You can’t hide your age
➔ Today’s conventional wisdom states that, if you’re over 50 and looking for a job, when you walk in for that interview, your age will be the 600-pound gorilla in the room. You can’t run from it; you can’t hide from it; you can’t deny it. Dyeing your hair won’t help. It’s there, deal with it.
You are who you are
The same holds true for your resume. Do you really think that, if you omit the dates from your work experience, they won’t be able to decipher how old you are? “OK. If he graduated from college in 1980, he could have been a child prodigy and is only in his mid-to-late 40s.” That’s not likely to happen.
If you only list the last ten years of work experience, they’ll never be able to figure out how old you are. Right? Nah. Never happen.
The experts who focus on the 50+ job seekers are pretty much in agreement on this one thing: Rather than assembling a laundry list job functions, duties and responsibilities, highlight your skills and your accomplishments.
OK. You might have worked in the billing department for 15 years, but does that sound as impressive as, “While in the billing deparment, I implemented an electronic billing system which saved the company $47,000 the first year.” Or maybe you became certified in working with Excel. It’s all very impressive. Sounds like a no-brainer.
Sell your skills and your accomplishments. Not your job titles..