Job Hunt 50+

Episode 1: Experience, not old age - update

Wow! I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who read and engaged with my first blog post in the Job Hunt 50+ series. The response has been amazing. In the first six days I've had over 5,700 impressions and more importantly really positive feedback.

Feedback - Hitting a nerve

It's very apparent that the blog topic really hit a nerve. So many people contacted me to tell me that they too had experienced difficulties finding work after reaching 50. It's also telling that while many companies in my industry, technology, have very advanced Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DE&I) programmes age is rarely, if ever, seen as a protected characteristic to be celebrated. I'd love to hear from any companies whose DE&I programmes do address ageism?

Here are some of the key points from the comments to date:

1. You are not alone - a huge number of people believe they have experienced age discrimination during their job hunt process
2. Overqualified is a euphemism for over-the-hill - A number of people have been told that they are overqualified for a role when they felt the interviewer felt they were too old
3. We won't give you the job but we will let you train the right candidate - One friend and former colleague told me that he applied for a role and was rejected [on the grounds of being "over-qualified"] but was later offered a six-month contract to train the "right" candidate.
4. Make it hard to work out your age - A number of people flagged up that they actively take steps to hide their age in their CV. Called "Botoxing your CV" tips include only including 15 years of job experience on your CV and removing your school and university attendance dates. Don't include a photo on your CV.
5. Suppressed anger - Finally, I definitely picked up that a lot of people felt very angry to be in this position. They have spent years gathering knowledge and experience and are too often "passed over" or "let go" when they still feel they have a lot of capability.

LinkedIn Group - Job Hunt 50+

The response to my blog has been so powerful that I've set up a LinkedIn Group called Job Hunt 50+ which you can join here. Please feel free to post articles, tools and anything that can help out fellow 50+ Job Hunters.

Share the blog

The response to this blog has been brilliant, but please share it with your friends, colleagues and networks.

I'd love to get some comments from DE&I leads or Human Resources or even Head Hunters that specialise in helping the 50+ Job Hunter community.

Are there any companies out there that are excelling in this area? It very much feels as if age and ageism is not a topic regarded as important by many companies.

Next Blog: Episode 2: How to lose your job without losing your mind

Finally, so many people talked to me about the mental health aspects of Job Hunting for the over 50s. People talked about the stress of being made redundant, some of the "tactics" used to accelerate their exit and how that actually made finding a new role much, much harder.

This is such an important topic that I felt that it should be prioritised .

I hope that you've enjoyed the first edition of the Job Hunt 50+ Blog.

Any feedback or comments will be gratefully received.