Job Search Techniques: Smashing The Gray Ceiling
For decades, women have chaffed at the invisible glass ceiling which prevents their moving into the high executive brackets that their competence, knowledge and skills have earned. The same amorphous barrier confronts older workers both in terms of advancement within a company and, most especially, when a job change is required. There is an adage in the military that if a rank above major has not been obtained within twenty years, it never will be. The ranks of early military retirees are sprinkled with majors who knew that ten or fifteen more years would never bring a Colonel's cluster.
How can such "unwritten rules" be fought? No lawsuit can prove that you were the best individual for the job. No employer is unintelligent enough to state that your age is the stumbling block. You sense the discrimination, you become aware of the sideways glances and the emotional response of an interviewer, but you feel powerless to change their perspective and their bias.
Sitting across an interviewing desk, often facing an individual the same age as your son, your esteem erodes and your confidence self-destructs. Impotent, humiliated, and angry, you accept that nothing you can say is going to change anything. You continue job hunting with a mounting sense of frustration and an indisputable anticipation of failure.
If you have nothing to lose, why not attack the problem head-on? Prejudice and discrimination survive only in the silence of unexamined judgments and, often unconscious, illogic. Confront the situation and at least you create the opportunity for the white light of reason to enter the fray.
Try these approaches to prompt more honest interaction and possibly more rational conclusions.
1. You need to be the one to put the age issue on the table. Offer it gently, as one area of needed exploration regarding why you fit the employer's needs. Bring it up objectively, as something that can be discussed unemotionally, without triggering lethal interviewer defensiveness.
2. Acknowledge your age as a basis for emphasizing the experience of a lifetime and the value that such experience can provide to any employer. Concentrate on describing how business has changed over the course of years and how deftly you have adapted to those changes and incorporated new ideas and technical advancements into your work performance.
3. Acknowledge common misperceptions about the weaknesses of age: hard-to-break habits, lack of flexibility, technological ignorance, and distrust of authority, especially if young. Then use your sales ability to eliminate those misperceptions, probably already resonating in the interviewer's head.
Habits: Remind your host of the ability to adapt and reshape yourself which has kept your thinking young. Stress your relish for new challenges and innovative approaches. Cite some examples from your past about how smoothly you have been able to change to new workflows and procedures.
Flexibility: Discuss your dislike of unproductive routine and your preference for trying new methods of approaching tasks. Stress those times in the past when you were able to develop creative solutions to long-term problems and how your resourcefulness helped your previous employers.
Technology: Identify new technical advances within your field and address how you have internalized those changes. If you have successfully transitioned from dictating to a secretary to email and instant messaging, if you have moved from a manual adding machine to competent computer literacy, then small changes like learning new software or novel production systems should be a snap.
Authority issues: You have attained authority in the past and you have also worked under a variety of supervisors in your long career life. Clarify your relationship with power: the respect you extend to those who are knowledgeable, the loyalty and support you offer any leader of your team, the self-respect you enjoy which allows you to participate in group goals enthusiastically without feeling that you need to be in charge or command the top title.
4. Once you have demolished the myths of age, emphasize its strengths: reliability, mature judgment, lack of impulsivity, timeliness, a strong work ethic, and the ability to perform without outside distractions such as personal relationship problems, child commitments, and social responsibilities.
Undoubtedly, there are individuals out there who have their own issues with hiring someone who reminds them of their father or who have had problems in the past with an underperforming older worker who was difficult to terminate. There will always be those you cannot reach, no matter how convincing your logic and your presentation.
There are many more who are open-minded and seek not to make rash judgments. Address their semi-conscious fears face to face and the interview may end successfully - for both you and your lucky new employer.
