Neal's Notes

If you’re a baby boomer (defined as someone born between 1946-1964), you may find this posting relevant.

The May issue of Money has a feature by Dan Kadlec entitled, ‘How to Age-Proof Your Career.’ Rather than simply copy/paste the entire article, thought I’d paraphrase/quote one key point that jumped out.

Social media is here to stay – embrace it or stagnate. Period. One good example the article mentioned – last February, Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz resigned. Few years ago, this would have been done probably via a press release. Schwartz did it via a ‘tweet.’

Social media isn’t a flash trend, the article went on to say, it’s part of a tech-tonic cultural shift.

Increasingly such tools are being used to do business – and even generate revenue, “so boomers need to get comfortable with them,” says workplace researcher Bruce Tulgan, co-author of Managing the Generation Mix. “Not learning social networking is like being the aging person who never turned on the TV.”

While 75% of Gen Y workers have profiles on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, only 30% of boomers do, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.

What else should baby boomers do to remain competitive in today’s marketplace?

Money says for starters, “become part of the Twitterati…from a career POV, you want to follow thought leaders in your field. Identify a few people you really respect in your profession and see who they are following. By reading them you’ll stay current, and by repeating – or retweeting – what you learn, your newfound edge will show.”

The article recommended devoting a few hours a week exploring the features of key social media sites.

“Tell yourself that time spent being sucked into the vortex of Facebook is career development,” says Tulgan.

‘Nuf said.