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What To Do When Your Career Is Disrupted Later In Life. A Stable Job for Life is Arguably a Thing of the Past.

January 3, 2020/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Despite the various proclamations that we are living in an age of increasing footloose behaviors and we are going to have multiple careers throughout our life, the prospect of losing one’s job still has many of the pangs associated with other forms of grief. Indeed, losing your job is perhaps the toughest thing you can ever face, with damage not only in the immediate aftermath but over a prolonged period of time.

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Overall, 31% of job seekers aged 55 and older report they have been looking for work for 27 weeks or longer.

Around 50% of American workers over 50 years old are at risk of redundancy. The research, which was conducted by ProPublica and the Urban Institute, grimly tells us that this cohort is being pushed out of jobs held for some time before retirement causing the kind of financial damage that is irreversible.

Acting now

At the later stage in your career, the chances are that you may have developed a degree of financial security, and this can hinder your efforts to reinvent yourself as it removes the sense of urgency that is required to successfully transition into a new career. What is more, you may also be lulled into a false sense of security by the skills and experience that you have built up over the years.

Valuable though these skills may have been in your old career, there’s no guarantee that they will be equally valuable in your new one. This narrow focus and intense specialization may have worked in the past, but careers are changing, and the stability and security that typified the work-life when you were growing up are increasingly being consigned to the dustbin of history.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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Now, skills such as adaptability and agility are far more important, with organizations relying heavily on cross-functional teams where collaboration and emotional intelligence will come to the fore. Here are a few things you can do to make a successful transition:

Forget your titles – Chances are that your old career came with a good dose of prestige, with titles and all that came with them attached to your seniority. Those are lovely, but they are holding you back from moving on. It is far healthier to think akin to a film director who goes from project to project. Your past work was nice, but this is a new you, applying yourself in new ways.
Develop your portfolio – As you will no longer be able to rely on your title to open doors for you, it is important that you start to develop a portfolio of projects to showcase your skills. In this transitionary period, these can be projects outside of work. Not only will they give your life a renewed purpose, but you will almost certainly develop a wide range of invaluable skills too.
Adjust your outgoings – If you have high expenses, it can be tempting to jump into the first opportunity that presents itself, just to get some money coming in, but it is quite likely that this will be a bad choice. If you can build up some savings so that you can go for the right opportunity rather than the first opportunity then you are likely to be happier in the long-run.
Embrace the unexpected – Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) has become a bit cliched in the business world, but the essence of uncertainty and volatility do nonetheless ring true. You will need to be agile and open-minded to make the most of your new-found freedom, so consider fresh ways to stretch yourself and develop new skills.
Develop a love of learning – When you achieve a certain level of seniority it is tempting to rest on your laurels, but the world waits for no one, so it is vital that you are learning each and every day. There are countless opportunities to do this, from books, blogs and massive open online courses (MOOCs). You might even find mentoring young people can be a great way to learn from them as much as they from you. Admit where your knowledge has holes and work to plug them.

The chances are, your previous status gave your life a certain narrative, with your role and title key parts of that story. Now, you have the opportunity to craft a completely new narrative, and it is important that you spend time thinking about what that is. When you meet people, this is your point of entry into the conversation. You will be telling this story as your introduction to you to each new person you meet.

A stable job for life is arguably a thing of the past, so the ability to pivot one’s career and adapt to the changes in the market are likely to be valuable skills to learn. If you have to learn them later in your career, then so be it. In this way, the stability in your life comes not from your employer, but from within you, which is an altogether healthier place to be.

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#CareerAdvice : #OlderJobSeeker – 9 Ways to Screw Up a #JobSearch When You’re 50 or Older.

November 22, 2019/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Millions of Americans are job hunting during their 50s, 60s and beyond. Some of these seniors are looking for a job because they love to work. Others are sending out resumes for reasons ranging from pink slips to financial need.

Seniors can be attractive job candidates. Many potential employers value older workers for their experience and work ethic, and the stability they bring to the workplace. But if you hope to land a job after 50, you need to avoid some key mistakes.

Here are some crucial errors than can derail the job search of anyone who has passed the half-century mark.

1. Failing to update tech skills

If there’s one thing that seems to separate older workers from their younger competition, it’s their tech skills — or lack thereof.

While a hiring manager may automatically assume 20-something job candidates know their way around a computer and the internet, they may assume the opposite of an older applicant. Prove them wrong by getting some tech training before beginning your job search so you can confidently say you’re able to use whatever programs and applications the position requires.

Once you are more comfortable with cutting-edge technology at work, embrace it in your personal life, too. For more, check out “6 Tech Gadgets That Make Your Daily Life Easier.”

2. Not having a presence online

While you’re updating your tech skills, take some time to create an online presence. Today’s HR departments may be more likely to plug your name into a search engine than to make a phone call to your references.

And what will they find when they do that? Crickets? Or worse, that angry letter to you sent to the newspaper and nothing else?

You need to take charge of your online presence by, at the very least, creating a LinkedIn profile. This will serve as your online resume, and you’ll want to fill it with a professional photo and details about your work experience.

You can also turn to the internet to make money. For more, check out:

3. Forgetting to edit your resume

Today’s businesses get an avalanche of resumes every time they post a job opening. Computer programs may first scan these and weed out the ones deemed lost causes. The survivors then go to a hiring manager, who may give them only a cursory glance before deciding who moves on to the interview phase.

Age discrimination against older workers is illegal. But let’s face it, bias exists. Employers weeding through hundreds of resumes may find it easy to cull the stack by dropping those from people they deem too old.

Don’t let your resume be a giveaway to your age. Eliminate the dates on your education and limit your work history to no more than the last 15 years. Both changes can help you avoid standing out as the elder job candidate.

For more, check out:

“6 Tips to Age-Proof Your Resume“
“Never Put These 7 Things on Your Resume“

4. Ignoring your networks

You’ve been around the block a couple of times, right? Well then, put all those connections you’ve made to good use.

Pick up the phone, shoot an email or send a text. Be direct and to the point. Tell them you’re looking for a new position and ask if they know of any opportunities.

For more, check out “9 Simple Tips for Successful and Painless Networking.”

5. Being shy about emphasizing your experience

A deep network isn’t the only thing you’ve probably accumulated over the years. You probably have a boatload of experience, too. Put that to your advantage.

In fact, once you get to the interview stage, don’t skirt the issue. The interviewer may already be thinking, “Wow, this guy is old!” So, go ahead and acknowledge it.

Explain that while you may not be the youngest job candidate to walk through the door, your oodles of experience will be a benefit to the company. Specifically, stress that you’ll need little to no training to hit the ground running, and how that fact can save the business both time and money.

