Are You Acting Your Age in Your Job Search?

In a couple of weeks, I’ll be turning 60 years old. People around me are having a lot of fun with that, at my expense of course. My standard reply when someone asks, “How do you feel about turning sixty” is, “Sixty is the new thirty”. That usually results in at least a few smiles, but that is really how I feel and how I act. Ask anyone who knows me…they’ll agree, because that is who I am – that is a part of my personal brand. It is not words that define me/my brand, it is my actions that do so.

The other evening, at our monthly Ohio CareerConnect networking event for people in a job transition, I reviewed resumes for five individuals, all of whom had varying degrees of gray hair. I always put on my hiring manager’s “hat” when I’m assisting people with their resumes or overall job search strategies, thus my feedback is provided from that perspective. In regard to those five people, I saw their value – how they could potentially make me “look like a genius” for hiring them and how they had the potential to help a team go from good to great.

During our discussions, I did not pay any attention to the color of their hair or spend any time doing resume math (using dates of service to estimate a candidate’s age)…I simply listened to their value propositions – their stories about why hiring them would be a great idea.

Perceived value of the candidate to my organization, my team and me always trumps his/her age.

That said, here is the big problem – most older (50+) candidates don’t do a very good job of making me believe that hiring them might just be one of the best career decisions I’ve ever made. Many come across as “old and outdated” either because of the words they use to deliver their message, how they dress and/or their body language.

What can you do to not act your age? Here are a few things to consider:

Email address – If you are still using an AOL or Hotmail email address, which pretty much puts you in the 50+ crowd, consider creating a Gmail account. Oh, using something like, “m.perry1954@gmail.com” basically tells the reader that you were probably born in 1954. Don’t be so obvious.

Home phone - Yes, I still have a land line, along with a whole lot of other 50+ people. But, as we live in a cell phone world, there is no real reason to list anything but your mobile number on a resume or business card. Listing a “home phone” can make you look old or at least old-fashioned.

Presence on social media – Everyone, at least everyone who is currently employed or seeking to be employed, should have some type of digital footprint. For most this should at least be a LinkedIn profile. Employers will check out a candidate’s online presence as part of their recruiting due diligence. Not having a LinkedIn profile or using the standard/default public profile URL (yes, you can change your public profile URL to be more professional looking than what LinkedIn creates for you) can make you look technology “unfriendly”, which is often associated with being old/outdated.

Recently, while assisting someone with a resume, I asked about having a LinkedIn profile. That person replied with, “No, LinkedIn is kind of newfangled and I’m not very good with stuff like that”. I advised that individual to never again use the word, “newfangled” or ever refer to anything technology related as, “that kind of stuff”.

Please remember that your Facebook page is for personal items, not communicating information about your career, skills inventory and key accomplishments.

Many celebrities and professional athletes often regret what they “Tweet” and usually wind up quickly following up such messages with apologies. This can happen to anyone who uses Twitter. Consider this – once you hit “send”, what you've said is out there forever in the digital world for anyone to see…even a prospective employer.

To help establish a stronger digital presence, consider following experts (on LinkedIn, Twitter or blogs they write) in your targeted industry and commenting on their posts or Tweets. Posting well thought-out commentary helps to establish you as a thought leader/expert in the industry. There have been many stories in the media about people who do this - getting noticed and then hired/recruited by the authors or readers of those posts and comments. Also, consider writing your own blog – it’s really not that difficult to get started.

Ensure the relevance of the skills and accomplishments included in your resume – Just because you won awards in the early ‘80’s does not mean that you are still performing at that level today. Including “MS-DOS” under your listing of technologies with which you've worked does nothing to make me believe you are tech-savvy. Your thorough research of the targeted employer and position sought will provide you with the road map to being their ideal candidate. Don’t tell me everything you've ever done, as most of that may be irrelevant to the skills and competencies I’m seeking for the specific open position at my company. Be relevant!

Dress for success – Guys, stop wearing sport coats that don’t fit and look like you took them out of your grandfather’s closet. A sharp looking suit is pretty much always a good idea and at a minimum, a sign of respect for those with whom you will be meeting for either an informational interview or actual job interview. If a suit is just “not you”, at least go visit the company prior to an interview to see how the employees are dressed…then dress one step up from that.

Just a reminder that a networking event should always be considered to be no different than a business meeting. Would you show up for an important business meeting in jeans (OK, if you work for a place such as Google, yes…I guess you would, but that is more the exception than the rule)? We've had several guest speakers at our monthly networking events (CEO's, corporate recruiters, HR managers)…not one of them has shown up in jeans or anything less than professional business attire.

Do a good self-inventory - What I mean is to take a good look at yourself in a (full length) mirror. Do so with a hiring manager’s hat on and consider this, if your job (as a hiring manager) was dependent upon finding an enthusiastic game-changer, would you be eager to speak with the person looking back at you in the mirror?

We all tend to quickly make judgments about people we meet – what is the first impression you get from that person in the mirror? Would you be proud to introduce this person to the CEO and tell him/her, “This is who I believe, out of the 300 applicants, is my ideal candidate”?

Is that person in the mirror “standing tall”? What is the body language communicating (i.e., “I’m a high-energy, game-changer” or “You’re probably not going to hire me because you’ll think I’m too old”)?

We've all heard some version of the following statement, “Price is only an issue in the perceived absence of value”. The word, “age” could easily be substituted in that saying for “Price” and be just as true.

When I speak to job seekers groups, my message normally includes reasons why I feel my value as a member of an organization could far outweigh the difference in ages between myself and much younger candidates:
  • I've had interaction with more clients in more different situations during my career
  • I've learned from more mistakes (my own and by observing others)
  • I've interacted with more people at different levels of organizations
  • I've been on more special projects, more task forces and steering committees
  • I've hired, trained, mentored and coached more employees
  • I've earned more annual performance awards

You get the picture. Bottom line, many (not all) employees in their 50's and 60's, just by virtue of working longer than their much younger counterparts, have had the opportunity to amass many more experiences and accumulate more accomplishments. Thus, there can be a lot of value associated with such longevity.

 So, as I get ready to add another year to my age, I do so feeling not older, but wiser and more valuable.

How about you, are you acting your age?

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