I just heard an interview with a recruiter. She contends that the job market in New York City is all but closed to anyone over 30. Can this be correct? Are there hoards of middle-aged folks wandering the streets without a job? Of course not.
So why would she say something like that. She recruits for law firms and web based health care. Translated: She is trying to find slave labor for the big law firms and cheap content producers for the web based health care. Of course that job market is closed to anyone over 30.
That is like saying the job market for pro boxers is closed to anyone over 35. Of course.
When we go looking for work, if we are wise, we go to a market that values what we have to offer. The young person willing to work long hours for low pay in return for a shot at the top might look at entry level law jobs or junior airline pilot positions.
But we who’ve got a little experience should know enough to gravitate to areas that value our experience, people skills, and leadership.We must take inventory of our strengths, not fight our weaknesses. For example, I am terrified of heights. Should I try for a job as a transmission tower repair technician to strengthen that “soft part of your resume”? Of course not.
I am all for growth, but some of us are hard wired to want more variety than stability or to get more love than significance. Or the reverse. Know your strengths and play to them. Most older workers have the following strengths:
- They understand relationships better.
- They have the “shop skills” to handle customers.
- They can understand both sides of a conflict.
- They are dependable.
- They take care of the business as if it were their own.
- They know the history of their industry. What has worked and what has not.
For us over 50, the job market is truly hidden. Successful older workers have a life’s worth of friends and colleagues who have moved into powerful positions. We use this network to get our next job. Jobs come open and are filled, and those jobs will never be advertised unless it is required by law. And then it is posted and other candidates are interviewed just to “fill the squares” in the government forms. But the hiring decision has already been made. Sometimes months before the job is posted.
People call me nowadays asking if I want to work for them. Is that because I’m so good? No, it is because I have worked on and with my network for 35 years.
So what should us old guys do when we find ourselves out on the street without a paycheck?
Get reacquainted with your network. Call old classmates. Reconnect with colleagues and cousins. But don’t ask for any favors until you give some out. (See previous post on networking.) There are jobs out there. But you’ll not get hired in the same way as the youngsters
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