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over 50

Resume Advice for 50+ Applicants: Part 2

If you are over 50 and looking for employment, you need to beware of these resume gaffs:

  1. Using outdated terminology or misusing current terminology, especially when writing about computer or leadership skills.
  2. Worrying too much about gaps that may have occurred while you took care of children, an aging parent or a sick spouse or simply decided to explore other opportunities.
  3. Sacrificing information about highly valuable earlier experience in an attempt to hide your age.
  4. Relying on an old-fashioned one-size-fits-all resume that does not emphasize the specific skills featured in the job posting or advertisement.
  5. Letting fear stop you from engaging in social media, such as LinkedIn.
  6. Being unprepared for an interview by someone younger than you who may ask (inappropriately, but not illegally) about your age; AARP recommends responding to age-related questions with “How do you see my age affecting my ability to perform the job?”

At Robin’s Resumes® we know how to present your lifetime accomplishments, skills, education and experience in a way that tells hiring managers and recruiters, “Here is a highly qualified candidate.” Contact us today.

Resumes for People Aged 50+

Many of the people hit by the long-term unemployment in the U.S. are over 50 years old. Is there a special resume format that older job applicants should follow? Yes and no.

First, all recruiters and hiring managers like a chronological resume. Please do not try to gloss over your years of experience by writing a strictly functional resume, one that is a narrative and not a list of positions held. A strictly functional resume immediately makes recruiters and hiring managers feel that you are hiding something.

Second, as I’ve said before in this blog, your resume is not your life history. You do not have to list every job back to high school graduation. Consider grouping some jobs by company name and position only under “Additional Experience.” Do not give the date you graduated college.

Third, employers are looking for skills but they are looking even harder for evidence that you know how to use those skills. When you focus your resume on achievements, you make recruiters and hiring managers think twice before moving on to someone younger but entirely unproven. Experience is a virtue.

Finally, as a fellow resume writer once put it, your resume is not about you, it’s about the employer and the employer’s needs. You want to position yourself as the solution the employer is looking for.

All of the points above apply to job hunters at any age.

If you are afraid that your age is damaging your chances for a job, please contact me.