“I went up for this job, and I didn’t get it.  A younger guy got it, and I’m wondering if it was because of my age.  Should I be using Grecian Formula?”
-Fred

We can always wonder if not getting a job is because of some discrimination.  It’s the age thing?  Or the woman thing?  Realistically, we’re never going to know, so why bother asking the question?  Make sure you’re qualified and keep going.

About the Grecian Formula, all I can say is that I’ve dyed my hair since I was in my 20’s.  Vanity can go in both directions – we can be vain in the pursuit of youth and we can be vain in flaunting our age.

I’m not going to pretend that a youthful appearance isn’t part of the game.

– — – — – — – — Thanks for your feedback – here’s some additional explanation — – — – — – –

The point at the heart of this is that it’s not worth getting tangled up in asking questions we cannot answer – especially during a job search.

Doing so can make our inner fears bigger because we cannot confirm or discredit them with input from an outside source. In turn this can tear away at our self confidence.

That’s the absolute last thing any job seeker needs.

I’m spending Thanksgiving in Germany this year.  This means that I transported stuffing, gravy mix and pumpkin pie fixings eight thousand miles in order to cook all day for my husband’s bewildered family.

Thanksgiving is more than a harvest festival.  Our founders crossed the ocean in cramped quarters and found home just in time for a bitter winter that the majority did not survive.  In the Spring, Native Americans offered to help the pilgrims learn how to farm.  When they celebrated the harvest together that Fall, the pilgrims knew they had survived the beginning of their journey and would be able to live in their land of promise.

We are all on journeys.  I hear from a lot of job seekers who may not feel like they have anything to be grateful for at all.  Nonetheless, Thanksgiving is our possibility to take a moment to be grateful to ourselves, for the help and grace shown by others, and the overwhelming beauty of having opportunity at all.

I’m sending you my thanks for reading and wishing you moments of peace and profound gratitude on our uniquely American holiday.

As a mature candidate, how can I articulate my experience in a way that’s not holding me back or getting me screened out.
- Mary K.

Obviously if you say you have 40 years of experience in the field, people are going to start doing the math.  Think of synonyms such as “extensive experience.”  Just like everyone else, package yourself so that people get a sense of “Wow, look at all this person brings to the table.”

Beyond how you articulate your experience ask yourself a few questions:

• Are your skills up to date?
• Can successfully interact with generations x & y?
• Are you open to new challenges and doing things in new ways?

If the answer is ‘yes’ then build those discrimination busters into your messages about yourself.

If the answers are ‘no’ then you may have some work to do in order to make yourself a more qualified candidate.

Any hiring manager is crazy to discriminate against experience – make sure you’re qualified.

What industry can I get into that doesn’t curl up and die?  I was in mortgage banking and then auto finance.  Both industries have closed or laid off and now I wonder where I fit in.
- Ann

Ann, you can go out and look for growing industries.  Keep in mind that the industries you’re coming from were high-growth industries at one time.

The important thing to look at is your skill sets.

You have a great customer service skill set. You’ve got sales. You are good at connecting people with money. None of those things are going to go away.

If you define the value your bring an employer based on your skills, you will survive the rise and fall of industries.  And that applies to everybody.