Career Marketplace Blog

5 Tips For Finding A Job In Your Later Years 

Guest post by Kat Krull

Today’s job search is very different from a job search 10 or 20 years ago. The majority of opportunities will require you to fill out an application and submit your resume completely online. If you suddenly find yourself looking for a new position, but are unfamiliar with modern job search tactics, here are some tips to keep in mind:

Leverage your extensive network. Because of your years of experience, you likely know a lot of people in your industry and community who can help you land a new job. Use these connections to your advantage–after all, it’s often who you know that can help you receive an interview offer (or just a second look).

Today, keeping in touch with your network is even easier because of social and professional networks websites and communities. Join LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter and start finding people you know, including family members, friends and past supervisors and co-workers — anyone who might be beneficial to keep in touch with during your job search and career.

Join professional networking groups and communities. See if there are events or conferences you can attend to not only meet new people, but also help you brush up on your education and skills. It doesn’t have to cost a lot, either — in fact, many of these events and communities exist online now. Check out Twitter chats, LinkedIn groups, Facebook pages, industry webinars, and other niche networking sites to connect with others and learn something new.

Don’t point out your age. It can certainly be valuable to have many years of experience under your belt, but you don’t want to turn off hiring managers with a five-page resume. Unfortunately, a lot of employers might see dollar signs when they see extensive experience, and if they can’t afford you, they won’t give you a second look. Along the same lines, don’t include your college graduation date if it was several decades ago, although it is necessary to be truthful if asked during the hiring process.

Tailor your experience and accomplishments to each opportunity. Your resume shouldn’t detail every job you’ve ever had. It should show the employer why you’re the best candidate based on past experience, accomplishments, skills and education. When you’re applying for new opportunities, make sure that your resume is formatted correctly in order to get through an employer’s applicant tracking system. You should also tailor your resume to the job description
by comparing them to one another and eliminating irrelevant information. (Our online resume builder, Resunate, can help you do this.)

Show you’re tech-savvy. Technology is important in most jobs nowadays. Employers need to know that you’re comfortable using new technologies and willing to learn new ways of doing things. Play up any experience you have with new technology by including it as a skill or accomplishment on your resume. You can also build an online portfolio and include a link on your job search documents.

What other tips would you give older job seekers?

Kat Krull is the Marketing Manager of Resunate, the world’s only automatic resume tailoring tool. You can find Kat and Resunate on Facebook and Twitter.

In her article, What to Do When Networking Isn’t Working,  About.com Guide Alison Doyle explains how you can overcome a slow job search.

Read an excerpt from Doyle’s article below. Read Full Article

WSJ article, Working the Recruiters, Dennis Nishi shows readers how a personal approach will help you stand out with recruiters.

Read an excerpt from Nishi’s article. Read full article

Laurie Ruettimann does not want to be sent flowers. Ever.

The human-resources professional from Raleigh, N.C., remembers getting an expensive bouquet while working as an in-house corporate recruiter years ago. The arrangement had been sent to her by a hopeful job hunter but the overture actually made her angry.

“Gift giving means that you’re somehow indebted, and when you force that on somebody it’s inappropriate, even offensive,” says Ms. Ruettimann. “I responded like I would with any other candidate. When we didn’t move forward with his résumé, I just sent him a note, automated through the system.”

n the current tight job market, cold calls and gimmicky gestures are the worst ways to approach recruiters—especially if your skills don’t exactly match the job. Instead, experts recommend old-fashioned networking as the best way to get onto a recruiter’s job-candidate list, but the effort requires more than just a LinkedIn invitation.

Read On

In her blog for U.S. News & World Report, Miriam Salpeter counts down 5 Things You Need to Do do Get a Job.

Tips from this article include:

• Position yourself as an expert
• Communicate your value
• Optimize your resume

Forbes.com article, Get a Job Using the Hidden Job Market, Susan Adams explains how to connect with employers in your chosen industry.

Read an excerpt of Adams’ article.

The technology executive had been out of work for more than a year, but he didn’t tell any of his friends he was unemployed. Instead, he made up a story about how he was consulting on some confidential projects, the details of which he would reveal when it was time to go public. Meantime, he applied for dozens of posted job openings he saw online, with zero success. He also spent time golfing at the country club, where his locker was next to a CEO in his field. Still, he guarded his secret carefully, staying mum with his golf buddies about his job hunt. Finally, his distraught wife set up some sessions with Donald Asher, an executive career coach and author of 11 books, including Cracking the Hidden Job Market: How to Find Opportunity in any Economy. Asher, who splits his time between San Francisco and northern Nevada, convinced his new client to open up about his job hunt, and start talking to everyone he knew about how he was on the market. Sure enough, one of his golfing friends gave him a tip that led to a job at a startup. “He never ever would have gotten that job the way he was looking for work before,” writes Asher.

As I’ve written in earlier articles, despite the explosion of employment listings online, job seekers should spend no more than 20% of their time answering ads (some coaches recommend only 10%). Instead, says Asher, and a number of other coaches I’ve interviewed, the best way to find a job is through a combination of networking and direct contact. That way you tap into the so-called hidden job market. That is, you get to the head of the line of job candidates before a job is listed anywhere, and sometimes, before the hiring manager has even decided she is going to hire for a particular position.

Read On

In this video from the WSJ.coml, Joe Light reports, Recruiters Troll Facebook for Candidates They Like.