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How should you look for a job when you are over 50?
Published January 26, 2016 by Jobboom Crew | 0 view
Topic(s): Job Search
How should you look for a job when you are over 50?
Photo : mantinov / Shutterstock
For workers who are over the age of 50, it can be difficult to know how to effectively reenter the workforce, especially after a period of absence. Many workers have the impression that companies would rather hire younger workers and that older candidates ‘scare off’ recruiters for a variety of reasons. Whether or not this is true, the question remains: How can older workers present their vast experience to recruiters in a way that demonstrates value?

We asked this question of Marie-Carmen Velasco, Executive Vice-President and head of Human Capital and Shared Services at ACCEO Solutions.

For candidates who are older than 50, what could be in their CV that might give a recruiter pause?
“No matter what a candidate’s age may be, having recent training or education listed in one’s profile is an excellent way to maintain their employability – especially in a field like IT, which is constantly evolving. All professionals need to update their skills and knowledge on a regular basis to ensure the value of their competencies on the market. After all, intellectual curiosity has no age limit!

Many older candidates have not updated their educations in many years; with this in mind, it is always a good idea for them to seek out new training or certifications that complement their base skills and experience. This will help them to stand out from the crowd.

This is also true for people who are already actively employed. At ACCEO Solutions, the working environment requires that each one of our professionals stay constantly abreast of the trends and advances that occur in their respective fields. Our in-house training programs act as an incentive for our employees to invest in their own skills and competencies, which will ultimately benefit both the individual and the company.”

What are some unique qualities possessed by candidates who are over 50?
“Without a doubt, experience would be at the top of the list. As a general rule, older candidates have a very good idea of what they want in a professional sense, and they are also very aware of their own strengths as well as areas where they can improve.

The value that older, more experienced employees bring to an organization is also demonstrated in their capacity to act as mentors to their younger colleagues. Because of their experience, older workers often possess a more mature understanding of organizational processes, and as a result are more inclined to take a step back in certain situations – to take the time to reflect on the correct way to do something. This makes them very valuable to companies.

Many employers are well aware of these qualities. For example, at ACCEO Solutions, more than 30 % of our employees are 50 years old or older. We ascribe a particular importance to our more-experienced professionals.”

What is the best way for these candidates to distinguish themselves in the eyes of recruiters?
“Above all else, candidates need to provide details about all of the skills, competencies and knowledge that they have acquired during the course of their professional career, while at the same time demonstrating a flexibility and openness to new ways of doing things. Professionals over the age of 50 should never hesitate to put their achievements front and center – especially the ones that had a significant, positive impact for their previous employer – when they are looking for a new job.

Considering that their attractive qualities are undeniable, no company should turn their back on experienced professionals, especially when the candidate possesses skills that are hard to come by.”

The first things employers scan for in resumes

Peter Harris| January 13, 2016 10:30 am


While the job market remains competitive, employers often receive many more applications for jobs than they have time to give the attention they may deserve. As a coping mechanism, recruiters have developed the ability to filter through resumes and divide them into a ‘yes’ and ‘no’ pile incredibly quickly. If you want to make the cut, the information they’ll be looking for first has to be easy to find in the initial scan.

Our research shows that recruiters spend an average of fewer than 11 seconds scanning your resume for information before deciding whether you are a potential fit or not for the job they’re filling.

If you make it into the potential hire pile, then they may take a closer look at the details. However, if your resume doesn’t make it through that first few second scan, your chances are sunk. Using detailed web analytics our team has tracked where recruiters focused their attention in those crucial first seconds, and how they filter the results to their resume searches.

Nearly 80 per cent of resumes don’t make the first cut. Employers shortlist an average of two out of every ten resumes viewed. This corresponds with our recent candidate survey where most people (65 per cent) say that they applied to 10 opportunities before being hired for their most recent job.

The information recruiters scan for first:

Your name
Your current job title and employer
The start and end dates of your current job
Your previous employer and job title
The start and end dates of your previous job
Your location
In that first glance, everything else on your resume is just extra information that employers may or may not read over for keywords related to the skills they’re looking for. Only the resumes who pass this first impression are evaluated in greater detail later.

Note that level of education doesn’t make the cut. The vast majority of their searches are keyword based, and only one per cent of keyword searches are related to degree type or specific education.

For what they actually do search for, see: The exact resume keywords employers search for by industry.

