My First Job Search in 30 Years

Need a new gig?  A lighthearted look at some crucial “shoulds” from a experienced worker who is a quick study. Dye your hair, leaving some grey at the temples, get dermabrasion, and you’ll get a job in no time. Eliminate all those years of experience from your resume. Take control of the interview. Cover letters should be short. Resumes should focus on successes. Everyone has some advice, and you follow it all. Let me give some background. At age 56, after a long and satisfying career in technology, I was actually looking for a job for the first time in almost thirty years. I had spent close to 25 years with two companies, but the second was a spin off of the first. During those years, I personally survived thirty one rounds of layoffs (I always kept count). Finally, I had taken a voluntary retirement at the bottom of the dot bomb crash, starting a business in a non-technology area. After three years, and not making the progress I had hoped, I decided to get back into technology. I was sure I had what it takes, a career with lots of successes, great references, and even a stint as the president of a corporation. They would come knocking. I was a fool. I am writing this article, to share some of the lessons I learned, and to help others avoid some of the obvious mistakes I made. Some of the stuff is really basic, but if you haven’t had lots of experience looking for a job, they are very easy to miss.

-> Your resume is a tool, but not the only tool for getting a job. It needs to be neat, professional looking, have no spelling errors, and most important, easily customizable. You need to be able to easily add or subtract experiences that are relevant to the job you are applying for. Having said, that, it is only one tool in your arsenal, and you do not get a job based solely on your resume.

-> Be careful with your money. There are a lot of people out there who make a living preying on the stress and difficulty of the situation, separating the vulnerable from their money. An example is a good friend of mine who paid $10,000 to have a private search firm to carpet bomb his resume to potential employers. There are good companies and people out there that can help, but do your due diligence, and make sure they understand your unique position as an older worker.

-> Interviewing stinks, but it is a necessary part of the job search process. Prepare for each as if you are going to war. Know the complete background of the company, especially what areas they need help in. Your goal in the interview process is not to show how brilliant you are, but what you can do to help the company overcome its challenges.

-> You should network, network, and then network even more. When I finally found a job, it was through someone that I met at a networking event. During my job search I had another job offer, and a couple of interviews through networking. It is by far more effective than just answering ads posted on job boards.

-> Finally, don’t get discouraged, which at our age, is very easy to do. Some things are not meant to be. I went to an invitation only event at a company that had a couple of jobs that were a good fit for me. When I met the IT Director, I knew that there was no chance I’d get to the interview process. She looked like she could have been a friend of my son, who was a college freshman at the time, and dressed that way as well. There just wasn’t good chemistry between us. I wanted that job, badly, but walked out knowing that I wouldn’t get it.

I did find a job, after what I considered too many months of looking. Although the salary was good, and the commute was very easy, I knew even before I started, that this was not a job I wanted to keep very long. I am using the skills and experiences that I learned during my first job search, to make my second one easier, faster and more effective.

Categories: Getting Started, Job Search Help, Layoff, Managing Your Search, Strategies for Unemployed, Things You Need to Know