Older Workers-New Technology: YES THEY CAN

NEW Survey Debunks OLD Stereotype

For years, a stereotype has been fostered by the media, and now social media, that older people are just not that savvy when it comes to new technology. 

This false perception contributes to age discrimination that affects the older job seeker.

Two companies,  DROPBOX and Ipsos Mori, have surveyed more than 4,000 information workers in the U.S. and Europe about their use of technology in the workplace. 

The survey has revealed that workers aged 55+ are actually less stressed using technology in the workplace than their younger peers. The results also showed that older workers are actually BETTER at using multiple devices than their younger peers - only 13% of respondents aged 55+  reported having trouble working with multiple devices compared to 37% of 18-to-34-year olds.

If you are an older job seeker, don't PERPETUATE the stereotype of the obsolete older worker. Be sure to keep your skills AND resume up-to-date. Create your killer resume HERE.

If you haven't been in the job market lately, it might not be your job skills holding you back but your JOB HUNTING skills. CLICK HERE for a free assessment.

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NYT: Lessons on Aging Well From a 105-year Old

Joel Saget/Agence-France Press-Getty Images

Editor's Note: On January 4, 2017, Robert Marchand set a new World's Record by cycling more than 14 miles around a track in an hour - in the 105 year-plus category! This was not Mr. Marchand's first record. He had already set a world's record for the 100+ category 3 years prior when he came to the attention of a French professor of exercise science. She had a theory (untested) that if older athletes actually exercised more, they could increase their levels of fitness. Mr. Marchand agreed to participate in the study which is discussed in a recent article in The New York Times.

Mr. Marchand followed this program for two years. Then he attempted to best his own one-hour track record.
First, however, Dr. Billat and her colleagues remeasured all of the physiological markers they had tested two years before.
Mr. Marchand's VO2 Max (an accepted scientific indicator of fitness) was now about 13 percent higher than it had been before, she found, and comparable to the aerobic capacity of a healthy, average 50-year-old. He also had added to his pedaling power, increasing that measure by nearly 40 percent.
Unsurprisingly, his cycling performance subsequently also improved considerably. During his ensuing world record attempt, he pedaled for almost 17 miles, about three miles farther than he had covered during his first record-setting ride.

Read the complete article here.

Learn the "49 Benefits of Hiring an Older Worker" Here

Not a Good "Cultural Fit?"

"10 Microaggressions Older People Will Recognize Immediately" From the Huffington Post

Editor's Note: There are subtle things younger people say and do that demean older people every day. TV ads are glutted with culturally and technically out-of-touch older people. If you're over 40 (yes, it starts young), and looking for a new job or making a career change, these negative stereotypes can create barriers and close off opportunities.This is age discrimination:

Saying an older job applicant wouldn’t be a good “cultural fit.”
What exactly is a good cultural fit anyway? If most of the office is comprised of people who don’t have family obligations to rush home to, does that mean no one can? We’d remind you that there was a time when a black or Latino hire wouldn’t have been a good cultural fit because they weren’t allowed to join the local country club to play golf. But civil rights laws presumably changed all that and an employer today wouldn’t dream of applying this standard to a racial or ethnic group. 
Isn’t having age diversity an equally good thing? People of different ages bring different perspectives to a job. By 2020, 35 percent of the population will be age 50 or older. Who better to suggest products and services to bring to market than those who understand the needs of 35 percent of the population best? Doesn’t that make more sense than worrying if the new hire will participate in Karaoke night with the office crowd? 

Click Here to Read Complete Article.

How you can BEAT AGE DISCRIMINATION

• Keep Your Job Skills Up-to-Date: Take your personal job hunting skills assessment test. FREE. Click Here.
• “5 Simple Tips to Beat Age Discrimination During a Job Search." FREE. Click Here.
• Find out the 49 Benefits To Hiring An Older Skilled Worker. FREE. Click Here.

The Weight of Unemployment

Lose Your Job...Get Fat 

(Editor's notes) Alicia Adamczyk's article in MONEY discusses the findings of a Health and Retirement Study of full and part-time workers ages 50-60. The participants were of average weight and lost their jobs before they became eligible for Social Security. The research revealed a weight gain during unemployment that was not incurred by their employed counterparts.

So now, in addition to the loss of income, less in retirement savings, and increased stress and anxiety, this paper indicates that not working before retirement can also make you fat.

The paper points specifically to the stress as a reason for the weight gain. “The stress of displacement from a business closure may be further compounded if individuals have a harder time finding reemployment and/or are not yet eligible for retirement benefits,” it reads. And those without spouses or much in the way of discretionary funds are more likely to feel the stress.

