Over 50: 5 Ways You Look Out-of-Date in Your Job Search

By Susan P. Joyce

For most of us, a job search, fortunately, is NOT something we do often enough to be really proficient.

Effective job search methods have changed a great deal because recruiting methods have changed with the dramatic increase in resume retrieval systems ("ATS") and the use of social media.

Resumes and applications which do not meet the requirements of the ATS (applicant tracking system) are ignored.

Job seekers and job candidates who share too much information in social media provide employers with many opportunities to disqualify themselves.

The Major Signs You Are Out-of-Date

If job seekers don't understand how "the new system" works, they can look out-of-date and less desirable as potential employees. These are the 5 major ways that job seekers can look out of date.

Whether over 50, under 30, or in the middle, job seekers risk looking out-of-date by:

  1.  Being a "missing person"!  

I know several older job seekers who are proud to be invisible in Google. You search Google for their name, and you may find other people (eek!), but you don't find them.

When I warn them of this lack of visibility, each has said to me, "I am protecting my privacy." But, they are invisible in Google and LinkedIn search results, which makes them "missing" -- not found by recruiters looking for job candidates with their qualifications.

Being invisible doesn't protect your privacy. Google your name right now (I call it "Defensive Googling"), and you will see that you are not really invisible. Very likely an information aggregator website but it does make your job search longer and more difficult. NOT good!

A 2018 CareerBuilder study revealed that 20% of employer expect job candidates to have an online presence. That number will increase.

A respected Microsoft study (link below) revealed that 79% of employers in the USA check out applicants using a search engine before considering them for a job!

When employers find something bad, even if the bad stuff is about someone else with the same name, the application (or resume) is rejected.

So, ensure that potential employers can find good stuff specifically about you, created and controlled by you (see # 3 below).

• A missing person is a "nobody."
  
  In the 21st century, people often assume that only someone who is 100% off-line, who demonstrably does not understand the Internet, is invisible. And who would want to hire someone who is so obviously out of touch?
  
  Consequently, the employers move on in search of people more up-to-date in their understanding of how the business world works today. Opportunities lost! Read
• Your best keywords enable you to be found.
  
  In addition to being found on a search for your name, you also want to be found when a recruiter is looking for someone with your skillset and accomplishments.
  
  Focus your LinkedIn Profile, resumes, and job applications on the best keywords for you, reflecting your past accomplishments, using the current terminology, and looking ahead to your next job or promotion.
  
  In addition to your name, other important keywords include job titles, education, certifications, skills, location, previous employers, and other terms used by employers in their job descriptions. Opportunities found!

Read Job-Hunt's free Guide to Online Reputation Management and Guide to Personal Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Also, read How to Protect Your Privacy while Job Hunting Online for tips on smartly protecting your privacy, and learn Defensive Googling to avoid or manage this problem.

  2.  Ignoring the power of the Internet to connect with old friends and former colleagues.  

People often hire someone they already know, at least a little, or someone known to someone they know. Hiring someone from their personal network is usually lower risk. They know the person and their work - or someone they know does.

Many employers even formalize "employee referral programs" to encourage and reward employees who refer someone who becomes a successful employee.

Employee referrals are employers' preferred hiring method because hiring someone who doesn't work out is so expensive. The Internet offers many tools for staying connected, and for re-connecting, with people you liked and respected from your past – Google/Bing, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

• Search LinkedIn for former colleagues, and connect with them there first, if you can. Check out their LinkedIn Profiles to see what they are doing now, where they are living, and where they work.
• Check out your former employers' company pages on LinkedIn to see if you can find familiar names and the names of former employees who now work for one of your target employers.
• Search your LinkedIn connections for people who work for your target employees.
• Check your schools' pages on LinkedIn to find other alumni who work for your target employers.
• Look for employer "alumni groups" which are wonderful for helping job seekers find former colleagues, coworkers, bosses, etc. You find thousands of corporate alumni groups on LinkedIn, many on Facebook, and still more by Googling "[employer name] alumni."

