Job search for the 50 somethings

One of the most vulnerable groups in this or any other recession is the 50 somethings. This is not necessarily because they are poor performers, but usually because they are simply more expensive than junior employees. Severing a few senior execs or older employees can make an instant and positive impact on any organisation’s salary bill. Additionally, at this level employees are also costly in terms of perks and benefits, with company cars, phones, lap tops, health and pension plans and longer holidays etc all contributing to reducing a company’s overheads when they cease. So whether you’re pushed or decide to take advantage of voluntary early retirement schemes, there are lots of things to take into consideration.


So what can you do ?

Emotional support : The higher you are - the further the fall. Losing your job is hard for anyone, but being displaced from near the top of the chronological or professional pyramid can be especially tough. Quite often there are angry thoughts about how many years you’ve put in and perhaps how little time you have left in your career. Deal with the anger, grief and anxiety and any perceptions of failure you might have as effectively and as early as you possible. All of these challenging emotions will impede your ability to move forward. Set up some coping strategies, a structured daily schedule to support yourself through this difficult time. My friend Sarah Robinson calls this structure “Walking the Grid”( www.themaverickmom.com) She uses this strategy when “ ..I really don’t know what to do next, where I feel like I am grappling in the dark …” It might be walking, gym sessions, talking to close friends and family, networking, job search activities, relaxing, sleeping and eating correctly.


I knew one Coachee who didn’t tell his wife he had been laid off until 3 months after the event and every day he left the house as if setting off for the office as usual. In fact he was just sitting in cafés and parks until he came home at the normal time. So if your own efforts don’t work consider seeking professional support or visit your doctor.

2. Take stock: What do you really want to do? List your passions. How so you want to spend the rest of your career - your life? Consider personal development programmes: think about training in another field or updating old skills. An old college friend, Russell Lewis, an ex-lawyer has retrained in dry stone walling techniques and thatching– simply because he wanted to spend his post- retirement career working out of doors. What do you want to do?

3. Update your CV: many older job seekers have not looked for a job or written a CV for a number of years. It is key to update it in line with current job search developments and presentation techniques, as well as to keep abreast of modern technology in this field. This is one age group which I strongly believe benefits from professional career support. You are no longer obliged to state your date of birth, or even the year you graduated on your CV, but most experienced recruiters are savvy enough to work out if you try too much camouflaging

4. Indentify your transferable skills: look at the challenges in your life and career and ask how these can be used in other fields or sectors . You have amazing life and career experiences to call upon, so make these your USPs.

5. Update your professional skills: it is really important now to be on top of all the latest developments in your field, profession or sector. You may not be operational in all of them, but being out of touch with current trends dates you.

6. Interim assignments: 50 somethings are quite often attracted to interim assignments, although this is a sphere that is challenging to break into because the Catch 22 applies that previous experience is quite often required. This is an deal sector for candidates who are nationally or internationally mobile and have had experience of hitting the ground running as project managers during their careers.

7. Networking: now is the time to really tap into your network. All those extra miles on the tires means lots more contacts on the Rolodex, which is a huge bonus. Maximise those connections. Make sure you attend all professional and alumni events. Sign up for news letters.

8. Become familiar with social media: make sure you have a presence on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and any social media pertinent to your field. This is not just about raising your visibility , it’s also about being seen to be current! 50 somethings who dismiss social media and modern technology out of hand and do so volubly, are immediately indicating that they are not at least in touch with modern trends. As a minimum you need to understand what it is all about and how it functions. If you reject it, do so from an informed position. It means that you can communicate with the 25 – 45 age group without your eyes glazing over or looking panic stricken.

9. Assess your image: now is the time to objectively ( and tastefully) update your image and make sure your clothes, hair style and general appearance are at least from the 21st century.

10. Look after your health: If you look healthy and fit ( and hopefully are) you will appear energetic.

11. Interviews: there is a strong possibility that everyone in the process might be younger than you. Try not to let this bother you. Don’t assume that because you are older, you know more, or better. Your area of expertise is just in another area. Appearing flexible, current and open will be key factors to emphasise. Try to keep your points of reference relatively recent. Referring to experiences from 30 or 40 years ago, unless it is of specific value, dates you. So forget Flower Power, Glasnost, Thatcher, Mitterand and Clinton and make sure you have a good general knowledge of recent national and international events plus general cultural developments. If you don’t know what an Ipod is you might be in trouble.

12. Re-location: older employees are sometimes less tied to specific geographic areas because of young families etc. If you are able to extend your job search net wider, so much the better.

13. Volunteer: Not- for-Profit organisations are happy to have senior level volunteers. This is always helpful for networking, refreshing old skills or learning new ones.

14. Become an Expert: Offering pro- bono consulting services is another way of raising your visibility and show casing your area of expertise. Write a blog or articles for your local newspaper or your professional newsletter, which also increases you visibility. Set up a web site. You have a lot to offer. There are certain areas where “Village Elder “ experience is invaluable. E-How (www.ehow.com ) offers the opportunity to make money on line by writing and publishing your own content.

