Attract attention, and focus on the bright side

There may be quite a few things in the résumé that were not so much impressive, so try to bury it deeper during your interview by focusing your interviewer’s attention on your strength. Do not just dodge the questions asked about your weak points. Tackle the question wisely and enroute take a turn and move towards your strength. Do it covertly.

Promote your work ethics

Tell your interviewer that because of your age, you do not feel like hopping from one job to another, and will settle if you get a satisfactory job like the one you are giving interview for. Well say this but not in so many words. It should look as if it is coming naturally from you. Do not fake it. Loyalty is a big asset and that too a rare one.

Tell your interviewer your monetary worth

You have accumulated a lot of knowledge and expertise (perhaps interdepartmental ones as well) in your long career before being unemployed. Tell the worth of those skills in dollar terms. The interviewer needs to know your real worth.

With this our discussion on this topic comes to an end. And as a parting though, I must say that this phase (unemployment) is temporary, and there is always a job for a person who deserves it, and works to get it.

You may want to bookmark this post, as I have provided links to all the posts that I have written in this series below this paragraph. I would like to know what you think about this series, so use the comment box and start sending your input.

Index

1. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – I
2. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – II
3. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – III
4. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – IV
5. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – V
6. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – VI
7. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – VII
8. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – VIII
9. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – IX
10. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – X
11. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XI
12. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XII
13. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XIII
14. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XIV
15. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XV
16. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XVI
17. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XVII
18. A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XVIII

Plan, Plan, and Plan

Planning is important. It takes the surprise factor and blind spot out of the equation. Review the list of common questions asked in an interview, and prepare an answer for each one of them. Do not mug up. Just make yourself comfortable with the questions. During the planning process also find a way out to blunt the ruthless edge of your negative characteristics. Do not make it look like your biggest asset, but soften its edge and make it look less damaging.

Look uber-cool

Well, I do not intend to suggest that you should take in all those garbage being consumed by teenagers in the name of fashion and “walking ahead of time”. All I want to suggest is to look up-to-date and in the know of things that matter to the job you are being interviewed for.

When I say up-to-date I also mean up-to-date in your appearance. I know it was not the first thing you expected to read when you wake up in the morning, but it important. You will not like to look like a black sheep among all the white clones. Dress as the way people younger to your dress, at least for the interview. It will convey the person on the other side of the table that you may be chronologically from different group, but your psychosocial make is same as his own.

Tell them you will learn

Do not flinch if you are faced with a question that you do not know answer of, or if you have asked about a technology which you have never heard of. Tell your interviewer that you are unaware of thing in question, but you will learn it sooner than expected, and if you are promised the job, you can start learning right from today. This will tell your interviewer, how much keen you are for the job, and how much time you are willing to devote for that. The interviewer will not pass unimpressed.

What else do you think is necessary to excel in an interview? Use the comment box and send in your suggestions.

Why List post?

1. 1. List post is scannable: People find it easy to scan through the list post. And ability to scan (or read) a post quickly is one of the major goal of your visitors. There are so many things on the Internet putting demand on their time that they do not afford to go through a heavy post, and that is where a list post steps is.
2. 2. It works as a great source for reference: An all-encompassing list post is often bookmarked by the reader for future reference. Readers often come back to the bookmarked list post to see the information they seek. This way a list post will build a possibility of repeat-visit in your blog.
3. It adds up to your resource list: If you have succeeded in creating a timeless list post then you can add the URL of that list post in the resource box so that new users can benefit from that. A good list will provide depth to your resource box, which in itself is a big reason why someone will come to your blog.

These are three core benefit of a list post. How else do you think a list post helps a blog? Tell everyone reading this blog, why you think a list post is necessary. I know everyone can come up with different exciting ideas. Waiting to hear from all of you.

Play your age and tell them it is an asset

You didn’t grow old sleeping. You acquired certain skills and a hell load of experience, which a young person can only imagine to have, but can never have until he or she reaches your age. Play this card well, and tell you interviewer that your age has given you the wisdom and maturity that comes only with age. Convince your interviewer that it will be an asset not a liability for the company.

