Navigating Ageism in a Job Search

After doing a quick search on Google for Ageism, here is a good definition that sums it up perfectly from the World Health Organization.

Ageism refers to the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others or oneself based on age. Who does ageism affect? Ageism affects everyone"

Ageism can impact people over and under a certain age. Today, I'm going to talk about the OVER a certain age as it relates to a job search.

When you reach a certain age while looking for a position, there is great difficulty in finding that next role.

According to a global study conducted by the career training nonprofit Generation between March and May 2021, 63% of unemployed people aged 45 or older have been out of work for longer than a year. That’s compared with 52% of job seekers ages 35 to 44 and just 36% of those who are 18 to 34. And this is not a new trend: Generation found that, since 2015, individuals 45 and older have consistently made up 40% to 70% of the long-term unemployed. (Source Samantha McLaren (Link to the article)

My brother-in-law always told us (my wife and I) that the older he got, the harder it was to find a new position because of his age. Until you have experienced it, it is hard to understand and even harder to offer a point of view.

That all changed and my perspective changed because I was about to understand what my brother-in-law was talking about and how ageism was real.

In September of 2020, Papa John's announced their decision to move the Corporate Headquarters to Atlanta, Georgia from Louisville, KY. After 21 years with the company and over 50, my days were numbered and my last official day at Papa John's would be March 6, 2021.

Now what?

As I began thinking about my search and just checking the current job openings at the time, there were a few things that really stood out...

• Brands wanted 10+ years skills and knowledge with only 5 years of actual experience
• Titles were thrown around for Director and VP levels - enticing the younger people that applied
• Pay not in balance with experience
• People looking to hire the unicorn
• Not that many jobs for my level of experience and knowledge
• The job descriptions were already slanted against an older job seeker and I hadn't even begun.

The cards were not in my favor and this was going to be a major challenge if I didn't have a good plan.

Below are the approaches and ideas I used to help with my search and to help combat ageism.

• Job search plan - This isn’t a resume, it is sharable document that is a valuable start to your search. It helps you stop, think and understand what your next move is and it also helps others understand what you are looking for in detail. You have to be able to understand your what and why, this document does that.
• Patience and emotions - Any job search is stressful, it is important to understand that there will be a ton of ups and downs and to keep your emotions even. Patience is also important as the job or opening you are looking for are hard to find and when you do, there is a lot of competition for them.
• Stay up to speed on technology - This seems like a simple one, but stay up on the technology that is driving your industry and have an eye for innovation and technology advancement. Bring this to the interview as a discussion point. Don't show that technology has passed you by.
• Continuous learning - continue to expand your knowledge, learn and grow and show that you are willing to do this with examples. For example, you just completed "insert course" to help your leadership approach.
• Resume - Several things on the resume - Try to keep it at 2 pages, limit your experiences back to 15 years (this can be a hard one to do as you feel all your experience is important), remove the dates on your education and personalize as much as possible using keywords and requirements from the jobs you are applying to be as friendly as possible with ATS (Applicant Tracking System). If you can get the interview, you can talk to your experiences, but you need to get into the system first.
• Work samples - A resume is one component, but work samples also show, in more details what you are capable of - your thinking process, the program components and results. The work sample is a portfolio that is extremely beneficial. I had three different ones that I referenced in my cover letters, applications and in the thank you messages.
• LinkedIn profile - Stick to the same principles as your resume. Don't go past 15 years, remove dates off your education and provide more details on your work experiences. Social is social so watch what you are posting as there is a LinkedIn history that can be viewed.
• Networking - When you are older, networking is your friend and something you should always be doing even if not looking. Let people know what you do, how you can help them and share your knowledge. Reach out to your network and share with them your job search plan...this will also let them know what are looking for. Many jobs are not posted and your network can also share with interval sources.
• Target companies, connections and recruiters - Be very specific in your approach. The job search plan will help you target the companies to target. After you have targeted a company, see who you are connected with at that company and send them a message. Don't wait for a recruiter to reach out to you, use LinkedIn to target recruiters and set up call with them to share your job search plan, resume and any details that will help you.
• Different approach - The deck is already stacked against you. You video, social media, LinkedIn post and technology as ways to show you think and respond differently. It is important to understand the demographics and how to reach different demographics.
• Interview prep and the interview - If the topic of age come ups, be ready to discuss the positives to hiring older and what comes with it - experience and knowledge. Show excitement and how much you want to be there to continue your work and what you love doing. With all that experience, discuss what you can bring to the table, your approaches, how you build team and your plan of action.

In the end, you are selling yourself...DON'T HOLD BACK AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

Ageism is real and it is difficult to start over when you are over 45, but having a good plan is an important first step.

Questions? Send them my way...I have experienced searching as an over 45+ job seeker.

Best of luck in your search.

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More about Bernie…

Director of Consumer Strategy and over the Marketing Agency Team at Confluent Health - Provides direct oversight to our corporate marketing agency team that delivers print and digital creative, website design & development, paid media, email marketing, performance marketing, social and SEO to our portfolio of 44+ partner brands.

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