15. Anti – social hours: Consider working hours that younger workers with families won’t/can’t work.

16. Is this the time to be self employed? With your wealth of experience could you start up your own business or join forces with someone else with complementary skills . You Noodle is a place to discover and support the hottest early-stage companies and university innovation. They develop decision-making technology and tools for the start up world. (www.younoodle.com) Check it out.

Some companies actually value expertise and experience. I hope you find them!

Six of the most costly words in life or business can be " This is what I've always done."

The recession's silver lining: FunEmployment:

We are now heading towards the summer and those that can afford a holiday are looking forward to a break. Some are nervously awaiting half year results. Companies in all sectors are trying to find ways to reduce their salary bills, to synchronise operational activity with reduced customer demand. Some have made straight lay offs and redundancies, others are able to be more creative. Organisations from BA and KPMG to smaller companies in addition to forced lay offs, are offering employees voluntary extended vacations, sabbaticals,and reduced working days or weeks. The hope is that when the economic upturn does kick in, they will not have lost the pool of talent that has taken years to recruit and train.

In the past 6 months as a coach I have seen individuals transition from grief, shock, panic and despair, through adaptation and acceptance, but increasingly (in the last weeks only) to the slight beginnings of optimism, even from those who had to deal with the out- of- the- blue shock of losing their jobs. This is not to detract from the reality of everyone's situations. I am absolutely not doing that. Pensions and property values have been slashed the world over, bills still have to be paid and life savings are dwindling wherever you live. Out of work young adults are returning to the family home, with other unforeseen consequences, plus a myriad of other things too numerous to mention

What I am saying is despite all of these clearly negative experiences, it is amazing to observe a shift in response. People still claim, somewhat surprisingly, to see an unexpected "silver lining" in their circumstances.

I talked to an HR Director in the hospitality sector last week and he maintains that the response to his company's offer for employees to voluntarily reduce hours or take extended vacations has been very positive. "Employees seem to be jumping at the chance, even to take an unpaid sabbatical." he stated.

I wondered if my observations were regional. To test the water I put a mini-poll out on LinkedIn and found that the international responses did actually coincide with my own personal and local experiences. Yes, there was residual anger and unease about the future, but for most people there had been some very positive outcomes. Those that have opted to take reduced hours or were forced out of the job market, have now found that once they cut their cloth to match their new, reduced budget, they are enjoying a slower paced life.

So what are the overall benefits can individuals see in this dark cloud?

• people have more time and energy to spend and share with their families and partners or nurture other close relationships
• people enjoy waking up in their own homes and eating proper meals
• some are travelling - perhaps on a budget, but getting to see new places now they have time
• others are studying, renewing old qualifications or learning new skills
• some are volunteering
• almost all said they were focusing on their health dealing with weight or exercise issues
• many said they are taking up the hobbies they had always wanted to, or picking up old ones
• others are enjoying the extended vacations or sabbaticals - they had simply never been able to take the time out of the office or workplace before
• some are working from home or looking into new business ventures
• many said they hadn't been happy in their jobs anyway

Paul, a Customer Service Manager from Minnesota had his working week reduced to 4 days in January wrote " I initially panicked, wondering how we would survive financially. But then I realised I had been working 50 hour weeks, maybe more for years. With a 32 hour week ironically my hourly rate is probably higher than it has been for a long time! "

Christophe, was laid off in the chemical sector in Belgium earlier this year and as a gifted linguist is using his period of unemployment to add to his skill set by learning Dutch. He is also supervising the remodelling of his house himself, something he really enjoys, but would have previously outsourced to an architect simply through of lack of time. The upside of Michael's period out of full time employment is feeling fitter, healthier and weighing in 14 pounds lighter! He is spending time with his wife and kids, as well as playing some golf. With a long career in the IT sector he is working from home as a consultant and looking at joint ventures and start ups.

Shawna from Oregon describes herself as recovering workaholic. " For me, being laid off meant the opportunity to not be in an airplane all the time, the chance to work on home improvement projects that were too big to do when I had a full time job. .... "She explains how she wanted to get beyond the pain points " I typically chose to feel that since I don't want to regret the things that happened, I can always use the events to learn from and get stronger. That doesn't make the event positive or negative - it just means I re-tell the event as a positive so that I can work with it, instead of against it."

Marina from San Francisco added "If I had not been laid off recently I would have missed out on some wonderful and necessary things. "

Will this feeling of enjoying the moment last? I have no idea. One discussion the recession has generated is the perennial chestnut of work/life balance. I think we have all been profoundly changed by what has gone on around us - hopefully for the better. It will be interesting to see if when economies do pick up, whether we will have learned any useful lessons, or we will all drift seamlessly back to our old ways.

It seems that a year ago, we might have had more money in our pockets but perhaps we were less well off in other ways. Somehow, are we seeing that now?