Virginia Bola operated a rehabilitation company for 20 years, developing innovative job search techniques for disabled workers, while serving as a respected Vocational Expert in Administrative, Civil and Workers' Compensation Courts. Author of an interactive and emotionally supportive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker's Edge, she can be reached at http://www.virginiabola.com
 Google News Updated : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:07:34 GMT Movies opening this week - San Jose Mercury News
San Jose Mercury News - By Mercury News "Burn After Reading" (R): The Coen brothers follow "No Country for Old Men" with a dark comedy about two inept gym employees who get hold of a CD-ROM containing a CIA operative's memoirs. Toronto Review: The Coen Brother's Burn After Reading Pitt Rocks to Madonna Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:56:32 GMT Report: Samsung working to acquire SanDisk - San Jose Mercury News San Jose Mercury News - AP Samsung was reported Friday to be considering buying Milpitas-based SanDisk, whose revenue has diminished and stock has plummeted in recent months due to the saturated flash-memory market. SanDisk Shares Soar on Samsung Interest SanDisk Shares Surge as Samsung Considers Acquisition (Update3) Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:19:13 GMT European space probe completes asteroid fly by - Reuters
Reuters - BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Space Agency obtained on Saturday the first images of an asteroid 360 million km (224 million miles) from earth, part of a space mission which scientists hope will help them understand the origins of the planets. Rosetta spacecraft takes asteroid photos Spacecraft flies by remote asteroid, camera stops Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:13:31 GMT Jenkins: Murray willing to play the spoiler - San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle - (09-06) 18:24 PDT New York -- Andy Murray must feel very alone just now. He's a long way from his native Scotland. He's carrying the hopes of British tennis, but the London press would really prefer him to be English. Federer beats Djokovic to reach US Open final Split stadiums for US Open semis ruffles crowd Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:44:27 GMT Dodgers overtake first place - MLB.com
MLB.com - By Michael Schwartz / MLB.com LOS ANGELES -- Manny Ramirez's five RBIs propelled the Dodgers into first place in the National League West for only the second day all season Saturday after a 7-2 win over the D-backs at Dodger Stadium. Ramirez, Billingsley lead streaking Dodgers into first place Dodgers move into first place Publ.Date : Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:14:26 GMT Gates outacts Seinfeld in Back To The Future - CNET News
CNET News - Which is why Crispin Porter Bogusky, the agency responsible for the otherworldly new Microsoft TV spot featuring the clowning Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, is already happy. Microsoft's Renewed Vista Strategy You Thought Vista Was Bad? Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 00:01:52 GMT Palin and McCain’s Shotgun Marriage - New York Times
New York Times - By FRANK RICH SARAH PALIN makes John McCain look even older than he is. And he seemed more than willing to play that part on Thursday night. An Apostle of Alaska 'Sarah Palin Is Wasilla': Town Stands Behind VP Pick Publ.Date : Sun, 07 Sep 2008 01:18:29 GMT Make Money Online |
PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts,
Websites, and more... Think you have the speed, endurance, and know-how to fix... Read More If you are thinking about a career in culinary arts... Read More Are you lost in the wilderness when it comes to... Read More The number one etiquette tip for interviews is writing a... Read More Are free resume templates a viable answer to preparing a... Read More This article is based on the following book:How... Read More Far too many people underestimate the importance of resume cover... Read More What is a Career Portfolio?The original portfolio used by artists... Read More A career transition is no longer about getting your hands... Read More What is the first step to take in a job... Read More Meaningful work honors the deepest part of your being. It... Read More The whole job search effort is completely exhausting and at... Read More In Part I, we covered how to grab the reader's... Read More A very effective and persuasive tactic when selling something is... Read More The mortgage industry accounted for $1,815,949,279,000 in loan transactions in... Read More Though the name itself may seem a bit mysterious, the... Read More A legendary marketing genius once said that, if he had... Read More How many people do you know who think they deserve... Read More While traveling in northern California last October, I happened... Read More I referenced the circus because I just finished another interviewing... Read More You can learn a lot about how to do something... Read More Have any of these situations happened to you? Forgetting your... Read More If only there were no questions involved in getting a... Read More In one of my past lives I held a Top... Read More The evolution of technology is changing the traditional methods for... Read More
Adsense
websites
How to Crash - Proof Your Job Search
Why Culinary Education
How to Track Your Right Career
Interview Thank-You Letters
Writing a Resume: To Template or Not To Template?