Not connecting with former colleagues and old friends for your job search?  Opportunities lost!

Read Secret Networking Powerhouse: Employer "Alumni" and LinkedIn Networking Power Tool: Education for details on how to leverage LinkedIn to find people who have something in common with you.

Also, learn more details about how Employee Referral Programs work.

  3.  Having a poor LinkedIn Profile.  

LinkedIn offers people with jobs - and also job seekers – wonderful opportunities to network. For someone who is employed, they may be more effective in their jobs as a result of the connections they make, the visibility they have, and the information they learn through LinkedIn.

For job seekers, LinkedIn offers an opportunity both to showcase their accomplishments, to demonstrate their understanding of how business is done now, and to build their networks.

Recruiters are LinkedIn's number one revenue source, and the reason is obvious. Recruiters can search through LinkedIn to find job candidates with the right sets of skills and experience.

Recruiters searching through LinkedIn offers job seekers a wonderful opportunity to be found, without the effort of finding and applying for jobs -- as long as they use the right keywords for their job search. [Read The Top 25 Keywords for Your Job Search to learn how to leverage their searching.]

And, the best news about a good LinkedIn Profile is that it eliminates the "invisibility" problem (# 1 above).

If you don't have complete LinkedIn Profile that documents your accomplishments and experience, includes the right keywords, and provides "social proof" for your resume, you are losing many opportunities.

Find how-to ideas and help in Job-Hunt's free Guide to LinkedIn for Job Search section.

  4.  Not leveraging the power of the Internet to prepare for interviews.  

In the old days (a.k.a. the pre-Internet "Dark Ages"), it wasn't easy to research potential employers, so walking into an interview without anything beyond a basic knowledge of the employer was acceptable (if risky).

Today, walking into an interview without doing extensive research about the employer is a recipe for disaster.

At the very least, consider this research to be enlightened self-defense! Who wants to be the last person hired before the layoffs begin (apt to be the first out the door, and job hunting, again, way too soon).

Visit the employer's website – who, what, where are they? What do they sell/provide? Who are their customers or constituency? Who are competitors? Who are business partners? And, what does Google show about them? A smart, well-prepared job seeker will have at least two well-considered, thoughtful questions to ask during the interview.

If your first question for the employer is, "What do you do?" You have just demonstrated that you are not prepared and, they will strongly suspect, really are not very interested in them or their job.  Opportunity lost!

Check out Job-Hunt's free Guide to Successful Job Interviews and The Winning Difference: Pre-Interview Preparation for Your Job Interview for more information.

  5. Using the same work-history resume for every job.  

We are long past the days when a one-size-fits-all resume, listing every job in the work history, worked effectively.

Today, a resume designed to appeal to every possible potential employer instead appeals to none of them. It also seems to demonstrate how long it has been since the job seeker last did a job search – maybe back in the "Dark Ages" before personal computers, word processing software, and the Internet.

Perhaps worse, when the resume isn't customized to the opportunity, it lacks the important keywords that make it find-able in the employers' applicant tracking systems.

The best strategy is to have a list of target employers where you think you would be happy. Then focus your job search efforts on those employers, customizing your resume for each employer and opportunity. 

See Job-Hunt's free Guide to Effective Resumes column for expert advice and sample resumes for help.

The Bottom Line

Job search has changed substantially, particularly since 2015. The combination of increased technology (search engines, social media, and applicant tracking systems) and a tough economy have made it even more important that a job seeker catch up to what's happening NOW. If you aren't up-to-date, you risk a very long job search.

The Microsoft Privacy Study shows how employers were researching job candidates in 2009, and they haven't backed off in the years since then! In fact, they've gotten more intensive.

More About Fifty Plus Job Search

• Beating the "Too Old" Bias: Being Visibly Up-to-Date
• Beating the "Too Old" Bias, Learning New Skills
• Professional Success Plan, Part 1: Goal Setting for Success
• Professional Success Plan, Part 2: Maintaining Momentum
• Job Search Advantages of Being Over 50
• Find Part-Time Jobs with Benefits