Wiser Worker Blog

I attended a job fair for older workers last week and held a workshop on navigating the job market, I was interested in what information was shared and what needed to be talked about these are just a few of the topics covered. I hope this information helps you get through the rough seas ahead.

More is TOO MUCH

It’s a fact more is just too much, often people who are in the older worker category give to much information on their resume.  It’s essential that you keep your resume to ONE page. Yep that’s right folks I said ONE page. You can tell a hiring manager everything they need to learn about you in one page, more will get you shuffled to the bottom of the pile.

History is Irrelevant

Hiring managers what to know what you CAN do for them if you get hired, they are less interested in what you have been doing for the last 20 years. Make your resume stand out,  make your past work history relevant to the job you are applying for, with that said the experience you have gained in past positions is more than relevant.

Example:

Your Past: You have been in the medical field managing a office full of nurses. 

Your applicable skill transfer: Your ability to manage an office staff.

Telling Yourself That No One Hires Older Workers

Phooey, if you start out with an I can’t do attitude well you know the outcome.  Go to each and every interview with the mindset that you are the best person suited for the open position. Remember you come to the table with years of experience and the will to get the job done and done right.

Persistence Pays

If you feel that you have found the job that was meant for you then by all means apply for it and follow up with the online application. There is no harm in checking in with the hiring manager to see what the hiring process looks like. You don’t want to be one of a 100 resumes, be the one that stands out.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Before your actual interview practice questions that might come up and have answers ready, there is nothing worse than being unprepared. Grab a friend and hold practice interview or if all else fails stand in front of a mirror and practice.

At the end of the day stop trying to blend in among the millions of job seekers. YOU were born to Stand Out! 

Expectations can either make your life easier or build barriers depending on how you manage them. I have been working on this particular entry for a few days.  This particular subject is confused in my own mind…maybe I had an expectation this blog would be something that it’s not…hmmm there’s a thought as well as a common theme.

Expectations can get in the way of our life experience if you let them. As human creatures we have the habit of plotting out exactly in our minds how something should be, not what it CAN be.  We spend so much time trying to figure out what something should look like that sometimes we miss the experience.  Why not let nature take its course?   It’s a loss of control, and that freaks us all out.  The problem with this behavior is you set yourself up for failure because you will never fully allow yourself the luxury of experimenting or going with the flow. We allow ourselves and our expectations to be controlled by other people or most times ourselves.

Example:  I recently attended a job fair hosted by a local agency; unfortunately there were too few jobs and too many job seekers.  This is a result of our economy…..it’s just reality. Due to the sheer volume of job seekers there was a line.  The end result of this situation was many unhappy job seekers.  Since there was a line and people waiting I figured it was as good as time as any to talk to people to see what they were thinking.  I found out the real problem and you might be surprised at what I found out…it seemed that the lack of jobs wasn’t the issue. It was the fact that they didn’t know what to expect, the common expectation was that once they got inside the doors there would be the ideal job.  I also found that many people didn’t know what the ideal job for them looked like.  Then it was also the people who were leaving who were unhappy that got everyone in a tizzy.

What might have helped people get more out of this event was a little reconnaissance. Before any event job seekers can called the promoters and asked what companies were attending the event and what jobs would be available.    That way the expectation of the event would be set and both parties could set up a realistic expectation. If you knew whey kind of jobs were going to be at an event then you would know if there would be a job that would fit your skill set.

My one and only point is set your expectation based on quality information, and give yourself the chance to experience life and what it has to offer and don’t be limited by  expectation.

“Life is so constructed that an event does not, cannot, will not, match the expectation.” Charlotte Bronte

AARP Foundation Bridging the Gap Job Fair AARP Foundation is sponsoring a free job fair on Thursday, October 16, 2008 from 10 – 2 pm.  Employers will be interviewing on the spot.

In addition to employers there will be free workshops on topics such as, “Age Discrimination, is it Real?” Many people over 40 feel they are unable to find work because of age discrimination. Now they will have the opportunity to talk to experts in the field at this workshop. Motivational speaker, Mike Howard will deliver a presentation from his latest book, “From Ordinary to EXTRAordinary: Success begins Within”. Workshops covering resume preparation, and interviewing skills. The job fair finale features an affordable Fashion Show for job seekers on a budget. All workshops are free to the public.

Check WiserWorker.com for all the latest job fair information.

Well great because guess what companies have started to realize your worth and have become enthused about your demographic according to media reports this week. The Employment Guide and WiserWorker.com has further proof that companies are ready to hire older workers.  The events had record turn outs as the National Employ The Older Worker Job Fair Series continues this week. Check out the local coverage:

Phoenix        Las Vegas     Louisville      Kansas City

It’s always exciting when you start to see a message catching on and today it is in the air, companies are and will continue to see the benefit of utilizing the skills and knowledge baby boomers and older workers alike have and we are ready to benefit from it. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rate for workers 55 and older was 4.1% in August while the overall workforce unemployment rate is at 6.1%.  Yes that the proof in the numbers you need to know that while times are tough, tough people last and older worker have made it thought tough times before.  They know how to weather the storm and navigate your business

Enjoy our job fair series as it was designed for you and is our tribute to America’s older worker.

