Everyone knows workforce demographics are shifting. Latest estimates are that 75% of employees will be Millennials by 2025. Many of them are quickly rising into middle, senior, and even C-suite management roles. At the same time, many Baby Boomers are working far beyond the traditional retirement age of 65—either by necessity or by choice.
While Baby Boomers still make up a significant percentage of job seekers, it’s widely assumed that companies prefer to hire younger, less expensive employees. Wherever this age bias exists, employers are walking away from talented, experienced professionals who could be invaluable assets to their businesses.
As a midlife job seeker, here are four ways to triumph over age-related dynamics you might encounter during your transition.
1. Don’t Give Up!
Many midlife job seekers are convinced they won’t be hired because of their age. Some give up and stop trying. Being over age 50 could add time to your search but it is not a showstopper.
Many people in my network have landed jobs in their fifties and sixties—myself included. How you think about your age will affect how you approach your job search and the results you achieve. If you perceive your age as a barrier, it will be. If you perceive your age as a non-issue, it will be. Applying this thinking to your job search is a powerful place to operate from.
Learn how to conduct a successful job search at any age in Losing Your Job & Finding Yourself.
2. Stay Current with Technology
The pace of technology innovations is accelerating exponentially. Some older workers have or will become technology dinosaurs as digital natives overtake the workforce.
Baby Boomers might resist or find it difficult to keep up with mobile devices, social media, and related communication practices that emerge and disappear at an ever-faster pace. People in this age range are especially challenged if they never developed the intuitive ability to find their way around new devices, apps, social media, the cloud, and whatever comes next. But, with many accessible ways to keep technology skills current, it’s up to us to do so.
3. Age Proof Your Profiles and Job Applications
If you’re older than 45, it’s wise to defend against potential hiring biases by age proofing your resume, LinkedIn profile, and online applications. It’s easy to do by omitting dates on educational degrees and excluding one or more early jobs. Common advice is to include only the most recent 15 years’ experience in your job search documents.
However, if your longer history tells an impressive story that’s relevant to your search objectives I recommend including it on your resume. Maybe not in your LinkedIn profile, and definitely not in online applications. This is one way to avoid getting screened out by an applicant tracking system.
4. Create an Encore Career
For many Baby Boomers, replicating a previous job and compensation level can become less realistic—perhaps less desirable. Rather than working to have the resources we need to live, Boomers might be ready and able to choose work we love (living to work vs. working to live).
One notion is to determine your income requirement, find (hopefully satisfying) work to meet that requirement, and do other work because you want to—not because you have to or think you should. If financial conditions allow (including family obligations and retirement scenarios), and you can afford to earn less than before, a midlife transition can be a well-earned opportunity to downshift from high-pressure corporate jobs and find purpose-driven work you enjoy.
Reaching midlife, more people we know might become critically ill or even pass away. This is a wake-up call to enjoy life as much as possible while you can. But if you create an encore career doing work you love, you might want to continue doing it for years to come—even as you figure out what your “retirement” will look like.
Whichever work scenarios you want to create in your next chapter, you must conduct an effective job search. Learn how by reading Losing Your Job & Finding Yourself.