Smack the stereotype on its head

Your young interviewer has many preconceived idea attached with your age, which you need to dispel. This is necessary, but do not do it violently. Be calm, composed, and in the best of your selves when breaking the stereotypes.

Handle illegal questions well

So what you have grown old now? So what you are 40 plus? It does not mean anyone can discriminate against you based on your age. It is a crime, and if you are given hint of this then either politely move to other question or ask the interviewer to not go in that direction. You can also consider legal action, if it does not stop on that.

You need to be careful when working on the above suggestions. A wrong step may land you in trouble. It is a fine line to walk.

Other findings of the survey

• 9 out of every 10 Indian (86%) think they are responsible for the safety of food they eat.
• 6 out of 10 think it is on the food manufacturers to provide food that is safe.
• 8% people interviewed think its retailer who should be responsible for food that is safe to eat.
• Government was found to be the most trusted entity in terms of safe food.
• Most of the Indians believe that the food grown in the country is safer than food imported from outside.
• 73% people believe that some countries provide safer food than other countries.
• 42% (6 out of 10) said they actively buy local grown food to support local farmer or producers.
• 19% believe that locally grown food are good for their health and the health of their families.

In the absence of sample size and sample mix, this study should be taken with caution. I am not sure how deep in Indian villages did the surveyors went. In the absence of which trusting these numbers is quite hard.

Age should not matter

Neither yours nor your interview’s age should matter to you when you are on the interview table. The chances are quite realistic that your interviewer will be much younger than you. Do not get unnerved by that. Be calm and give him the respect you gave to your older interviewer when you were young. Treat anyone on the interviewer’s chair with respect.

Convey your desire to work with younger crowd

One of the main concerns of an employer hiring an older person is the new employee’s ability to mix with the young crowd. Make it clear to the interviewer that you do not have any problem in working with young people. Working with young people, particularly getting managed by them doesn’t go well with everyone. Many do not like to get managed by someone who is less experienced then him. You should make this clear to your employer that you do not belong from that group.

During your interview, you need to convey to your employer that you have the desire to keep up with younger crowd, and you are willing to learn new technologies and new way of doing things so that you could succeed. Do not forget to ask about the prospect of success in the organization you are being interviewed for.

Whatever! The answer is all the same, which is: as many as you can handle. Do not chew more than you can digest. It will give you an upset stomach.

What’s the benchmark?

There is no external benchmark; the benchmark is the quality of work you produce. The moment your quality starts deteriorating you should put a stop sign outside your home office. You would not like to risk producing second-rate content, articles, or whatever it is that you write for your clients.

Then…

How many should I keep?

I cannot say for sure how many you should keep, but I can tell you about how many I keep and how you can decide how many you should keep. Generally, I keep 2-3 fulltime clients—depending upon the volume of work given— and work 1-2 one-off projects that do not have too tight deadline.

How you can decide how many?

How much you want: Say what you may, but you are doing freelance writing to pay your bills, be it your fulltime venture or part-time juggle. Therefore, you need to keep in mind your monetary target for a month.

How many hours can you devote: You also need to find out how many hours in week you can put aside for your freelance writing job.

How many articles can you produce in an hour: I understand this sound like absurd, but bear with me because I know people who can produce two articles of 500 words in one hour. Initially, you will not be able to write more than 40-50% of an article in an hour, but soon you will improve.

Do the math

Use the number you got from the above and calculate to find how many articles you need to write in a month to meet your monthly monetary target. The number you will thus get is the amount of work you need per month. If one client can fulfill this requirement then you do not need a second client—which is unlikely.

So, how many clients do you need at a time to fulfill your goal? Post the number you get after doing the math. I am eagerly waiting to hear from you.

