Your chances of finding employment are good if you conduct your campaign in a systematic, businesslike way.
If you are 60 years old as you read this, and in good health, chances are you'll live another 20 to 25 years or more. If you are in your fifties, you have an even longer potential work life. Consequently, it's important that the job you get, whether full- or part-time, is one you like and enjoy, one that fits in with your needs and lifestyle. Also, the demographics in the years to come and beyond favor you because of the experience and other intangible attributes you bring to a job market in need of professional and technical skills.
The purpose of your job-hunting campaign is to obtain an interview with the person in a company who has the power to hire you. The three basic keys that unlock the door to a job are: knowing what you want to do, having a plan, and executing your plan. It's that simple. The complex part is finding the job of your choice. That comes in the execution of your plan, accomplished by performing a number of steps to achieve your goal, steps taken by millions of job hunters before you.
Your resume is important, but it does not tell the employer that you can do the job. It is a calling card designed to influence the person who receives it. It is up to you to make a selling proposal, demonstrating by words and past deeds that you will be an asset to the company. You must convince the employer during interviews that it is good business to hire you.
A job hunter is like the conductor of a symphony orchestra. He or she orchestrates a campaign that includes a broad range of activities. The campaign requires planning, knowledge, practice, time, and effort to bring it all together. To conduct a successful job search, the over-50 professional must be adaptable, innovative, flexible, and willing and able to learn and to take risks.
It's the Details That Spell Success
A successful job search requires that you use every available source. Focus on the ones you feel will be most productive, but don't ignore the others. As you become involved in the job search you'll get a sense of what areas will produce the best results for your job-hunting campaign.
Remember, the more people you contact and the more effort you put into the job search, the better your chances for success. Job hunting is also a matter of attending to details. Leave no stone unturned; you never know when a job opportunity is going to pop up. Often such opportunities come from surprising and unexpected places.
What are the sources that produce the best results for job hunters? The National Center for Career Strategies recently reported that only 14 percent of 14,500 employed people got jobs through help-wanted advertisements in newspapers. The most effective method of getting a job is networking or personal contacts, which resulted in jobs for 70 percent of those seeking them.
Information Interviews, You may be familiar with this type of interview. Individuals uncertain about their choice of career can get information and trends about jobs in specific industries in this type of interview. It can also be used to obtain information about your specific field or industry. An information interview should be a planned process. This means when you walk into an information interview you have a thoroughly prepared list of questions to ask because you took the time to research the industry and the company. You are there to get information-not ask for a job. Busy executives who agree to spend time talking to you about their industry will not take kindly to being dunned for a job under the pretense of an information interview. Frequently job hunters do this, to their detriment.
If you use this technique, take the time to get information about the companies in the field, their needs, industry trends, the best areas to pursue in terms of job opportunities, and contacts the executive might give whom you can call for information interviews. Specifically ask for permission to mention the executive's name when he or she gives you a contact.
You can also ask the executives you interview how they got into the industry, what their jobs encompass, and what companies may be hiring professionals with your skills in the near future. Also ask them for advice as to what avenues to pursue for someone seeking work in the industry.
Information interviews with executives of banks, insurance companies, and construction companies in the area can provide leads to new companies coming into the neighborhood, companies that are expanding or starting a new department or division. This is a good way to obtain information about what is going on in the business community in your area. Such information can lead to new contacts, a potential interview, and possibly a job.
At the end of the information interview (don't overstay your welcome) thank the executive for his or her time and follow up with a thank-you note. If you do get a job in the industry, send a note to individuals you talked with, thanking them for their advice that was instrumental in helping you land a job. This will be the beginning of a new network of contacts that can be valuable later on.
