A brilliant article on the benefits of hiring older workers.
Too many companies, especially the tech ones focus on recruiting millennials. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg once said young people are smarter!
Research shows Gen Xers being recruited 33% times less, and baby boomers 60% less than millennials.
In this article by Kelly Palmer, for Market Watch she writes about the benefits of hiring older workers. On recruiting an editor in chief and how productive he was. He could make an impact based on his knowledge and skills.
There are other examples of the benefits of hiring older workers.
But too many companies who think that we are over the hill because we are of an age
I have a huge desire to learn, I’ve lots more I can contribute and many of my peers are the same. Come 50 or 60 and many people feel they are just getting started with many productive years ahead, so why are some employers blind to the benefits of hiring us?
A book I read a couple of years back The 100-Year Life by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott. It talks around how we are moving from
The model of Education Career Retirement
To one where we have a variety of careers with transitions in between.
We can retrain at 50+ if we have 15+ years of working life ahead of us.
So, what will help?
We need to understand modern job search techniques, and to show we are comfortable with technology and social media. If not, there are plenty of free courses e.g., Future Learn that will help. I’d like to suggest this one – Career Credentials: Evidence Your Expertise in DigitalLiteracy
We may want to de-age our CV, so it doesn’t get thrown out on an initial sift, but this can mean that we don’t want to talk about relevant experience from the past that could help.
If you need some job search support you may want my book Find Work at 50+
Employers need to read more evidence on the benefits of hiring older workers.
I think we should own our expertise to stand up for who we are. But maybe this is to come, and if you need a job right now, you need to fit in. But later.