Donna Svei is One of Monster’s “11 for 2011: Career Experts Who Can Help Your Job Search”
Humans love to develop ingroups and outgroups. They help us know who we are.
In the workplace, and in the job market, much of the inning and outing concerns age. Are you Gen X, Y, Z, or a Boomer?
Wrong question – and not just because I can’t spell Millennial without help.
Much of the conversation about employee age is really about employee engagement. So can we leave age out of it and talk about engagement strategies that work — for everyone? That’s a vast space. Once we get that nailed, then maybe we can parse it for age.
Employment engagement drives business results, not employee age. More here.
When I recruit, I don’t care how young or old a candidate is. I care about whether or not they’re willing and able to do the job. Willing = Engaged. End of story.
Well, almost. If being too young or too old is limiting your job search, make sure everything about you brands you “Engaged.” Look at your resume, social media profiles, networking conversations, interviews, etc. Do you:
- Articulate a clear value proposition?
- Describe accomplishments and results?
- Appear on top, or ahead of, changes in your industry and profession?
Put your most engaged foot forward — consistently across virtual and live platforms. It makes a huge difference in how people who refer, recommend, and hire you perceive you.