Read entire article here

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To Age Well, Change How You Feel About Aging

"Negative stereotypes about getting older can become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Editor’s Note: Theory—Thinking bad thoughts about the aging process could actually be doing you harm according to this article in the Wall St. Journal. The article discusses the positive effects of aging and how to embrace the process.

From the article:

Your Personal Branding as an Older Worker

What Sets You Apart?

Personal branding is the act of letting your identity be known and showing the qualities that set you apart from others in your area of discipline. It comprises a combination of skills and talents alongside style and personality. In other words, it requires having a clear message of who you are, what direction you are going in, as well as the experience you have. You are letting the hiring manager be aware of your identity so that you are not just part of the faceless crowd.

Personal branding comes with lots of advantages. Besides highlighting your personal strengths, personal branding can help pull your resume from the bottom to the top of the pile and make you an outstanding interviewer.

Here are some tips to help prepare yourself for a new job:

• Brainstorm: Take some time to think about what to include in your personal brand. You can do this by going over your resume, understanding the leadership qualities you possess and your work ethic. Determine the path or direction you want to take your career in and also figure out the type of projects you are mostly drawn to. Then, develop a big plan on how to express this to the hiring managers and recruiters.

• New Market, New Skill: You have to accept the fact that you are competing in a marketplace which is entirely different from what you had in the past. Consequently, you have to learn about the new workplace, accept and leverage it to your advantage. You can do this by trying to understand the generational differences. For example, there is a myth that older workers are not usually energetic or tech savvy. However, they are generally taken to be reliable, honest, hardworking and loyal. Take the positive assumptions, and use them to your advantage. Efforts should be made at addressing the negative ones.

• Technology and social media: Brush up your knowledge about the latest technologies and get yourself engaged in the use of social media. Show your prospective employer your willingness to learn new things. Social media is a great platform to start your personal branding. Therefore, you have to build a social media friendly resume and ensure its done the right way by not making blind submissions to different websites. The idea is to create a resume that would be so dynamic that it becomes readily accessible through searching, distributing and sharing. The resume should be able to:

• Accurately portray who you are as a brand.

• Attract hiring managers, recruiters and job opportunities to you, instead of going about making blind submissions.

• Showcase your abilities, talents as well as what you look for in a job. You can create a personalized resume by clicking here.

• You can also make use of a cover letter. A cover letter represents a better place to make your personality known. Be unique and discuss why you would be a better choice over your younger colleagues. Start creating cover letters that get interviews by clicking here.

• Posting your information on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr and others is a good way to get started.

• Make Yourself Stand Out: This involves convincing the hiring managers that you are a very rare talent. Start by expanding your thinking about your own particular capabilities, then tell it to the world. And make sure you describe your unique personal brand value in everything you do. You can do this by creating an online profile and identity, building your network, connecting with local groups and associations, and seeking out volunteer opportunities.

Studies have shown that most workers who seek job opportunities at mature ages usually find the new job more appealing when compared to the old job. Therefore, ask yourself how you could combine your vast knowledge, experience, and personality to produce something that a younger counterpart cannot. In other words, regardless of your age, you can always brand yourself and stand out.

CLICK HERE for a complete schedule of online workshops and resources to prepare you for your new career.

Over 50, Female and Jobless, Even as Others Return to Work

Editors Note: Patricia Cohen, New York Times Writer, chronicles the downward spiral of women job hunters in the last decade from findings revealed in a new study on long-term unemployment from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Ten years ago, less than 25% of the unemployed women remained out of work for more than 6 months.

From 2012-2013, the unemployed women comprised 50% of the long-term unemployment rate. Ms. Cohen details the plight of Chettie Mcafee who was laid off from her job after 30 years. She is still looking for a job.

...“I’ve been applying and applying and applying,” said McAfee, who has relied on her savings and family to get by as she fights off attempts to foreclose on her home. At interviews, she said, “They ask, ‘Why has it been so long?’”

At 5 percent, the jobless rate may be close to what economists consider full employment, but that headline figure doesn’t capture the challenges still facing millions of Americans who have yet to regain their footing in the workplace....

McAfee is part of a group that has found the post-recession landscape particularly difficult to navigate: women over 50.

Read more here: NYT: Women Over 50

CLICK HERE to Learn 49 Benefits to Hiring an Older Skilled Worker

49 Benefits of Hiring an Older Worker

Thank You for Your Support - Here is a Gift for You!

