You’re not past it!

Have you been out of the working world for a while, and find it hard to get back in? Whether you stayed at home to mind the kids, or gave up your professional career to go full-time farming, it’s never too late to find a job.

“Most jobs are advertised on job websites. However, some industries only hire people who they come in contact with,” says career and life coach Ronan Kennedy.

Finding jobs

“It’s important to remember that there is a visible and invisible job market. The visible is the one where jobs are advertised and the invisible job market is where there are jobs available but they are not actively advertising,” says Ronan. In other words, they need to be found.

“This is usually done by getting in contact with an influential person in the business or organisation” he adds.

Know your skills

If you are an older jobseeker who has been out of work for a while, Ronan says it’s important to focus on what you can do, along with the skills and experience that you have built up over the years.

“Remember that if you don’t have a qualification, you were still doing something when others were getting their qualifications. So, what were you doing? Focus on the positives,” he says.

Younger candidates may have all the up-to-date skills, according to Ronan, but older candidates can offer many things such as experience, connections, and crucially, transferable skills.

“Transferable skills that many experienced jobseekers have include problem-solving skills, conflict resolution, customer relationship management, analytical skills, time management, organisational skills, commercial awareness and leadership, to name a few,” he says.

Update your skills if necessary

Focus on the jobs that you’d like to do and then see what the job specifications are. Then you can see if your skills match those specifications. If they do – perfect. If they don’t – now you know what skills you need to refresh.

“As a general rule, I would encourage jobseekers to update their skills on a regular basis so that they are also creating more opportunities for themselves and showing prospective employers that they are actively trying to upskill,” says Ronan.

“Remember that if you’re part of the older generation, your experience is your trump card! So play to your strengths.”