Joe Konopka didn’t think he could be one of the millions of middle-aged men who are out of work.
He had the education, the status and the stability of a long industrious career. His job in academia was secure because it couldn’t be off-shored or automated.
But in 2016, the 51-year-old was called down to the office. What followed was a life-changing moment, as his identity was suddenly stripped away. His services would no longer be needed.
“The first 15 minutes after I was let go, it was complete and utter shock,” Konopka said.
Joe and his story are the subject of our short documentary, When Finding Your Job is the Job — part of our Do Something Awesome series. We don’t want to spoil the ending for you if you haven’t watched the video above yet, but Joe does find a solution that he shares.
From Joe’s example, we see first hand how losing your job or changing jobs at or after 50 years old doesn’t have to be a death sentence for your career. In fact, we regularly hear of life-changing opportunities for workers like Joe, and possibly you.
If that sounds like you, and you are looking for a new job that will not only change your career but will also level-up your life, check out this list. Our amazing partners at Encore.org just put together a summary of three life-changing jobs that are available right now. Here are some of the details:
Want to work in city hall in Albuquerque, N.M.; Birmingham, Ala.; Columbia, S.C.; Ft. Worth, Texas; St. Paul, Minn.; or Tulsa Okla.? And help raise awareness for a cause? Experience Matters is a Cities of Service program in partnership with AARP that draws on the experience and expertise of adults aged 50+ to build stronger cities. AmeriCorps VISTA members will serve for one year in city halls to build capacity and raise awareness for multiple programs.
Related: Here’s how to become an AmeriCorps VISTA
How about helping young people in Southern California? Encore says YouthBuild is looking for an AmeriCorps VISTA member to join the team in Southern California. At YouthBuild programs in the United States and across the globe, low-income young people learn construction skills to help build affordable housing and other community assets such as community centers and schools. Right now, YouthBuild in Orange County, California is seeking an AmeriCorps VISTA member to assist with development and fundraising.
And if you are super adventurous? This nonprofit is looking for a CEO willing to move to Vietnam. Encore tells us that STREETS helps orphaned, out-of-school, trafficked and other disadvantaged youth in Vietnam find jobs and futures through vocational hospitality and culinary training. The organization seeks a CEO ready for an encore or mid-career change.
So go for it – apply and tell them our friends at Encore sent you!
Apply: Find out how to apply here on Encore.org.
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Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.
Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.
Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.
Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.
Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.
Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.