It has been said, “the older you get the wiser you are." It has also been said, “that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks." These adages are nice to repeat, but do any of them really hold true when it comes to older skilled workers who are looking for a new career?

Over the last few years, I have read thousands of comments, questions, and expletives from older workers. Some of you are clearly professing your superior attributes, while others are complaining of their unfair treatment by job recruiters.

Can both be right in their assessments? Perhaps. But one guiding principle at Interns Over 40 has been to help older skilled workers achieve their own career greatness.

In doing so it is necessary to dispel myths while reinforcing the benefits that make older workers a great catch in a sometimes difficult job market.

I want to thank all of our faithful audience of Job Seekers, Career Coaches, and Recruiters who live this experience every day and prepare yourself, or others, for the next career assignment. 

I hope this list of “49 Benefits To Hiring An Older Skilled Worker” becomes a valuable part of your toolbox as you continue to pursue your ideal career. Share it, Print it and Keep it nearby as a refresher.

With our working lives expanding into our 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, perhaps this list will, in a small way help you feel confident about the depth and value of your work and life experience. Remember “soon or later everyone will get older or …..”.  "Wild in the Streets".

Start Using The "49 Benefits Of Hiring An Older Worker" Now.

It's Not JUST About the Money

Your brain on retirement is not nearly as sharp.

(Editor's note) Were you looking forward to retirement at 55, 60 or 65? You planned for  your "golden years," only to find your retirement funds slashed by the recession and social security benefits insufficient. You must keep working into your 60's, maybe even your 70's. There is  a silver lining to continue working; a study, discussed in the Washington Post, is now proving that  working is not only good for your physical health but is also good for your mental health. The study is looking at overall health, chronic diseases, ability to perform daily activities, happiness levels, and more. The "sweet spot" for retirement is estimated at the  late 60's:

“Retiring too early can hurt you,” said Esteban Calvo, a sociologist with the Columbia Aging Center and the Institute of Public Policy at Diego Portales University in Chile. He is currently conducting a longitudinal study looking at over 100,000 people in 21 countries to determine the physical and mental effects of retirement. 

So far, the study, “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” shows negative effects for those who retire earlier than the mean age - and the outcomes are worse the earlier you stop working. “At 50 it will be very, very bad for your health,” Calvo said. “At 60 it will be bad but not as bad as at age 50.” Read the complete article here.

49 Benefits to Hiring an Older Skilled Worker - DOWNLOAD HERE 

 Things You Can and Can't Do About Age Bias - Read More Here

Flash: US has hit the largest number of older workers ever!

‘I’ll Never Retire’: Americans Break Record for Working Past 65

According to the latest data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, almost 20% of all Americans 65+ are now employed. "I'll Never Retire," an article in Bloomberg.com, cites several different studies and explanations for the upsurge in older workers. Among the reasons people are working longer:

• They need the money.
• They like their jobs.
• Skilled, experienced workers have become more valuable to employers.
• Older Americans are healthier and living longer.

"It has become increasingly normal to be over 65 and working, as more and more boomers reach retirement age, said Torsten Sløk, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank. Now that one in five older Americans has a job, he says, “I would think this just continues to move higher.”

Read the complete article here.

Do you know "The 49 Benefits of Hiring an Older Worker?" Click HERE for your copy.

8 Realities That Affect Older Job Seekers.

Even if the chants of  "We are the 99%" has diminished from last year many unemployed/underemployed are still pondering what the core issues are for Older Workers in today's job market. 

Following are 8 Realities That Affect An Older Job Seeker. What can you add to this list?

1) A basic lack of available jobs.

2) A mismatch of current work skills to available jobs.

3) A bias against hiring and keeping older workers.

4) Continued movement of job's to the lowest cost provider including India, Asia and Eastern Europe.

5) A lack of willingness for older workers to take jobs that may be significantly less in pay and status then their previous positions.

6) The burden of a financially leveraged legacy with mortgages, car payments, credit cards and college tuition's. 

7) A lack of federal, state and local political will and/or agreement to help working class people to regain their footing including: freeing up capital for new businesses development,  publicly financed job creation and appropriate skills training.

8) The increased concentration of wealth with the top 1% resulting in a less broad distribution of wealth that could stimulate local businesses.

Let me know what your thoughts, reactions and potential solutions are?

Answer Tough Interviewer Questions so you can Ace it!

February 4th, 1PM EST/10AM PST- 5 Simple Tips To Beat Age Discrimination In Your Job Search! [Live Question and Answer]

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• Over Come The 5 Biggest Biases Against Older Job Seekers 
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