If You’re an “Older Job Seeker” Will You Ever Get a Job Again?

I've got some good news and bad news here if you're over 45 and looking for a job these days.

You already know what it's like out there. We regularly talk about ways to combat this age-bias during our weekly "Over 50" job seeker teleseminars. Sometimes the bad news just keeps coming, though.

A new piece of research I saw from Cheezhead (Originally from Beyond.com) notes that more industries are "going young". Especially because of this economy, several industries are taking a decided turn towards hiring younger, less experienced workers. This often means candidates who only have from one to three years experience.

While the article noted that the retail and customer service sectors have always "hired young", now this trend is being adopted more in the Healthcare /Medical, IT and Sales/Sales Management sectors. While the research noted that in a better economy, these sectors typically sought out more experienced workers, in a tight economy, there is a noted preference for the young as there is less of a perceived "risk" (if it doesn't work out).

With that said, here is some better news, a contrary view from an article on CareerBuilder, Use Age to Your Advantage, citing research fron Jean Erickson Walker, Ed.D. who cites specific advantages of age over youth in several key occupations. This was from March.

So, while the debate continues, you still need to get a job again. That's why I still fell it best to get as close to talking about the money as possible. Get down to the actual Return-on-Investment you've provided your employers and back that up with several real achievements that are measureable. You can hear more about this in my Resume Writing Teleseminars.

Joe