6. Acting like you know it all

Emphasizing experience is good — to a point. You don’t want to make your track record look intimidating to those younger than you. A 30-something boss may be worried a 60-year-old job candidate is going to want to run the show. The last thing young whipper-snappers want is a mom or dad peering over their shoulders and critiquing their every move.

Sure, you know you’re not going to act that way, but you’ve got to convince the interviewer of that as well. Be enthusiastic about the current business leadership and have a couple of stories to share that highlight your work as part of team.

7. Looking at employers who don’t value older workers

Rather than trying to convince a youth-centric company that you’re right for the job, it may be saner to focus your efforts on employers who value older workers.

You may be able to find these employers through these resources:

8. Not being willing to bend on income

While your experience can be an asset, an employer might see dollar signs when they weigh it. Companies sometimes prefer to hire a younger worker who will be content with cut-rate wages.

Of course, you deserve to be well-compensated for your experience. However, some income is better than no income, and if you want to get back into the workforce quickly, your best bet is to be flexible with your income requirements.

9. Being too proud to volunteer while you look

If your job search isn’t moving as quickly as you’d like, make good use of your downtime. Volunteering can be an excellent way to get out of the house and make connections that could potentially lead to paid work.

You could volunteer for an organization you already know or head to VolunteerMatch to find new opportunities. Don’t overlook volunteering for your local Chamber of Commerce or professional organizations in your field of interest.

Are you an older job seeker? Tell us about your experience in the job market by leaving a comment below or on our Facebook page.

MoneyTalkNews.com | November 22, 2019 | Maryalene LaPonsie

#CareerAdvice : #CareerChange -How to Change Careers at 40 & Over. Great REad!

October 3, 2019/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

IN MANY SPORTS, halftime is when the coach changes up the strategy and can redefine success for the rest of the game. Positions are adjusted and players are swapped. The team that takes the field or court in the second half often has a completely different approach to the game in terms of pace, priorities and tactics.

The age of 40 is a similar waypoint for when people reconsider their career and whether they are in the right position or even the right sport. Following seven steps will guide a job seeker through the unique journey of making a major career change at 40 and older.

Understand Yourself

Philosophical wisdom usually starts with an exhortation to know oneself. After all, if you don’t know yourself, who does? What motivates you? What are you good at? In what areas are you less skilled? Starting with a clear measure of who you are and where you fit in the world of work is critical to any job search but especially if you seek a change of function, industry or profession.

The good thing about being 40 is that you likely have about two decades of work experience and have both received feedback and contemplated your own successes and failures. Think about when you have felt the most competent. Was it when you “nailed” an oral presentation? Or was it when you closed a difficult sale, fixed a technical problem or when you helped a colleague with a social issue? Unlike a recent graduate who needs to speculate regarding her strengths and weaknesses, the 40-year-old should know them cold.

Like appraising a piece of art from a different vantage, it is important to look at one’s career from varying perspectives. Why did one assignment go well and another less so? If you can explain your value retrospectively with confidence, you have a much better chance of articulating the value prospectively into a new role or field.

The 40-something job seeker needs to work his or her plan even while remaining open to changing the self-awareness, goals and execution plan along the way

Determine Your Goal

Having decided on who you are, you must determine what you seek. Life and careers are full of tradeoffs. Are you willing to move? How much of a step back are you willing to endure to make a change? What do you really want to do? What function, industry, level and location do you seek?

The goal needs to be specific, measurable and actionable. “I want a better job” is not a helpful goal. “I want to make a move into sales management at a service-oriented company with revenue of more than $25 million on the West Coast of the U.S.” is clearer and more definable. The goal may change in focus and clarity throughout your career change journey, but the struggle for definition is at least half the battle.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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Articulate Your Why and Why You

If you know yourself and what you seek, how will you communicate to others in such a way that they can inform, help and direct you? A clear and concise elevator pitch is a key tool in learning how to present yourself and tell your story for opportunity. Tie the past to the future through the mechanism of your self-understanding and future goal.

“I have enjoyed good success as a salesperson and as a sales manager. When I think back on the first half of my career, I have noticed that my biggest impact was in the analytical support of my clients and teams. It turns out that I am very good at quantitative and qualitative analysis. It is the reason why I want to shift my career into a financial analyst role.”

Note the use of the personal narrative and career search goal as a bridge from the past to the future.

Assess Your Resources

Once your intellectual house is in order, you must turn to the practical aspects of executing your plan. Start with a candid assessment of your resources. These are your financial, social and intellectual capital. Financial resources include money and investments on hand, of course, but also an inventory of obligations. A single parent with limited means who is also supporting an elderly parent, for example, may not have the same risk tolerance as someone in different circumstances.

Social capital includes your contacts database but also your friends and family who can support or provide friction for your career change plan. Get the key people in your life on board with your plan by providing the same insight that you learned by articulating your “Why and Why You” statement.

Finally, take stock of your intellectual capital. Do you have the right degrees, certifications or licenses for the move? Not all fields require these designations, but you need a clear understanding of what might be required early in the process of making a career change.

Research and Network

Online and print research is a big part of executing a career change at any age but especially at 40 or older. Since you are selling wisdom and experience as a key part of your value offering, you must in fact be informed and knowledgeable. In addition to personal research, the best source of access to information, people and organizations is networking. Aggressive and focused networking is the most effective route to new opportunities. The good news is that these steps can be done before you leave your current position. Set a goal to meet two additional people each week for focused networking and be sure to offer assistance to others as you work toward your goal.

Take the Plunge – but Only After Reducing Your Risk

At a certain point, one must take the plunge. This does not mean hastily quitting a current job in order to dedicate oneself to a poorly conceived quixotic quest. It does mean breaking the cycle of procrastination that afflicts most people (when they are honest with themselves). A written plan with deadlines and goals will provide accountability and ensure that real progress is being made.

Rapidly Iterate and Repeat

Few startup companies stick with the same business model with which they launched. And so it is with a career switch job search. The six steps above are a process that may be repeated multiple times throughout a career. What you want and how you conceive your goal will likely change and adapt to real-world conditions and learning. For example, a social worker interested in getting into corporate sales might be surprised to learn that there are selling opportunities in the nonprofit world that may not require as radical an industry change as previously thought to gain access.

The 40-something job seeker needs to work his or her plan even while remaining open to changing the self-awareness, goals and execution plan along the way.

Career change is challenging at any age, but the 40-or-older job seeker has the advantage of greater resources, wisdom and insight than her younger colleague. Midlife career change is possible and likely when the candidate follows these seven steps and comes back after halftime ready to win.

Author: Peter A. Gudmundsson, Contributor

Peter A. Gudmundsson has written for U.S. News and World Report since 2015. He is the CEO of Th… READ MORE

USNews.com | July 26, 2019

#CareerAdvice : #ResumeWriting – 13 Tips to Age-Proof Your Resume … Great REad!

