finding a job can be hard and it can be especially hard if you are facing age
discrimination in an interview we're going to show you tips and strategies
for answering common interview questions and how to position your age as a
positive asset plus stick around to the end because we'll be going over some
great bonus tips I'm Lauren McKinnon founder and CEO of Career Contessa the
only career site built exclusively for women be sure to LIKE and subscribe to
our channel because we drop videos weekly there are many reasons why you
might not get a job and some of them you can't control like unconscious bias when
it comes to your age there are many forms of hiring bias in fact about 65%
of baby boomers believe they suffer from workplace discrimination that's why
today we're going to be talking about age discrimination and how you can
overcome it during an interview embrace the age talk one thing you're going to
want to do is embrace the age talk turn that negative into a positive
for example a hiring manager may think you're quote unquote overqualified but
this is an opportunity for you to say yes I have a lot of experience and I'll
be able to help lead younger members of the team but I also have a lot to learn
from them and from you remember your experience is an asset not a liability
you can offer guidance in many situations because you've been there and
successfully done that at the same time you're eager to learn make sure you
focus on the balance between already knowing something and your ability to
learn something new focus on stability no employer wants to be the stepping
stone in your career they want to invest in you long-term and put that value back
toward their company steer the conversation around the future if you're
genuinely gage and excited about the company's
objectives and what they're building make sure you mention all that and
really focus on the growth of the company and how you want to be part of
that also don't forget to mention that you want to be with a company long term
you want to help build and be part of that growth give examples of how your
personal interests align with the company's mission also be sure to
highlight your record for achieving goals even those long-term goals that
maybe take years you want to show off the fact that you're not a job hopper
for example maybe you're interviewing for say a woman's career advice platform
though you haven't worked in that industry specifically you really connect
with the company's mission because you have three daughters and you want them
to be treated equally in the workplace and be able to take career risks that
you weren't able to advocating for equality is something you're really
invested in and that's why you're a great fit for the job or maybe you
highlight your history of building and implementing plans and hitting goals
that take years to achieve showing your commitment to success and that you're
reliable pitch your skills pitch your skills not just your past jobs and
employers you probably have some really awesome experience under your belt and
maybe you've even worked for some amazing brands and companies but that's
not what the interviewer is focused on you're in this interview because this
company is looking to hire someone to help them solve a problem and you want
to show that your that problem solver and that's why we don't need to focus on
your past experiences and cool companies we want to focus on how you can solve
problems today pitch yourself as a solution what skills do you possess that
will boost that company and further their mission what have you learned
already that younger employees have it what hard skills do you have
what soft skills have you really honed in on for example maybe you manage your
family's finances and you're able to use that to show off the fact that you have
self-control you're great with details and numbers and you can organize a lot
of things on ones show you're a lifelong learner
if you want to show and not just tell that you're a lifelong learner one thing
your interviewer might be worried about is your ability to learn new skills or
that you're behind the curve when it comes to new technology and software
this is your opportunity to highlight your competitive advantage beyond
keeping your skills sharp and adapting new technologies another benefit is the
fact that you've seen strategies and tactics grow over time and you're
adaptable maybe you stay committed to learning by taking community college
classes or basic coding maybe you attend monthly tech seminars or have a personal
goal of downloading and learning one new app a week bring up the numbers don't
avoid salary negotiations just because you might be an older employee does not
mean that you can skip the salary question make sure that you don't get
taken advantage of or low-balled or just don't even know the answer when you're
asked that question do your research talk to some real
people look online and come up with a salary range that is in line with the
market value for that position if they ask you where did you come up with that
number you want to be prepared to back it up with that research and real
stories for example if you've been a stay-at-home mom for the past twenty
something years and you haven't had a salary that's okay you have 20 years of
experience organizing problem-solving and meeting goals maybe you coached your
daughter soccer team for five years or made and sold jewelry for four years
that's some serious project management these are the skills and experiences
that you can use as starting points for your salary research even if you've
never done this job before you still have the skillset and relevant
experiences to apply identify your strengths and back those up overall this
is a great opportunity for the employer you're an asset and your age is not a
liability you're a great fit for this position
because of your experience not despite it and as a bonus tip we've linked to
our free downloadable interview question flashcards in the description we hope
these tips have been helpful we'd love to hear from you and what your
suggestions are for overcoming age discrimination if you've experienced it
what was your favorite tip let us know in the comments below if you like this
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