There is no age limit when it comes to a career change. But years of helping career changers has made it clear that older career changers have very specific questions and concerns about how to make the transition happen.Now if you’ve been reading my articles, you already know that I’m a big believer in the idea that you get what you focus on. So if you keep telling yourself your gray hairs are going to keep you from getting the job, they will. If you keep saying, “I’m going to be discriminated against because of all of my experience”, you will. If you keep complaining, “I can’t compete with younger workers”, you won’t be able to. Believe me, you get in life exactly what you focus on.
But I’m not naive. You may not be belaboring the age issue but still find yourself having a difficult time competing with your younger peers. The reality is that some people you speak with may have perceptions about older workers that are not favorable such as:
–being too expensive
–not being adaptable or “stuck in the mud”
–not willing to put the hours in necessary to get the job done
–unable to work for younger counterparts
–not being aggressive enough to grow the business
So what do you do?
Well, I’ll tell you what you don’t do. You don’t fold under the pressure and assume you have no chance of getting the job.
Instead, you use every available opportunity you have – the informal conversations at networking events/career fairs/cocktail parties, your cover letter, your resume, the interview, the follow up thank you e-mails – to be clear about the assets you actually bring to the table. These assets can include things like your dedication, your vast professional and personal experience, your commitment to getting the job done, your skills at learning new technologies and implementing them, etc. You don’t have to go overboard or be defensive. You do have to have ways to overcome these preconceived ideas that may come disguised in comments made or questions asked (like, “How have you dealt with crisis in your previous jobs?”). The way you overcome these perceptions about you is to have solid examples proving the opposite of them.
AARP performed a survey and found that seven out of ten workers over the age of 45 planned on working during their retirement years. Companies realize this and see that the face of corporate America is ever changing. That being said, companies want employees with solid work experience, maturity to get the job done, and the knowledge, skills, and personality traits that will help the organization grow.
It’s now your turn to explicitly show them how you are this fantastic would-be employee and then some!
© 2007 Segaric Coaching Inc.Annemarie Segaric is a respected career change coach, motivational speaker, and the author of the ebook, 107 Tips for Changing Your Career While Still Paying the Bills. Ready to switch careers and don’t know where to begin? Visit www.segaric.com and download your own career change toolkit today.
