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Your Career: 7 Dangerous Assumptions That Derail The Older #Job Seeker…Job Search is Different for the Older Job Seeker, & Stereotypes do Exist.

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Donna asks: How do you get taken seriously when you’re job hunting in your mid-60’s?

Calita asks: How do I find a fulfilling job? I am 53.

Nancy asks: How does one find work/jobs for people over 40 who are labeled overqualified but under-experienced in their field? 

OlderWorker

I host a monthly radio show to answer career questions, and these are just a few recent ones from older job seekers. More than any other demographic, when I get a question from an older job seeker, it often includes a mention of their age or something age-specific in their question.

Many older job seekers I encounter feel stereotyped due to age – not taken seriously as Donna mentioned; or overqualified yet under-experienced as Nancy mentioned; or needing to do something different than the typical job search, as Carlita implies by adding her age to qualify her question.

Job search is different for the older job seeker, and stereotypes do exist. Here are seven assumptions that I’ve heard firsthand as a recruiter trying to fill positions and presenting older candidates. The seventh assumption is one I hear from older candidates themselves (and it’s the most detrimental one):

1- You’re too expensive
If I present an older candidate and don’t have the compensation numbers right at my fingertips, the prospective employer will automatically assume the person is out of budget. Most of the time, once I explain the compensation history and why this role makes sense (whether from a compensation perspective or for other reasons, and ideally both), the prospective employer stops to listen and we can rationally review the candidate on his/her merits.

Job seekers: You want to present your background in a situation where there is dialogue and not just a gut reaction. This means someone needs to refer you — a recruiter, an existing employee, or you refer yourself by directly contacting the employer. If you just forward a resume, you’ll get the adverse reaction with no one to represent the other side. Are you networking enough to get to decision-makers who can pass you onto the interview rounds?

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2- You’re not tech savvy

I was recently hiring for a marketing position, and the hiring group kept dismissing my older candidates for limited digital, social media, and video skills. Of course, the older candidates would have less digital in proportion to their overall experience because they had so much more overall experience! These skills would only have been in demand within the last few years so they are relatively underweighted overall. Once I reframed the experience, the group was more open to all candidates. As it turns out, the hire was a younger job seeker, but an earlier hire for this same group in the same role was an older candidate. This group was not deciding based on age though they had initial reactions based on overall experience.

Job seekers: This type of gut reaction about technology savvy is very similar to the compensation issue. You need to present a broader picture, and ideally you make your case in a back-and-forth dialogue, not just the resume. Are you marketing a complete picture to the decision-makers so they can make informed judgement calls?

 

3- You’re out of date

It’s not just technology tools that need to stay updated but communication styles, presentation styles, and how business gets done. I worked on a President search for a non-profit, where key hiring criteria were innovation and visionary thinking. Older candidates were absolutely considered for this role because its executive nature required a track record and years of experience. However, the hiring team didn’t want to see resumes written in last decade’s aesthetic. They also didn’t want to hear stodgy language. (One candidate used the phrase, “Back in the day…” This did not go over well.) When I think of three recent hires in executive roles who were older (late 50’s and early 60’s), they were all dynamos – incredibly energetic, incredibly well-networked, incredibly current on news and trends. Stodgy or out of date would never cross your mind with any of these three.
Job seekers: Up-to-date is about attitude and presence, as well as knowledge. You do need to stay current in skills, network and expertise. But you also need to appear current. This doesn’t mean you need to run out and translate your marketing material and interview responses into slang. There is never a good reason for someone over 40 to use the word, “cray.” But take a hard look at your marketing material, live communication and presence. Are you too stiff and formal in your language, dress, and energy you exude?

 

4- You’re inflexible

When I hired for a marketing analytics job, one of the hesitations about the older candidates was whether they would adapt to how much analytics had changed in this era of Big Data. The employer was a legacy institution in a traditional industry, so you could find people who had done this job for decades. But the role was changing. There was definitely the initial assumption (that gut reaction again) that older candidates would be inflexible and not adapt to these new changes. As it turns out, the candidate who was hired was an older candidate over 40 – she had a track record of implementing new solutions at her earlier company so inflexibility didn’t become an issue.

Job seekers: There might be an initial assumption that doesn’t go in your favor, but it can be overcome. Are you taking an objective look at your resume, social profile, networking pitch and interview responses against possible objections, such as being inflexible, out-of-date, or behind on technology? Are you providing compelling evidence that points otherwise?

 

5- You won’t respect a younger manager

I heard this assumption from one of the most progressive, forward-thinking people I know. If he has this stereotype, there are other young managers who think managing an older hire will be tougher. Interviews are already anxiety-provoking situations, what if the older job seeker’s regular case of nerves is interpreted as discomfort with the younger manager?

Job seeker: You have to put your younger hiring managers at ease, which means you have to be at ease interacting with them. Work on your nervousness — for any reason. If interacting with a younger manager is at all an issue for you, start working on this now, well before you get to the interview part of your search. Spend time with younger professionals, and not in a mentor/ mentee relationship, but in a social, peer-to-peer relationship. You should be doing this anyway because interacting with people at all levels provides the strongest networking opportunities and the broadest information pool. Do you have multiple, substantive relationships with younger professionals?
6- You don’t really want to be here

I hear this one almost as frequently as the compensation objective: why does this person want this job? Desire for the role is very important to the prospective employer. They want to know that you 100% want to do this job, in this company, in this industry, right now. If you don’t know enough about the job, company, and industry and don’t have a genuine reason why you’re making a move now, then they may assume it’s for a secondary reason – e.g., you need the money (your 401k hasn’t recovered from the recession), or you want a job where you can coast till retirement.

Job seekers: How excited are you about the jobs you are interviewing for?

 

7- If I don’t get the meeting, interview, callback, or offer, it’s because of my age

This last assumption is not from the employers but from the job seekers, and it’s the most dangerous of them all. You aren’t getting interviews and assume it’s an age issue. It might also be that your search is too passive and reliant on resumes! You aren’t landing networking meetings and assume ageism rather than that you’re not contacting the appropriate people or you don’t have a compelling enough approach or you are not following up enough. You get interviews but no callbacks and blame ageism rather than work on your interview technique. You get callbacks but no offers and blame ageism rather than practice your negotiation skills.
Job seekers: You do have to approach your job search differently when you’re older. You have to get past some of the gut reactions listed above which means more networking and active looking over passive techniques like resume submissions. You need to build into your marketing, interview responses and presentation contrasting evidence to counter negative assumptions.

This means taking an objective look at your marketing, interview technique and presentation, and proactively figuring out what to highlight and what to refine. But all of this hard work will be meaningless if you feel the goal of getting hired is unreachable so you exhibit low confidence or carry a chip on your shoulder or seethe with anger and frustration. Simultaneously, you need to both address the possible age issue in your preparation but then drop age as an issue in your attitude and demeanor.

For more career advice (for all ages of job seeker), check out SixFigureStart® free toolkits on Negotiation, Networking, and Personal Branding, including a free download for entrepreneurs.

 

Forbes.com | April 20, 2015 | Caroline Ceniza-Levine