3 Ways Your Age Is Hurting Your Job Search

3 Ways Yur Age Is Hurting Your Job Search Most of us dont find job searching fun, but the process can be especially tough for women. We sometimes feel hireif managers eyes glance at our stomachs and our ring fingers. Were often grilled about our education and qualifications, and at times it feels like our interviewers suspect were leid as skilled as we say we are.For older women, the interview process can be even worse. Instead of being valued as experienced, mature female job seekers are often seen as unhireable, something our latest research confirmed. Our survey of mora than 500 hiring professionals found that even when hiring managers characterizeolder female candidates with the same traits theyd use to describe an ideal candidate, theyre still not likely to hire these women. Its ageism, simply put and it isnt okay.In our research, we asked hiring professionals to list what traits they prioritize when assessing job seekers. The top characteristics chosen were professionalism, re liability, and leadership ability. We then showed respondents images of women candidates who differed in their age, hair style, clothing, and body size. One of the women pictured was noticeably older than the others.Despite ranking highly for those top three desired traits out of 15 candidates, the oldest woman ranked sixth for professionalism, third for leadership material, and first for reliability only 29.2 percent of respondents said they would hire her.In the face of such blatant prejudice, whats a mature job seeker to do?We dug deeper into the data to find out how you can succeed in your job search, regardless of the number of years under your belt.Here are three things you need to knowYour peers are the harshest.Baby boomers are widely thought to be biased against millennials. However, they can be just as prejudiced against people their own age. In fact, in our survey, just 15.38 percent of respondents over age 55 said theyd hire the older female candidate.Respondents over age 55 were also less likely to describe the image of the oldest woman as intelligent, professional, or as leadership material.There is good news, however. Of the youngest respondents those between 25 and 34 twice as many said they would hire the older woman, compared to their baby boomer counterparts. If youre an older job seeker, keep this in mind it suggests you should feel encouraged to apply to jobs at new, up-and-coming startups that are largely run by millennials.The leaders of those companies may be younger than you, but theyre also more likely than older hiring managers to recognize everything your experience has to offer. In fact, 41 percent of younger hiring professionals also described the older woman as being leadership material.Not all men are your allies.Men play an important role in the fight for gender equality in the workplace. Unfortunately, though, not all of them realize that yet. When we compared how men and women described the older woman, men were less lik ely to use positive adjectives.Consider the following dataPercent of Male RespondentsPercent of Female RespondentsProfessional59.4466.93Friendly37.3542.23Intelligent37.3542.63Confident38.1541.83Men were also less likely to say theyd hire the older woman just 27 percent of men said they would.Its unrealistic to think that you could or should apply to jobs at companies with only female employees. Organizations need gender diversity to be successful. But by looking for workplaces that clearly value women and put them in positions of power, mature job seekers can increase their odds of finding a fit thats truly worthy of their time.Research the gender makeup of a companys executive team before applying. If theres a good number offemale executives, then there are also probably women in hiring positions. As our data shows, these hiring professionals will be more likely to give you the job offer you deserve.You may be seen as inflexible and uncreative.In our survey, respondents ranked t he oldest candidate as the most reliable woman. While this appears to be a compliment, it also reveals a deeper prejudice against older women.Being reliable means that you can be depended on to do whats right over and over again. However, to some, it may also imply that youre not open to changes or new ways of doing things.Employers want people who are innovative. Of course, being older certainly doesnt mean you arent open to trying new things, but you may need to be slightly more intentional about showing this side of yourself during the interview process. Go into theinterviewwith ideas for new projects the company could take on, and be prepared to make suggestions about how you could improve specific aspects of the company or office.You should also be prepared to cite examples of how youve been innovative in the past. Talk about situations at previous jobs when youve come up with creative solutions to problems. This will show the prospective employer that youre willing to take ris ks and embrace change qualities we should all be looking to conveyWhile the existence of ageism sadly doesnt make the job search any easier for mature women, that doesnt mean you cant still take control of your future and advance your carer. And by understanding the types of prejudices that are out there, youll be able to spot them more easily and thereby eliminate any company that isnt deserving of your time and talents.

The 5-Minute Rule for Writing a Qualifications Summary on a Resume

The 5-Minute Rule for Writing a Qualifications Summary on a Resume So How About Writing a Qualifications Summary on a Resume? The qualifications summary is put close to the top of the resume. It is one of the most important pieces of your resume. It can be a powerful tool to get you the interview. Therefore if you would like to go noticed instantly, you should incorporate an overview of qualifications on your resume. Irrespective of whether youre on the lookout for an entry level job or larger career advancement, you most likely already understand how important your resume can be in your search to discover the ideal job. On the flip side, functional resumes are generally used by fresh graduates or those who have less experience but want to grab the work vacancy. An overview of qualifications is utilized to highlight the range of work experiences youve built up as time passes. After a couple job applications, you are going to be custom-fitting qualifications summaries in a couple of minutes. A great career summary is a significant portion of the career summary since it adds depth and clarity to your resume. It is essentially a glimpse of your skill set and the value you can bring to your potential employer. Finally, it focuses on your ability to offer value to the company. An overview of qualifications can be an ideal bridge between your work history and where you would love to take your career later on. How to Find Writing a Qualifications Summary on a Resume on the Web Resume is a type of document utilized by individuals that are seeking for employment. The significance of a career summary is to clearly show your value to the business. 1 A resume summary is a brief, snappy introduction paragraph that delivers a summary of your very best work. So How About Writing a Qualifications Summary on a Resume? A strong summary statement at the peak of your resume can increase the possibility of them noticing what youve got to offer from the begin ning. Once your resume reaches a genuine human, youve approximately six seconds to produce an impression. You require an overview of qualifications if you would like the quickest way to acquire more interviews without a whole lot of work. Lastly, you must remember to proofread your career summary like the remainder of your resume. Youre going to compose a resume summary which gets far more interviews. A summary can be hard to write at first as its tempting to include too much or too little info. It is not as detailed. Whilst you write your summary for your resume, attempt to think of what you want them to discuss with you, and what exactly you desire an opportunity to discuss. Many summary statements begin to your present job title or primary function. Items in your summary shouldnt be generic. In order to understand what to put in your career summary, you want to understand what it is and what it isnt. A summary by definition is something thats comprehensive yet brief.