Find a job when you’re over 50

Find a job when you’re over 50 Today’s job market is increasingly competitive- even for the brightest and most go-getting candidates in the field. If you’re over 50 and looking for a new gig amongst fields of millennials, the current state of job hunting can feel overwhelming. Whether you’re looking to score a job or change your career, don’t panic if you’re a little past the fresh-out-of-undergrad age. It might take you a bit longer to find a good fit and get hired, but it’s possible. Here are some good strategies for finding a fulfilling job- no matter what your age.Dust yourself off.Figure out new trends in your desired field and make sure you’re up on them. Improve your skills as necessary, and update your resume. Emphasize the skills you’ve honed over years in the working world and the unique bundle of expertise and experience you bring to the table. Answer this question: How is your age an asset rather than a liability?Look good.This sounds shallow, but the better groomed and healthier you look, the more vital you will seem. Stay relatively fit. Get a good haircut. Shell out for a well-tailored outfit. People do judge books by their cover, so present yourself in your most ideal package.Reach out to your network.The benefit of your age and experience is the huge number of people that you have gathered into your circle over the years. Make use of the people you know- don’t be shy. Keep your contacts current and make sure to utilize them rather than applying only through online job search boards. It’s still very much a â€Å"who you know† world out there, and you know more than the average job seeker!Don’t fear the interview.A face-to-face meeting is perhaps your best chance to present yourself as seasoned enough to be reliable, but current enough to be an exciting choice to hire. It’s also a great opportunity to show that you wouldn’t be a culture clash- even at your age. Show that youâ€⠄¢re a team player- and humble enough to take your marching orders from a 22-year-old boss.Know your tech inside and out.Don’t just get tech savvy. Show off your knowledge. Let potential hirers know that you own and wield the right devices and that you have a social media presence and are actually adept at working with the various platforms.Don’t forget to negotiate.Your age, position, and experience are actually an asset- don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. Once you get to the hiring stage and are discussing compensation, remember that you might be due a higher salary point and even a â€Å"compensation package† rather than the entry-level of your bright-eyed peers. Ask for what the position and your experience deserve without apology. You’ve earned this!Stay positive and persist.Above all, keep a good attitude and don’t get discouraged if things don’t come quickly. It might not happen overnight and you might have to look to a f ew explicitly age-friendly companies or employers to land yourself in the right spot, but you will find something that speaks to you. Put in the work to update yourself for a new economy, and you will land at a place that appreciates you for your age- not in spite of it.

Should You Avoid These Top 10 LinkedIn Profile Overused Buzzwords

Should You Avoid These Top 10 LinkedIn Profile Overused Buzzwords LinkedIn has released its annual report on the Top 10 Overused LinkedIn Profile Buzzwords of 2013. This year they analyzed only English-language profiles. As you read this year’s list, consider for each term whether it’s one you should avoid due to overuse, or whether it’s simply an essential word to have in your profile. As I look through the buzzwords, I find I have a different opinion on each one. Here’s the list: Responsible Strategic Creative Effective Patient Expert Organizational Driven Innovative Analytical RESPONSIBLE Responsible is a word I have banished from resumes and LinkedIn profiles for years now. I think it must have risen to the top as other overused buzzwords such as â€Å"extensive experience,† â€Å"results-oriented,† â€Å"proven track record† and â€Å"team player† have been shaved off most people’s profiles. Avoid using â€Å"responsible† in your profile – it doesn’t tell anyone about what you actually did! I’m hoping that the appearance of â€Å"Responsible† on LinkedIn’s list will shrink its appearance on resumes. STRATEGIC I’m frankly shocked that strategic just appeared on the top 10 list for the first time this year. I believe its emergence as #2 is a testament to the importance of the word. When your job includes strategic planning you must use this word, since it is central to your business role. If you claim you are a strategic thinker, however, be sure to include examples of that thinking and the results it has produced. CREATIVE Creative ranked #1 last year and is #3 now. I don’t love this word and rarely use it. â€Å"Creative† describes people more than accomplishments and is better left for other people to say about you. Anyone can say they’re creative but the challenge is to prove it. Instead of relying on this buzzword, attach photos and PowerPoints showing your work; provide links to your writing; and describe the ways in which you’ve done things that other people have not. EFFECTIVE Effective, which moved from #3 to #4 this year, is a throw-away word in my opinion, often easily avoided by reporting actual results. If you got your intended results, your strategy was effective. PATIENT Patient? I’m not sure why this word is suddenly on the top 10 list. I’d say scrap it. Patient is a trait you need to demonstrate, not claim on a piece of paper. EXPERT Everyone’s claiming to be an expert these days. If you can truly demonstrate expertise in a particular area, I think it’s okay to use the word (of course this is coming from a woman who calls her company The Essay Expert!) I believe some people might search for terms like â€Å"E-Learning Expert† or â€Å"Turnaround Expert† ; if they do, you want to have the word â€Å"Expert† in your headline and job titles. My caveat would be not to claim you are an expert if you’re really not. Be honest or someone could easily call your bluff. ORGANIZATIONAL Organizational first appeared on the buzzword list as #2 in 2011 and kept its ranking in 2012; it has slipped to #7 but is still on the list and I can understand why. Most LinkedIn members are mid- to upper-level managers and executives, for whom organizational goals are extremely important. I think this buzzword is here to stay, at least for a while, and I see no problem with using it. DRIVEN Driven has started to replace â€Å"Results-oriented† as a favorite descriptive word. Take note of its overuse and see if you can provide examples that show your drive instead of calling yourself â€Å"driven.† If you would use this word as one of the top three adjectives to describe yourself, you might choose to keep it in your profile. But know that it will be taken with a grain of salt. INNOVATIVE Innovative is a persistent one. It was #2 on the list in 2010, #7 in both 2011 and 2012. Honestly this word is a hard one to eliminate if you are in any sort of product marketing or management role. It’s better than â€Å"original† or â€Å"creative† in my opinion. If you need to use it, use it. But make sure to explain *what* was innovative about your ideas. Don’t just say â€Å"innovative† and think that explains something. ANALYTICAL Finally, analytical is a word that you might need to use if you’re in marketing, finance, or any profession for which analysis is critical. Only claim to be analytical if analyzing things makes your heart sing and is central to the work you do. WHAT’S NEXT? For the first time this year, I have a vision of a world where the top 10 buzzwords on LinkedIn are not â€Å"overused,† but instead rank as the important words in business for the year. Let’s cut away the fluff and drill down to the essentials. Anyone with me? Buzz Buzz! Category:Archived ArticlesBy Brenda BernsteinDecember 16, 2013 2 Comments Seth says: December 17, 2013 at 2:16 am Im an analyst, with off-the-charts analytical skills. May I use it? Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: December 17, 2013 at 8:22 am Id say you dont have much of a choice Seth! There would be a big problem if you *didnt* use this word! Log in to Reply