Book Summary: How to Work with Just About Anyone
Beat the Crowd with Winning Resume Cover Letters
Why Well Produced Career Portfolios Are Replacing CVs
Resumes, Networking, Headhunters ? Useless Without Marketing Sweet Spot
One Step at a Time in the Job Search
6 Steps to Re-inventing Your Career
Job Search 101
How to Transform a Boring Note Into A Killer Cover Letter - Part II
Job Interviews and The Secret of Selling Yourself
How To Become a Mortgage Broker
Mystery Shopping - An Excellent Part Time Job Or Additional Income Source
Need a Job? Put a Gun to Your Head
Get a Raise: How To Ask Your Boss For More Money
Want to Work for Yourself? Those Dream Jobs Dont Just Happen, Theyre Created
Avoid a Three-ring Circus with These New Interviewing Strategies
How NOT to Write a Resume
How to Overcome a Bad First Impression
Ask Me No Questions, Ill Tell You No Lies
The Background on Background Checks
The Computer-Friendly Resume
Affordable and Reliable Web Hosting Starting at $4.49/Month
Job Interviews: Succeeding With Panel Interviews
These days, job interviews often consist of a panel of... Read More
Are You Winning the Talent Wars?
How many times have you heard or read, "Our employees... Read More
Discover What You Really Want To Do
Are you doing what you really want to do or... Read More
Planning Your Successful Career: 15 Ideas
"Doing a good job is one of the most important... Read More
How Long Does It Take To Write A Resume?
Many people can easily write a resume in just a... Read More
Difficult Relationships at Work - Dealing with Workplace Conflict
Difficult Relationships at Work - How to Influence the UncooperativeWe... Read More
Find Free Resumes Online
Have you been spending money on countless job boards, only... Read More
Conduct An Informational Interview
Informational interviews are designed to get as much information as... Read More
How to Get the Job You Want in Any Economy... Act Like a Headhunter
Having spent the last few years of my career in... Read More
Giving Notice: 6 Things to Do To Prepare to Leave
After days, weeks, months or longer of interviewing, you have... Read More
Workplace Melodrama--A Flair For The Dramatic
A flair for the dramatic is a theatrical term used... Read More
Ten Great Careers For Single Parents
The challenges of raising a child by yourself, whether you're... Read More
Working as a Knowledge Worker in the Information Age
The old adages: "It's not what you know, but who... Read More
Interview Quicksand
How will you respond when you're asked the following two... Read More
How to Pick the Best Career for You: Part 3
Marketing-with-Intent precisely drives you to your target and with greater... Read More
Business & Career: Know Your Ruling Star!
"Know your Ruling Star. One man is better received by... Read More
Surviving in Corporate Amercia: Part 1 - Email
There is a saying that goes, "The best offense is... Read More
Do You Have a Hotsy-Totsy Resume?
I begin this article with a bit of slang description.... Read More
Do More than Expected to Get Ahead
One of the best things you can do to increase... Read More
Cover Letters
Cover Letters: Are you telling them what they want to... Read More
Resume Posting: Tips for Jobseekers
Recruiting firms, like most businesses today, must embrace technology in... Read More
You?re Ready for a Career Change - Is Your Resume?
You finally did it. You made the decision to leave... Read More
Is Your Career Your Calling or Just a 9 to 5?
Do you remember your parents asking you what you want... Read More
In a Rut? Ready for a Career Change?
Are you unhappy at work? Tired and lacking energy and... Read More
80,000 Americans Work in the Oil Change Industry
There is a huge shortage, which effects franchises costs in... Read More
Careers, Jobs & Employment |