If you are over 50+ and you feel like age bias has nailed all the doors for you, you are very probably right. But it’s not enough to be mad at the situation, do something powerful to knock this door in front of you!
The grim reality for you is that younger professionals have a 40% higher chances of being invited for an interview than someone who reached a 50-age limit. Every second respondent over 40 says that age bias has an affect on their career perspectives. But don’t take it too close to heart since it is a given. Below you will find some tips on how to knock the 50+ age bias door:
Firstly, face the reality, analyse the current situation and get rid of self-blame or stop blaming others.
Secondly, create a positive story and make your job coach listen to you until all blame or anger is gone. It is essential not to show any traces of anger in one-on-one or phone interview. If your contacts feel comfortable with you they will refer you to possible connections since you don’t show the signs of anger and/or blame. To improve your results in such situations, ask your job coach to conduct some mock interviews.
Hard-beaten marketers attack a problem right away when a shift or sudden shift happens, and so should you. That’s why, now when your view is cleared and blame is gone, you can step forward and knock the 50+ age bias door with these:
-Personality assessments. It’s not uncommon that professionals hold a special value toward insights they receive along with formal assessment. Such names as “Myers Briggs” and “Campbell” are surely very recognisable to you. But it’s a very specialised field with variety of options available. A good coach can advise you and plan specific assessments along with a comprehensive debriefing after you finish the assessment.
-SWOT Analysis. This one page analysis demonstrating all of your strenghts, weaknesses, threats and potential is powerful indeed. With this document you will face your own limitations and will get a picture of yourself as a product.
-Revamp You. Start thinking about yourself as a product and then look at upgrading based on the job market needs. The challenge in the automotive industry may serve as a good example. You likely need a tough evaluation and it might be stressful. Ask you job coach or advisor for it and then look at different possibilities, like new technology, presentation, activities and appearance.
The catch is that only by looking at yourself without a bias you can tackle your own 50+ age prejudice. All those personality assessments, SWOT analysis and “revamp you” methods are really powerful tools, which provide a tough reality check. The rule is simple: in order to knock down the 50+ age bias door you have to be truthful to yourself and very realistic.