An Easy Way Age 40+ Job Seekers Can Avoid Making Yourself Appear Obsolete

As an age 40, 50, or 60+ job seeker, do you worry that employers might see you as obsolete?

It's a common problem faced by age 40+ job seekers.

But did you know that you can control how employers see you?

Here's an easy way you can avoid making an obsolete employer impression when you're over 40:

Don't send cover letters. Don't include cover letters when they are requested by employers. Don't include cover letters in your job applications.

Because cover letters are an obsolete tradition of a pre-internet age. Job seekers haven't taken a resume to print shops for 25 or 30 years, to get an entire box of resumes printed. Cover letters made sense then, as they were the only way to customize a resume to a hiring manager's individual needs, when you had 250 resumes copies that were exactly the same.

The growth of the internet created a new industry, job boards, that made that box of resumes, the print shop who printed it for you, and cover letters obsolete. Job seekers flooded employers with resumes, because it was easy to apply online. Employers implemented Applicant Tracking Systems to manage and screen that tsunami of resumes.

This screening process enabled employers to automate pre-screening resumes, giving advantages to the job seekers who heavily customized their resume. That heavy customization is even more important for job seekers today.

But what job seekers don't realize is that most ATSs don't pre-screen or keyword search cover letters, only resumes. It's why recruiters (who are being truthful) will tell you "If it's not on your resume, it doesn't exist."

What recruiters will rarely admit is that cover letters put candidates that include them at a disadvantage, even when they are listed as a requirement. These requirements are usually boilerplate, to make recruiting more efficient, when a couple of hiring managers want cover letters. So they require all candidates to make yourselves look obsolete, and waste your time, to make their recruiting process less expensive.

Recruiters also rarely admit that cover letters actually hurt your chances of landing an interview or advancing, especially when you're in your 40s, 50s, or 60s+. But recent studies have shown that an average 97% of employers say they don't believe cover letters, and that they hurt, rather than help your chances ... after all, cover letters make you appear obsolete when you include one in an online application.

And appearing obsolete is one thing that can kill?your chances at interviews, advancements and job offers.

So what should you do when an employer requires cover letters in their job descriptions or application processes?

In my next free webinar, I'll show you how to avoid including cover letters, while still showing that you can follow instructions. I'll show you how to get through application process that requires cover letters, even when you don't include one. This is one of many examples of innovative ways to beat employer ageism that I'll show you.

Join me for my next free Resume Webinar (enroll at https://x.resumewebinar.com/Registration for no charge) and learn how to accelerate your job search, so you can find your next job faster in 2024.

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#jobs #resume #career #ageism