Older Worker’s Resume—50+ Resume

Older Worker’s Resume—50+ Resume

If you’re 50 or older and looking for a job, you probably have some questions about how this whole resume process applies to you. If you plan to write a resume yourself it can be intimidating, but here are some tips directed at the older worker.

 Your unemployed status may have come as a shock. Maybe you’ve worked for the same employer for the last 20 years and never thought you would need a resume again. You’re not alone. Downsizing, mergers and companies’ decisions to replace higher-paid older workers with lower-paid younger workers has left a lot of people in this same situation.

Or maybe you chose your new unemployed status. Perhaps you’re tired of what you’ve done for the last 20 years and want to seek a new career direction. You, too, will need a resume, one that shows how the skills you learned in your past career will transfer to the new career you’re seeking.
 

There is age discrimination out there, but the good news is that more and more employers are recognizing the value of hiring “silver” workers. Many companies soon will face a shortage of workers due to the retirement of many baby-boomers. They also recognize the work ethic, wisdom and experience an older worker can bring to the workplace. Use these factors to your benefit!

Here are some Do’s and Don’ts about resumes and career searches for the silver worker.

Do: Use a combination of a chronological and functional resume to highlight your job accomplishments.

Do: Focus on the last ten years of your work experience, giving dates and listing accomplishments for these jobs .

Don’t: List any jobs more than 10-15 years old, and leave out the dates for the older ones if you must include them.

Do: List your degrees.

Don’t: List the dates of your degrees.

Do: List any certificates earned or classes taken in the last 10 years. These are almost more important than your degrees—they show you are keeping up with skills needed on the job.

Do: Use time before an expected layoff to take as many computer courses or courses in your field as possible. If you’re already laid off, go to your local community college and take as many courses as you can so you can put these on your resume.

Do: List your transferable competencies in your summary of qualifications, especially if you are changing career direction. Your transferable competencies might include broad categories like people skills, management skills and thinking skills such as problem solving or systems thinking, but narrow the competencies down even more to fit your particular job goal.

Do: Make your cover letter upbeat and emphasize how your skills will help your prospective employer solve the challenges facing that particular industry.

Don’t: Come across as really expensive. Often employers are willing to pay more for experience, but that’s a topic for an interview, not a resume. You may need to play down your accomplishments in some cases.

Do: Be sure you have someone (hopefully someone with an English degree!) look your material over for mistakes.
Here’s a pretty good sample of a 50+ person’s resume. Use it to guide you in writing yours. Note that Jane Jobhunter has listed new skills in the training industry in the summary statement and she has also created a list of computer and training tool skills that she has developed.

Note also that her job history only goes back 10 years and that there are no dates on her degrees. She has also emphasized certificate courses she has taken, which show that she keeps up-to-date in her field.

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