Author: Jan Cannon

Dr. Jan Cannon,author of Now What Do I Do? The Woman's Guide to a New Career, columnist, and career professional for more than 15 years, helps her clients find work they enjoy -- whether working in an established business or starting one of their own. New graduates, managers, and seasoned professionals work with her to find new direction in their work life.

Jan leads workshops on making career choices, networking, finding jobs, and staying motivated. She teaches courses on entrepreneurship for those interested in startingtheir own businesses.

Jan was the online career coach with CIO.com, the Career Connection of The Boston Herald, and Job-Hunt's e-mailed newsletter, the Online Job Search Guide. She is the author of Find a Job: 7 Steps to Success (2004), Finding a Job in a Slow Economy (updated 2003), and co-author of Exceptional Accomplishment (2000).

Jan has Myers Briggs™, MBTI™, and FirstStepFastTrack™ certifications, and offers Inscape™ DiSC assessments. She offers career planning, job search strategies, resumes, bio sheets and cover letters, salary negotiation tactics, and regular coaching sessions. She can be reached at drcannon at cannoncareercenter.com or throughher website at JobSearchDoctor.com.
Articles by Dr. Jan Cannon
Guide to Mid-Life Careers:

Guide to Mid-Life Careers Home
A "mid-life career" is the career you have after your first career or your first 2 or 3 careers. You may be in your 40's, 50's, or 60's. You could be older than that. Who says your career must end at 65?

Figuring Out What Your Mid-Life Career Is:

Mid-Life Career Options
We all set goals, like New Year's s resolutions. When it comes to mid-life and careers, however, it might not be something you've thought about. But without goals, and a plan to achieve them, life and career just bumble along.
Choosing a Mid-Life Career
When you think it's time to move in a new career direction, ask yourself if it's the job that's really the problem.
Setting Mid-Life Career Goals
We all set goals, like New Year's resolutions. When it comes to mid-life and careers, however, it might not be something you've thought about. But without goals, and a plan to achieve them, life and career just bumble along.
Retooling Your Mid-Life Career
There are some jobs in the current economy that were eliminated—and will never come back. If you were in one of those positions, the best strategy is to figure out a new way to use your skills.
Time for Your Legacy Job?
For many, midlife is the time for a reassessment of values; a sense that it's time to have a job that "gives back." Depending on where you are in your lifespan, the job you're looking for may be a radical change from the last job you held.
Finding a Mid-Life Job with Meaning
Mid-career is often a time to reassess your career path. If you're at that stage of your career when earning a salary is not enough and you're thinking about "giving back," consider the world of non-profits for your next career move.

Mid-Life Career Work Options:

Mid-Life Job Options
If you're unemployed at mid-life, you may think you should get a job doing what you did before. Or, maybe you've had a dream job in mind that you needed the extra incentive of being jobless to kick-start your move in that direction. But, what if you don't have any ideas about what to do next? Read on...
Is Consulting Your Mid-Life Career?
Whether you've been laid off, are looking to change career directions, or just want to try being in business for yourself, consulting may be the answer. There are often consulting opportunities even when there are fewer full-time jobs.
Finding Part-Time or Seasonal Work in Mid-Life
If the economic crunch has hit, don't despair. There are options for generating income from some often ignored sources. Seasonal and part-time jobs can offer transition career moves and may even help build your skills base.
Getting Back on Track - Returning to Work in Mid-Life
No matter why you've not been working (downsized, illness, family leave), once you decide to go back to work you'll need some updating to your job search toolkit.
Temping as a Mid-Life Career Option
If you're unemployed and haven't had an experience as a temporary employee, maybe you should start now. Mid-career is a good time to examine the work you're doing, and see if it is really what you want.

Your Mid-Life Career Job Search:

Choosing a Mid-Life Employer
Every year numerous publications list the "best" places to work. You may be surprised to find out why the companies on the list are not the only "best" places to work.
Job Search Support
While it might be embarrassing to admit that you don't have a job, it may be the key to finding support to make a job search more tolerable. Finding a job is not a do-it-yourself project.
Handling Age Discrimination
There is sometimes a bias against both older and younger workers. If you run into some of the following situations, you may be experiencing this "ageism."
Your Resume - From So-So to Spectacular
Many people at mid-career find writing resumes challenging: what style resume to use, what to leave off, whether to include graduation dates, etc. Here are some suggestions for moving your resume from so-so to spectacular.
Mid-Life Career Interview Preparation
Often the challenge of interviewing is knowing what to prepare. With a long or varied work experience, choosing what's relevant to the new job can be a challenge.
Improve Your Mid-Life IQ - Interview Quality
Your best opportunity for snagging a job offer comes through your interview. 7 Tips to Improve Your Mid-Life Career IQ.
Answering the Salary History Question in Mid-Life
The wisdom of negotiation and job search etiquette meet when discussing salary. It's important not to bring up salary until there's an offer, to give you the best negotiating position.
Prepare for the Economy to Rebound
While employment hiring is a trailing indicator of the economy's health (late in the economic cycle to improve), new hires will eventually be needed. It's hard to predict whether the first rehires will be seasoned managers at mid-career or first time workers.
Summer Job Search
The relaxed feeling of summer is a great time to work on a job search. With longer days it seems like there's more time to do those "extras" like gardening, catching up with some reading, spending time with friends -- and thinking about where your career is headed.

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