January 31, 2019/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

As such, it is imperative that this community is competitive when facing off against younger workers. The first step in landing an in-demand job is crafting an eye-catching resume.

“The resume continues to be a crucial tool every savvy job seeker needs,” says resume writer and career advice expert for TopResume. “Older workers are often confronted with many stereotypes in the workplace, from being unable to keep up with technology, to being too rigid in their ways.

While not all stereotypes can be completely overcome within the confines of a resume, there are ways to draw the focus away from a candidate’s age and place it where it belongs: on the candidate’s qualifications.”

Here are AARPs top tips for age-proofing your resume. Grab a pen and paper, you’ll want to take notes.

Tip #1. Focus on your recent experience.

The further along you are in your career, the less relevant your earlier work experience becomes. Employers care most about your recent work that matters for the roles they’re filling, not your experience from 15 or more years ago. As a result, give more detail about the positions you’ve held in the past 10–15 years that are related to your current job search and say less about your earliest jobs.

“Focus on elaborating on your most recent positions, assuming they support your current goals. Ask yourself the following questions,” says Augustine:

Did I identify ways to make operations run better, faster, cheaper, or safer?
Did I help reduce costs, grow revenue, or increase productivity?
How else could I quantify my work? How many people did I manage or supervise? Approximately how many accounts did I have? How big was my budget or territory?

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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Tip #2. Eliminate older dates.

Remove the dates related to work experience, education, and certifications if they fall outside the 15-year window. While you may want to consolidate older work experience in a separate section or a “Career Note,” including the dates of employment is unnecessary. Similarly, it’s important to share your credentials on your resume, but the employer doesn’t need to know you earned your MBA 17 years ago.

Tip #3. Limit your resume to two pages.

The straight-no-chaser reality is “employers truly don’t want to weed through a long resume document to understand why a candidate is qualified for their open position,” says Augustine. Therefore, you’ve got to stick to two pages.

Most recruiters spend less than 10 seconds reviewing a resume before deciding if the candidate should receive further consideration. With so little time to make the right impression, it’s important to streamline your resume to two pages. Focus on using this space to highlight your recent work experience and accomplishments that best match your current career goals.

Tip #4. Avoid the “jack-of-all-trades” approach.

Although you may have held numerous roles throughout your career, your resume shouldn’t be a laundry list of everything you have done. Focus on tailoring your resume’s content to support your current career objective, rather than providing a generalized summary of your entire work history.

“When you’ve worn many hats over the course of a multi-decade career, it can be tempting to include all of this information on your resume,” says Augustine. “However, when you do that, your resume turns into a mini novel (which recruiters hate) and your document will lack focus.”

Tip #5. Optimize your resume with keywords.

Seventy-five percent of all online applications will never be seen by human eyes thanks to the hiring bots, which are software programs known as an applicant tracking system (ATS). Their job is to collect, scan, and rank an employer’s inbound applications. To improve your resume’s chances of making it past this digital gatekeeper and on to a human for review, make sure your document includes the appropriate keywords. If a word or phrase repeatedly shows up in the job listings you’re interested in, incorporate these terms into your resume.

Remember, says Augustine, “if a candidate’s resume isn’t designed and written with these bots in mind, even the resume of a qualified candidate could end up in the trash.”

Tip #6. Upgrade your email address.

Older workers sometimes are seen as lacking technical savvy. Don’t give employers a reason to believe you might fit this stereotype. Ditch your old AOL or Hotmail email account for a free, professional-looking Gmail address that incorporates your name.

Tip #7. List your mobile phone number.

If you’re still listing your landline on your resume, it’s time to mobilize your contact information. Only list your cell phone number on your resume so you can control the voicemail message, who answers important phone calls from recruiters, and when.

Tip #8. Join the LinkedIn bandwagon.

LinkedIn is a valuable platform for connecting with others in your industry and uncovering new job opportunities. It’s also an important place to advertise your candidacy to prospective employers. In fact, a study by recruiting software provider Jobvite found that 93 percent of employers admit to reviewing candidates’ social network profiles — regardless of whether the candidates provided that information.

If you’ve avoided using LinkedIn in the past, now’s the time to create a profile that supports your career goals. Then, customize your LinkedIn profile URL and add it to the top of your resume to ensure recruiters find the right profile for you.

Tip #9. Showcase your technical proficiencies.

The fact that you know how to use Microsoft Office is no longer noteworthy (unless your role requires advanced knowledge of Excel). Show employers that you’ve kept up with the latest tools and platforms related to your field. If you’re in a non-technical profession, create a small section toward the bottom of your resume that lists these proficiencies. If you realize there’s a skill or tool outside your wheelhouse that’s routinely appearing in the job descriptions you’re targeting, check out sites such as edX, Coursera, and SkillShare to find free or low-cost online courses.

Tip #10. Customize each online application.

Small tweaks to the content of your resume can make a big difference in determining whether your online application reaches a human being for review. Before you submit another online application, re-evaluate your resume based on the job posting. Then, make small edits to customize your resume so that it clearly reflects your qualifications for this specific role.

“Focus on highlighting the information that addresses what hiring managers care most about: ‘Prove to me that you possess the right skills and experience to do this job well,’” insistes Augustine. “If you focus on this objective, you’re more likely to craft a resume that is set up for success in combating age discrimination.”

Tip #11. Ditch the objective statement.

Avoid using a run-of-the-mill objective statement that’s full of fluff and focuses solely on your wants and needs. Instead, replace it with your “elevator pitch.” In a brief paragraph, known as a professional summary or executive summary, explain what you’re great at, most interested in, and how you can provide value to a prospective employer. In other words, summarize your job goals and qualifications for the reader.

Tip #12. Aim for visual balance.

If content is king in a resume, then design is queen. How your information is formatted is just as important as the information itself. Focus on leveraging a combination of short blurbs and bullet points to make it easy for the reader to quickly scan your resume and find the most important details that support your candidacy.

Since you’re keeping the length to two pages, any experience older than a decade ago can be cut or condensed. In fact, you can summarize your earlier positions in one of two ways:

Write a short blurb as a “Career Note” where you mention the job titles or types of positions you previously held and namedrop any clients or employers that are considered attractive to industry insiders.
Create an “Earlier Work Experience” section at the end of your professional work history that simply lists job titles, employer names, and locations. Additional details can always be made available to an employer, should they make a request.

Tip #13. Focus on achievements, not tasks.

At this point in your career, recruiters are less concerned with the tasks you’ve completed and more interested in learning what you’ve accomplished. Separate each job under your work history into a short blurb that describes your role and responsibilities. Then, add a set of bullet points to describe the results you’ve achieved and the major contributions you’ve made that have benefited the organization. By bulleting these details, you’re drawing readers’ eyes to the information they care most about: your qualifications. Whenever possible, quantify your accomplishments to provide additional context for the recruiter.

