These are the skills job seekers over 45 may not even know they have (and the pitfalls many stumble into)

If you secured your first job in the 70s, 80s or early 90s, you’ve seen incredible change in the workforce. Employers no longer ask for your marital status or smoking preference (smoking was only outlawed in Australian offices in 2004) or age upon hiring, but employers also no longer ask for your loyalty.

The idea of having one job for life has been steadily eroding and today, many job seekers over 45 find themselves looking for their next role with a sense of vertigo.

What did I do wrong to end up unemployed?

How is it I’m coming up against people with a decade less experience and not getting an interview?

Why didn’t my career pan out like I planned?

If you’ve ever asked yourself one of the above questions, Tanya Fraga has got you covered. She coordinates the Career Transition Assistance program for over 45s looking to pivot to a new career, funded by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment.

She says caseloads practically doubled in 2020.

“I’m now dealing with highly skilled people coming to the program. People with very unique skills like pilots, CEOs, business owners, procurement officers, web developers and construction managers. I never ever in a million years dealt with these clients before because they just went from job to job.

“Sitting on the other end of the table, they’re nervous, they’re anxious and they’re downright confused, saying, ‘I have all these skills, what do I do now?’

“They don’t want to be a cleaner or forklift driver, but they don’t want to take a Centrelink payment either.”

Fraga says clients from all walks of life begin to regain their confidence when they realise all the transferrable skills they have that hiring managers actively look for.

“We look at things like enthusiasm, attention to detail and other foundational skills you have as a person, not the skills you’ve gained within that industry because those skills can be taught.

“In most cases we are not talking about taking up survival jobs but identifying what is in their skill set that can help them switch and develop a new career. We really deep dive into an individual’s background, their previous roles and experiences to tease out soft skills like communication and relationship building and show how these can be applied to a job application even if they are not a perfect fit.”

She said age was something many mature job seekers dwelled on.

“They often are working with HR or recruitment people who are younger than them, who might have just finished their qualifications, so emotions can be heightened. They feel like ‘no one will hire me’.

“One of the questions I ask all of them is: How many of you have left a job and your sick leave was through the roof because you barely took a day off your whole time there? They all say ‘me, me, me’. I can tell you right now, anyone under about 29-30 will struggle to save sick leave.

“Mature age workers have lower absenteeism, they are willing to do extra hours without being asked, they get the job done, they take less sick leave. They are so beneficial to the workforce, they just need to know how to sell themselves."

“Because the thing about mature age job seekers is, when they were taught résumés, you had to put marital status, how old you were, how many kids you’ve got, if you were a drinker or a smoker. A lot still have that on their résumé.

"When I create a whole new résumé for them, they say, ‘Wow, I’m getting interviews now.’."

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