When You're 40, 50 Or 60, Most Of Your Job Interviews Are Fake (How to get real ones)

It's gotta be frustrating to read this, but if you're an?age?40+ job seeker, most of the interviews you've landed are fake, including ones you?think?are real.

They may not seem fake, but you know they haven't progressed, or you were a finalist but younger candidates always seem to get the job. A common reason most of your interviews haven't progressed or you're not landing offers is because these interviews don't represent real jobs.

Let's first describe the types of fake interviews you're getting and then describe how to find interviews that represent real opportunities.

When you apply to jobs when you're in your 40s, 50s or 60s, most of the interviews you get don't represent real jobs. This includes when you apply through job boards, Linkedin, company career pages, Applicant Tracking Systems, and through recruiters/HR. It also applies to the strategy you've been taught to network for jobs.

Instead, these are the types of fake interviews you're getting:

• Compliance:?Compliance interviews are chosen by HR to inflate numbers they report to government. These are interviews that HR chooses who are from traditionally discriminated groups (ex: over 40) or unemployed, and sets up an interview with the hiring manager to interview. Because the employer gave you the interview for reasons other than hiring you (they gave it to "juice" their diversity interview numbers), these are interviews that waste your time and give you zero chance of a getting an offer.
• Comparison/Courtesy:?Most companies require hiring managers to do basic due diligence before making offers. By the time you've applied (even if you apply immediately when a job is posted), the hiring manager already has identified top choices. HR picks comparison interviews so the hiring manager can meet due diligence requirements, even though the hiring manager has already identified their own top candidates. You hope that your comparison interview progresses to backup.
• Backup:?Sometimes, the hiring manager's top choices all turn down the job, so they need a plan B candidate. This backup candidate may get to a finalist round, but rarely lands the job ... unless all the top candidates turn it down. To boil it down, you're trying to come in 4th place, hope that candidates 1-3 all turn down the job, and you win by default (against terrible odds).

The way to avoid these types of fake interviews are to avoid the HR hiring process - Stop applying after the job is posted (either online or through networking). Instead, learn how to find jobs in the same way hiring managers find almost all of the people they hire.

You would already be doing this if you knew how ...

I help people solve the most difficult job search problems, including job search acceleration, getting past ATSs, ageism, remote positions, product/job function/career/industry/ geographic change, unemployment, "bouncy" recent career path, job search turnaround, seeking raise/promotion, industry in decline/consolidation, long term gaps, family leave, or other of the most challenging job search issues.

Join me for my next free Resume Webinar (enroll at https://x.resumewebinar.com/register for no charge) and learn how to accelerate your job search, so you can find your next job faster in 2023.

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