pivot

2018 Career Pivot Reader Survey Results - Career Pivot 2018 Career Pivot Reader Survey Results I want to thank everyone who participated in the recent Career Pivot reader survey. This was the 2nd reader survey since the inception of the blog in 2012. It is through your feedback that the Career Pivot team, which includes Stephanie Brodt, my fearless virtual assistant and myself, can make changes to better serve the community. We had approximately 100 respondents to the survey which is down slightly from last year, but then again I did not work as hard at getting out the word. I am very pleased with the response. Let’s get down to the results. Demographics Gender The readership is pretty evenly split between men and women. 52.58 â€" Women 47.42 â€" Men Last year, I “pimped” the survey significantly more on Social Media and that brought in significantly higher female respondents. I did not do that this year. Age The age distribution surprised me a little bit but you will see 55-64 is the sweet spot in the audience. 45-74 age range made up 95% of the readership. Location Most of the respondents were from North America (93%) and rest were scattered among Europe, South America, Australia and the Carribean. Listen to the most recent episode Career Status This is where it gets interesting: 63% are employed but likely to make some kind of change 12% are retired but many want to keep working 25% are unemployed Here are some of the comments: Consulting but would prefer full-time employment Underemployed (an often forgotten category) and looking to generate income from writing and consulting Working to expand more what I’m currently doing Employed part time but not in my field RIF’d in 2010 nobody hired me due to my age. Now a 24×7 caregiver with no income and no time to work. Recovery too little too late for me. Retired but looking for the kind of job I can love and not get stressed out over Trying to decide when I can retire and what to do Working part-time. Looking for full-time work. How did you find Career Pivot the 1st Time? I wanted to know how people were discovering CareerPivot.com. I am surprised and pleased that readers were discovering the website via Social Media. As you would suspect asignificant of the other responses were how people had met me either in person or virtually through a podcast or webinar. The other responses included: Suggested on another podcast I listen to Online research into careers after 50 I was web searching on career-related sites and found yours … do not remember which one mentioned your site … My specific search is for career re-entry strategies for folks that have been out of work for an extended time (many years) Flex Jobs Podcast on Spotify Roger Whitney (podcast) interview… He and I are in Dan Miler’s Mastermind group In 2017, I was interviewed on 40-50 podcasts in an effort to promote my latest book â€" Repurpose Your Career â€" A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life. We sold over 500 copies of the book in 2017 and sales have been quite brisk in the first couple of months of 2018. How often do you visit the Career Pivot website? As you would expect CareerPivot.com is not an everyday read for most people. How do you find new content on Career Pivot? In 2016, the Career Pivot Insights email newsletter was launched. The newsletter has continued to evolve and hopefully improve to better serve Career Pivot readers. The vast majority of responders said they found content via the weekly newsletter. What blog post topics do you favor? It is pretty obvious to me that you want content around job search, career pivot or change, and topics that relate to issues we have in the 2nd half of life. What do you like best about the website? I just loved theinput. Let me give you some examples: The folks who share their stories. Very communal. The concentration of 2nd half of life careers The insight is given for those of us in the second half of life I like your responses to the comments best â€" and reading comments by others. It provides help and hope. Careers advise and examples; real-world stories from people living the career pivot Content is relevant and informative. Probably a lot of people could learn more about thinking out of the box or opening companies. Helps to do away with ageism or other perceived thinking of potential employers, as I hire some to work for me now. Weekly updates from Marc helpful. In my opinion, the site is easy to navigate. Insightful articles and podcasts for transitional career living Your copy ‘re-knowing yourself before choosing a career pivot,’ financial challenges speaks to me. I think your niche targeting those in the 2nd half of life is perfect. There is a myriad of differences from those pesky 22-year-olds. And the world is changing so fast you can’t put out content fast enough. Targets people over 50 and the issues they are dealing with â€" well-written articles â€" topical blog posts and podcasts â€" love the podcasts â€" career pivot community Are there topics that you would like to see addressed? Let me give you some of the responses: Underemployment: similarities and differences for generational cohorts. Transitioning to self-employment and the “gig” economy. Writing and freelancing opportunities Looking to change jobs or switch to a new field with limited or very out of date skills. I teach classes for an age 50 plus non-profit re-employment program for low-income women where this is a big problem. Changing completely with little to no ed or experience in other fields. More on entrepreneurship and starting your own gig and/or multiple side hustles Mental health issues and how they affect job hunting and working. Busting Myths and Overcoming Bias. I worry that my wife and will see our career plateau in 10 years. Or worse we’ll be laid off in our 50’s and find it nearly impossible to return. Even in high demand career paths! Therefore I am a passive reader watching for prevention tips within articles you post about the fix for those facing the situation now. I really appreciated the mid-career and 2nd half of career guidance. I’m mid-career and was fearing to leave my security and big salary of IBM. Between the information on your site and the Human Workplace, I found the courage to leave and explore a new work environment. Even though I’m employed, I will still keep your guidance in sight. You never know when things will change. I never expected it to as it did with IBM last year. And now I’m on to a new adventure. This is just a few of the responses I received that I so much appreciate. Changes for 2018 First I want to thank everyone who took the survey. We are in the middle of launching the Career Pivot Community website. If you have been listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcastyou would have heard me soliciting listeners to become early members of the community. I have been running multiple rounds of beta groups into the community and continue to solicit for more volunteers. I am interviewing everyone before they are granted entrance into the community. To learn more and to put your name on the waiting list please click here. You may have noticed in the right sidebar and at the bottom of every post, there is a now a section that says DO YOU NEED HELP WITH … The website has been completely recategorized and portal pages have been created for each category to help you find and navigate the 500+ posts on the website. The next step is to create a “start here” page for new readers to better understand the resources available on the website. The Careerpivot.com website will continue to evolve to better serve the readership. Feel free to contact us with any feedback on how we might be able to serve you. You have spoken and we have listened. Marc Miller Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...