40Plus More

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Our new mission statement reads:

The mission of 40Plus of Greater Washington is to help experienced professionals know and effectively communicate their value with confidence in securing a new position or changing careers.

Here’s why we are focusing on these characteristics:

Value

Value is at the heart of any successful effort, whether it is running a successful business or working for someone else. Throughout our career, we held our previous positions because we provided value. And we will gain our new roles based on the value we have demonstrated in the past.

Yet, as we gain experience, we often lose the ability to see our own value. Our experience teaches us that our successes are often part of a team effort. It becomes difficult to separate out our specific contributions. And as our skill levels increase, we find that what we do well is easy for us, but assume that those tasks are just as easy for others.

40Plus provides several means to help experienced professionals understand their value. We schedule speakers throughout the year that provide insights into the many ways that people provide value. Problem/Solution/Result exercises provide us with success bites. These are concise success stories that we can use to identify and quantify the value we have provided in the past. And our course fosters relationships and frequent interactions with others of different backgrounds. These enable fellow students to see their value as others see them.

Communicate Effectively

We need to understand our value to make any progress in our careers. But knowing our value isn’t very helpful if we can’t communicate that to others. We need to be able to communicate value to co-workers, potential employers, and anyone who may help us along the way. And we need the ability to communicate value both in writing (resumes and LinkedIn) and verbally (interviews, and networking).

One primary communication tool 40Plus emphasizes is “Tell me about yourself” – TMAY. The TMAY is a 30-second to one-minute introduction that provides a clear statement of value and leaves the listener saying “Tell me more!” 40Plus develops this and other speaking skills through our weekly speakers and training course.

Communicating value through resumes is a sizable challenge for today’s job seeker. The challenge comes from needing to satisfy both automated systems and people. And the challenge is then compounded because you often only have 10 seconds to get the attention of the reader. The 40Plus program provides speakers that offer general resume-writing guidelines. More thorough instruction is available through workshops and our training course.

Our society has a growing reliance on written online communication through social media. 40Plus keeps our audience informed about the latest recommendations for these platforms.

Confidence

A successful candidate for any position must have confidence. After all, if we aren’t convinced that we can do the job, how will we convince a potential employer? Knowing our value and communicating it clearly form an essential foundation for confidence. The right mindset is needed to present ourselves to others as the one they can trust to do the job and do it well.

40Plus helps our audience grow in confidence in a variety of ways. We include speakers in our Monday morning series to present on mindset. We promote an environment where our participants receive encouragement from others. And through the relationships developed in our training course, our students learn to see themselves through the eyes of others.

So, a successful career is built on value, communication, and confidence. 40Plus exists to help our audience grow in these areas and present themselves as those that others can rely on throughout their careers.