Recruiter Secrets and Best Practices for Job Hunting after 50

This year has seen annoying changes in employment, and once again those over 50 are taking the brunt of the unemployment chaos. If you haven’t been touched by unemployment, then it’s likely someone you know has. No matter your profession, all industries are affected by the pandemic and the economy. In the meantime, we are waiting for the employment outlook to turnaround.

The good news: we will recover.

The tough news: maintaining our optimism when employment opportunities and income are limited.

According to a May 2020 Market Watch report, Americans 55 years and older are experiencing a 13.6% unemployment rate since April 2020. That means we’re hitting the job market again – just like the millions of younger employees staring at unemployment. It’s frustrating, frightening, and full of uncertainties.

As a job seeker myself, I went in search of answers to understand the other side of employment and my research led to Tim Hill, founder of Trilogy Staffing & Consulting. His recruiting and consulting practice helps employers fill leadership roles and builds teams in a variety of industries. Below, Tim reveals the opposite side of the employment spectrum.

What does a recruiter do?

Recruiting is relationship-building and match-making. Every recruiter has their own angle of how they work with a company or candidate, but in general, it starts with research and initial conversations. Their goal is to find the right match for both parties. Therefore, the ideal recruitment procedure is to initiate a conversation with a company’s hiring manager to gather the following details about a position:

• Which skills are critical for a particular role?
• What are the financials and benefits?
• What is the working environment? In the pandemic era, this now includes remote vs onsite opportunities.
• Does the role have a career path?
• Are raises possible?
• What is the company culture and how will a candidate fit in?
• What does team performance look like within that company?
• How do additional considerations such as relocation, diversity and inclusion, organizational changes, reporting structures, team dynamics, and their management and communication styles with remote workers play into filling this role?

Once this information is obtained, the recruiter posts the job and will dive into their network (primarily through LinkedIn) to connect possible candidates. Once candidates are collected, the recruiter initiates phone interviews. This phase also requires identifying the missing job requirements – if any – among the candidates then informs the hiring company of these potential challenges.

Note: some recruiters work under a “post and pray” technique where they publish jobs to their network in the hopes of finding the right person to present to a company or vice versa. This option is simple for the recruiter yet leaves both the company and the candidate with a feeling of hopelessness.

Behind the scene duties for the recruiter

In addition to the tasks listed above, a recruiter will also serve the company and candidate by performing these lesser-known duties:

• A brand steward: he or she represents the brand, the industry, leadership within that company, and the culture.
• Creating a positive experience for both the company and the candidate. Employment is stressful for both sides, so the recruiter works diligently to avoid confusion and miscommunication.
• Give the candidate a great experience so that they don’t feel cheated. In an economy with high unemployment rates, it is difficult for all parties not to feel cheated or “ghosted” – disappearing without notice.
• The recruiter must study and understand the hiring process for each company.
• Acts as a role model for both the company and the candidate.

How to improve your chances to get a job

The first requirement for a job search is to step way out of your comfort zone! Beyond the resume, you will need to understand the online application process, ATS – applicant tracking software, and increasing your online activity.

Starting point: get that resume in shape!

First, some information about ATS: according to Wikipedia, an applicant tracking system (ATS) is a software application that enables the electronic handling of recruitment and hiring needs.

Recruiters use this tool to manage the vast quantity of candidates that pour in for a position and helps to reduce fill-time for that role.

When building your new resume, it may be helpful to hire a professional that understands the intricacies of ATS and online applications. You will need a basic, customizable ATS-compliant resume. This means ensuring the formatting passes the ATS software. Something as simple as the wrong font size can reject your resume from a desired position. See Job Hunting Tips to Beat ATS and Ageism for more about the ATS process.

When you find a job of interest, you must customize your basic resume to EACH job description. This is the new standard for job hunting and increases your odds of reaching a human recruiter. Otherwise, your resume will never be seen.

The top tools for building your ATS-compliant resume are:

• SmartRecruiters
• Zoho Recruit
• Jobvite
• Jobscan
• SkillSyncer

Get active online!

LinkedIn is the top resource for recruiters, hiring managers, and talent acquisition managers so your online presence is critical. These professionals are always looking to pare down their candidate list to 3 or 4 and your profile and online presence have the potential to boost your ranking. Tim states a candidate’s profile is more critical than the resume and therefore must be up-to-date.

Secondly, are you following experts in your industry? Find them. Follow them. Interact with them. Do these key people have LinkedIn groups that are pertinent to your desired industry? Whatever it is – food, engineering, education, technology – find them and get involved! Recruiters want to see this activity and involvement related to your desired role.