Keep it short and simple

I will not add stupid to above because I know you are not that. You are quite smart, and in your 45 years you have also understood the power of simplicity. And believe me when I say that simplicity works in résumé as well. No one likes to read a CV-epic, so keep it short and simple. Mention only those things that really, really matters for the job you are applying for. Keeping it short will help you keep it focused. Focus is another important thing.

Use chronological not function résumé

A new trend of using functional résumé —the type in which skills are mentioned in a cluster— has caught the fancy of young job seekers. Yes with young job seekers, particularly those who are looking for a career change, so let it remain confined to young people only. You do not need to follow the trend because in mid-aged job seekers the use of functional in place of chronological résumé is seen as an attempt to hide age. Well, I understand you do not intend to do that, and I am equally certain that you will not get even a 10 seconds of personal time with employers to explain this to them, so why take chances? Go with a résumé that lists your experience in chronologically. If you are too much in love with functional résumé then use it in combination of chronological one.

Write emphatic cover letter

Although cover letter has come at the end of pour discussion on résumé, it does not take away the importance assigned to a cover letter by your employer. A cover letter is your elevator pitch, and the emphatic it is the greater is the chances of your being called for a personal interview. A great cover letter makes your résumé stand out from the crowd of hundreds of faceless curricula vitae.

With this our discussion on résumé comes to an end. I hope you will apply these principles in your own CV. From the next post in the series we shall discuss about interviews and about ways to handle tough questions. Till then keep applying the principles taught so far.

Wear your Employer’s Shoes

Well, not literally. What I meant was you need to have a fresh look at your résumé to see how a person on the other side of the table will look at it. Put yourself in your employer’s shoes and see if you would have called a person carrying this résumé for the interview? There is no point for being right, so do not lie to yourself. This exercise is done solely to find problem in your CV.

See what is the flavor of the market

Tight fitting, camel toe revealing outfit might be a huge fashion in yesteryears, but today if you wear it you will look funny—I am not a fashion person so I might be wrong here. But, I know I am not wrong when I say you need to use the format that looks modern. See what format is used these days, and follow that trend. You may be 45, but your résumé should not look that old. Dress it up like youth does!

What’s the new lingo

In your youth, hyperlink and HTML would have meant nothing, but today it does. There are many similar changes in terminology of almost every field. Find out what words got omitted and what got added to your field in last couple of years, or from the time you last checked. Embrace the change, at least in your résumé. It will tell your employer how much you are unlike your age, I meant up-to-date with current trend.

We all new to adapt and evolve with time, this is the only way we can sustain ourselves. Keep on working, and keep on evolving.

Key findings

Positive Indicators

• 45% hope to reap rewards (profit) from social media spending in next 12 months
• 57% have built online network using LinkedIn or similar websites.
• 61% uses social media to identify and attract new customers.
• 75% small businesses surveyed had a company profile page on any social networking sites.

Things that make them scowl

• 6% of survey participants said that use of social media has hurt them
• 17% of them said using social media left the companies vulnerable to consumers’ criticism.
• 50% thinks it takes more time than expected.

These findings (See image for complete detail) indicate that to be successful in the new socially-connected economy, the company has to be caring. “Meet deadline and bottom line” oriented company will have a hard time persuading its customers. The concerns that small business owners that participated in the survey talked about had more to do with their business and its operation and less to do with the nature of social media. They will grow and get accepted, if only they accept this fact and make required changes in their businesses.

Show you can evolve

No one likes anything static, not even you and so does your employer. The main reason why he wants young people in his team lies in the fact that young people have up-to-date knowledge and they are ready to evolve. Show the same degree of commitment by taking extra classes to train yourself. Enroll to some vocational courses or training classes that will put you at par with youth in their 20s, in terms of technology and knowledge. Mention this on your CV, your prospective employer will take notice of it, and you will get duly rewarded for your hard work with a job and better salary.

Talk about experience

If you have not spent 40 years of life daydreaming or sleepwalking then you definitely have accumulated some kind of skill set that will make the job you are applying a piece of cake for you, well at least easy. In your résumé talk about your experience from the related fields, this along with your commitment to evolve with time (read above) will give you an edge which will be hard for your younger competitors to surpass.