“Numbers are important! Quantify the scope of your work as much as possible,” says Augustine. “That said, seasoned workers shouldn’t get anxious if they no longer have access to the data that would allow them to quantify their earlier work.”

GlassDoor.com | January 30, 2019 | Posted by Amy Elisa Jackson

#CareerAdvice : #OlderWorkers – Just Unbearable.’ Booming Job Market Can’t Fill the Retirement Shortfall

December 23, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

For older Americans, the last few years of work can be a vital chance to patch up thin savings or pay down debt to ease their way into retirement. Many aren’t getting that opportunity.

Overall, 31% of job seekers aged 55 and older report they have been looking for work for 27 weeks or longer.

“My job now is to keep my job” and make my employer successful, she said, “so I can retire and not be a burden to my children.”

Greg Miller, 65 years old, a former environmental engineer and contract administrator, was laid off in 2017. He recently gave up looking for full-time work after sending out more than 400 résumés.

“The heartbreak and the discouragement were just unbearable,” said Mr. Miller, who lives on Social Security and a part-time job. He shares a ranch house in Lansing, Mich., with three other men. “I am kind of working without a net here,” he said.

This kind of late-career employment woe is part of a paradox that is deepening the worst retirement shortfall in decades.

Even though the official unemployment rate is just 3% for older workers, the actual jobs environment is surprisingly bleak. Nearly eight million older Americans are out of work or stuck in low-quality jobs that offer little opportunity to prepare for retirement, a Wall Street Journal analysis of government data shows.

At Risk

Nearly eight million older Americans are out of work or stuck in low-quality jobs that offer little opportunity to prepare for retirement.

The figures include the nearly 2.1 million Americans who are out of work, working part time because they can’t find a full-time job or have stopped looking because they don’t think anyone will hire them.

Another 5.8 million Americans—or 23% of full-time, year-round workers ages 55 and older—are employed in what economists describe as “bad jobs” that offer no health benefits and typically pay poorly. A decade ago, about 20% held these jobs, according to census data compiled by the Minnesota Population Center.

“These jobs, which might be right for some, tend to offer low pay and little opportunity to save for retirement,” said Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

When older workers find themselves out of a job, it typically takes them a long time to find work and they end up worse off financially.

Workers 56 and older earn on average 27% less in their new job after they’ve been unemployed for at least a month, according to an analysis by Stony Brook University economist David Wiczer, compared with an average raise of 7% for people under age 30.

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Pay Cut

After a period of unemployment, older workers earn less when they move into their next job.

For older workers, the earnings losses “come from moving down the occupational ladder” and being unemployed for longer, Mr. Wiczer said. The people who go through unemployment “and come out better on the other side, he added, “are almost exclusively under 35.”

Even just a few months out of work or living on a depressed salary without benefits can strain a senior’s finances as he struggles to cover mortgage payments, health care and other routine expenses. When a job is lost late in life and it takes a long time to find a new one, it can push back retirement by years or even erase the prospect of retirement completely.

“There is a model we are familiar with—work to 55 or 60, play golf for five or 10 years and then die,” said Paul Rupert, founder of Respectful Exits, a Chevy Chase, Md., nonprofit that advocates for improved employer practices with aging workers. “But now people are living to 80 or 90 and that model is completely broken.”

UNPREPARED

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Staying on the job can have a significant impact on a retiree’s financial well-being. Working just three to six more months provides the same financial boost as saving an additional 1 percentage point of earnings annually for 30 years, says Stanford University economist John Shoven.

Working longer carries an outsize payoff because monthly Social Security payments increase by 8% plus inflation for every year retirees delay claiming benefits until age 70. Staying employed also allows more time to contribute to retirement savings and for those funds to compound before the first withdrawals.

The reasons companies aren’t hiring older workers are complex. Many have long directed recruiting and training at younger workers. Some older job seekers lack the right skills or are unable or unwilling to relocate, while others are disadvantaged by new ways of recruiting, such as online tools that use key words to identify candidates for interviews. Some job-placement specialists say age discrimination is a factor. Employers may consider older workers more expensive, even at the same pay, because of higher health-care costs.

“I keep hearing that the economy is better, but we are not seeing that for our clients,” said Amanda Fox, director of career development and counseling at New Directions Career Center, which works with women in central Ohio.

One New Directions client, Jill Short, 59, of Columbus, has an M.B.A. and previously worked for the federal government, a local utility and a technology subcontractor. The financial crisis made it tough to re-enter the job market after she took time off for foot surgery in late 2007. She had a few seasonal positions, but didn’t find another full-time job until 2012 and was laid off in a restructuring 4 ½ years later.

“I probably should have declared bankruptcy, but I didn’t want to lose my house,” said Ms. Short, whose temporary position helping seniors select Medicare plans ended earlier this month. She receives $192 a month in food stamps and owes about $30,000 in credit-card debt and loans from friends.

“I have depleted my savings. There really is none,” said Ms. Short, who has a four-inch thick folder detailing all the jobs she has applied for. Her goal is to work until 70 in a full-time job with benefits.

Such difficulties come at a time when companies around the country are struggling to find workers. In Minnesota, the unemployment rate is 2.8%. For the past two years, the state Chamber of Commerce has held an annual event hoping to entice employers to hire categories of people being ignored by companies: the disabled, ex-offenders—and anyone over 55.

“This is a long-term challenge,” said Bill Blazar, until recently the group’s senior vice president. “Employers for decades have had certain strategies for hiring their staff.”

Ultra Machining Co. in Monticello, Minn., is working hard to retain veteran employees by offering shorter hours, and is launching a training program for candidates with little or no manufacturing experience that it hopes will attract older workers. But the 200-person company has long focused on recruiting the young, creating feeder programs and apprenticeships aimed at middle- and high-school students.

“Kids hang out at schools and we can just plug in,” said Jaci Dukowitz, director of human resources. “Where do older people hang out? What do they do when they are looking for jobs? Those programs aren’t in our community or, if they are, we are not aware of them.”

Compounding the financial hit is a long period of unemployment that drains what had been stored up.

Long Slog

There are more seniors out of work for longer than in the past.

Overall, 31% of job seekers aged 55 and older report they have been looking for work for 27 weeks or longer, according to the BLS, compared with just 24% of younger job seekers. Older job seekers report looking for work, on average, 34.6 weeks. That is nearly three months longer than the average of 23.4 weeks reported by unemployed 25- to 54-year-olds.

What had been the largest safety net for someone this age is also evaporating. Seventeen percent of workers ages 55 to 64 had a pension plan in 2016, down from 33% in 1992, according to the Boston College Center for Retirement Research.

