The Conference Board estimates that by the end of this decade, 40 percent of the U.S. workforce will
be eligible to retire. Of major interest to aging baby boomers—who have made it clear they have no interest in
traditional retirement—is the extent to which companies ultimately will look to them to take up the projected
slack.
The Ayers Report sat down with members of Ayers’ Career Transition Services team for insight into the
market for age-advantaged job seekers and advice for those who want to continue working in a corporate
environment.
The bottom line is this: The generation that upended just about everything and is poised to reinvent the concept of
retirement needs a new mindset about job search.
1. Learn to value what you bring to the table. “Understand that, unlike younger
job candidates, you’re not selling potential. You’re selling experience,” says Consultant Damon Montal. “Candidates
often buy into stereotypes about older workers more than the market does. We hear it all the time: ‘Why would anyone
hire me when they can hire someone younger and cheaper?’ What I say to them is this: ‘If the employer can find a
35-year-old with your level of experience and knowledge, then you're right.’ I point out that it’s all in how you position yourself.”
“We work with candidates to help them define the assets that are enhanced by age,” says Consultant Donna Schwarz.
“After spending some time in our outplacement program and assessing their assets, they no longer think in negative
terms. They become focused on the value they can bring to another organization.”
2. Position yourself around your assets and value. “Once you understand what you
bring to the table, you need to highlight those things,” Schwarz says. “Move them up on the resumé, and make them part
of your strategy—how you package and market yourself.”
“Rethink your resumé,” Montal advises. “Focus on the last 10 to 15 years in some detail to establish that you’ve
attained a certain level of expertise. Don’t provide much scope to your earlier work life. Something along the lines
of ‘Prior to 1990, held increasingly senior positions in X at leading financial services firms, including A, B, and C.’
By not providing too many dates, you shift the emphasis from age to experience.”
3. Do your homework to find the right fit. “The objective is to actively network
toward positions that need and value your assets. That means you need to understand the market and how it's going to
react to you,” says Managing Director Terry Ebert.
What markets offer the most potential for older workers? “It’s highly specific to the industry, market segment, and
organization,” the Ayers executive continues. “Is someone who is 55+ going to get a job on a trading desk, or marketing
for an athletic apparel company? Probably not. These are youth-oriented environments. On the other hand, professional services firms tend to care more about knowledge, experience, and maturity than age,” Schwarz observes. “And there are many corporate jobs—legal, accounting, and finance to name a few—that require the maturity, wisdom, and experience of a seasoned worker. Being over 45 can be an asset for a financial executive, for example. Smaller companies are eager to tap your experience, especially if you came from a larger company. And they can offer a rewarding work experience. Consulting is another area where age can be an advantage,
not an issue.”
“You need to look at where business growth is occurring,” says Ebert. “My generation has developed a variety of interests and built up the wealth to fund them. There’s going to be boomer-driven growth in travel, real estate, investments, health, and fitness, to name just a few areas. This will create demand for sales, marketing, and service people who can connect to members of this highly lucrative market. Who wants to buy a home in an active-adult community from a 30-something?”
Ultimately, the Ayers consultants agree, it comes down to culture. “It’s a matter of looking at acceptance within a
culture,” says Schwarz. “You need to find an organization that's the right fit for you culturally as well as functionally.”
4. Have a strategy that includes alternative game plans. “Too often, if candidates
have something in mind and the market is not receptive, they don’t know where to go,” says Montal. “Decide what you want, then test the market and see if you can get there, but have viable backup plans in case you can’t.
“Let’s say Plan A is your stretch goal, your ideal job. It may be a step above your old job at the same kind of company or the same job at a bigger company. Plan B may be to maintain the status quo. Plan C may be the same position at a smaller company—going from the FORTUNE 500 to a 500-person company. Plan D might be where you get creative, looking at alternatives such as franchising, consulting, commission-based sales, or totally reinventing yourself. How you define the options is up to you, but you need fallbacks.”
5. Focus on active search. The Ayers consultants recommend devoting at least 80 percent of your effort to networking and direct contact and no more than 20 percent to passive search: agencies and ads.
“The 80-20 formula is a good general rule of thumb, but older candidates should err on the active side,” says Montal.
“If you answer an ad or online posting and your resumé says you graduated in1965, it’s not going to generate much excitement in certain companies or in specific cultures. The best jobs are found in the hidden market, which you penetrate through research and networking. In the old days, you flooded the market with resumés. Today, it’s about flooding the market with relationships.”
The Ayers Report will continue this series on the aging workforce in the next issue.
We asked Dr. Peter Olsinski, Director of Consulting Services in Ayers' New York office, to counter some of the stereotypes (S) about older workers with the realities (R) he and his colleagues see on a daily basis in their work with job candidates.
S: Innovation is crucial to competitive advantage and creativity is for the young.
R: It depends on whether you're talking about throw-it-out-and-start-over or build-on-what-exists/experimental innovation. Experimental innovators do their best work later in life, drawing on lifelong observation and experience, trial and error, and hard-won practical intelligence.
S: Older workers have trouble working with/reporting to younger workers.
R: A lifetime in the working world has taught the 55+ crowd how to deal with people of all ages—and especially to respect leadership regardless of age.
S: Older workers are marking time and lack commitment.
R: A major survey shows that the most engaged, inspired, and passionate workers are 55+. Not only is their commitment stronger, they're more involved with work and less involved with raising a family.
S: Older workers aren't up to physical and mental demands of employment.
R: In general, older employees call in sick less often than younger ones. They take better care of themselves because they're more aware of health and mortality issues. Fewer of today's jobs are physically demanding, and technology and medical advances are offsetting the effects of aging.
S: Older workers don't keep up with technology and are unwilling or unable to learn.
R: Rapid change in technology and the business environment requires constant retraining of employees. Research has found that retraining in technology takes hold in older workers as well as younger ones. The former may operate information technology more slowly than younger counterparts but tend to do so with fewer errors.
S: Older workers are expensive.
R: These are people who've climbed the career ladder and tend to be more interested in personal satisfaction than status at this point in life. They know the tradeoff may be making less. The fact that some will already have pensions and health benefits means a new employer won't have to enroll them in its plan.
|
Terry Ebert