Employers have numerous options for filtering the millions of resumes on Workopolis. They search candidates by skillset, experience, location, previous employers, and even how recently a resume was updated, all much more than they scan for level of education.

How to make each one of those ten seconds count

The best way to pass the resume first impression test is to make it effortless for employers to find the information that matters most to them. Have a clearly laid out document with bolded job titles in reverse chronological order. Use plenty of white space and have Work History, Education, and Skills sections plainly marked.

List your work history in reverse chronological order with company names, job titles, and dates of employment clearly indicated.

Have a section outlining your skills in bullet points. You’ll want to have the relevant keywords included for resume search engines and applicant tracking systems, and these are the next things recruiters look for if there’s time left in their first scan.

Use short sentences and paragraphs with bulleted lists for maximum readability. It’s harder to find information quickly in large blocks of text. When an employer has many resumes to go through, if you make it difficult for them to locate the information they’re looking for, there is a good chance they’ll simply move on to the next resume.

Like it or not, the point of the initial quick survey of the resume is to filter out candidates who don’t seem like a good fit, and to narrow down the potential candidate pool to the few who receive a closer read and potentially an interview. Understanding what employers are looking for, and making that information easier to find are quick and easy ways to improve your chances of being selected.

And speed really matters when have fewer than 11 seconds to make an impression.

See also:

– Five resume red flags that make employers reject you right away
– Why employers hate your resume – before they’ve even opened it
–The three things that employers want to see in your resume

Peter Harris
– Peter Harris on Twitter

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The fastest growing occupations in Canada

Peter Harris| January 4, 2016 12:24 pm


Canadian employers are likely be looking for candidates in the healthcare sector or for retail and customer service positions in 2016. Those are the predictions from our friends at WANTED Analytics, who crunched the hiring data from the past several years.

According to their findings, healthcare, retail, and customer service are the fastest growing industries for job openings right now in Canada, as well as in the United States and the United Kingdom.

In addition to nurses, in Canada, pharmaceutical manufacturing and biological product manufacturing are amongst the healthcare related positions experiencing the fastest increase in demand.

Workopolis’ research into the skills listed in online job ads also found that amongst those sought-after capabilities trending upwards for demand many appeared to be in healthcare-related positions. Terms such as therapy, patient advocacy, electronic medical records, patient safety/privacy, pharmacy assistant/technician, and many others are appearing more frequently in job ads. Read the full report on in-demand skills.

The retail industry is also booming in Canada. Last year, the demand for retail salespersons increased by 56.6%, and 50.9% for retail managers, according to WANTED Analytics.

In December of 2015, the team at Workopolis analyzed job posting data from the previous 24 months to determine trends in hiring and demand for positions. Here are the jobs that are most advertised online right now – along with those positions that are trending upwards, and downwards for demand.

The top five job titles being advertised online:

Cashiers / Retail Clerks [View jobs]
Caregiver / Nanny [View jobs]
Sales Representative [View jobs]
Cook / Kitchen Help / Food Preparers and Servers [View jobs]
Drivers (Long Haul, Truck, and Delivery) [View jobs]
Job titles trending upwards for job postings:

Security / Loss Prevention Officers +144% [View jobs]
Licensed Mechanics (+64%) / Truck and Diesel Mechanics (+80%) [Mechanics]
CNC Programmers +549% [View jobs]
Tool Die maker +305% [View jobs]
Financial Planner / Advisor (+65%) – Retirement Planning (75%) and Home Financing (+350%) [View jobs]
Web Designer +55% [View jobs]

In good news for those just starting out in their careers, the key words “Entry-Level” turned up in 208% more online job posting titles in 2015 than in 2014. See The hottest career paths hiring entry-level candidates (with and without a university degree).

Job titles trending downwards for job postings:

Personal Trainer -85%
Stylist, hair stylist, barbers -70%
Welder -65%
Executive Assistant -64%
Telemarketer -62%
Taxi driver -57%
Dental Hygienist – 53%
Electrician -49%
We’re still looking into the social ramifications of the fact that apparently Canadians have apparently stopped hiring personal trainers, hair stylists, and dental hygienists all in the same year.

Our research also found Canada’s most popular jobs of 2015 in terms of applications per opening, and those that employers had the hardest time filling last year.

– Peter Harris

Peter Harris on Twitter