Lisa Borthwick, currently age 60, was working as a graphic designer for a group of real-estate magazines when the financial crisis hit. She lost her job, then her Hernando, Fla., home, then her savings. She has no pension. She took on student loans to pay for her degree.

A decade later, she is still struggling to recover.

“When I was sitting for interviews, they offered me $10 an hour,” she recalled. “They said most people your age only need supplemental income.”

Physically Taxing

Most common occupations for newly hired people age 62 and older, by percentage of workers

Now living in the Midwest, she recently landed two part-time jobs—as an operations manager for a nonprofit and an administrator for a real-estate company. She said both jobs are fabulous, but she can’t afford her own apartment in a neighborhood where she would feel safe and doesn’t receive health insurance or other benefits.

For the past two years Ms. Borthwick has rented a bedroom from a couple she met when, on the verge of homelessness, she put her dog up for foster care.

“Am I asking too much to be compensated for my experience?” Ms. Borthwick asked. “I am fairly tenacious, determined and resilient, but it doesn’t pay the bills.”

At nonprofit employment training agency Nova Workforce Development Board in Silicon Valley, more than three-quarters of dislocated workers are 45 or older and nearly one-third have advanced degrees.

“The older you are, the longer you are unemployed,” said Nova executive director Kris Stadelman. “The longer you are unemployed, the less attractive you are to any employer.”

Nova coaches clients to “de-age” their résumés by focusing on the past 10 to 20 years of experience, and highlighting recent training and credentials. It teaches how to interview with someone half their age and subsidizes training so they can reframe their education with, say, a certificate in another computer language.

Paul Millman, chief executive of Chroma Technology Corp., which recently won a state award for supporting mature workers, said he doesn’t understand companies “that turn up their noses up at experience.” The Bellows Falls, Vt., optical-filters manufacturer offers training to workers of all ages and opportunities for sabbaticals. Forty-four percent of its 124 employees are 53 and older.

Newer ways of recruiting via online application processes can disadvantage older workers, especially if their skills don’t fit the precise requirements but may be transferable.

Some studies have found what appears to be direct evidence of age bias. David Neumark, a University of California, Irvine economist, created fictional résumés for comparable job candidates around age 30, 50 and 65 and then submitted their applications to more than 13,000 different job postings. Callback rates declined by age, with bigger drops for female applicants.

Some states are experimenting with ways to connect experienced job seekers with willing employers.

The Southeast Michigan Community Alliance in Taylor, Mich., held its first 50+ job fair this spring with AARP Michigan. Job seekers’ qualifications were reviewed before the event to make sure they had the needed skills; 31 of them received job offers on the spot.

Most participating companies were in the retail, hospitality and home health-care industries, and offered hourly positions that require applicants to spend the workday on their feet. That was disappointing for attendees seeking “more professional work,” said workforce programs administrator Ana Salazar.

A tight job market “makes you look at your openings quite differently,” said Julie Haak, corporate director of human resources at Neogen Corp., a Lansing, Mich.-based food and animal safety company with about 1,600 employees. Neogen has hired several older workers through Michigan AARP and is looking to partner with the group on a 50+ job fair.

Michele Langdon, 55, had worked for several startups and was employed by Hewlett Packard for nearly 20 years. In 2016, she was let go after the company sold the unit she worked for.

Divorced and with two children, Ms. Langdon ran up $50,000 in credit-card debt. She relied on unemployment insurance, food stamps and a state program that helps the unemployed pay their mortgages during her 18-month job search.

Ms. Langdon figures she applied for roughly 500 jobs and eventually had to settle for a short-term contract position. A few months later, she was offered a full-time job as a program manager for a new data-center business at a different company.

But the lengthy time out of work means she now expects to work until at least age 70.

“My job now is to keep my job” and make my employer successful, she said, “so I can retire and not be a burden to my children.”

—Paul Overberg contributed to this article.

Write to Ruth Simon at ruth.simon@wsj.com

Appeared in the December 21, 2018, print edition as ‘Booming Job Market Can’t Fill Retirement Shortfall.’

WSJ.com | Ruth Simon

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#CareerAdvice : #JobSearch – How to Get a Job that you’re #Overqualified For…It Can be Hard for a #HiringManager to see an overQualified Candidate as Ambitious. So If you Want to Change Direction, Here’s What you Need to Do.

July 13, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Remember back when you were a new grad and applying for every job mentioning your degree, only to be told you didn’t have enough experience? Now, you’ve got years of experience under your belt and the skill set and experience to get any of those jobs you applied for years ago, but you’re faced with one critical problem. You’re now overqualified.

Hiring managers tend to overlook candidates with too much experience. Often they’re worried that the applicant will jump ship as soon as something comes along that they’re better suited for, or that they’ll expect a salary that’s greater than their budget.

“We tend to think of lower-level jobs as a way to pay our dues in order to advance,” says Kim Stiens, hiring consultant and founder and CEO of career advice site Ranavain. When reviewing resumes of individuals who seem to have already put in those dues, employers may be skeptical of why they want to take a step back. They worry the candidate won’t be engaged enough in the position. “Employers want to hire the best candidate, and often, that actually means hiring someone for whom the position is a stretch; they’re perhaps a bit underqualified, but hungry and eager to do the work.” says Stiens. It might be hard to see an overqualified candidate as ambitious.

While there are many good arguments around not hiring someone too qualified for the position, that doesn’t mean you can’t still land that job.

CLARIFY WHY YOU WANT THE JOB

Are you looking for greater work-life balance or a less stressful and less time-consuming job than your existing role? Are you entering a new industry and feel the need to start in an entry-level position? Or are you simply looking to move away from your current company, regardless of whether it’s an upward, lateral, or downward move? Understanding your own motives is the first step to landing the gig.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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FOCUS ON WHAT THE JOB BRINGS TO YOU

Hiring managers want to know that the job is a good fit for you. The last thing you want them thinking is that it doesn’t make sense why you are applying. Tell the hiring manager what aspects of the job are appealing to you and show how the position fits into your career goals. Perhaps you’ve been performing a similar role in nonprofits for a few years, and you want to apply to a big company doing something similar or at a lower level.

DISCUSS YOUR INTEREST IN THE COMPANY

Sometimes individuals are willing to accept a lower-level job because it’s at their dream company. Employers are more likely to want to take a chance on you if they believe that you are truly passionate about the company and are willing to do any position, even if it’s a lower level, because you truly want to work there in whatever capacity, even if it’s a lower position than you’re used to.

