My last two Job Search After 50 posts offered ideas and resources for exploring both paid and volunteer retirement careers and reasons people want to stay working after age 50. If you’ve opted for a paid career, it’s important to give that transition the same self-marketing that any job hunter faces. Here are some thoughts to consider.
Job Search After 50: A comprehensive marketing campaign
- You are the product to be promoted. Know your strengths, skills and achievements. Be able to articulate them impressively in all your oral and written career communications.
- You are your marketing manager, with accountability for all your marketing resources (resume, cover letters, 2-minute pitches etc.) AND the positioning. You must also be a time manager. Even if you’re still working in your primary career—and preparing for transition—you must allocate and manage the time spent on your marketing campaign.
- You are the research manager. The ball’s in your court for planning and conducting both primary and secondary research throughout your exploration. Sometimes a lot of research will be required to end up in the role that you will find ideal.
- Primary Research – Talk to people! To those who do what you want to do. It’s critical to build and maintain long-term relationships with them. Trade information, advice, contacts, referrals and support. This typically takes place in networking and informational interviews .
- Secondary Research – It used to be the library. Now you’ll mostly likely be on the Internet. There are thousands of publications and resources online. One of my favorite comprehensive sites is Susan Joyce’s job-hunt.org.
Job Search After 50: Retirement career transition don’ts
- Don’t do this alone. Talk to your family and friends —and to people who have been through it. You may find it worthwhile to engage a professional with expertise in career planning.
- Don’t assume that everyone knows what you’re looking for. Haven’t thought that far ahead? You had better. Even if you’ve given them your resume and a letter, be prepared with your two-minute pitch.
- Don’t ever take your network or references for granted. Thank every person who helps you in any way—letters, online LI messages, phone calls etc. Protect your references. Field the process so they don’t get too many calls.
- Don’t prepare career communication documents without careful assessment. Know your target and market to it.
- Don’t assume your seniority in past career life will carry weight. You must articulate your ability to ease the “pain” of that target market, i.e. relevant skill sets and talents. On the other hand, don’t assume you’ll be met with age discrimination. Many organizations value talent with extensive experience.
- Don’t confuse interviews with offers. It’s up to you to sell yourself. Research the audience and be prepared to convince the decision-makers to hire you.
- Don’t leave things suspended. Be assertive with follow-up, but don’t pester. If you sent a résumé or interviewed and haven’t heard in a week, it’s fine to reach out. Doing so every other day is not going to play well.
- Don’t try and punt. Whether it’s creating a resume or preparing for an interview, seek help from those who have your best interests at heart, and who are savvy in the job market.
- Don’t trust your memory. Track everything. With whom did you speak and when? What was said? What follow-up is required?
- Don’t let waits or rejections burst your bubble . Learn from them, painful as they are. Take the best nuggets of information and move on.
You are entitled to have a paid retirement career that allows you to do what you enjoy. If you’ve planned well, selected smartly, and are open to change, you’ll likely have a great chapter waiting. There may be stress and hard work along the way. Isn’t that so often the case with things worth pursuing?
Photo: Horia Varlan
