Has anyone used a job coach? I have been looking for a job for a year and, despite applying to jobs for which I am well qualified, I have not found anything. I don’t think the fact that I’m nearing 50 is helping things. Thanks for any advice.
Do you feel your needs are finding a job - of figuring out what job to find?
Do you identify areas where you think you might be struggling? The interview? A clean resume? Searching for job availability?
Tell us a little more.
For the most part, I am not even getting called after submitting an application. I am looking for something like a college counseling position or a position in a college (academic adviser, admissions counselor, etc). I did get one interview, but did not get the job. I’m only applying to jobs for which I’m qualified, but I’m getting nowhere. I thought a job coach may have recommendations on what I could be doing better.
I don’t think “job coach” is the right title for what you are seeking. Job coaches typically are for people who already have jobs, often people with disabilities who need help navigating the demands of the workplace.
I think the glassdoor site has people that will review your resume for you and help you re-write it. That may be the first step, so that you will start getting interviews.
I think the first step would be to take dates off of your resume. Especially do not put graduation dates on. These are indicators of how old you are. Once they see you at an interview they will have a general idea of how old you are and you will need to wow them with your answers to their questions.
@bajamm Thanks! I just took all the dates off my resume, except for my work experience over the last 10-ish years.
I know of someone in the Seattle area. Probably pricey. She works on helping you figure out what you want to do then on helping you follow through on that. It sounds like you are pretty well on your way already on both fronts. The other part is helping you process results (emotionally and practically) as they come in.
One suggestion, if you haven’t done it, is to request informational interviews with people in the field, especially at places where you might want to work (and especially if they have no job openings.) It’s a great way to meet folks who could be useful (now, through introductions, or later when there are openings) and to get valuable feedback (from things they want to see on a resume to conferences you could attend to network) without “applying” and the pressure of a decision.
I’ve had few job coaches, after I left a company. I found them to be helpful at refining my resume, cover letter and my linkedin profile. One in particular helped with my interview technique.
If you are not getting interviews then you may need some help with your resume/cover letter/linkedin profile. I also think you need to do more than just submitting an application, you should follow up with the recruiter directly. It can be done via Linkedin when you sign up for Premium service.
I am close to 60 (yes, I said it) and I’ve had 5 new jobs in the last 10 years.
Have you read Bait & Switch by Barbara Ehrenreich? A friend who has been struggling to find appropriate employment in her late 50s loaned it to me and it’s an interesting read about job coaches and other “assistance.”+
I would highly recommend getting someone in your field, preferably someone young, to review your resume. I am 51 and applied for another job about a year ago. I was eminently qualified for it in a way that most 30-somethings and younger are not (because of the way my field has changed–youngers specialize early and do not have experience in the two sub-fields; only someone over about 45 would have both types of experience that this company professed to want). I got a phone interview that went fine, and then crickets for 6 months even though the job was still being heavily advertised. Then a new recruiter for the company went back through old resumes and called me. I got another phone interview, and then she told me to make some changes to my resume that made ZERO SENSE to me. Absolutely none. They were stupid, in fact. I withdrew my name from consideration for other reasons and never made the changes, but she was insistent that the hiring person needed my resume in the format she suggested. I did not want to work for anyone that superficial, but maybe she was right. She actually professed to be baffled about why I’d never gotten a second interview before but wanted to advocate for me and apparently needed my resume formatted differently to do so. If I were looking for a job again, I would take my own advice, have someone review my resume and take her recommendations.
I hire for a living.
Agree with the advice to get someone in your field who hires to review your resume. There could be a bunch of redflags you don’t even know about hiding in plain sight.
You CANNOT “apply” for jobs and assume that something is going to happen. I can post a job and get 500 resumes within two days; 1500 resumes after a week. You need a networking strategy which involves reaching out to people in your field, joining every relevant professional association and going to the lunches, meet and greets, roundtables, etc, You must make an excel sheet of everyone you have ever worked with who liked or respected you, and develop a plan for reaching out to each of them with a one paragraph email “I’d love hear about opportunities and am interested in the following:”.
It’s not your age, it’s your strategy. “applying” for a job isn’t like it was back in the day. People can reject you because they don’t like the font you use, or because the resume you’ve attached to the application is a Word file with the title “My Resume”. (Do you think that’s helpful when the person reading your email is plowing through 1500 applications?)
