No-one’s the same as unique you | Especially once you’re over 40
Follow these tips to land a great job regardless of your age or background…
- First and most important: Seek to be rich and you’ll be miserable. Do what you genuinely like to do and follow that path – then you’ll be happy. And unless you’ve been completely unrealistic in your choice, enough money usually follows. For older people, this is particularly true as your money needs are often less. So why not make your last career choices more purposeful and enjoyable?
- As an unique older person, think of your career as being a ‘unique product’ – one to be marketed and sold like all products. You are selling you: a unique, complex and hard-to-define service – a micro brand, a brand of one. Jobs for older people are rarer than those for the young – purely because of the ageism pandemic: so your marketing of you needs to be smarter!
- To sell you, you need: clear goals, action and activity to achieve these goals; plus, we all need support. Stable and Wise is supporting the Mature, the Over 45s, to achieve their goals in the face of rampant age discrimination.
- There are great benefits in working at what you love – higher income, personal happiness, lifestyle, self-esteem and increased energy.
- What you need to consider for a successful career change as an older and unique person…
- Your next great job is probably where you are now: Your bosses know you, you know them and the organisation. There’s a reduced learning curve – and you’ve surmounted the biggest hurdle: you match the work culture. Always look inside before going outside.
- Major job changes happen in two distinct steps: It’s self-defeating to try to combine two big changes in a single step. It’s best to take either: a different role/position in the same workplace OR the same role/position in a different workplace.
- Recruiters don’t help you: Money’s what they love and you don’t pay their huge fees. They are not interested in you unless you are one of the rare people they can quickly sell. Use them for information, but be cautious unless you have built a strong relationship.
- Direct is best: To sell you, go directly to employers once you have done your research, avoid Recruiters.
- Connections actually matter: Referrals come through networks.
- Develop your one-page career plan. A short, concise plan means you’ll do it, you’ll make it happen.
- The One-Page Career Plan requires answers to just 4 questions…
- Where do you want to work? City or rural; which country; what lifestyle?
- What do you want to do? What gifts or skills do you offer; what field or industry would you like to work in?
- Which type of company? Industry leader or Startup or something in between; one that matches your ethics, vision, attitude and social conscience?
- Why do you work? In other words, what are your values? Consider what achievements you want to tell your grandchildren when you’re 85.
- Taking Action: List what you need to do now, this week, and then in the next month, and keep updating this list.
- Networking: List groups and people who would be valuable in your network – networking is critical to finding a great job. Despite what people believe, networking is not schmoozing or buttering people up!
