Changing your focus may be the key to finding your next job
How often have you heard someone lament, “I worked at XYZ Company for 27 years”? And then, they go on and on about how difficult it is to find a new job at another company “like XYZ.”
Well, guess what. There is a better than good chance that they’re right. In fact, it may be almost impossible for an older job seeker to find another job like that. Fortune 1000 companies and the like have their ways of doing things and they typically don’t like to take flyers on mature workers. This is not universally true – and it may not be 100 percent legal – but many times it does apply.
When we hear about how long it takes older workers to find jobs, one of the reasons is that they’re looking in the wrong places – places just like the ones they just left. That’s asking a lot.
Rather than push an oversized boulder up that mountain, maybe you should look for a smaller mountain, or even a hill. Best case scenario: look for a valley.
There are opportunities out there for applicants of all ages but you may need to widen your scope. Don’t just look at big companies, or companies in the same industry where you were. Look at small companies. Look at start ups. Look at non-profits. There may not be gold in them thar mountains, but there may be gold in them thar hills.
Want to broaden your job search even more? Change your focus from your local market and shift to a national search. Granted, for many people this may not be the best option due, primarily, to family constraints. But let’s not forget that this is pandemic universe where an untold number of companies have remote workers.
If you live on the east coast, who says you can’t work remotely for a company in Chicago? Or, if you’re in New Orleans, maybe you should consider applying for that opening in San Francisco?
If you change your focus, you’ll be amazed at the possibilities that will come into view.