New tricks for old staffers

By MARK STORY

With the exceptions of politicians and pop stars, it seems getting a job as an older worker can be harder than the jobs applied for.

Singer and actor Madonna is now aged 47 and working as hard as ever. She's currently voicing an animated film and this year completed her "re-invention" tour.

Don Brash was born in 1940 and is still going strong - there's a chance he could be Prime Minister at a time when he will be entitled to draw the state pension.

But what do these older workers enjoy that others don't? They both have a high profile, but more important - especially for Madonna - there is a passion to adapt to change. That, it seems, is a prerequisite for remaining employable.

For 45- to 64-year-old New Zealanders who are keen to get promoted or land a new job, there is hope. Occupational consultant Anna de Valk says we are witnessing a reversal of a trend popular in the 80s and 90s, when employers hired on the basis of qualifications and youthfulness.

Ian Taylor, a director with executive recruiter Sheffield, says employers' attitudes towards older potential employees are more positive now than five years ago. He says it's because the experience older workers can offer has been revalued, and their wisdom is more appreciated.

And if recently released findings are any indication, it's just as well. Statistics NZ expects older workers to make up an increasingly larger slice of the workforce.

The labour force aged 45-64 years is projected to reach 940,000 by around 2019 (more than double the 1991 total). The labour force aged 65 years and over is also expected to increase from an estimated 25,000 in 1991 to 101,000 in 2021.

Given the emerging respect for their skills, experience and knowledge, the employment market is expected to become increasingly kinder to older workers. De Valk says more employers now realise that by not employing older people or by making them redundant, they risk losing vast amounts of "tacit" knowledge.

"This stuff isn't written down in policies but it's an important aspect of business operations that people learn and pass on," says de Valk, a consultant with Job Connections.

So what is an older worker these days? Ruth Turnbull, 54, contact centre manager with Qantas, says there's a chronological crossover point at which people are considered to be older, and this depends on who's doing the hiring.

She says companies are better at accepting older workers at the top of the tree than the middle ranks, where they could pay younger people less. The average age of a company director in New Zealand is 60, and recruiters still hire CEOs and chairmen well into their 70s.

Karyn Herbert, 45, employee relations manager with Westpac, says the commonly held stereo-types about older workers being more susceptible to sickness and injury, or carrying too much negative emotional baggage, are often flimsy excuses for hiring younger people. In her experience, older workers tend to be far more conscientious about work attendance than their younger counterparts.

"We're doing a lot more to hire and retain older workers who are mature and stable. As well as reflecting the demographic of society, we find younger people like to work with them," says Herbert.

But Turnbull, like many baby boomers, admits to having worked hard not be left unemployable after the sea change that turned the labour market upside down. She's watched many a career of an experienced worker derail prematurely, especially when a tertiary qualification becomes a minimum requirement.

"When I left school with basic school certificate, a university education wasn't regarded as a necessity," she says. "If you wanted to get ahead in your career you stayed with the same company and waited to move up the ladder."

Having grown up in the era when age and experience mattered most, Turnbull says it's hardly surprising many older workers feel nervous about competing in today's job stakes. The thought of poking their heads up into today's job market doesn't engender a lot of confidence in many.

So what do older workers have to do to attract employers these days?

It's important, advises Turnbull, that they learn the art of self-promotion. That means swallowing their pride and getting over the resentment and frustration often associated with being interviewed by or working for someone younger.

It's equally important, she says, to embrace new ideas without totally abandoning old ones. She says it's not uncommon for older workers to be intimidated by new ideas until they realise they are repackaged versions of things they've had plenty of experience with.

"Older workers do need to have the right attitude and necessary confidence to move beyond stereotyped perceptions," says Turnbull.

Instead of reminiscing about how easy it used to be to get work, de Valk urges older workers to wise-up to employers and recruiters' selection criteria.

That means taking the time to sell your experience and CV to those younger recruiters or employers who believe a recognised qualification is your only ticket to the job you want.

De Valk says that bypassing a person's experience and work history is a lazy way to make employment decisions. Given the relevance now being placed on understanding what makes a person effective in any given role, she urges employers to take into account experience, capabilities and formers accomplishments.

That's especially true, she argues, considering that the working experience of many older people doesn't reflect the need to have continual upskilling.

"When a person doesn't get a look-in for a job interview [because of qualification limitations] the message negates the person's working career to amount to very little in the eyes of employers," says de Valk.

"Employees can feel worthless and unemployable, even though they may in fact know more than a younger employee who has just come out of an apprenticeship."

That's why it's important for older people to learn what's expected of them in the 21st-century workplace and to know how to present themselves properly at interviews.

She warns against the temptation many older workers have of using job interviews to preach how a company should be run.

"Interview techniques and expected responses have changed and there are opportunities for people to get necessary coaching," says de Valk.

One of the best ways for people to grab the attention of employers, suggests Turnbull, is to emphasise within your CV how much you thrive on change and embrace flexible responses for different types of people.

Turnbull came to this conclusion after realising she wasn't getting as much out of life, either professionally or personally, as she knew she could.

That's when she hooked-up with a career coach honest enough to identify key areas where she hadn't changed, behaviourally and emotionally, to the way the world expects.

While Turnbull's coaching made her realise the future did look promising, it also required her to change her own life. She did this by adding to her circle of acquaintances, within and outside her age group, aligning with company requirements and valuing the importance of family members.

"What I discovered was that the perceptions I was carrying around about myself reflected in the way people saw me," said Turnbull.

If you present yourself as a frump, Herbert says, don't be surprised if that's how the world sees you.

She says what often lets older workers down is the value they place on themselves. Age, she says, will be less of an issue for older workers who modify their behaviour, maintain flexibility and take a constructive look at how to approach matters.

"Don't limit yourself or underestimate what your work and life experience can bring to an organisation," she says. "Remember, most of what you need to know you can learn."


Advice for older job seekers


* Exclude age from your CV.

* Include life-skill comments on your CV.

* Seek career coaching.

* Stay flexible and open-minded.

* Modify your behaviour to suit circumstances.

* Shed emotional baggage.

* Revalue your work and life experience.

* Consider additional training.

* Watch how you present yourself.

* Keep abreast with contemporary thinking.