Planit- you may have felt that the changes this person was suggesting were superficial and stupid, but you really don’t know. Some online candidate tracking systems do funky things to Word documents. I’ve actually gotten resumes where the candidates name and address have gotten chopped off because the candidate used some weird font, or put them in a header and not the body of the document. Do you think anyone has time to figure out who the heck sent in a resume with no name or address if your document got chopped off when it converted? No, nobody has time. When someone “in the know” suggests a change to your resume, it’s neither superficial nor stupid. They know the candidate tracking systems, you don’t. I get resumes to my work email all the time (not to the application system main mailbox) where the attachment gets deleted by our anti-virus software. I have no control over this. There are things you can do to make sure your attachments are “clean”- no bizarre hyperlinks for example.
An outplacement coach is not a bad idea. Do you have a former colleague who can recommend someone?
This is a little out of the box…but maybe see a career counselor. This is someone who can look at your resume and give you suggestions on types of jobs that you would be suited for.
@blossom, no, unfortunately I don’t know of anyone who has used a job coach.
I second @blossom on the importance of networking !!
Keep in mind that the landscape shifts a lot when your experience puts you well above entry-level jobs. A lot of the positions you are going to be applying for likely to be filled by internal hires — but many companies and agencies have to follow policies requiring them to post the job and go through the interview process for any type of hire, even though they already have someone in line for the job. The college employers you are looking at might be very likely to have those sorts of requirements. Meanwhile, there are all sorts of people within the extended “family” of a college (such as recent grads, soon-to-be grads, and spouses of grad students & faculty) who are likely to be haunting the college employment offices and making their presence known.
When that doesn’t happen – when the employer is able to do direct hires without going through the full posting/interview process - that means they are even more likely to be hiring based on informal contacts – the kind of stuff that people find out about by networking. I know that some colleges in particular can get around the strict protocols for hiring process through hiring for “temporary” positions that can later morph into full-time.
And yes, your age is also a factor, one way or another. So it does make it all that much more difficult.
And one more yes: any sort of independent advice you can get will probably help, because obviously something isn’t working for you and you need feedback.
In your field do they have a tendency to hire contractors? It is easier to get hired as a contractor without the benefits and then convert to full time after you prove yourself.
Does the career center of your college help alumni?
I’ll go with what blossom said. These online job services make applying for jobs super easy. I posted a part time office clerk position and got 75 applicants in 24 hrs. Took a good day to narrow it to a short list of 25 or so. Those who made the cut wasn’t totally based on qualifications. Cut criteria included distance, resume format (or lake thereof), and answers to the application questions (and surprisingly non-answers). Candidates who took the time to write a cover letter and/or explained certain circumstances had an edge. Don’t just rely on “pushing the button” to apply. Follow up. And if you get an interview, email a thank you from the parking lot. I can’t tell you how many times I said to myself the first candidate to send a thank you gets the job – well, we are still waiting. Show legitimate interest and stand out. Good luck.
My guess is that 80% of the problem here is your age. (I’m 61, so I’ve been in your spot.) My best advice – besides having your resume written to hide your age, emphasize your skills and in the current popular formats – is to network, network, network. Tell EVERYONE you know you’re looking for a job. It’s really the best, most effective way to get work at our age. Fact is, computer programs screen out online resumes from people believed to be “too old.” Your resume may not even get to a real human. The fact that you’re qualified is secondary to the fact of your age.
I finally got a new position after applying to 106 jobs (yes, I kept track). I didn’t track screenings by HR, but I did get a phone interview with the hiring manager 15% of the time and did onsite interviews in about half of the cases where I had a phone interview with the hiring manager.
I had personal connections for two of the applications which did me no good whatsoever.
Note the number of applicants referenced by some of those who have posted – it is a very competitive world out there.
It is smart of you to only apply for jobs for which you are qualified. Create a tailored cover letter every time you apply. Keep plugging away at it.
I am 59 years old. Everyone where I work now is a full generation younger than me, and it has been no issue whatsoever.
I second the advice of getting professional advice on your resume. I didn’t take advantage of an in-person review last year when I was job-hunting but did watch a couple of videos from a firm that helped me a lot with the verbiage.
Formatting the resume is also interesting. I followed guidelines from a CNN article on “What a resume in 2018 should look like”. It worked for me but hilariously when I put D’s in the same format earlier this year, her career center counselor at school said it was crap and threw it all out and had her use a very plain format designed for automated scanning/parsing. Both D and I landed jobs, so go figure.
Also make sure your LinkedIn is up to date and get as many recommendations on there as you can. I’m also over 50 and would highly recommend that you be meticulous regarding your appearance and dress. I picked up a new wardrobe for interviewing just to be sure I looked modern and successful (but not trendy).
Finally I probably sent out 50 resumes but only got around 5 interviews. So don’t let a lot hit rate get you down.