In this episode, I discuss the challenging and often daunting experience of midlife job hunting with Dom Salomoni, who shares his insights from transitioning to a new role after 25 years in the same industry. Together, we explore the emotional toll of job searching with family and financial obligations, and Dom reveals his strategies for self-investment, mindfulness, and setting a clear North Star to stay focused and motivated. Tune in for practical advice on navigating the midlife career search and learn how to create a balanced approach to achieve your career goals.

[01:00] How did it feel to look for a job for the first time in 25 years?

[01:41] What were some of the things that you did that helped you deal with it and ultimately helped you find the next role?

[04:52] How did Dom keep going when things got tough?

[05:39] What one (or two) piece of advice would you give to someone who is about to enter a job search, who is in a job search, or who just knows that sometime in the future, they're going to hit a midlife job search?

Speaker Links

Connect with Dom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dom-salomoni-1544b16/

Next Steps:

If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my Life Satisfaction Assessment. It's a 30-minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you down. I call it Derailed and it's a fabulous place to begin a joy-at-work redesign.

https://www.midlifeunstuck.com/derailed

Let's face it, searching for a new role is

rarely a joyful experience, eh?

But when children, mortgages, and networks that haven't been invested

in for years are added into the mix, it can be really tough.

Most people don't like to talk about it, but Dom Salomoni is different.

I was absolutely delighted when he agreed to share some of his valuable

takeaways from his first time looking for a new role in 25 years.

What I know for sure is that most of us will experience the midlife job hunt.

So tune in to Dom's really helpful and practical recommendations.

You may not need them now, but log them for another time in future when you might.

Let's dive in.

With 25 years experience in one industry, last year you find yourself searching

for a new role for the first time.

Can you tell me about that experience?

Yeah.

So I found myself in this scenario, 25 years in

recruitment 12 months in Sydney going, Oh my God, I've got three

young children and four mortgages.

And I need a job and I've got no network.

So in terms of how did I feel, what were my emotions?

I was reflecting on this.

For the first time in my life, I was worried about my future

job prospects, to be honest.

I never considered my age ever until that point.

And I was 48.

So this is an experience that the listener who is likely to

be a mid-career professional may not have experienced this, but it

is exceedingly likely they will.

So tell me some of the things that you did, that you invested time in, that

you felt helped you deal with it and ultimately helped you find the next role.

So the things I did, so I'm not sure I actually did it

logically in this order, but when I reflected on how I worked through

it, this is what came through.

I allowed myself six months of self investment.

I probably recognized I needed a break.

Cause we spent two years settling the family and it was settling your whole

family in a new country and everything, all the change that goes with that.

I went, okay, I'm going to have some time off.

I want to learn something new.

Be more non professional because I've spent 25 years doing what I do.

I'm going to invest some time doing something different.

I'm going to spend some time doing the things I actually want to do

to create this Dom for Work v2.

0.

So I then I worked out my runway right to find a new role, which was six months.

I promise myself.

I wouldn't worry about not having a role for six months.

Because of course we all worry about not working and not having income.

I've got a rainy day fund.

So it wasn't about paying the bills tomorrow, but it was about allowing

myself the space to think effectively.

To breathe emotionally and just to be more fun and nicer to be around with my kids.

What I also did, which my wife told me to do was I sought counsel from people who

knew me personally and professionally and said, what do you think I'd be good at?

And what's your view on what I should maybe do moving forward?

And I also worked on mindfulness.

I've spent my life exercising, running or riding my bike.

So rather than running and riding my bike more because I had more time, it was

about what do I do to balance myself out?

So how do I add more yang to my yin?

Okay, and not just ride more and run more.

So what did you do?

I went, okay, I've got six months.

I will focus on one thing a month and I'll do one thing

that's related to mindfulness.

So I did yoga, meditation, spending time in the water, like I'm on

a paddleboard or on a surfboard.

I bought a fishing rod, but didn't really fish too much.

And I read again.

So it was about cultivating silence to quote from Ryan Holiday.

silence in my life to just to go slower.

And what difference did that make?

There were two things.

I really enjoyed learning something new and something different.