How to work with a recruiter

Working with a recruiter is a two-way street. The recruiter wants to help you find that ideal job; the company he or she represents wants to find that ideal candidate. Your recruiter is the link to bring you both together. Tim offers these suggestions when working with a recruiter:

• As previously stated, get out of your comfort zone!
• Whatever industry you are in, seek out a recruiter in that industry.
  • Ask what their sales pipeline looks like: one client vs many.
  • How experienced are they?
  • Who is their clientele?
  • Ask how the recruiter finds roles.
  • What is their success rate?
• Be open and willing to discuss your resume and LinkedIn profile with your recruiter.
• Be willing to accept advice and critique – especially on your resume.
• Follow the advice of your recruiter.
• Follow up.
• Be open and honest about your job hunt. The more the recruiter knows, the more successful you both will be.
• COMMUNICATE! Discuss everything related to the job hunt, employment, requirements, etc. Keep the recruiter informed of every change: a new certification; a recent recommendation. Share ideas about companies, roles, or ideas. Nothing is too trivial.
• Here’s a tricky part: don’t over communicate to the point of becoming a nuisance. Ask your recruiter their preferences.
• Be the squeaky wheel. The more you are seen and heard, the better your chances of employment.
• Follow up with the recruiters you know.
• Get a 2nd opinion if needed.
• Dress appropriately for video conferencing.
• Follow up (Intentionally stated again!)
• Remember: no two recruiters are alike. Get to know them and their preferences as they get to know you too.
• Give the recruiter time, space, and patience to make things happen.

More job seeking tactics

Keeping up with continuing education

In addition to helping to build, promote, and highlight your professional goals, LinkedIn can contribute to your continuing education. A professional membership offers unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning. At $575/year for the premium level, there is no better (in my opinion) educational service available for that price. You’ll find countless courses available with certificates of completion to add to your profile. Try to find that at your local community college!

When exploring new job roles, what are the hard and soft skills the job poster seeks? Organizational skills? Leadership? Problem-Solving? Communication skills? LinkedIn Learning has a class for that. Make it a quarterly habit to include one of these in your professional continuing education. Then add it to your profiles and resume. What about hard skills? These include: presentation skills, management skills, Microsoft office skills, and more. Not sure which courses to add? Ask your recruiter!

Positivity goes a long way

You may be posting weekly updates, questions, or news within your specialty, but one wrong word can instantly give you the wrong viral response (and aren’t we all rather tired of viruses?) Recruiters seek positivity and solutions – just like everyone else. They are watching you whether you know it or not and that one negative comment or action will blow any future chance.

Contract vs Full-Time employment: Which is better?

The 2020 job market, simply put, is a mess. In my own pursuit of clients, contracts, and full-time work, I have noticed a huge increase in contract positions and remote opportunities. Tim reports that contract roles are more appealing to companies as they adjust to the new hiring processes, in-house, remote, and hybrid work environments. Contract positions offer both the company and the candidate an opportunity to “test-drive” the situation to determine if each is a fit for the other. Employers like this because they don’t have to pay insurance and benefits. This may be a drag for the employee – or freelancer – but more people are exploring freelance, contract employment anyway.

Is it helpful to contact the job poster through inmail?

Yes! This is another way to be that squeaky wheel. When contacting a job poster, keep the message short; they need to know exactly why you are communicating with them and which job you are interested in. Let them know who you are, attach the resume, share your excitement about the role and wish them well.

Haven’t heard anything in a while? Then follow up with the job poster. Ask what the status of the job is. Is it still open? Mention you are still available and interested. Got an update to add? Then make a quick mention. Be helpful. On the other hand, if you end up accepting another role, contact the recruiter and let him or her know. Reputation matters and you will want to keep yours clean.

What are best practices for the 50+ job seeker?

Unfortunately, ageism is a reality in hiring, yet is difficult to prove. Increase your chances of employment by implementing these tips:

• Make sure you know how to work the latest “tech”: text, email, video conferencing, etc. Present yourself as someone who is up with the times.
• Use terms like salary, base salary, rather than “pay”. If the job is a contract scenario, ask about “hourly rate”.
• Recruiters are likely to be younger so be cognizant of the modern day lingo.
• Let recruiters and talent acquisition specialists know you have energy, enthusiasm, and leadership qualities.
• Match yourself to the job you seek.
• Research the companies you are interested in. Talk about the company; be familiar with the buzz words and their latest news.
• NOTE: hard- and soft-skills, the ability to transition to a new career or work environment are critical to all job seekers, however, older job seekers must ensure they are focused on these features. Your recruiter can help highlight what’s needed for the roles you pursue.

How is a recruiter paid?

I was initially hesitant to work with a recruiter because I feared their fee would break my budget. Tim informed me that recruiters typically work for the company, not the individual. If a recruiter asks you for money, the best thing to do is walk away. It is the company that will pay the recruiter for finding a candidate. Not you.

A final word on job hunting

The job search will consume your time, energy, and comfort level far more than the job you will eventually accept. A few words of advice:

• Understand you aren’t the only one going through this.
• Don’t give up.
• Do what you have to do.
• Realize this is not forever.
• Be kind to yourself and avoid negative talk.

I’m with you!

Kristen

Photo credit: Anna Tarazevich from Pexels