Photo by Randy Laybourne on Unsplash
If you are 50 or older, finding a new job can prove humbling. This is especially true if you haven’t been in the job market for years.
Ah, the memories. Looking through the help-wanted ads in newspapers. Sending out a résumé and typewritten cover letter printed on fancy paper stock. And, more often than not, receiving a rejection letter in the mail. (As they came in, my college roommate and I affixed our rejection letters to a wall to chronicle our job-search futility.)
Of course, things today are different. But maybe not as different as you might think. Yes, searching for a job has, in many ways, become a technology-driven endeavor. But some of the basic principles that served you well back in the day are still relevant today.
I’m talking specifically about human connections, attention to detail, and basic manners.
Focus on these three areas, and you’re likely to be more competitive. And if you’re a, ahem, “more mature” job seeker, focusing on the basics can give you a fighting chance against ageism and an edge over other job seekers.
To help you tend to the basics and improve your marketability, here are five mistakes you should avoid.
Neglecting your network
By this stage of life, you know a lot of people.
Friends, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, former coworkers, acquaintances, other parents you knew from your kids’ activities, people with whom you served on volunteer committees—the list goes on.
And if you’re looking for a job, you should reach out to them.
When you’re slogging through the misery of a job search, you might feel embarrassed and want to keep a low profile. But remember, people like to be helpful. And many of the people you know are willing to help you, whether that means passing your information along to someone who’s hiring or connecting you with others who are influential or connected.
You never know unless you make the effort to reach out.
Remember, if you aren’t relying on you network, you’re basically job-hunting with one hand tied behind your back.
Over the years, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many people from my past remembered me and were interested in reconnecting and helping me.
When I was last looking for a job, I sought out two friends from college I literally had not spoken to since before Bill Clinton was president. They both were busy, successful executives, and they were happy to schedule calls with me.
Ultimately, neither of these conversations contributed to my finding a job, but they proved to be a great reminder that my network was larger than I realized.
There’s a smart way to approach these reach outs and conversations, and we’ll talk about that in an upcoming blog.
Throwing together your résumé
If you needed to update your résumé for the first time in a while, you may have searched your computer and found the most recent file, added your last job and your responsibilities, confirmed your contact information was still current, and saved the new file.
Done? Whoa, hold on, not so fast.
Every time you update your résumé you should review the entire document carefully.
Are you emphasizing job responsibilities instead of results?
Are you describing the full scope of what your jobs entailed?
Are you leaving out important details because you think you need to keep it to a single page? (You don’t.)
Then there are the ways employers are now “reviewing” résumés. For years, larger companies have used technology to scan résumés to look for job-relevant keywords. A growing number of employers are now using AI to scan résumés.
Updating a résumé can be a painful and time-consuming process, but if you don’t do it right, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice.
Engage in some online research to stay up-to-day on the latest résumé trends. And be sure to ask one or more people you trust to proofread your résumé and review it to ensure it tells a strong story.
Ignoring LinkedIn
Once you’ve updated your résumé, be sure to also update your LinkedIn profile.
A surprising number of people don’t take this critical additional step.
On the other hand, many people believe LinkedIn has made résumés obsolete. But that’s not really accurate.
You need both.
Here’s a fact: if your résumé makes it to the desk of a potential employer and they want to learn more about you, they’ll look you up on LinkedIn. And if your LinkedIn profile doesn’t complement the information you shared in your résumé, you’re missing a golden opportunity to make a great impression.
Your LinkedIn profile allows for additional information that you won’t have room for on your résumé. This information includes extensive lists of skills, recommendations from people in your network, courses you have completed, and links to samples and projects you have worked on.
Think of your résumé as an edited down version of your LinkedIn profile, one that emphasizes your most important skills and experiences. And one which you can (and should) customize for each job to which you apply.
Not following up
Companies long ago quit sending rejection letters (though rejection emails haven’t entirely disappeared). But sending thank you notes has never gone out of vogue.
Yes, people still expect to receive them, and they notice if you don’t send them. Just last week, I overheard an acquaintance complain that an individual they had interviewed failed to follow up with a thank you email.
Every time you have either an interview or a networking call, send a thank you email. And an impersonal note that you repeatedly cut, paste, and resend doesn’t cut it. Personalize your note and refer specifically to one or more things discussed during the conversation.
There’s also no rule against sending an old-fashioned hand-written note. Not only is this the epitome of personal, but it’s also less likely to get overlooked than a message in an overstuffed email inbox.
Just make sure you drop the note in the mail as soon as possible, so it will arrive in a timely fashion.
Selling your skills—and yourself—short
We all need to be reminded sometimes that when we’re looking for a job, employers won’t know what we can offer unless we tell them.
Yet, what do we do instead?
On a résumé, we describe a job we held for 10 years or more in five or six brief bullet points.
We say we were responsible for generating a monthly report, but don’t bother to mention that the report was for the CEO.
In an interview, we leave out that we managed a team, because it was only when the boss was out on maternity leave.
We don’t bother to bring up a leadership position in a community organization because it wasn’t work-related.
We talk about our responsibilities and job tasks, but don’t bother to connect them to results and how our work contributed to the company’s success.
It’s up to each of us to tell our story.
When we sell ourselves short, potential employers will, too.
It’s hard enough. Let’s help each other!
Looking for a job after age 50 is hard enough without us making it harder for ourselves.
In upcoming blogs, I’ll share more details about how to avoid each of the mistakes described here.
Are there additional mistakes you’ve made yourself or seen others make? If so, please share them in the comments so we can help each other avoid them.