Keep it Up-to-date

Do you know what the first company you worked with call itself these day? Or do you know who has taken the ownership? Are these details in your résumé? Contact the companies that you are mentioning in your CV under experience or past employer columns and ask about their names, locations, phone numbers, and people in charge. Finding it may or may not be difficult. It depends upon the kind of companies you worked in. If those were big corporate giants then you may be knowing their details already, but if they were small setups then you need to visit their office or call your old colleagues for the detail.

Always remember, nothing is impossible not even at this age. Well, I meant almost nothing. You cannot put toothpaste back inside the tube from which it has been squeezed. Try it, you cannot. But getting a job is far much easier than that. Talk to you in the next post, till then keep looking and stay calm!

2009 recorded a negative growth of 2%, which is unprecedented, to touch $209.6 billion mark. The travel sector saw a drop of 5% to $79.8 billion, while, growth rate of e-commerce retail (non-travel) remained flat to $129.8 billion. For retail e-commerce, the no-growth year of 2009 has been preceded by a year of single digit growth (6% in 2008), which was the lowest growth rate for the segment on record. On an average this sector had an annual growth of around 20%.

But the good news is that the US consumer has shown some confidence in e-commerce in last two months (November and December) of 2009, which gave the segment a respective year-on-year growth of 3% to $12 billion and 5% to $17 billion.

Only 13% of the US 18 and above adults think that financial services companies are any trustworthy with their ad campaigns. 40% of the US adults between 35 and 44 trust soft-drink advertisements, but only 10% among them trust advertising shown by financial services companies.

Can we read this cue as breaking of “financial security” myth shown by financial institutions?

We must remember that this is the age-group that has to pay for their kids’ education. For complete report, see the image below.

Facebook’s  user-base was evenly split between users who are younger and older than 35 years of age n 2009. 23% of Facebook users are between 24 and 34 which is an increase of 18.8% over December 2008. See image for complete demographic divisions.

Avoid dead metaphors and done-to-death cliché

Think like this: In a hiring season, an employer or HR manager has to go through hundreds of CVs every day before he could call any one person for the Interview. And the worst part is almost all the résumés he reads are written using same set of dead metaphors and done-to-death phrases. It is boring. If you want to make your résumé stand out from the similar-looking crowd of résumés then avoid using any clichés. Use your own language and make it appealing.

Update your resume

Now is the time to answer the question posed in the opening sentence. Have you or haven’t you? If your answer is no then go ahead and start constructing your résumé yet again. Add freshness to your dust-biting résumé.

Do not give complete work details

If you are 45 then chances are you have been part of workforce for close to 25 years, and it is but natural to have done many jobs in all those years. But do not put all of them in your résumé. No one is interested in reading 1000-page epic résumé, and no one cares about where you provide janitorial services during tough times. Only mention things relevant to the current job, and things that increase your chance of employability.

Even if heaven falls on earth, your résumé should not be longer than 2 pages. Not even and half pages.

Enough of reading for today, now it is time to start working on your résumé. Get going!

In a study conducted by comScore MobiLens, it was found that 63.1% of the US mobile users aged 13 or more uses texting to communicate with their friends in December 2009. It was a 2.1% rise against the September 2009 data, where it was found that 61% 13+ mobile users in the United States use texting.

The second most used mobile feature was mobile browser, and on the third rung were mobile games. Music featured on 6th place below download apps and social networking. (See image for complete data)

Explore options

Being in job is not always good, at times it is confining. It limits your thinking to paychecks and 6PM (when your office bells calls off the day). Now as you are out of job, you have an opportunity to explore many more options, at least until you again get into job. Thinking of things that you can do apart from the job that you have been doing till date. Who knows you end up finding something that makes your heart racing.

Title, what title?

Title means nothing. I know you find it hard to believe it, and especially if you had been in the habit of being referred as senior manager, or vice president direct sales, or whatever. But, the fact is title means a dime. Do not chase titles, rather chase your heart, and find something that you like to do. If work is of your liking then why do you care if you are called a manager or VP?