It also meant that, I was probably better prepared to go into the journey to get

on this job search journey to get on the spaceship and just more balanced

around looking for a role, fundamentally.

I think the mindfulness bit helped me stay cool and calm if I'd had a bit of

a tough day on the job search stuff.

Okay, so that, that makes me think.

So you prepared yourself for something you knew that was going to be tough.

But you prepared yourself mentally for the whole journey.

So job hunting mid career, like it's tough.

Yeah.

With children, mortgages and then a limited network.

It feels like a roller coaster as you've described it.

But how did you keep going when the going got tough?

so the mindfulness was really helpful.

So I looked at the journey in the runway and said, how long have I been doing this?

And if it was less than six months, I just went, okay, I don't need to worry.

Okay.

I promised myself.

I'm not going to worry until six months in.

I reminded myself to enjoy the time with my kids and myself because

Just doesn't happen very often.

I looked for the small wins.

So a good discussion, a nice thanks, but no thanks, an interview request,

but also I would be proactive.

If it was a tough day, I go I'm going to try and take control and make some

proactive approaches to people because I felt like I was taking control.

And then the mindfulness bit really helped.

Good.

So if you could give one piece of advice to someone who is about to enter a job

search, who is in a job search, or who just knows that sometime in the future,

they're going to hit a midlife job search.

Just give us one big piece of advice or multiple, but just

give them one piece of advice.

I'm going to say create your north star.

Post laying the foundations, I created my North star.

Everyone knows what a North star is, right?

It's something to aim for.

So I kind of went, what can I do?

What do I want to do?

What do I need from my life right now beyond money?

What I need right now is different from what I needed 10 years ago.

Because I'm at a different stage of my career.

I needed a good brand.

I needed good leadership.

I needed flexible working.

I wanted to go to the office every day.

I wanted a place that focused on your wellbeing.

And that was my North star.

And then I then assessed a company culture to work out if it was right for me.

I created a target list of companies to approach myself.

And then when conversations were happening, I then referenced

those conversations and how they went against my North Star.

And I went, yes, maybe, or no.

So I had a a North Star, a flag in the ground to go, I think this organization,

this culture, this business, ultimately this role is right for me, or it isn't.

And it gave me the confidence to say no to things or be comfortable in my

decision when It was getting to the pointy end of the decision making.

And that, I think that's the bit I found really important.

And the other bit around, around that was I created an action plan, right?

So I went, I've created my North star, but what do I do with it?

Okay.

Cause it's all how you're going to execute.

So I went, okay, I'm going to network every day.

So I had a coffee every day with either one of one of my friends or

someone in my professional network.

I explained what I was doing, why I was doing it.

Mm-Hmm.Are they hiring

f

For their team?

Is that company hiring or is it anyone they can connect me to?

And I then rolled the dice onto the next conversation.

I created this thing called like the 50, 25, 25 rule.

So 50 percent of my job search is my network or my network's network.

25 percent of my job search is talking to people like me.

Okay.

25 percent of my job search is LinkedIn and losing your soul, making direct

applications and getting nothing back.

Soul sucking cold job applications.

Love it.

And that worked in the end for you.

That worked for me.

The other bit that I did to it that I think is really important is I looked

for a job maximum two hours a day.

That was it.

Okay.

And I created a structure around my day that went as simple as

get up, get the kids to school.

Exercise.

Look for a job.

And work on our renovators delight of a house.

So when I was asked how my day was, I would reflect and instead of going, I

didn't get an interview or the meeting didn't go well, or I've been looking

at job boards for eight hours a day.

I went job search piece wasn't great, but I had a really good chat

with Alex on the way to school.

I did a 10k in a time that I wanted to do it in.

Or I've worked on the garden.

So I went these three things that are in my control, big ticks, the one

thing out of my control wasn't so good.

And then at the end of the day, I just assessed it and went, how was my day?

Um,

Super, super valuable.

. If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy my Life Satisfaction Assessment.

It's a 30 minute program where I guide you through a deep dive into 10 areas

of your life to assess what's bringing you joy and what's bringing you time.

I call it D.

It's a fabulous place to begin a joy at work redesign.