Hello Baby Boomers, all of you born between 1946 and 1964 (BE2489-2507) – or about 25% of the world’s population.
TheLadders.com has reported, that the largest-ever study of age discrimination has found that employers regularly overlook middle-aged and older workers based only on their resumés.
Age proof your Resume with these 5 tips
- In fact, it doesn’t matter whether you are 43 or 63 years old; a key point for any resume is to focus on the last 10 and max 15 years of experience. For the remaining years, write: Previous Employments: Various leadership and commercials job in multi-national companies in Asia and Europe.
- If your education is before 2000, like 1960’ies, drop the year of graduation. Just write your degree, your subject and university.
- First of all, if you don’t show an email in your resume, perhaps expecting that we send you a fax, you are definitely ready for retirement. And if you are still using a loxinfo or AOL email domain, you are telling people you have been around for a long time. Go change to a gmail instead.
- You must show your mobile number, just one please. Don’t use your business- or even residence number.
- No need to tell us that you are into Microsoft Words and Excel, that you know the internet. LOL.
Why you should hire older workers too
Let me share with you, five great reasons why you should hire older workers too. These five points were written by Justin Reynolds and originally appeared in TINYpulse.
1. They have experience
Older workers have been around the block. They’ve learned how business works and they have skills and experience that they can pass on to future generations. Older workers make great mentors and are able to help their younger colleagues develop professionally.
2. They are great conversationalists
While millennials are from the age of instant messaging and social media, older workers developed soft skills by talking to people on a face-to-face basis.
As a result, many of these older folks tend to be better conversationalists. They’ve been through more in life and simply have more knowledge than their younger peers. Hire older workers if you want your employees to have engaging conversations with one another.
3. They aren’t worried about speaking up
Older workers don’t lose sleep over whether their organizations value them or not.
They know what they bring to the table, and they know that their track record speaks for itself.
When new ideas come down the pike, older workers will speak up if they perceive those ideas to be ineffective. They are confident in their age and their experience, which helps their organizations make better decisions.
4. They are more likely to stick around
It’s no secret that many millennials/Gen Y move from job to job. In addition to the skills and experience, older workers bring to the job, research shows they also tend to be more loyal.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, when an employee begins a job between the ages of 18 and 24, there’s a 69% chance that they’ll leave the job within one year and a 93% chance they’ll leave within five years.
On the flip side, when a worker begins a job between the ages of 40 and 48, there’s a 32% chance they’ll be gone within one year and a 69% chance they’ll leave within five years. Older workers are more likely be part of the team for a longer period of time.
5. They have a network full of contacts
Since older workers have been employed elsewhere, they’ve developed their own Rolodex of contacts. You never know when an older worker will have a great strategic connection.
Maybe their college roommate, for example, is a successful businessperson who owns a company that could really help your organization make it to the next level. When you hire an older worker, you hire their network, to a certain extent, along with them.
Searching for a new job is challenging, regardless of how old you are. However, if you are 50 or older, you may face some additional hurdles. If you are concerned about facing bias during the job search, don’t panic. There are many things you can do to showcase the skills and experience you’ve earned during your career. There are many ways that will help you age-proof your resume to help you stand out from the competition and land the right job.
via 15 Tips to Help Older Job Seekers Age-Proof Their Resumes | TopResume
