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Learn Terminology Before Changing Careers

In the current economy, many people have discovered that they must change careers or reinvent themselves in order to keep their current positions. Some are entering into fields that contain jargon with which they are unfamiliar. In the article 13 Words Every Sales Training Manager Should Know the author defined words and phrases like: knowledge transfer, sales enablement, funnel, pipeline and more. Those entering the field of sales and are unfamiliar with those terms, may feel frustrated and left out of the information loop.

For those considering a new career, here are some important links to help learn terminology and avoid some embarrassing mistakes:

To find out more about career reinvention click here.

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Time for a New Career? Change the Daily Grind to a Job of Your Dreams

Impact of Boomers Working Past Retirement Years

As people are living longer and the age for receiving social security payments is extended, baby boomers have found that they are working well into what used to be considered retirement years. USA Today reported, “The Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll found a baby boom generation planning to work into retirement years — with 73% planning to work past retirement, up from 67% this spring. The poll involved online interviews with 1,095 baby boomers.” According to the Examiner, “boomers are likely going to work five to 10 years longer before retiring.”

There are currently 77 million baby boomers. This group has found it difficult to retire because “41% of boomers said they are expecting to have to scale back their lifestyle in some way in retirement and 31% believe they will struggle financially.”

Having a lot of baby boomers in the workplace has had an impact on the post-boomer generations. In the article Millennials Hoping for Boomers to Retire, it was noted that many people who used to retire in their 60s are continuing to work, making it harder for Millennials to find employment.

There are currently four generations coexisting in the workplace. These 4 generations include:

World War II Generation (aka depression babies) – Those born prior to 1945

Baby Boomers – Those born 1946 to 1964

Generation X – Those born 1965 to 1982

Generation Y (aka the Millennials) – Those born after 1982

Baby Boomers represent the largest segment of the American work force. However, millennials will be replacing the baby boomer group soon. According to Harvard Business Review /HBR.org, “The makeup of the global workforce is undergoing a seismic shift: In four years Millennials—the people born between 1977 and 1997—will account for nearly half the employees in the world. In some companies, they already constitute a majority.”

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Companies Rewarding Employees for Entrepreneurial Ideas

Gone are the old days of having a suggestion box at work. Today’s modern company has set up some much more sophisticated ways of obtaining knowledge and creative ideas from their employees. The following list contains some useful tools that employers have utilized that have even replaced their need to go to outside consulting firms:

Innovative Management Programs – Sites like Brainbank, InnoCentive and Spigit are just a few of the popular sites that companies use to allow employees to submit and vote on ideas.
Idea-Management Websites – PriceWaterhouseCoopers created a company site to gather employees’ input about cost cutting, improving customer service and other ways to improve revenue. These sites can be very successful. IdeasAmerica, an association for suggestion administration, surveyed customers and found that ideas submitted by employees saved over $110 million or an average of $1256 per idea.
Set up Kiosks – Bruce Power is one of many companies who have set up idea kiosks. Resembling ATMs, these kiosks are easily accessible and allow employees to vote on ideas.
Create Financial Incentives – Companies may give rewards for employees’ ideas that result in cost savings. They may receive financial incentives or points to use toward rewards.
Set Up Idea Challenges – Allstate created an online challenge for its employees to come up with some good ideas about how to create their company app.

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Women Becoming More Successful Than Men

Women are passing men in their abilities to get a degree, handle families and garner success at work. As men are falling behind, women are making huge strides. CNN reported that, “For the first time in history, women are better educated, more ambitious and arguably more successful than men.”

Over half of college degrees are now being awarded to women. “In 1970, men earned 60% of all college degrees. In 1980, the figure fell to 50%, by 2006 it was 43%. Women now surpass men in college degrees by almost three to two. Women’s earnings grew 44% in real dollars from 1970 to 2007, compared with 6% growth for men.”

Women are becoming stronger entrepreneurs as well. Forbes recently reported: “As of 2011, it is estimated that there are over 8.1 million women-owned businesses in the United States. Overall, women-owned firms have done better than their male counterparts over the past 14 years. The number of men-owned firms (which represent 51% of all U.S. firms) grew by only 25% between 1997 and 2011—half the rate of women-owned firms.”

A study by Barclays Wealth and Ledbury Research may have some of the answers to why women are surpassing men. One of the reasons they found is that women are less likely to take unnecessary risks or make rash decisions. The Huffington Post backed up this point stating, “A 2005 study by Merrill Lynch found that 35% of women held an investment too long, compared with 47% of men. More recently, in 2009, a study by the mutual fund company Vanguard involving 2.7 million personal investors concluded that during the recent financial crisis, men were more likely than women to sell shares of stocks at all-time lows, leading to bigger losses among male traders.”

Women Dominating Sales Positions
Most Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs
Are Women Making Teams Smarter?
Female Career Choices That May Surprise You
11 Momentous Female Firsts in Academia

Women Dominating Sales Positions

Women are becoming a dominant force in sales positions. In the article 10 Most Lucrative Industries for Women it was noted, “A recent study found that women are coming to dominate certain areas of sales, a traditionally lucrative field for those who excel. In fact, the study seemed to show that women tend to have better selling skills than men, translating into substantial earnings for saleswomen.”

When women were asked what their top 10 more desired sales careers would be, they chose:

1. Pharmaceutical Sales

2. Biotech Sales

3. Dental Sales

4. Insurance Sales

5. Healthcare Sales

6. IT Sales

7. Medical Sales

8. Advertising Sales

9. Medical Equipment Sales

10. Real Estate Sales

This is good news for women in the current questionable economy. Monster reported, “In 2010, more employers were willing to invest in their sales forces, having some faith that customers could be cajoled into buying. In October 2010 there were 145,000 more workers employed in sales and related occupations than a year earlier.”

For additional resources about women and sales positions, check out some of the following links:

Women Turning to Cosmetic Sales

Community of Women in Professional Sales

50 Best Careers of 2011

Sales Jobs for Women Search Site

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