Start a business

We all have a self-starter within us; all we need to do is give a shout to call it out of the closet. If you are not getting a job then take it as a blessing and start doing something that you wanted to do all your life. Did you want to go knitting, gardening, etc.? Take up this opportunity and start your own small business.

You will be your own boss, and no one will fire you from there. Make a business plan, find an investor (if you need one), and get going.

This marks the end of this bite-size post of the series. I have kept each post small so that you can chew the information provided in its perfectly, assimilate it, and put each tip to use.

Widen your net

You are finding it hard to get a job in your industry because you are facing competition from younger crowd who is just out of college. To counter this you need to expand your list of target companies to include companies that do not operate in your industry. There is quite a fair chance that you will find some companies in other industries that need your expertise and as core of their business lie somewhere else, they do not need young employees; they need people with experience to take over their marginalized process. For example: A young software engineer will like to work in a company specialized in IT products, not in a publishing company that needs IT guy to smoothen its operation. These types of companies are gold mine for you.

Be part of a professional organization

Becoming a member of a professional organization not only helps you befriend with like-minded people, but it also helps you in a job search. Many professional organizations assist their members with job-search. You will also get many leads here.

Rent a help

If you are finding it hard to get a job on your own then give up, and hire some career coach or a recruiter. They will help you get the job you want to have.

Don’t give up

There is no point in giving up the search, as you will gain nothing from giving up. Giving up is for faint of heart, not for a fighter like you who has defeated all odds to remain afloat till now. So, do not give up and keep finding. There is bright sunlight at the end of this dark tunnel.

Employ these strategies in your job-search and you will see a significant improvement in the result. Best of luck for your search!

Act now, do not wait

Waiting is not the game you are in the position to play. Go out and take action. Make this “out of job”
a temporary thing. You indeed need some time to figure out what you want, but do it as quickly as you can. Waiting for long will delay the possibility of getting hired. Get out of home now, and start searching for the job that suits you.

Think and decide about career change

If you are tired of doing the same thing again and again, then this is the perfect time to consider a plan change. Make a list of things that you are interested in, and match them against the ability you have. Bingo! You have the list of alternative careers in your hand. It is time to act now, make a resume befitting the needs of new job and start shooting them off.

Go temping

Temping may not offer you permanent solution, but it can fill the gap. You can also use it to gain experience of a new job in which you want to shift. Temping can provide a viable stopgap solution that gives you experience which further can help you in securing a fulltime job.

You should start putting these things to use as soon as you are laid off. These will work wonder and save you from the agony of unemployment, and will help you pay your bills.

Then what other works a client will demand?

Basically, you will be asked to do stuffs related to writing only. And in my career, primarily I have been asked to do following types of work (other than writing):

• Many clients have asked me to do like keyword research, for writing purpose only. This actually is not all that bad. It helped me conceptualize the article or press release while researching.
• At times, clients also asked me to submit articles to various social bookmarking sites. I helped my clients with 2-3 submissions, at max. I do not think I would have agreed to submit an article to 100 or so social bookmarking sites. It would have been waste of time for me, but for 3-4, I never said no.
• Clients may also ask for content suggestions, and about other things he can do to meet his goal. This in fact is an opportunity in disguise to cross sell other services that you offer. If you are writing only articles for your client then you may suggest him to use press release to get some link juice, or may be forum posting and all.
• I have also given some marketing and SEO suggestions to my clients. Depending upon your background (I have my background in marketing), you can either say yes or politely say no.

Word of caution

Do not say no to your clients’ request, at least not directly, if you can help him. And also do not ask for money for every suggestion that you offer—I know people who do so—because it looks cheap. For that work you may get paid, but it will reflect badly on your professionalism. You may lose the client.

If the work is going to take hours of your work then say this to client, and if it is going to take hardly 10-15 minutes then do not bother. It also depends upon your relationship with your client.