The Ageism Myth
One of the many problems created by the recession is that of older people who thought that they were safe in their jobs until retirement, until they are unexpectedly hit by redundancy. I seem to have conversations on a daily basis with people in their fifties and sixties who have convinced themselves that they will never work again, because they are too old to get a job. And if that is what they think, chances are that is what will happen.
The truth is that ageism is as much a state of mind as anything. Yes, of course there is age discrimination at work; all the legislation in the world won’t put an end to that. But the idea that there are no jobs at all out there for older people is pure fantasy. There are plenty of jobs that only an older, more experienced person can do. But they do need to know how to go about looking for them.
Generally speaking, older people who run small companies will feel much more comfortable recruiting colleagues of a similar age. Small companies rely on team work, and teams are much easier to build if there is a degree of commonality amongst the members.
Of course, just as one cannot legally discriminate in favour of a younger person, so one cannot discriminate in favour of an older person. But a job specification will often require a degree of experience, or a mature, diplomatic approach, which will be easier to find in an older person.
Many older people decide not to expose themselves to the perceived prejudices of the labour market and to try to create their own self employed career, with a portfolio of different jobs- perhaps some consulting, some mentoring or non-executive work, and maybe even a small business of their own. Which is great if it works. But it is important to bear in mind that people who establish themselves in these sort of careers spend much of their time looking and pitching for the next piece of work. They rarely spend as much time doing the work itself as they would like.
Perhaps the biggest problem of all faced by older people is the sheer energy that is required to conduct a successful job search. But as a general rule, if you have got the energy to look for a job properly, then you will get one. And if you haven’t, then you need to think seriously about your options. Because if you haven’t got the energy to look for a job, you almost certainly haven’t got the energy to do the job properly, even if you got one.
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Tags: Age Discrimination, Consultancy, job search, Portfolio Career
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