Figure out what you really want out of a job, in addition to a paycheck and bennies, set a course to get from point A to point B, and discover proven strategies for finding and landing the job you want.
Deal with the financial issues that commonly accompany unemployment and job searches, write off job-hunt expenses on your taxes, maximize your social security benefits, bankroll your own benefits package, and more.
In This Chapter
Understanding current workplace realities
Figuring out what you want ⊠and want to do
Finding your place in the workplace
Retooling your job search strategies for the 21st century
Welcome jobseekers! Finding a job, at any age, takes work and dedication. Some older jobseekers assume that employers would rather outsource jobs to cheaper workers overseas or hire younger, less experienced workers for lower wages. Although these suspicions are confirmed by the hiring practices of some organizations, current studies show that employers are increasingly willing to consider older candidates and that age alone isnât necessarily the reason some employers are unwilling to consider older candidates.
In this chapter, I help you shift your attitude about job hunting from one of apprehension to one of hope and possibility and show you a few simple ways to rev up your job-search mojo to todayâs new workplace reality for 50-plus jobseekers.
Recognizing the Need for and Value of Experienced Workers
The times really are a-changinâ and thatâs good news for your job-hunting prospects. Whether you want to work in an office job, teach yoga, or head up a company, more employers are starting to realize that hiring workers age 50 and older is good for business. More and more employers are discovering the value of experienced workers. Unfortunately for 50-plus job seekers, the fact that demand for experienced workers is on the rise is a well-kept secret. Realizing that employers need you is an important first step in the process of finding and landing the job you want. It gives you the enthusiasm and confidence to set out on what may be a long and arduous journey. In this section, I reveal the reasons the demand for 50-plus workers is rising to invigorate you for the journey ahead and remind you of just how valuable you are to employers who need your skills, talents, and experience.
The job search can be disheartening for anyone, regardless of age. And if thatâs what youâre feeling, never show it to a prospective employer. Always highlight the value you have to offer in every job search communiquĂ© you send out. If you need a confidence lift, take some time and review all your previous achievements.
Noting a change in the current workforce
Many CEOs are increasingly aware that they need to have 50-plus workers on board. As the population ages, the workforce is aging right along with it. U.S. employees 65 and older now outnumber teenagers in the workforce for the first time since 1948. In 2002, workers 50 and older comprised 24.6 percent of the workforce. By 2012, they represented 32.3 percent. And by 2022, theyâre projected to be 35.4 percent of the total workforce.
This emerging trend isnât likely to change anytime soon. More than one in three workers age 45 and older expects to retire at age 66 or older, compared to just over one in five ten years ago. Moreover, 72 percent of workers ages 45 to 74 envision working in retirement.
Employers are getting worried about their future workforce. In a recent survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), one-third of HR professionals predicted that the loss of talent resulting from retirements or departures of workers age 55 and older would be either a problem or a crisis for their organization in the next six to ten years. The Manpower Group 2014 Talent Shortage Survey found that 40 percent of U.S. employers reported difficulty in filling jobs.
Seeing experienced workers as an affordable option
The old concerns that hiring someone our age would probably be too pricey are being debunked. Contrary to common perception, workers age 50-plus donât cost significantly more than younger workers, according to the report âA Business Case for Workers Age 50+: A Look at the Value of Experience 2015,â commissioned by AARP and conducted by Aon Hewitt.
Shifting trends in reward and benefit programs mean that adding more age 50-plus talent to a workforce results in only minimal increases in hard dollar total labor costs. These trends include a broad move by large employers to performance-based versus tenure-based compensation, the decline in traditional benefit pension plans, and the fact that healthcare costs are increasing at a slower rate for older workers compared to younger workers.
Meanwhile, in todayâs global and fast-paced workplace, firms often donât have the time to squander while a younger worker ramps up skills and knowledge. Companies are slowly realizing that to stay competitive, itâs smarter to seek out and hire experienced workers. Trust me, youâre on the cutting edge of a sweeping change in the demographics of the workplace. And itâs being led by the boomer generation.
You may think Iâm just looking through rose-colored glasses. But recent surveys show that companies are realizing that itâs strategically smart to pay more attention to recruiting and retaining workers age 50 and older. When organizations need someone to step in and do the job right now and solve an existing problem, itâs the experienced worker theyâre eager to hire.
Thatâs what the AARP report unveiled. Findings from a 2014 SHRM survey of HR professionals also back up that trend. SHRMâs The Aging Workforce survey also found that two-thirds of HR executives canvassed reported that their organization employed older workers who retired from other organizations or careers before joining their organization. Gold stars all around.
The Aging Workforce survey, part of a three-year national Aging Workforce Initiative by SHRM and the SHRM Foundation and funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, also found that 61 percent of the 1,900 randomly selected SHRM HR professionals indicated their organization had attempted to capitalize on and incorporate the experience of older workers in recruitment and retention strategies. (Kudos to them.) The top advantages of older workers were having more work experience (cited by 77 percent of respondents), being more mature/professional (71 percent), and having a stronger work ethic (70 percent). (But, of course.)
Capitalizing on lower turnover
Employers find that workers age 50 and older are more loyal and arenât as likely as younger workers to job jump. And that lower staff turnover benefits the bottom line. The costs of high turnover are tangible. Finding, hiring, and training a new employee is a costly venture, and it becomes even more costly when that well-trained employee decides to jump ship and work for a competitor.
Plus, itâs hard to put a price on the institutional knowledge that goes out the door with a departing employee. Now tack on the stress that managers and coworkers must shoulder to make up for the work that falls between the cracks when an employee leaves. And, finally, toss in the toll of lost morale that accompanies the departure of a valued team member. Now the employer has a serious problem. And thatâs clearly a big incentive for hiring a worker over 50. Older workers often anchor a team.