FOCUS ON THE EMPLOYER’S NEEDS

Show the employer that you understand their pain points and outline what you can bring to the organization to help solve their problem. Do your research on the company before applying. Employers know getting someone with more experience means the learning curve will be shorter, and that someone with more experience at a lower price can be good for them, but that doesn’t mean you still don’t have to convince them based on what you can do for them. “You have to be able to build a constructive case for your hire,” says Stiens. “The hiring manager has to believe that you’re applying for their job because you think you’ll thrive in it, or else they won’t hire you, no matter how great a bargain you might be.”

ARE YOU REALLY OVERQUALIFIED OR JUST DIFFERENTLY QUALIFIED?

If you’re trying to change careers, you may feel that you’re overqualified for an entry-level position because you have 10 years of unrelated experience. “A company might prefer to hire someone with 1.5 years of exactly applicable experience over someone with 10 years of vaguely applicable experience,” says Stiens. In this case, be explicit in how your skills are transferrable to the new field. “The hiring manager isn’t going to hunt down those details and make the case for you,” says Stiens.

Whether applying for a position you’re overqualified or underqualified for, demonstrating to the prospective employer that you are the best choice will help you land the gig.

FastCompany.com | July 13, 2018 | BY LISA EVANS 3 MINUTE READ

Your #Career : In a Digital Era, How Can #OlderWorkers Stay in the Game?…These Strategies Help #VeteranEmployees Stay Current and Valuable as #Workplaces become Younger and More Tech-Focused.

May 30, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Do your colleagues at the office seem to be getting younger?

It looks that way to the millions of older employees in industries being disrupted in the digital era and favoring younger more digitally savvy workers, such as tech, entertainment, retailing and media. As more workers in their 40s and beyond plan to delay retirement until their mid-60s, a growing number will have to hustle to reassert their value to their employers.

A core question older employees face: Would your boss hire you again with the skills you have now? Being able to answer yes takes some smart moves to keep your skills fresh, your attitude upbeat and your personal style up-to-date.

Waiting to act until a buyout offer or other rumblings of cutbacks surface at your company is too late. “You can’t wait until the axe is falling to get out of the way,” says Judith Gerberg, a New York City executive coach.

Networking with younger colleagues and showing curiosity about what they do can help you stay abreast of changes, says Ellis Chase, a New York career-management consultant and author. “You have to break through your comfort zone and talk to that 28-year-old hotshot. Seek her out and ask, ‘I’d love to learn more about this. Could you spend a half-hour with me? I’ll take you to lunch,’ ” Mr. Chase says.

Jeff Fuerst, 52, survived eight years at a shrinking retailer, Sears Holding Corp., by staying attuned to new technology and younger colleagues. His adaptability enabled him to jump to a new position recently. PHOTO: STEVEN BOURELLE

Jeff Fuerst, 52, spent eight years in his 40s as an inventory-management executive at Sears Holding Corp. , the troubled retailer, in hopes of helping it turn around. He stayed abreast of technology and helped start a work-from-home program to help attract young recruits. As Sears continued to close stores, he kept his industry contacts fresh by attending meetings of professional groups.

In a transition initiated by one of those contacts, Mr. Fuerst left Sears three years ago for a position as a senior vice president at Integrated Merchandising Systems, a Morton Grove, Ill., merchandising and marketing agency. There, he’s learning e-commerce and digital-marketing technology, and he has since been promoted to chief logistics officer. “If you don’t react quickly to change, it’s very hard to keep up,” Mr. Fuerst says.

Forming ties and collaborating with colleagues at all levels is an important survival skill, Ms. Gerberg says. Make sure “you have somebody who, if your name comes up at a meeting to be fired, will say, ‘Oh no, that person is great. I’ve worked with them,’ ” she says. If your group is targeted for buyouts, having friends inside the company also improves your chances of transferring to a new assignment in a different unit.

Karen Alber, 54, continued to advance her skills and build new contacts during stints at three separate beverage and food companies in the past 15 years, enduring major cost cuts and restructuring threats and leaving voluntarily in each case. She earned certifications in a field that didn’t exist when she graduated from college in the 1980s—supply-chain management.

She joined professional groups and spoke at meetings. “I sometimes thought, ‘Really? I have to get on a plane and go to a conference?’ ” Ms. Alber says. “But then I did it anyway.” She took coaching courses because she enjoyed mentoring young colleagues.

She also volunteered for internal projects, including task forces for improving how work got done. She sometimes worried, “If I go on this team, how am I ever going to get my job back?” Ms. Alber says. But she learned valuable skills, including managing cross-functional teams and delegating work she couldn’t do herself, helping her advance to chief information officer.

Karen Alber, 54, stayed up-to-date in part by earning certifications in a field that didn’t even exist when she graduated from college: supply-chain management. PHOTO: KYM TURNER/NORTH MYRTLE BEACH PHOTOGRAPHY

“It became her brand,” says Amy Ruppert, an executive coach who worked with Ms. Alber for years. “People knew, ‘You can throw Karen Alber into anything and she’ll run with it.’ ” Two years ago, Ms. Alber made a planned, voluntary move to a new career, co-founding the Integreship Group, a Chicago leadership-coaching firm, with Ms. Ruppert.

Many people face psychological roadblocks to learning new jobs or skills, says Andy Molinsky, a professor of organizational behavior at Brandeis University and author of a book on stepping outside your comfort zone. Older workers may feel resentful about having to stretch themselves when they’ve already worked for decades. Or they may think, “This doesn’t feel like me,” Dr. Molinsky says.

Some manage to venture into new terrain anyway, by developing a sense of purpose—a belief that making the effort is important for a reason you value deeply. Others manage to tweak, personalize or customize the way they move into new roles, so that they feel more comfortable, he says.

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One way to do this, consultants and coaches say, is to develop your personal style. That doesn’t mean overhauling your wardrobe or appearance in an effort to look as hip as younger colleagues. “If you’re in your 30s and you have stubble, maybe it’s hunky. But if you’re 70 and you’ve got gray stubble, it looks like you’re homeless,” says Peter Cappelli, a management professor at the Wharton School and author of “Managing the Older Worker.”

New York image consultant Amanda Sanders advises choosing clothing and accessories that reflect current fashions, but making sure they also fit well and look good on you. Men can update their look by choosing trousers with tapered legs, leather shoes with double monk straps rather than laces, and contemporary glasses with tortoiseshell or colorful transparent frames. While an Apple watch suggests the wearer is tech savvy, “on someone older it looks like they’re trying to be young,” Ms. Sanders says. A better choice might be a classic watch with a leather band, she says.

Women should abandon outdated looks, such as a frumpy cardigan over a dress, in favor of a leather jacket or asymmetrical sweater, Ms. Sanders says.

Those whose hair is thinning can color it with highlights to lend more depth and thickness, she suggests. And gray hair is fine if it’s healthy and styled in a contemporary way, Ms. Sanders says. “Wear your age as a badge of honor,” she says. “If you believe it, they’ll believe it.”

