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Mature adults seek jobs for a variety of reasons – money,
benefits, sense of affiliation or belonging, genuine desire to make
a contribution, interest in learning something new, or an opportunity
“to do something I’ve always wanted to do.
The resume To avoid “dating yourself” don’t put the dates of graduation in your resume – just the degree. Be mindful that if your former college has merged with another institution use the current name of the college and put the original name in parentheses (RIT rather than Mechanics Institute.) Debbie Harper, president of Harper Hewes Executive Search says “People make the mistake of trying to cover all their bases in one document, typically resulting in a generic, fairly ineffective representation. It’s OK to have multiple versions of your resume, each one highlighting a different aspect of your experience (operations, or project management, or business development, etc) as long as they are all factual and accurate.” Another idea is to group all of your earliest positions under a general category and focus on what you accomplished in your most recent positions. As you describe your accomplishments on your resume be sure to use current terms – not the terms popular in the 60s or 70s. Show that you are up-to-date with the terminology of your industry. If you are using words that no one else uses any more, it may show you that you need some updated skills to meet today’s job market needs. Also, if resumes are being screened through an electronic data base, you won’t have the words that keep you in the running. Monster Career Advice offers a list of the top 100 resume keyword search phrases used by recruiters. While search firms may differ in their advice, many suggest that it’s appropriate to have a resume longer than one page. But keep it to the point – being a life guard 50 years ago isn’t pertinent to a warehouse management position - make every word count – show your accomplishments and avoid a listing of job titles and dates. Use your resume to showcase that you have stayed current with training, particularly technology, and indicate your proficiencies. This removes one of the stereotypes about older workers – skills not current. This may include the use of e-mail, power point, Excel etc as basic skills. (Many continuing education programs offer training at a reasonable cost.) If you are trying a new field, temporary employment is an excellent way to see if you and the new field “are a fit.” Temp jobs also help you earn some income and update your skills which can be invaluable when the right job opportunity becomes available. Many permanent jobs begin as temporary positions while departments submit requisitions and develop job description, etc. On the other hand, if you don’t enjoy the job, you are less likely to appear like a job hopper because it was intended to be a short-term assignment. At this stage of life, it’s important to allow yourself “the luxury” of doing what you love. In our next issue we will focus on techniques for a successful
job interview. If you have a story you would like to share, please
contact Lynette Loomis at: The Marketing Strategists, PO Box 663,
Mendon, N.Y. 14506; or e-mail me at: marketingstrategists@rochester.rr.com |
