Whether you’ve been forced into early retirement, downsized, or are tired of being at home and eager to work again, or even taking your first job, entering
work force after age of 50 can hold some challenges. Here are some tips from someone who coaches a lot of people in this transition.FOCUS ON YOUR SKILLS
Focus on skills you have, not your deficits. Chances are you’ve accumulated a great range of talents over years, particularly people skills. Studies show that Emotional Intelligence generally increases up to age of 50 or so (Reuven Bar-On, Ph.D.) and EQ includes those “soft skills” so sought after in today’s work place.
Your ability to handle stress and handle people can be a great asset.
‘GET’ WHAT YOU DON’T HAVE
Don’t be intimidated if you haven’t had chance to get computer-proficient. Sign up for courses at local community college or computer store. People over 50 are fastest growing segment on Internet.
You can also read. A friend of mine who had been a school counselor for many years decided to apply for a job as principal. She read as many text books on subject as she could find before interview, aced interview and got job.
You could also, of course, get an online degree, or a bricks-and-mortar degree, but possibility exists of doing this on your own time, spending less money and perhaps doing it more rapidly.
FOCUS ON THE PLUSSES
A friend of mine who’s 59 applied for a job recently, and both HR person and manager she interviewed with asked her – though it’s probably not “legal” – if she had children. Clearly this was an office that had experienced difficulties with parents taking time off for their children, and were looking for someone not so encumbered.
Whether or not it’s “right” for employers to look at it this way, once your children have left home, or are grown, driving, self-sufficient and back home, you have an asset to offer. You won’t be calling in when kids are sick, or leaving early to take them for orthodontist appointments, and you can find a way to mention this. My friend capitalized on this, and she got job though she’d been out of work force for three years and was nearly 60. (And at her highest salary to-date.)
IT ISN’T ‘AGE-RELATED’ (NLESS YOU THINK IT IS)
A client of mine was entering work force at age of 60 and mentioned concern about his memory. Some people experience some short-term memory loss as they age, though it can be minimal, and it also depends upon individual. I asked him some questions around this, and by end of our conversation he admitted that he’d “always been that way,” and really hadn’t suffered an appreciable deficit.
Be particularly cognizant of this on first few weeks on job. Everyone who takes a new job is stressed, and stress affects us cognitively as well as emotionally. These days, every fax machine, every phone, and every filing system is different. What you knew in past doesn’t always apply. What does apply is your ability to focus, learn and apply. If you anticipate having problems because of your age, you’ll add that source of stress to mix, and, like all self-fulfilling prophecies, you may make it come true.
If you do forget some things first days on job, which is quite normal, just keep forging ahead. You might also find it helpful to carry a notepad with you and write things down. One client mentioned she was having trouble remembering whether you needed a “1” prior to one of area codes in our vicinity, a problem typical in many metro areas these days. She thought she was losing it, until a much younger co-worker told her, “No one can remember that. Just try it with, then try it without.”
Don’t vocally attribute things to “age”. Do this as a service to yourself, but also to other older workers. Any time you make a comment such as, “I’m getting too old to bend over like this/remember file codes like this/fight with a machine like this, you’re doing a disservice to other older workers.