SAVVY MOVES

To improve your survival chances late in your career:

If your area is a likely target for cuts, explore potential assignments in other units.
Look for problems you can solve for your employer to demonstrate your strengths.
Consider updating your wardrobe and hairstyle with help from a trusted adviser.
Participate when possible in off-hours socializing or charity events with colleagues.
Take the initiative to get to know younger colleagues with skills you don’t have.
Volunteer to help with training or onboarding programs for new hires.
Raise your hand for internal projects that will strengthen your network or skills.
Update your professional credentials via training or refresher courses.
Stay involved in professional organizations or your college alumni network.

Write to Sue Shellenbarger at Sue.Shellenbarger@wsj.com

WSJ.com | May 22, 2018 | Sue Shellenbarger

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#Leadership : #OlderWorkers – Everyone In My Office Is 30 Years Younger Than Me… As SYPartners’ Senior Adviser & Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Sherri Leopard, 62, is Often the Oldest Person in the Room, and she Explains Why That’s a Plus.

April 16, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Sherri Leopard has experienced being unique many times in her career. During her early professional life as a marketing consultant in technology, Leopard found herself in projects where she would be the only female member, as well as the youngest.

Having grown up in a lower-middle-class household, she also found herself at odds with many of her privileged friends who graduated from elite colleges. Yet she persevered and thrived, building and running a marketing consultancy with blue-chip clients such as IBM, SAP, Siemens, and Motorola. In 2006, she sold her consultancy, Leopard, to advertising giant WPP. Leopard became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ogilvy & Mather.

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Many years later, as a senior adviser and entrepreneur-in-residence for SYPartners, Leopard would find herself–once again–as the unique person in the room. But this time, it would be as the oldest person in an office full of twenty- and thirtysomethings. Leopard recently chatted to Fast Company about how working with younger employees has helped shaped her way of thinking, and the misconceptions about older workers that she wishes everyone would drop. Here’s her experience in her own words, edited for length and clarity.

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE DECADES OLDER THAN ALL YOUR COWORKERS

All of the people that I work with on a day-to-day basis are 20 to 30 years younger than me. The company is young, young, young, and many of them come from prestigious schools. Me? I went to Metropolitan State University in Denver. I came from a lower-middle-class upbringing–and I think part of the way that manifests in me is being really practical. Everyone else would have these debates about really minute things, and I tend to be super impatient and cut to the chase. Of course, I’ve had to learn to do it in a way that doesn’t stifle people’s creativity.

To be honest, I don’t think people tend to focus on the fact that I’m older. There is a designer on my team who is 24 years old, and the other day he told me, I think of you as a mentor, but you’re not someone who just gives me advice, because you’ve done all these things. We get in and figure out stuff together and when we’re solving a problem. We’re solving it as equals.

ON LEARNING FROM YOUNGER WORKERS

As a former CEO who happens to be the oldest person in the office, over my three years at SYPartners, I’ve really struggled with not being right and the need to be right. It took a while for me to be comfortable with learning from the young people who challenge me. That’s been a journey. In one of my earliest projects, that was really hard. I was on a team that just saw things so differently.

The perspective shift came during my work with BlackRock–who we’ve been working with on their diversity and inclusion initiatives. Something finally jelled in my brain, and now it’s much easier to be in situations where people are challenging my thinking. Had I learned that earlier in my career, I would have been a much better CEO. I’ve realized that we need those differences in the workplace to solve the sorts of complex problems we’re presented with today.

Of course, there will always be a generational gap. When I hear about young women discussing salaries, I think, in my generation, people didn’t talk about what they got paid. But I think that young people are a lot smarter because that transparency is going to pay off.

Another obvious generational gap is my aversion to social media. I feel like young people around me try to pull me into that world and occasionally I’ll go, okay, I get it, I get why I need to do it. But I’ve had times where I’ve gone through six rounds of writing a Medium post and I can never bring myself to post it. The younger people will be telling me, “Just do it, and you’ll get more comfortable.” But I still can’t do it.

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ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ENDURANCE

I think that my stamina is an advantage I have, as an older worker. When I was doing marketing and communications work, I did a lot of speech writing. I’d have clients call me very last minute, often very early in the morning. I remembered watching my then client, a senior VP at IBM, outwork me even though he was probably 20 years older. At that time I realized, oh my gosh, the game here is actually endurance. I realized then how important it is to be physically strong, eat healthy, exercise, and just be really mindful about my health. I think that investment I’ve been making for years in my health is really paying off. Today, young people in my team will go, geez, you’re the Energizer bunny!

ON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT BEING AN OLDER WORKER

I feel like there’s this misconception that older people just can’t keep up, whether that’s keeping up with anything in the world, or physically. Well, I’m just going to prove in my little circle of the world that we can keep up. I do think that to succeed at this age, you need to have a growth mind-set. There are so many people my age who believe that the world is prejudiced against them. I deeply believe that there’s an experience in all of us that can be reshaped and reapplied in a new way. The question is, do you choose to reinvent yourself?

FastCompany.com | April 16, 2018 | BY ANISA PURBASARI HORTON 4 MINUTE READ

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#Leadership : Why You Should #Recruit #OlderWorkers …Many Older Workers are Just as Tech-Savvy and Eager to Learn New Skills as their Younger Peers.

March 29, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

As labor markets tighten, finding qualified workers is becoming more of a challenge for many companies. And recruitment missteps may be making it harder to reach older workers.

Carl Dorvil, CEO and president of GEX Management, Inc., a management and professional services company based in Dallas, says there’s good reason to invest in “mentor capitalists” who invest their time and expertise in companies. When he started his company from his dorm room in college, he initially relied on his buddies to fill key roles. Then one of his own mentors reminded him that you can’t fit 50 years of experience into 20.

Since then, Dorvil has made diversity recruitment, including hiring older workers, a priority, both in his company and in the message he spreads to his clients. And now that he’s currently looking at expansion through acquisition, “We want to partner with people who have more experience and are a little bit more mature in their field. They have the relationships and networks that we think can grow our business faster,” he says.

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OLDER WORKERS ARE IN DEMAND

Workers in age groups 65 to 74 and 75 and older are expected to grow faster than any other age segments through 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). But finding those older workers isn’t always as easy as it sounds. For those hanging on to the premise that older workers are sitting around waiting for opportunities in a buyer’s market, the latest BLS data busts that myth: The unemployment rate for adults age 55-plus was 3.2% in February 2018—nearly a full point lower than the overall 4.1% unemployment rate.

Many corporate diversity programs don’t specifically target mature talent and fall into bad habits that actually make it harder to find and attract mature workers, says Peter Gudmundsson, who last year founded Dallas-based Hire Maturity, which produces job fairs and runs a job board for “mature talent”—a term he prefers to “older workers.” One of the company’s taglines is, “Are you ready to hire a grownup?” If you are, there are a few important fixes many companies need to make, he says.

