Carl Bradford

There’s an interesting article on finding a job after age 50 as well as how to turn your age into an advantage.  Here’s also an informative video there that you might enjoy. Just click the video link.

I also wanted to give my perspective on just how prevalent age discrimination is in the pursuit of a new job.

My take is that it’s used  a lot more often than meets the eye.  It is also something that I personally find offensive – particularly at my tender age.

But it’s not always age discrimination it is sometimes compensation discrimination as the above referenced article points out.  It can also fall into the area of “job satisfaction” complications as well.  Here’s what I mean.

A substantial number of job opportunities specify X number of years of experience.  For example, 3 to 5 years of cost accounting experience.  Usually when you see a job positing with a set of experience numbers it typically is stated to set the level of expertise required to do that job.

So, if someone had been a Controller or Accounting Manager and has a lot of cost accounting experience, including management of that function, the real question becomes why would  they be satisfied with performing a job probably held 10-20 years ago?

That is the dilemma of the employer and one of the main reasons they specified the job requirement in terms of years.  So, in reality the job satisfaction level for someone with substantially more experience would probably be pretty low and a more experienced person might only consider using the job as a “port in a storm” and leave when a more senior job offer becomes available.

A contributing factor to the job satisfaction issue would also be the much lower compensation associated with a less senior job.

In addition, the cost for employers to fill a vacancy is typically calculated to be two to three times salary when all factors are considered.  So, for a Senior Cost Accountant position at a salary of $60,000, the cost can easily be north of $120,000.  Most employers aren’t particularly excited about a potentially low ROI for a hire that might not stay in the position for very long.

A Lesson Learned

So, try to find job opportunities that are within a reasonable level of your most recent experience.  It doesn’t have to be at the same level, but it should be in the ball park.  This might mean for example if you’ve been a Controller at a Fortune 100 company, that you’d be very content with a Controller or similar level position with a Fortune 1000 company or even with an exciting start-up.  But you have to build a case for opportunities that tend to be different from the track your career has been on most recently.

This means that how you find your next job opportunity, how your resume is structured and your interview strategy must be well defined and thought out BEFORE you launch your job search.

Details Found In Our Members Section

Each of these areas – job search, essential resume strategies and interview preparation – must be carefully planned.  In my 40+ years of experience I’ve observed that less than 5% do very much planning around these areas before launching their job search and/or they try to accomplish that without the guidance of professionals who do this sort of thing for a living.

Typically, most job seekers rely on their own set of experiences and for an over 50 job seeker, that can be substantial.  However, even with that much experience most individuals still have a very limited set of experiences to draw upon.

My advice is to be open to getting advice beyond your own set of experiences.  This would include current and former colleagues/mentors and professionals within the field of recruitment.

In conclusion, if you want to turn your age into an advantage, do include the information in this article into your job search strategy. You can find out just how to enhance your job search by joining our Members Only Area of my blog.