If you need more information drop me an email or call me (813) 775-6279.  

What was your experience?  Did you get hired?

Next week is the BIG week, the job fair series designed - just for you the older worker!  Visit WiserWorker.com for an event in your city. Are you ready for the job fair series?  Over the last few weeks WiserWorker.com has provided you will all the tips and tricks on how to get prepared for YOUR big day.  You have all the tools to make this day the day you found a job.

When you arrive at the job fair you will be ready because you took the time to do all the research we talked about in: Advanced Preparation for the Job Fair.  You wll be confident because you learned what type of questions you should ask employers when meet them: Job Interview Questions For the Employer. Let’s not even talk about how ready your resume is because you took the time to read Is Your Resume Job Fair Ready? Finally you are sure to the best dressed because you know what to wear to a job fair.

What’s left to get ready for the job fair?  You got it all! Go with confidence…you are prepared review the informationm put your best foot forward. Rememeber employers are eager to talk to you because you are the best candidate for their open positions.

My hope is that I gave you the information you needed to be ready, but if you need more information drop me an email or call me (813) 775-6279.   After the event let me know what happened: Did you get hired?

Good Luck…..You won’t need it you took the time to prepare.   

I am Amy Hoster the Business Development Manager for WiserWorker.com; I wanted to share with you our story, the journey that brought The Employment Guide to create WiserWorker.com. I am more than a manager for a project, or maybe this is more than just a ‘job,’ it’s an honor to have been given the opportunity to help create a tool that will ultimately help older jobseekers find jobs. As a manager of the product I serve many roles within our organization, starting with the older worker initiative and ending with the creation of Wiser Worker. It’s been a long road to get WiserWorker.com to where we are now, and we have plenty more work to do, but today let me share with you how we got started so you can get a better picture of where we are going.

The Problem:

Believe it or not our older worker initiative started with a one sales person from the Phoenix Employment Guide, he came into my office one day and said;

“Amy we need to help older workers reenter the job market so I invited the local AARP program participants to the job fair next week”.

Great idea, but what I didn’t know was that job fair was going to change our business and ultimately send The Employment Guide down a road that would be full of challenges and in the end rewards. A week later at that job fair I met a man in probably his late 60’s who asked if I could help him find a resume. He didn’t know what a resume was but he knew he needed one and he wanted me to show him were he could get one. Luckily we had a resume specialist at that event who was able to help him create a resume, but it was that day I knew we needed to help the older worker.

Start of a Solution

I was also fortunate our event the Phoenix AARP Foundation Project Director Maria Ramirez-Trillo who sat down and educated me on how they helped the community. The next day I set out to work on a plan with the goal of helping senior workers in markets all across the country, I figured that if we could do it in Phoenix we could duplicate our efforts in all of our markets. After months of planning I was able to start setting our program in motion by working with the AARP Foundation on a national level with their Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). The Department of Labor funds SCSEP programs in markets all across the country and work with many different partners.

Together with the AARP Foundation, our first project would be to create a digest size “resource book” that would hold all the essential information a job seeker would need to know to re-enter the job market. Our first run we published 15,000 books and that only got us through about 3 months, we are now in our 3^rd issue of that publication book titled Wiser Worker Survival Guide due out late this summer, pick up a copy at any of our job fairs or drop me a line at amy.hoster@wiserworker.com.

The Job Fairs

By this point in the older worker project was heating up and The Employment Guide decided that there was a need to hold an events that would highlight jobs and opportunities for the older worker. We strive to create an environment were we could invite mature workers to a locations in their local neighborhoods where they could look for a job. The Employment Guide is no stranger to the world of job fairs and since we started our program with a single job fair in Phoenix it seemed fitting that we move forward to create a job fair program that would not only honor but benefit the older job seeker. In June of 2007 we started planning the 1^st Annual National Employ the Older Worker Job Fair Series honoring the Department of Labor’s older worker programs. We consulted with Department of Labor and The AARP Foundation to ensure the events were created and formatted so that the older worker would get the most out of the event. Employmentguide.com is one of the only job boards that’s listed on the Department of Labors Resource Page. When the last event was held we had hosted over 47 job fairs in 40 states in over 6 weeks, when our events were attended by over 40,000 job seekers. Our events are held in honor of the Department of Labor’s National Older Worker Week held during the last week of every September.

The Website

It was then when the concept of WiserWorker.com was born, the product was created so that there would be a method of helping older job seekers regardless of where they lived. Our goal was to create a internet product rich with resources for the fast growing demographic in the country and with a job board that will ultimately be tailored for the older more mature job seeker. We are still developing our product and value feedback from users, because after all we started this product be finding out what the public needs and creating a product based on that information.

Hopefully you have a better picture of how committed we are to the working adult. Our program started a little over 2 years ago, frankly speaking I don’t think any of us knew we would end up where we are now. We have a great partnership with our flagship product EmploymentGuide.com and our 2008 Job Fair Series is in motion this year with over 65 events. We will be updating the job fairs section as we get closer to the events. Please visit our site and send me your feedback. What do you don’t like is just as important as what you like. I am interested in what changes would you like to see in the future. I can be reached at amy.hoster@wiserworker.com or 623-869-8888 Ext 238

(photo by danesparza)