LET GO OF THE STEREOTYPES

If you’re hanging on to the tired notions that workers age 60-plus aren’t tech-savvy or energetic, your bias is showing, says Heather Tinsley-Fix, senior adviser, financial resilience programming at AARP‘s Washington, D.C., headquarters. Steve Jobs would be well into his 60s now, while internet pioneer Vinton Cerf is 74.

A 2013 study from North Carolina State University looked at the reputation scores of programmers in an online forum called Stack Overflow, which has more than 1.6 million members. Researchers found that, on average, programmer reputation scores increased relative to age well into the 50s and that they exhibited expertise in more areas than did younger users.

AARP’s research shows that more than 80% of workers ages 45 to 64 say that the opportunity to learn something new is an essential element of their ideal job. In 2010, a major international study called the Cogito Study compared 101 young adults (20–31) and 103 older adults (65–80) on 12 different tasks over 100 days. Against their expectations, they found that 65– to 80-year-old workers’ performance was more stable and less variable from day to day than that of the younger group. In addition, their motivation was higher than the younger workers’, and they were less erratic. So ditch the outdated thinking about older workers, she says.

A number of job ads on several high-profile digital and social media platforms were age-restricted, eliminating them from the view of many older workers. In addition to ensuring that your job ads are reaching the greatest possible age range on every platform, expand the job boards and advertising platforms you’re using, says Jeff Zinser, principal and founder of Right Recruiting, an executive recruiting firm in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Workers in their 50s, 60s, and 70s may have become comfortable using boards like Monster and CareerBuilder earlier in their careers and may default to searching there first. Boards like AARP’s job board and HireMaturity are also good places to check.

When you’re writing your job ads, beware of using inadvertently ageist phrases like “seeking digital natives” or “join our young, dynamic team,” Tinsley-Fix says. Read over your job ads to be sure they’re as inclusive as possible and describe the job specifically. And don’t forget to train your recruiters and hiring managers to look beyond age when recruiting and evaluating candidates.

And beef up your in-person efforts, Gudmundsson says. In addition to recruiting on college campuses, find opportunities like job fairs targeted toward older workers. These environments can help you find the workers you’re seeking and get a better sense of the person and their strengths and abilities.

AVOID THE “CULTURE TRAP”

Many company leaders emphasize the importance of “culture fit”when hiring. Tinsley-Fix says that can be a mistake. Instead, look for “culture add,” she says. “As we know, cultural fit tends to diminish diversity because you’re just hiring people who are like yourself.”

Instead of thinking of cultural fit as age-related, look for people who are motivated to work with your company, dedicated to lifelong learning, and show a history of being creative and adaptable. Those attributes are going to be better indicators that the person will work well with your team than an arbitrary age, she says.

DON’T ASSUME YOU CAN’T AFFORD THEM

Some companies shy away from older workers because they’re afraid that all of that experience comes at a steep cost. And Gudmundsson warns that age should not be a deciding factor in what you pay your employees. While many workers in their late 50s, 60s, and 70s are interested in full-time work and a career track, some are moving to more part-time work or flexible schedules. And workers age 65-plus may choose to opt in to Medicare, reducing health insurance costs.

“All of these groups have very different needs and different requirements. That’s a good opportunity for enlightened employers to show a little flexibility.” And with that flexibility might come the experience, knowledge, and contacts you need at a compensation level that fits your company’s budget.

FastCompany.com | March 29, 2018 | BY GWEN MORAN 5 MINUTE READ

Your #Career : #OlderWorkers – How to Manage a #PhoneInterview & Not to Sound “Old” …..You Need to Know Two Things. One, How to Present Yourself Well in General in a Phone Interview. And, Two, How Not to Sound “Old.”

March 25, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Your cover letter and resume did the trick. You have an interview. But it’s by phone. That’s your first experience with being checked out on the phone instead of in-person.

You need to know two things. One, how to present yourself well in general in a phone interview. And, two, how not to sound “old.”

In a phone interview the burden is on you to create through your voice, words, and pacing the kind of professional that organization wants to hire.

That means you have to do research on its culture.

If it’s a fast-paced hard-charging startup, for instance, that’s what you have to mirror. An interview is really a sales call. What successful salespeople do is mirror, that is, they simulate everything about the prospect.

The most common mistakes in a phone interview are:

Talking too fast. Therefore, practice with a recording device maintaining a normal conversational pace.
Finishing the interviewers’ sentences and interrupting. That comes from being nervous. To control anxiety position and package this particular interview as “practice.” In time, you will get better. That’s why you should grab all the interviews you can. You need as much practice as possible.
Volunteering damaging information. That too comes from being nervous. In the courtroom and in a job interview, don’t go beyond the scope of the question. If the interviewer asks what you are doing now, say doing consulting assignments for ManPower, for instance. Don’t say you have been laid off for 18 months.
Not listening. Instead of focusing on what the interviewer is saying you are in your own head. To stay tracked with the conversation take pen-and-paper notes.
Not asking questions. Asking questions demonstrates you have given careful thought to what the job is about. Not asking questions signals indifference.

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Okay, now how do you not present yourself as “old?” From the moment of conception, everyone of us is aging. But not one of us has to become “old.” You can prevent being perceived as “old.”

Here are 5 tips for maintaining your phone presentation as youthful:

Stick to recent experiences and accomplishments. It’s useful to rehearse talking about them before the phone call. No, don’t mention the award you won 15 years ago for increasing sales 25%.
Highlight what you are currently working on. If out of work you should be involved in some project. It could be consulting, writing an article for publication, operating a paid-subscription newsletter, or doing temp assignments. Having work gets you work.
Use the in lingo in your field. To ensure you know it, monitor trade publications about your field. Outdated language will knock you out of the box.
Don’t apologize for your age. A typical example is saying, “I can still work 18 hour days even though I am 50 years old.” It is illegal for the interviewer to introduce age into the conversation. So, you don’t do it either.
Ask if you can make recommendations. That demonstrates initiative. You ask to indicate you’re not going to come in and take the place over. You must signal you understand who has the power.

As you would with an in-person interview, follow up this one with a thank you note. Yes, it should be transmitted online. It probably will get to the wrong desk if sent snail mail. Be specific in what you learned during the interview which made you want the job even more. Explicitly say that you look forward to hearing from the organization again.

For more insight on how to get what you want/need after the age of 50, you can download my new book. No charge. Download Over50ebookpioneersinwildwildwest

Coaching on all aspects of aging, from careers to retirement. Complimentary consultation. Sliding scale fees. Please contact aging expert Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

FSC Career Blogs | March 25, 2018 | Jane Genova