Proven Ways To Keep Employability High No Matter Your Age

Lifelong learning seems to be topic number one when talking about personal development. And I could not agree more that this topic deserves to be discussed over and over. We have seen times change from industrialization to globalization and digitalization lastly. We have lost a lot of jobs, however, we have gained so many too. Influencer / content creator is one of the newly created jobs that no one probably would have thought would exist and be well paid, right?

Going through these time changes requires sharp mind and creativity + readiness to change circumstances to keep yourself employed no matter what. It makes me sad to hear about people over age 40 telling how hard it is to get employed even when having a gapless CV, the right motivation. Last week one of my candidates even told me that they think being 30 and not up-to-date with all the state of art tools and approaches is costing jobs to a lot of their peers. Yikes! Pressure is high, no doubt, however, there are ways how to keep your mind sharp and go with time to keep up with constant job market changes.

Here is my perspective as a hiring manager on how to keep your employability high no matter what age you are:

• make time for things you enjoy and want to find out more about. Those things are usually the ones we are the best at. Concentrate on things you enjoy doing and become expert in this field. It does not matter that it is completely different compared to what you do for living. That is actually even better because will allow you to do what you love in case time changes and you do not have to / want to work in your professional field.
• follow latest affairs in the world from a different perspective. Use alternative media channels to inform yourself about current happenings. Gives a great new perspective on the world from people who are professionals in the field but do not appear on your classic news channels. Try podcasts and see Youtube.
• spare time for further education. Seriously, schedule time in your calendar for new things you want to learn, find out more about. Personally, I am taking a few hours every Sunday evening to find out more about things that keep my mind busy and want to learn more in depth about. Latest topics, I have been researching are LinkedIn Algorithm, Social Media Selling, Content Creation, alternative media channel finding. It is so cool to see afterwards, how my approach on things changes after learning new aspects about things. #neverstoplearning
• earlier further education meant going back to university and obtaining another degree. No way, I would do it today again taking into consideration how much time and money that would cost. Plus, it would be probably a bit hard to implement it into my full-time work life. Long live Google Digital Garage where you can learn new skills and get certified in your own speed of learning without any additional costs. Check out what they have on offer and get started! Add certification to your LinkedIn profile and CV afterwards. My personally favorite was "The fundamentals of digital marketing" course.
• check out learning platforms like Coursera, Udemy, Lynda, Skillshare and find courses taught by high ranking university lecturers for very little to no money investment at all. If I were to learn extra skills that I would need a certificate for, I would do it on these platforms.
• learn new languages. That will not only give you needed skills for that holiday destination you are visiting for the 5th time already, but also give you a new perspective on different cultures and will keep your most important muscle, brain, well trained. Try Babbel !
• discover new apps and find out why there is such a hype about them. TikTok, for example. You do not have to make videos yourself, however, learn to use the app and understand it to be able to keep up with everyone talking about it. The same goes to Chatbots, Voice directory and IoT, Blockchain, Bitcoin ... the list is long, but I am sure you know what I am trying to say. No need to become an expert, but get familiar with these terms and how they work. You do not want to wake up one day and realize that world is run by those things, but you were too lazy.
• "I am too old for this." Forget this sentence, there is nothing to be too old for these days. Only thing you can be is too lazy to bother to find out more.
• work on your online presence. Having a well built personal brand on professional social media platforms will gol a long way, especially, if you were to look for a new job. The importance of personal branding is growing and will not stop.
• accept help when offered from industry professionals. ?Know it all“ attitude is the worst I had to keep up with while interviewing candidates.

Sometimes I am wishing more then 24 hours a day because there are so many things I would like to learn, see and experience. There are days where I see it optimistically and enjoy the process of learning, however, the opposite happens too. I have been in situations where learning new things has stressed me out and I started questioning my worth. This is something none of us should do. Please take care of your mental health while trying to keep on truck with the latest things because it can cost your wellbeing.

What do you believe are the best ways how to keep yourself employable no matter the age?