Hey, there.
It's Andy.
Got a little something special today for all my friends like me in their 50s, 60s, and
70s.
Ageism.
It's a thing.
Don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
It is a thing.
It's something that all older job seekers need to be aware of, and don't let anybody
tell you otherwise.
Now, it might not be as prevalent as you think, but it's still a problem if you're an older
worker and you're looking for work.
One of the things you got to be aware of is that it's not your age that you're fighting,
it's the biases that an employer or an interviewer or somebody who's reviewing your resume has
when they're looking at you.
They assume, because you're older, that your ways are outdated, you don't want learn anything,
you're set in your ways, or you just don't have a lot of energy.
So, you've got to overcome these.
Today, what we're going to talk about is, how do you do that when you're searching,
how do you do that with your resume, how do you do that in an interview, and how do you
overcome this, so ultimately you can diffuse this issue?
Let's talk about the job searching act itself to actually secure the interview that you're
going to go into.
Obviously, you can run into some roadblocks here just from an ageism standpoint.
There's different ways that you can go about securing that interview, and how you go about
securing that interview is vital to setting a good table for the interview.
If you're spending a lot of time putting your resume in an applicant tracking system, even
if you get it past the applicant tracking system's robot and into somebody's inbox,
you still run the risk that somebody who sees your resume might detect that you're an older
worker, and kind of kick it to the side, where that bias is coming in.
You're far better off leveraging the activity that is going to be giving you a much greater
probability of finding your next job.
Because you are an older worker, 50s, 60s, and 70s, you have a much greater chance of
finding your next job through somebody you know, through networking, whether it's somebody
you know directly, somebody they know, somebody they referred you to.
In fact, you have a 46% chance of finding your next job that way, so I always recommend
that you spend half of your job searching time networking.
That's the first tip.
You want to make sure that there is a heavy dose of networking through your search.
As we move on to some resume tips, knowing that the applicant tracking system is actually
going to be an important element, no matter who we are, no matter how we find that job,
even though it's through an employer referral or some other medium, lots of times we have
to put our resume into the applicant tracking system.
So, let's talk about a couple of tips that you can use as far as your resume goes.
Fighting that bias that your methods are stale.
One of the greatest ways that you can overcome that in your resume is making sure you are
using current terminology, current vernacular, current processes, current technologies, whatever
the latest trends are.
So, if you need to change the wording of your old processes or your old technologies, that's
great.
Use more current verbiage to describe what it was that you used to do.
That's one technique.
The other technique is do whatever you need to do.
Go out and take the training courses, get the certifications, get familiar, do your
research on all the latest trends, and make sure that that goes in, so that when somebody
actually gets your paper, it's current.
It's current stylistically, layout-wise, verbiage-wise, all that good stuff.
And, if you need to, feel free to trim some of those older opportunities and employers
that you had early in your career, because that might help your resume not look as though
you have so many years of experience.
Just a subtle little trick, but perfectly okay, especially if you have more than 30
years of work experience.
Let's also talk about one other tool, as far as the resume goes, that I absolutely love.
I have a professional relationship with them.
I've looked at a lot of different tools on the market, but I highly recommend Jobscan.
Jobscan is a fantastic tool that allows you to put your resume into the tool, free of
charge, and also give them the link, or put the document for the job description for which
you're applying, into the system.
One of the things that Jobscan will do is it will recognize which applicant tracking
system the employer is using, and give you recommendations as far as aligning key words,
but also some of the nuances that that applicant tracking system might favor or not favor,
to make sure that you have a better chance of getting your resume through.
So, the combination of using current terminology, current trends, having current certifications,
whatever it might be, as well as making sure that your resume itself aligns with the job
description, and then running it through Jobscan, and making sure that the key word match and
all the other stuff gives you a high percentage of alignment to the employer's job is going
to help you overcome a lot of the biases that go along with the resume itself.
All right.
Now, let's talk about the job interview.
All these biases that carry through the entire process become even more prevalent in the
interview, so you got to stay consistent, so a lot of the tips that I was mentioning,
as far as how you set the table for yourself, how you package up your resume using current
trends and processes and terminology, is stuff that you need to carry in through into the
interview.
Just going back to what I was saying about the biases that people think about with older
workers, they're not current, they don't know the latest and greatest trends or technology,
they're set in their ways, they don't really want to learn anything, or that they're lacking
that energy.
The tips for the interview are, make sure that when the interviewer asks you a question,
you're talking about latest trends, using latest terminology, so your stories are filled
with currency.
You've got to be filled with currency.
The second thing is you want to make sure that you're continually reiterating how you
love to learn, how you're looking forward to learning these new techniques, you're looking
forward to sharing what you know, but learning from people who are coming up through the
ranks, what they have going on, all that good stuff.
Then the last thing that you want to do in the interview is you want to make sure that
you're bringing that good energy.
You've got to be vital, you got to be full of fun, full of juice.
You got to bring it, and if you're one of those a little bit more calm types, do some
jumping jacks or whatever you need to do, but just get your energy up.
You've got to be excited.
They've got to see that.
Remember, these are things that you start in a little bit of a hole, and you have to
overcome them.
It's just the way it is.
To deny it would be silly.
Let's be aware of this, and let's make sure that when you're in the interview, you know
what you got to do.
Those are the tips.
As far as searching goes, make sure you're leaning on your network.
As far as the resume goes, make sure you're updating the terms, the terminology, you're
getting those certifications, whatever you need to do.
Make sure you run it through Jobscan, and then when you get into the interview, make
sure you bring that good energy.
Make sure that your responses are extremely current, as far as the terminology and the
trends go, and that you also reiterate your enthusiasm for learning.
If you do those things, you have a much better chance of overcoming that age bias.
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I put it all in the notes for you, as well as all the links to everything that I've referenced.
Till next week, have a great one.