Q: I was part of a reduction-in-force at a well-known engineering firm two years ago. It employed about 44,000 professionals; now it has about 14,000. My background includes a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and an M.B.A., and I am 59 years old.
I joined a Houston job search organization and worked with them for six months, doing many things they suggested to find a new position. Your advice for following up on ads was the same as theirs. My results, however, have been discouraging. After responding to an ad and waiting three weeks without word, I would call back to discuss the status of the job and express my interest in the position. I never received anything-not even a negative letter in reply. My impression is that when organizations get the idea you are over 45, nothing happens. If age discrimination isn’t the cause, what is?
A: While I will answer your question about age discrimination, your letter broaches other issues that need to be addressed as well.
It’s good to hear that your job search group and I have given you the same advice. Because job search is both art and science, two reliable resources frequently offer what seems to be conflicting information, leaving confused job seekers wondering what to do.
In your case, the advice hasn’t worked. The unfortunate fact is, regardless of expertise, only a small percentage of those using want ads as job search tools find positions with them. Consequently, your age probably had little bearing on your disappointing record.
As your Houston group probably told you, want ads are only one means of finding a position. For most job seekers, using and expanding a contact network consistently produces the best results. This is particularly true for older job hunters. Most find it easier to tailor discussions of their backgrounds to an employer’s needs once they’ve talked to him or her face-to-face.
Your letter doesn’t mention job search techniques other than ads. Where have you concentrated your time? If ads occupy more than 25 percent of it, you need to redirect your efforts.
In regard to age discrimination, some companies refuse to hire people of a certain age for a variety of logical and silly reasons, regardless of what they claim. In fact, in working with clients for the past 30 years, I’ve found every age has its detractors. Your over-50 age group has overcome the “lack of experience” and “too many family responsibilities” stigmas only to replace them with:
♦ Fewer years to work before retirement.
♦ Higher salary and benefit costs.
♦ An employer perception of the older worker’s inflexible attitude and inability to learn anything new (this one is a myth, but many people still believe it).
For every interviewer who avoids workers in the 50+ age bracket, however, there’s one who recognizes the advantages of this age group. Mature professionals will:
♦ Bring expertise ready for immediate application. Their training time is usually much shorter than younger people’s.
♦ Offer a seasoned perspective developed through years of handling similar situations.
♦ Provide stable, mellowed personalities without being driven to prove their worth at the expense of their colleagues.
♦ Come equipped with a strong work ethic and the desire to build loyal, long-term relationships with their new company.
♦ Often exhibit more flexibility, enthusiasm and willingness to learn than some of their younger co-workers who “think they know everything.”
♦ Give clients the comfortable feeling that their firm is run by mature, experienced, reliable people.
The trick is discovering companies that appreciate what you bring to the table. While you may find some by answering ads and contacting search firms, networking is your most direct route. The best prospects include companies for whom your age is perceived as a plus. They are:
♦ Large firms committed to affirmative action. Their management has a mandate to hire qualified women, minority and older candidates, either because they have government contracts requiring it or because they’ve found it’s good for business.
♦ Organizations that need a stable, “old pro” image because their customers demand it.
♦ Consulting firms that are building departments in areas where they have no in-house expertise.
Recently, one of my clients, an engineer over 55, decided to take early retirement when his high-tech company cut back its staff. Through some judicious networking he joined a management consulting firm that was expanding into health care IT systems. He is rapidly becoming a trusted consultant in this area both because it’s a field requiring fresh thinking and because he has years of experience working with the type of technical people he now advises.
If your responses to ads and networking haven’t been productive, examine the positions you’re pursuing. With your engineering degree, M.B.A. and years of experience, you have much to offer potential employers. Are you replying to job listings below your level, assuming people your age may have to settle for less? While this line of thinking is common, it’s deadly. Employers don’t want to hire overqualified people. Perhaps interviewers have told you, “You’re overqualified,” and you thought they really meant, “You’re too old.” They probably aren’t hiring you because:
♦ They know you’ll resent taking a pay cut.
♦ They think you’ll find little challenge in the position.
♦ They worry you’ll leave for the next enticing job that comes along.
While being rejected is tough, they’re probably doing you a favor by not allowing you to take a position below your capability.
Of course, if you’re tired of the performance rat race and welcome a low stress job, then apply for the lower-level positions, in person, if possible. Telling an employer face-to-face that you want to do a good day’s work but not compete for a higher-level slot may convince him that you’re the best person for the job after all.
Taunee Besson, CMF, is president of Career Dimensions, Inc., a consulting firm founded in 1979, which works with individual and corporate clients in career change; job search; executive, small business and life coaching; college major selection and talent management.
“One of the smartest minds in the career field,” according to Tony Lee (VP of CareerCast Operations at Adicio and former publisher of the Wall Street Journal’s Online Vertical Network), Besson began writing for the Dallas Times Herald in the early 80s. Having read several of her columns, Lee asked her to contribute regular articles to the Journal’s National Business Employment Weekly (NBEW) as well. Since then, she has been a triple award-winning columnist for CareerJournal.com and Senior Columnist for CareerCast.com, as well as WorkingWoman.com and Oxygen.com. At Lee’s request, Besson authored five editions of NBEW’s Premier Guide to Resumes and three of its Premier Guide to Cover Letters. She has also written articles and/or been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Dallas Morning News, Business Week, Time, Smart Money and Yahoo among others.
Taunee has worked on community nonprofit boards and committees for over 30 years including Girls Inc., Women’s Center of Dallas, Girl Scouts and Dallas Women’s Foundation, The Volunteers of America and Mortarboard, among others. She was a member of the Leadership Dallas in 1987 and Leadership America in 2003.
In 1994, the Dallas Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development chose her as its “Professional of the Year”. Her NBEW columns were selected for the “Ten Best Article Award” in 1990, 1994 and 1997. In 1999, Alpha Gamma Delta, a 200,000 member fraternal organization, named her as one of three “Distinguished Citizens” at its biannual international convention.
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