What’s your jobseeker age?

Searching for work when you are 50 years+ can be daunting, frustrating and deflating. I talk to people on a weekly basis about this issue and their comments are always the same:

  • “I’ve got all the qualifications, why can’t I get an interview?”
  • “Why doesn’t anyone see my experience as a positive?”
  • “Employers are only seeking young people!”

It is a tough market, but its tough for jobseekers at every level. Reality TV shows have mastered the art of shocking people into action by measuring their actual age against their physical age or mental age etc. It’s a wake up call for many. Imagine being told as a 35 year old women that you have the physical age of 48 years! Yikes!

Job seekers in the 50-something category could benefit from a ‘job seeker age test’. How old are you based on the content of your resume and comments made to employers? Many of you would be quite surprised by the results.

In my experience there are a number of mistakes mature job seekers make without realising it, that are far more damaging than their perceived idea of racism based on age. As a mature job seeker you have to ‘modernise’ your approach to compete in today’s market, not only in your resume, but your attitude as well.

Many mature jobseekers start their search with a pre-determined idea that no one will employ them because they are over 50 years. Self defeating thoughts will not help your cause. Sure, there are organisations that prefer younger employees, and sadly some that do discriminate, however, there are a number of companies who value the wealth of experience mature candidates offer.

I know a medium sized organisation here in Western Australia who actively seeks mature age candidates. In the Managing Directors own words “we prefer 2 part time mature employees to 1 full-time person. We’ve found their work ethic, output and longevity is much better than their younger counterparts”.

When it comes to staying young, a mind-lift beats a face-lift any day.

~Marty Bucella

As a mature job seeker you need to ask yourself how you present to an employer. Do you come across as confident, happy and motivated? Or have you become cynical, a product of your self-defeating thoughts?

  • Do you call people ‘pet’, ‘lovey’ or ‘dear’?
  • Have you made statements like “back in my day” or “way back when”?
  • Is your resume as thick as a novel because you’ve included every position ever held?
  • Are you including your date of birth, social security pension card number, dates of high school education and qualifications?
  • Do you hand deliver applications despite the employer’s request for emails because you hate using the computer?
  • Are you still submitting resumes that read like job descriptions because “they always worked for me in the past”?
  • Do you rely on print media to source vacancies because you aren’t a computer person?
  • At interviews have you asked how old other staff are to determine if you will have to work with “whipper snappers”?
  • Do you give the impression at interview of wanting to take over? Eg. “I can teach him a thing or two with all my experience”
  • Are you positively selling your experience … “I have a great deal of experience and skills which I can share with the team” as opposed to “I could teach these young pups a thing or two!”
  • Do you make excuses for your age … one of the worst I ever heard as a recruiter was “I know you probably want someone younger” … this was during the interview – she already had one foot in the door!

Your attitude counts for a lot and will affect people’s impression of you. Be aware of your thoughts and focus on the positive aspects rather than the negative. I bet your job seeker age goes down in the process.

Michelle Lopez, Owner/Career Consultant

w: www.one2oneresumes.com.au

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