A large number of organisations &/or industries are biased in favor of millennials. It is difficult to find industries/sectors which does not discriminate job seekers & professionals on the basis of age & evaluate them on the basis of performance.
As an executive resume coach, I have worked with a number of baby boomers & GenX who have secured credible employment & value oriented roles across diverse sectors & industries. Even in today’s technology world where application tracking systems are used to shortlist profiles, humans still make key hiring decisions. Candidates having a compelling & value oriented resume & linkedIn profile, a robust networking strategy & answer decision maker question -” why we should hire you” can easily win this age discrimination battle & land with the job of their choice.
So what strategy should these baby boomers & GenX deploy to be successful in their job hunt?
- What you have to offer: Before jumping onto a job search roller coaster ride, it’s always good to self evaluate. You should be able to answer questions such as :
- How many hours are you willing to work in a week?
- How often are you willing to be on the road?
- Are you willing to take up national, regional or overseas travel?
- Do you prefer 100% commission?
- Evaluate your value proposition: Value you can create/offer has an important bearing on your selection. Self evaluate your values & competencies to understand how you are unique & stand out among other applicants/job seekers.
- Encash your network: Since you have more experience & have lived longer, your network is likely to be larger that of a millennial. Spend just 20% of your job hunting time on scouting for a job on various job boards & applying online. 80% of time should be spent on reaching out to your network & initiating communication with them.
- Research & practice: Make sure that you do detailed research about companies & people with whom you would be talking & practice to be eloquent while communicating your value in the interviews & with network prospects.
- Do not let ageism reflect in your resume: Structure your resume as a brochure & focus on including achievements of the last 10 years. Do not list every responsibility you held/delivered during your entire career.
If you have never prepared your resume for years
There are chances that you haven’t made /updated your resume for years since you were recruited into your roles. Implementing below mentioned suggestions will make sure that your resume appears current & relevant. In today’s fast world, a reader/recruiting manager skim reads resume for not more than 10 seconds & is most likely to have a quick peak view on a screen-mostly on a mobile device
- Avoid Dense text: It is more likely that the reader is going to give your resume a miss if he encounters long blocks of text while doing screen reading. Convert your paragraphs/bullets into 2 to 3 lines with half a inch of space in between to facilitate easy reading.
- Ditch the conventional summary: If your summary contains a lot of full blown adjectives such as “result oriented professional”, your resume is most likely to find a safe place in the trash can. Replace conventional summary with a branding statement & paragraph that depicts why you are best among the lot for potential role/opportunity.
- Focus on listing achievements( not responsibilities): Never bury your achievements under list of responsibilities since most skim readers does not go beyond the first bullet in the interview. Rather create an eye catching achievement by evaluating what you were proudest of in each role & try to convert into a measurable outcome.
As the founder and executive resume coach at Sushant Kumar Ventures, I offer customized executive resume and LinkedIn profile writing services for modern day job seekers. Sign up here for our services/free consult.
