New job in early 50s?

[Anonymous]

Anybody have a hard time getting a new job in their early 50s? Do I delete 15 years from my resume? Almost no employers are looking for 30 years of experience. Do I apply for jobs that want 7-10 years? Any ideas?

[Anonymous]

It depends on what you do. In my work, I have specific enough expertise and have kept current that I have had no problems. But, I have friends that basically had to retire.

If you exude a typical stereotype: maybe being a little slower, or being unable to adapt to technology, you are screwed.

If you can show how your experience can help bring in new business and/or improve others, you are golden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on what you do. In my work, I have specific enough expertise and have kept current that I have had no problems. But, I have friends that basically had to retire.

If you exude a typical stereotype: maybe being a little slower, or being unable to adapt to technology, you are screwed.

If you can show how your experience can help bring in new business and/or improve others, you are golden.

What field are you in?

[Anonymous]

Scientific R & D.

[Anonymous]

Take some programming on Coursera, do SOMETHING to show you can learn. And maintain your appearance. Not asking for a fashion model, but be in shape.

[Anonymous]

Remove your college graduation date from your resume. Combine early years' work experience on your resume so it's not obvious how long you've been in the workforce. Your objective is to land an interview, and to do so, you need to be a little vague about how long you've been working. It's sad but true.

Do well in the interview process and by the time you get to the background check, it doesn't matter how old you are-- they want to hire you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take some programming on Coursera, do SOMETHING to show you can learn. And maintain your appearance. Not asking for a fashion model, but be in shape.

Do "SOMETHING" to show I can learn? Oh course I can learn. Why wouldn't I be able to learn? I've been learning my entire life. Maintain my appearance? I'm your average looking, average weight professional looking middle aged woman. I'm not stunning but I'm very presentable. Would you tell a man to "maintain his appearance?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take some programming on Coursera, do SOMETHING to show you can learn. And maintain your appearance. Not asking for a fashion model, but be in shape.

Do "SOMETHING" to show I can learn? Oh course I can learn. Why wouldn't I be able to learn? I've been learning my entire life. Maintain my appearance? I'm your average looking, average weight professional looking middle aged woman. I'm not stunning but I'm very presentable. Would you tell a man to "maintain his appearance?"

NP, but you'd better believe it. I know of men in your situation who have been told by headhunters to dye their hair, get their teeth fixed and buy new clothes for job interviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take some programming on Coursera, do SOMETHING to show you can learn. And maintain your appearance. Not asking for a fashion model, but be in shape.

Do "SOMETHING" to show I can learn? Oh course I can learn. Why wouldn't I be able to learn? I've been learning my entire life. Maintain my appearance? I'm your average looking, average weight professional looking middle aged woman. I'm not stunning but I'm very presentable. Would you tell a man to "maintain his appearance?"

NP, but you'd better believe it. I know of men in your situation who have been told by headhunters to dye their hair, get their teeth fixed and buy new clothes for job interviews.

Definitely. Lose weight, get clothes that fit and look up to date, get those crazy eyebrow hairs under control, update glasses, and whiten teeth are all standard advice for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take some programming on Coursera, do SOMETHING to show you can learn. And maintain your appearance. Not asking for a fashion model, but be in shape.

Do "SOMETHING" to show I can learn? Oh course I can learn. Why wouldn't I be able to learn? I've been learning my entire life. Maintain my appearance? I'm your average looking, average weight professional looking middle aged woman. I'm not stunning but I'm very presentable. Would you tell a man to "maintain his appearance?"

NP, but you'd better believe it. I know of men in your situation who have been told by headhunters to dye their hair, get their teeth fixed and buy new clothes for job interviews.

Definitely. Lose weight, get clothes that fit and look up to date, get those crazy eyebrow hairs under control, update glasses, and whiten teeth are all standard advice for me.

Agree. We're talking about grooming here, not about getting Botox. Good grooming is just as important for men as for women in the job hunt.

Also, you need to *demonstrate* you can learn. Potential employers aren't going to intuit this from your resume - you need to list the Coursera class as a line item. Similarly, telling them "of course I can learn" isn't convincing without evidence. Of course I can play the violin (but very badly and I'd need years of lessons). Employers hear this stuff all the time and they want actual evidence.

