Job Hunting as a Senior

I wrote this in the 90's at the height of one of our many recessions. I wrote it for all those who were having a difficult time getting work. As a senior who is retired but who still works according to my own schedule, I appreciate that other Boomers may want to continue to work after retiring so I will be posting my thoughts on job hunting over the next few weeks

The UNIVERSAL HIRING RULE is:

Any Employer will hire any applicant. The applicant must convince the employer that the applicant will bring more value than they cost.

As a job applicant, you must convince the employer that you can, bring more value than you will be paid. Sounds simple, but ... how do you do it? 

ANSWER: Get an interview with someone who has the authority to hire you, and convince them!

Interviews, however, are not easy to get  for ageism is with us and the over 50's stigma will haunt you. What I have done, therefore, is to put together material that I think will aid you in this task.

The process of getting an interview starts in one of the following three ways:

1.            Writing a letter of application.

2.            Phoning for an interview.

3.            Going in person and asking for an interview.

You have had a successful work life, and you are now making a decision about what you are going to do part time when you retire. Deciding can often be a difficult task, especially when a person is not familiar with the decision-making process. Its probably been a long time since you have had to make a career decision.  Individuals who are faced with a career decision may feel uncertain, confused and bewildered.

One way to start is to organize your information when considering your alternatives. When searching for the most satisfying alternative, I have used the following process:

1.                  Identify the decision to be made.

2.                  Gather the important information you will need on which to base your decision.

3.                  Identify the alternatives from which you can choose.

4.                  Analyze the evidence and choose among the alternatives.

5.                  Take appropriate action.

6.                  Review the decision to discover if it is satisfying to you or not.

If you still cannot decide after using this process, take the time to analyse your commitment to making that decision. You might have to do more in-depth research on which to base your decision. The following internal obstacles can prevent a person from making deciding:

-                                 Fear of making the wrong decision

-                                 Fear of taking a risk

-                                 Fear of failure

-                                 Fear of change

-                                 Lack of self-confidence

-                                 Ambivalence (having conflicting feelings about the decision)

-                                 Procrastination (putting off a decision)

-                                 Stereotyping about yourself and others about age, race, and sex.

The following external obstacles can also hinder the decision making process.

·        Family expectations and responsibilities (pay the bills, cook the meals, "Don't move," etc.)

·        Societal stereotyping about age, race, sex

·        Other societal expectations (pressure to conform, to make increasingly more money, to be successful, to be a good parent, etc.)

Remember, to make any kind of a decision requires a commitment on your part. The burden of the responsibility is yours to assume, and you need to develop confidence in your ability to make decide. There is a certain amount of risk involved when making any choice. You can reduce that uncertainty by taking the time to gather needed information

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