The Boomer's Career Survival Kit

In the workplace, being older can be one, two, even three strikes against you. Quietly, they may whisper, “He’s deadwood. We need fresh blood.”

My PsychologyToday.com article today may help you avoid striking out, and even help you hit some home runs.

Work Ideas for Older People

Yes, many older people find their last work years challenging, whether employed or looking for remunerative work. Perhaps one or more of the ideas in my PsychologyToday.com article today will help.

Questions and Answers for Older Employees

As my PsychologyToday.com article today, I offer self-assessment questions for older workers to help them decide how ambitious they should be on the continuum from aiming higher to retiring. I then offer specifics for what one might do.

Straight Talk for Employees 50+

Much advice to older employees is Pollyannish. In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I attempt to offer more helpful advice.

55 and "Laid Off." Now What?

Especially in the high-tech world, people over 50 are often seen as over the hill.

In my PsychologyToday.com article today, I offer the advice I typically give to older employees who have been laid off.

Older Job Seekers: The Reality

There's no money in being discouraging to older job seekers. What career counselor would get older clients if his articles said job prospects are poor for people over 50? What how-to book author could sell books aimed at the 50+ set?

But ultimately I believe that a greater net good accrues from telling people the truth: It could help them realize they have to work harder than they thought to get a job. It could help them realize they need to focus on senior-friendly fields. It could help them better craft pitches to employers.

So, having worked with hundreds of job-seekers 50+, here's what I believe the truth is for them:

Yes there are a few fields in which people 50+ routinely get hired--for example, those that serve an older client base such as long-term health insurance, assisted-living facilities, even architecture firms, but in general, the job outlook for older workers is poor. Most employers avoid hiring older people. People 50+ are often perceived as:

• expensive

• Often not current on technology or new best practices
• Having long-acquired habits making them more likely to be set in their ways
• Not learning as quickly
• Having a sense of entitlement: expecting additional respect and influence merely because of their age.
  
• Imposing high health-care insurance costs
• Working more slowly because of declining physical or mental health or reduced motivation.
• Less willing to put in long hours because they fatigue more easily or are less open to bosses demanding that they work evenings or weekends.
• Crankier and harder to deal with.
• Having a worse memory than younger people
• Tending to be long-winded
• Having difficulty multitasking
• Focused more on retirement than getting the job done
• Being too timid in proposing bold ideas for fear of being replaced
• Giving the workplace a tired image

Employers are additionally disincented to hire older candidates because workers over 40 are a Protected Class in civil rights legislation. So, there's increased risk of the employee suing for age discrimination if terminated or even denied a promotion.

Most successful job seekers 50+ get hired through their network, which often is more extensive because an older person has been around longer. If they don't get hired that way, they may go back to school but too often find that their degree doesn't make them much more employable. Or they answer many want ads but rarely end up with a decent job offer. Or they try self-employment, which for someone who by age 50+ hasn't heretofore been entrepreneurial, usually ends up failing.

Based on my experience with older clients, that's the unvarnished truth.