January 6, 2010

Tips from the experts for "mature age" job hunters

Tips from the experts for "mature age" job hunters

Reproduced from an article by: Kate Southam that appeared on the Careerone website


CareerOne asked the experts to provide their top tips. Our panel includes Catriona Byrne, Ian Blair, Stephen Moir and Paul Dickinson.

Catriona Byrne is a director of mature-age recruitment service Adage. Based in Adelaide, Catriona also speaks at employer and career events and consults to employers all over Australia on how to best manage their older employers. Adage is headquartered in Sydney.

Ian Blair is a successful mature-age candidate. At 69 he recently scored a quality role as a senior consultant with Melbourne-based software Prima Consulting.

Stephen Moir of the Sydney-based Moir Group specialises in executive recruitment and training. However, he is "passionate" about the value of mature-age candidates and offers a training course for candidates through the Centre for Continuing Education at Sydney University.

Paul Dickinson is the director of Plus 40, a national employment and training organisation designed to provide assistance to Australian's aged 40 and over.


Resume tips


"A good resume highlights strengths without drawing attention to age perceptions," says Stephen. "The key here is getting the strengths up front on page one and with definite achievements, ideally with a bottom line impact."
Catriona has three main tips:
· Don't include Date of Birth or education dates on your resume.
· Only detail the past 10-15 years of employment history.
· Don't include your middle name; it's an old fashioned giveaway!

Ian provided very detailed tips (refer to article titled "Star Maw Shares Sucess Tips" that can be accessed through the above titled article on the Careerone website to read his advice).


Job interviews


Stephen says candidates should familiarise themselves with the "behavioural interview" style most often used in today's job interviews. This is where candidates are required to use specific examples from their past to demonstrate how they would handle a situation or task in the future if selected to fill the job.
He says it's important that candidates refer to the strengths and achievements outlined in their resume during job interviews remembering to tie these strengths to business outcomes.
"This is very impactful and most people don't do it," says Stephen. He urged candidates to link their skills and experience to an expected outcome - "make it tangible" - such as increased sales or levels of customer service or efficiency gains.
"Also, have answers up your sleeve to handle any age perception issues and in some cases actually bring up your age - for example 'I think my age is an advantage because it means I have x, y z experience and I bring x or y to a team,'" Stephen explains.
Paul offers the following advice for interviewees: "In interview, concentrate on selling your skills and suitability to the role. Talk about what you have done in the past and how you can easily transfer your skills to the new role.
"In other words, use your experience as a positive."Paul adds: "Remember that an interview is a sales process and you need to 'ask for the order'. Remember to tell the interviewer that you want the job and that their company is just the sort of organisation that you would like to work for. Employers like to hear that you really want to work for them."


Attitude review


CareerOne.com.au Editor Kate Southam says it is natural to want to find something or someone to blame when a candidate is not successful on the job trail.
"I hear from people who blame gender, their post code, being a parent, a disability, the birthplace and yes, their age," says Kate.
"They could be right. The sad fact of life is that some people are ignorant and prejudice. However, that might not be the reason at all and it doesn't help to decide that you will never get anywhere due to age."
Catriona urges those candidates with application fatigue to try and suspend their thoughts about being marginalised due to age.
"I tell people: 'what can you do differently?' While the problem may well be age you cannot change your age but you can change your resume or your attitude or your approach."
Paul believes that staying positive is the key to success for the Mature Age jobseeker. He advises: "Keep trying and don't give up. Remember the words of former Australian of the year, farmer Sarah Henderson. 'All the strength you need to achieve anything is inside you. Don't wait for the light to appear at the end of the tunnel, stride down there and light the bloody thing yourself'."


Action plan


Stephen recommends developing an action plan and sticking to it. This will keep momentum behind the job search and keep it on track and a feeling that things are happening.
Items for the action plan could include reading up on the latest business ideas and techniques. Stephen recommends The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, which is all about niche businesses.
Ian agrees. "Keep your skills up-to-date. I read voraciously - a book a week - business, science and military history - [Lieutenant-General Sir John] Monash, [Brigadier Arnold] Potts and Genghis Khan. They were all fantastic managers, operating in life-and-death situations and they were successful. It's good training for business life!"
"Keep physically fit. I've rowed for 50 years and run for 50, including four marathons."
"Life is more demanding and sedentary now. If you don't keep fit at home, you won't keep fit at work and you'll drift off into oblivion.
"Exercise does two things: it combats depression and builds energy levels. You need that when you get knocked back on the job-hunt," says Ian.
Looking for networking opportunities, getting in touch with former professional contacts or colleagues to let them know you are looking and what you are looking for. Checking websites and newspapers or talking to recruiters.
Review your basic skills to see if anything needs updating - it's never too late to learn to type and many of the basic computer software courses can be completed online such as accounting and admin software skills including using email and the Internet.
Ask your kids or grand children to explain how "social networking" websites work like MySpace, Facebook and You Tube.


Networking effectively


Stephen says most MAWs are not used to networking or "putting themselves out there".
"This is the key to the current market place at all levels but particularly so for MAW's who are often not that used to, or comfortable with, promoting themselves," Stephen says.
"Social situations, friends, networking events, various professional bodies, school events - the list of possibilities is never ending. Generally people are happy to help if they are asked, so it's all about getting out there and asking people for help."
By Kate Southam, Editor of careerone.com.au