[Anonymous]

It's pretty brutal for job seekers over 50 so as unfortunate as it may seem, appearances count. DH dropped all work experience over about 15 years and deleted graduation dates and that helped immensely. Good luck, hopefully you won't be one who has to "retire".

[Anonymous]

Appearance definitely counts for men as well as women. My dad got laid off in his mid-50s and had lots of great phone interviews but when they met in person, he suddenly wasn't a "good fit" for the job. I guess gray & balding wasn't what they were looking for.

[Anonymous]

My mother was a SAHM for ~25 years . She went back to school at 55 for a masters in the Computer programming field along with GIS. Got a job immediately, around 6 figures. It's doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take some programming on Coursera, do SOMETHING to show you can learn. And maintain your appearance. Not asking for a fashion model, but be in shape.

Do "SOMETHING" to show I can learn? Oh course I can learn. Why wouldn't I be able to learn? I've been learning my entire life. Maintain my appearance? I'm your average looking, average weight professional looking middle aged woman. I'm not stunning but I'm very presentable. Would you tell a man to "maintain his appearance?"

NP, but you'd better believe it. I know of men in your situation who have been told by headhunters to dye their hair, get their teeth fixed and buy new clothes for job interviews.

Definitely. Lose weight, get clothes that fit and look up to date, get those crazy eyebrow hairs under control, update glasses, and whiten teeth are all standard advice for me.

Agree. We're talking about grooming here, not about getting Botox. Good grooming is just as important for men as for women in the job hunt.

Also, you need to *demonstrate* you can learn. Potential employers aren't going to intuit this from your resume - you need to list the Coursera class as a line item. Similarly, telling them "of course I can learn" isn't convincing without evidence. Of course I can play the violin (but very badly and I'd need years of lessons). Employers hear this stuff all the time and they want actual evidence.

I don't get the focus on "learning." Are you implying that because I'm over 50 I can't learn anymore? Do 30 something's need to demonstrate they can "learn?" Also, are you talking about learning technology, issues, office procedures? No one has ever mentioned being able to "learn." I have a masters degree and I've "learned" my whole life. Why would I not be able to learn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Take some programming on Coursera, do SOMETHING to show you can learn. And maintain your appearance. Not asking for a fashion model, but be in shape.

Do "SOMETHING" to show I can learn? Oh course I can learn. Why wouldn't I be able to learn? I've been learning my entire life. Maintain my appearance? I'm your average looking, average weight professional looking middle aged woman. I'm not stunning but I'm very presentable. Would you tell a man to "maintain his appearance?"

NP, but you'd better believe it. I know of men in your situation who have been told by headhunters to dye their hair, get their teeth fixed and buy new clothes for job interviews.

Definitely. Lose weight, get clothes that fit and look up to date, get those crazy eyebrow hairs under control, update glasses, and whiten teeth are all standard advice for me.

Agree. We're talking about grooming here, not about getting Botox. Good grooming is just as important for men as for women in the job hunt.

Also, you need to *demonstrate* you can learn. Potential employers aren't going to intuit this from your resume - you need to list the Coursera class as a line item. Similarly, telling them "of course I can learn" isn't convincing without evidence. Of course I can play the violin (but very badly and I'd need years of lessons). Employers hear this stuff all the time and they want actual evidence.

I don't get the focus on "learning." Are you implying that because I'm over 50 I can't learn anymore? Do 30 something's need to demonstrate they can "learn?" Also, are you talking about learning technology, issues, office procedures? No one has ever mentioned being able to "learn." I have a masters degree and I've "learned" my whole life. Why would I not be able to learn?

You're responding to me. I'm over 50 and I work for a senior's org. I'm just telling you like it is. You're free to ignore of course. We both know that we can both learn, in fact I have a huge account at Great Courses. But the brutal truth is that not all potential employers think so. Fact: age discrimination exists. Getting all indignant isn't going to change this (and could I suggest an attitude adjustment in general). So you will need to show them proof.