Looking for a job when you are over 50

...looking for a job when you are over 50.....

Among the people struggling to get jobs two groups are especially recognised...younger people and older people, especially those over 50, who none the less are having to look for work, often when they are not in good health due to the entitlement to benefits stopping and the failure of pension schemes to guarantee in retirement the income that had been expected and planned for....when searching for work it takes older people longer to get work when they often desperately need it financially....

One of the reasons why older people have trouble getting jobs can be the image that the company has or wishes to put across. It is indeed illegal to discriminate on the basis of age when considering applicants, however, companies have ways of getting around this and the problem with proving that you were denied an interview, discriminated against on grounds of age ,is that the onus to prove it legally lies with you ….very difficult, because you simply cannot. Job advertisements these days are an exercise in SEO terms ..to the benefit of the advertiser, who manages to skirt around the law by rather than saying he won't employ anyone over 25, writes in the advertisement that the office is a 'young, funky environment.....'...Young and funky I ain't !!

When searching the Jobcentreplus jobs board..Directgov, I am intrigued as to why and if there is any connection, that there are , while the media claims , correctly...that young people are struggling to get jobs, an increasing number of vacancies advertised as apprenticeships. Apprenticeships are known to be a work opportunity intended for young people, starting at a lower rate of pay but offering training...could this be a way for an employer to get the young employee he wants ...and at a lower rate of salary.......??

Some bosses are thought to be wary of taking older staff because they would possibly have been used to being at a high rate of pay. I myself, was forty one when I gave up work at the top of my pay scale in 2001 , misguidedly as it turned out, to try to better cope with domestic violence and a mentally ill husband, in a community where there was a great deal of pressure on me to care for my husband and remain married. Ill health followed and I have struggled to get work and remain in employment since..what work I have had has always been at a lower salary than I was earning in 2001....At interviews there has been an atmosphere that the employer was impressed with my skills and experience but suspected that I was only going to stay in the job until something better came along...I have had to state that truthfully I desperately ( trying to not look desperate though !!) needed the job because even the low salary was better than the rate at which benefits are paid, and I so wanted this wonderful job..indeed wanted it more than any other job....How so many people are in the position where being on benefits makes them better off than being in work I do not know. However, I think this has possibly been the case, if a claimant has a family and there is more than one type of benefit coming into the household. It is definitely not the case if like myself, you are on your own and only receive one amount of Job seekers allowance.....It is a known fact that the cost of living alone is financially very high, since eg the gas and electricity still have to be used on one income or two...

Obviously, if an application proceeds to interview, an applicants age will be evident, but a greater chance of interview can be possible, when wording your CV, concentrating on a skills based CV format, rather than a chronological work history format giving dates of exams and qualifications...eg my own CV, although not giving dates lists my qualifications as being O levels and my childcare qualification as an NNEB rather than level 2 etc....

Managers can often be wary of whether or not an applicant would work well with a boss being older than themselves....however, with older people being forced to work for much longer and often in positions below their original level this is going to be an unavoidable and increasingly common scenario.....if like myself, you once held management positions, no matter how desperate you are to get a job with an income..any job, it can be hard to adjust to working under people many years younger than yourself....

After a slipped disk and domestic problems which had cost me my job at the top pf my pay scale, I was declared fit to return to work by my GP, but did not have a job to go to....eventually I took a job, on a much lower pay scale and level of seniority, but it was a job and I felt so thankful to be offered it that I was of no doubt that I could cope with the demotion with no problems

One day I made the mistake of making a suggestion to the much younger deputy manager and asked 'Shall I do it ??' not realising that the deputy manager had come to my room to ask me to do that very task.....the response to my question was a very angry 'Valerie, you WILL do it !!' it might have been just as well that further back problems led to the job only lasting a month.....However, you need a job and can't be particular about the age of the manager .Try to find out as much as you can about the company that you are applying to and say in your cover letter or application that you work well with people of all ages and levels and why you would really fit into the company well..and convince yourself that you believe it !!

Earlier , I mentioned that my qualifications give my age away and for many years now, more and and more recruiters are using the Internet for applications. In itself this is some indication to the employer of your IT skills....it can be a shock indication to the applicant too, since many recruitment systems now indicate just how many applicants there has been, along with your acknowledgement.....You are at a huge disadvantage in the job market if you do not keep your skills up to date.These days it is an employers market and they have all the advantages of being able to pick and choose applicants..and they have the pick of hundreds very often for any vacancy they advertise..It is so important to show on your CV that you have done something during periods of unemployment to keep your skills and knowledge up to date.Indeed, its important to show that you have been doing ...something !

I have obviously discovered an interest in and possibly a talent for marketing and writing...

marketing is a specialist career , even though at its most basic it is just promoting, advertising and selling and most people can do it. However, it is largely an academic profession and one that young people structure from university days as a career path, not something that a woman in her fifties in not good health can easily get an entry into....however, there are many freelance opportunities, especially on the Internet..there is no recession or age discrimination there !! , especially if you can sell, market and master SEO, and write..... But it takes a very long time to actually make an income,and reach the payment levels of many companies which can be quite high,eg £25-£50, so you have to do many assignments which individually do not pay much. It can be done ,but the problems can include situations such as my own, where I need an income right now and the only way I have to get one is to claim job seekers allowance, which means I have to comply with the JSA rules of looking for a paid job, which in itself is a full time job and doesn't leave time for spending the day on a computer aspiring to make your fortune....

Financially the need to get a job and an income can indeed reach urgent stages , but if possible do try to do some voluntary work or take some courses, so that you won’t have gaps in your CV and will learn new skills or update what you have...There can however be a problem with doing a course in itself. I , unable to work in my original profession now for health reasons, have been studying a Business Studies and Admin course,as I do not come from an admin background, but since the DWP is forcing me to seek work, this is the only kind of work that physically I can manage. The problem is that like a housing law course I did some years ago, which promised all kinds of wonderful job opportunities, there was no actual practical experience of doing the job, a course in itself does not make a Housing Officer....

It might help if you make it to interview , and an employer is wondering if you are just looking for something to do for a short while before you retire, that you try to make it clear in the interview that retirement is still a long way off , and that at this point you do not expect to be able to retire...Eg at the age of 53, I am still at least fourteen years away from being able to claim my pension.....and that is at the current government pension rules....

Older job applicants, not in good health and struggling with debt can also end up not looking like they want to get a job.....keep up appearances because they do matter !! keep a lookout for model nights at hairdressers where you can get your hair cut cheaply or even free...keep an eye on your local charity shops, and if you have a local Freecycle network for clothes...And try not to let depression and desperation show in your job search and interviews.....keep your dignity !!

Valerie