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.

Branding: Do You Look Too Old For The Job?

Branding Yourself in Mid Life.
Marva Goldsmith is a insightful writer who  knows what it is to reinvent yourself as a older worker. Part of the game is how you look. Do you look 60 or 20? What is appropriate for a seasoned skilled worker to wear to a job interview? Her book on Branding Over 50 offers some insight. (Editor's Note)


"What does your packaging look like?
Some think of image as something shallow or relating only to surface features, but as with commercial brands, personal branding includes the proper selection and construction of your personal brand packaging.


First impressions matter. You must take control of your appearance. People form opinions of you—right or wrong—within moments of meeting you. That means you can’t afford to leave someone’s impression of you up to chance.

Studies show that in the first 30 seconds of meeting you, people base their impression of you on this:
55%    What they see
38%    How you speak
7%    What you say

We all know snap judgments can be wrong and unfair. Still, you can’t ignore the reality: people form opinions based on the most minor details. More than half of what goes into forming someone’s first impression of you happens even before you open your mouth. That’s right: 55% of someone’s initial response to you is based on visual cues. That could easily be a whole workbook in itself (check out Spin Me: Creating the Image That Gets the Job; An Image Guide for Recent Grads and Job Hunters at marvagoldsmith.com), but for the basics, here’s a primer on what to consider, especially when going to an interview.
Clothing—People do judge books by their covers, every day. Make sure that your cover conveys the message you want people to remember. Here’s a sample of messages that your clothing might be saying about you (whether you like it or not):

Tips for the 50+ job seeker

You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.”
—George Burns, Comedian
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First and foremost, if you purchased your interview suit in the 1900s…think about an upgrade. You must look current. Your clothing, your eyewear, and your hair must tell the story that you are current. That does not mean to dress like a youngster, only that you must appear up-to-date, interesting, fresh, competent, etc. Invest in an all-weather wool suit in navy blue or charcoal gray. For creative industries, you have more latitude with color.Take the Career Skills Test for Free. 

Make a statement about your personality with your scarf choice and/or jewelry selection. Women especially can use jewelry to bring color and interest into the interview uniform. Earrings should not dangle and the jewelry should not make noise, as it can be distracting.

If your hair is silver, wear accents of blue or a French blue shirt to add vitality to your face. Depending on your personal coloring, a white shirt can drain the color from your face, leaving a “ghastly” appearance. If you have stark silver in your hair and the rest of your hair is black or very deep brown—avoid brown tones; the color will make your hair look dull.

And, what about a dye job?  Only if you can get a professional to dye and maintain the look.  Avoid stark colors, i.e., jet black at 62 years old.  Use colors that look natural--including a little silver around the temples.  Aim for a look that connotes vibrancy, vitality and health...and that does not necessarily require a dye job.

Before your interview, use Visine. Not only does it get the “red out,” it also whitens and adds a little sparkle.

If your teeth are stained, consider professional teeth cleaning or whitening. If that’s too expensive, then opt for some of the over-the-counter toothpaste whiteners


Use Facebook To Attract Hiring Managers.
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Learn More About Branding:


Personal Branding: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself (video).
Top 10 Tips for Personal Branding Online as a Boomer.

Read more From:Marva GoldSmith Branding Yourself After Age 50

Marketing Ploy or Good Will?

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Do You Look Too Old For The Job? Discussion Topic.

Do You Look Too Old For The Job?

I have recently noticed some popular discussions on Interns Over 40 regarding how we, as older workers, look. Should older workers get face lifts and dye their hair? How should you dress to an interview with a HR Recruiter who is a younger worker?
Yes we all want to be whom we are , but we also want to get the job. Which means you should be in control of your personal brand. Join the conversation in our comments section below. You can read the full article about personal branding here.

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