Change of job hunting plans

You may be doing all the right things that go with finding a job, such as networking, researching companies, keeping your resume up to date and other things that every seems to do when they are facing unemployment, but with all that you still don’t have a job. It’s understandable what with the economy the way it is, and if you over fifty and unemployed it probably is even worse. Do you keep the faith and continue down the path you are on or do you veer off into unknown territory and take a chance. The answer isn’t as easy as you think.


If something doesn’t work why continue to do it. If you were on a diet for 6 months and haven’t lost a pound than you would certainly change your diet (unless you sneaking food on the side!). But with job hunting things aren’t that cut and dry. Your search or your hunt for work is for one thing and that is a job. Unlike dieting and exercise you wouldn’t see a gradual improvement in your employment situation, you either have a job or you don’t. There are things especially in this economy that you have no control over such as high unemployment. It could be that what you are doing is the best approach to finding something. Of course that isn’t to say that you shouldn’t consider changing things around a bit, because no system is perfect.

Good luck and keep trying.

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Older workers challenges

The unemployment numbers that came out a few weeks ago were pretty dismal. Unemployment is still over 9 % and the number of people who were hired is still rather low. While there have been a few months where it looked like things were turning around, the very next month’s report was less than encouraging. If you break down the numbers per age group you will find that the folks in the 55-64 age range actually have a better unemployment number than younger folks. I know I have a real hard time believing that too! But what may not surprise you is that same group is unemployed a lot longer than the age group, in other words it takes them much longer to find a job. This is just another of many older workers challenges.


One of the biggest challenges of older workers is age discrimination which at times can be rather subtle. No one is going to come out and say that you are too old for the job, but they will find many reasons why you aren’t a good fit for their company. Remember that age discrimination is illegal and there place to report it.

Another challenge is one of our own making and that is the negative feelings that we have about our chances of getting a good job. Not having a good attitude will definitely set you back when it comes to finding a job. The same negative script about how you aren’t qualified or that you will never find any job that you like plays over and over again in your head. If you don’t have faith in yourself, why should anyone else?

Are you stubborn? It is great to have strong beliefs in some things but you should also be flexible enough to make changes where changes are needed. The technology of work is ever changing which means you must be ever changing also. You must not only keep up your skill set but you must continue to learn new skills. Don’t fight it! Education is a lifetime concern.

Stay positive and keep learning and in time you will find your job.



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Solitude and job hunting

Businesses today make it a point to foster and encourage team work among their employees, whether it is in an office or a manufacturing plant. Of course that makes quite a bit of sense because productivity is always at the highest level when folks work together. It also builds a camaraderie among the employees that boosts morale and makes work feel like a team effort. Certainly this doesn’t happen in all cases but for the most part it is a great plan. However if you are looking for a job and you are an older worker then you know that there will be a good deal of solitude in your job search.


Not all job hunting is done in solitude, there is networking where you receive help and assistance from folks that know of job openings or potential job openings. It is also a good idea to network with people that are in the same boat that you are, unemployed, older and looking for a job. Social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook are a great help in that area.

But networking is only part of your job search journey, there are lots of times when it will be just up to you to continue to search out new leads or make changes to your resume or even your approach to finding work. And this can be frustrating especially if you have had been looking for a long time and haven’t found anything yet and then add on the fact that you are older which can be more of a burden. Dealing with a continual disappointment can be discouraging and even more so when you are on your own.

If the disappointment and the loneliness of job hunting becomes too much too handle, you need to get support from either your family or health professionals. It is certainly understandable because finding a job in any economy especially a bad one is a daunting task.

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Flexible work and older workers

Years ago work schedules were pretty much set in stone. If you worked the day shift it might be eight-thirty in the morning till five in the afternoon gave or take a half-hour. Or maybe you worked the afternoon shift at a plant and got off around midnight and if you were a real night owl the overnight shift would end in the morning. While there are lots of companies that still sticks to these schedules there are added factors today that forces scheduling to be more flexible. Companies find that working with employees with their schedules makes a lot of sense. This type of setup can also be attractive to older workers who are trying to get back to work.


Why would workers want or need to change their schedules?

In the larger metro areas one of the most obvious reasons is the traffic. If you have to be at work in the middle of rush hour then a good deal of your time will be spent in traffic, which will tire you out, waste your gas and probably making you rather unhappy at work. Staggered shifts have been popular because of this.

Now a lot of older workers find that they don’t really want to completely give up work at retirement age. So a part time schedule that is flexible is a great idea for them. And a lot of companies would probably be accommodating to this because they will continue to have an experienced worker which is always valuable to any company.

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