Are you concerned about your age in your job search?

Hardly a day passes in my Career Management Practice without hearing “I’m too old; I feel I’m being discriminated!” Yes sadly, discrimination exists everywhere but there could also be a number of external issues inhibiting you from advancing in your career.

Despite your maturity, you can bring a wealth of talent to a potential employer. I heard recently that 55 is the new 40!

Here are some strategies I recommend to assist the mature job seeker meet their goals and simplify the search.

1. Reinvigorate Your Resume
Does your resume portray yourself to the optimum? A combination format is generally the best format to choose to emphasize your personal brand, soft and hard skills and a comprehensive list of accomplishments in each appointment. Summarize the early part of your career and show the dates! This is an honest document, your are building trust and credibility with a future employer. If the dates are omitted red flags are activated!

2. Evaluate your position in life
This is the time to take stock of your past and look to the future. What are your personal and professional goals, skills values, interests and individual traits? What is so special about you at this stage of life? Why should I employ you? What is your differentiator? What exactly do you want to do? Too many questions to answer? Seek help from a Career Coach.

3. Stay Positive
Staying focused and positive is a major component of job search success. Career transition at any time is stressful, however in latter years emotions run deeper with more at stake. Anger, rage and frustration can take a huge toll on one’s morale and can consume you. Seek professional advice, read personal development books or listen to motivational CDs.

4. Become a Subject Matter Expert
The market is fierce and competitive; you have to position and market yourself as a winner! Everyone has their areas of strength. Are you an expert? If not, increase your visibility by writing, presenting, optimizing social media messaging and consulting, relaying a consistent message of knowledge in a particular area. Try to support the designated area of expertise with references ready to articulate your area of proficiency.

5. Networking, Networking and Networking
You cannot have too much networking a very important ingredient to your career, business and personal success. After an extensive career, your network should be comprehensive but do you maintain and nurture it? Are all your contacts ready to help you? Don’t hold back in asking your network for help. They might need your help some day! Be diligent in your approach to spend valuable time with people who can provide influential leads.

What about gaps in my employment dates?

It is not uncommon to have gaps or absences in employment, and this is acceptable. However, it needs to be addressed and explained in the resume. No questions should be left unanswered or any doubt cast during a search; you are opening up honest and open communications with a future employer!

There are many acceptable reasons for taking a break. It may be as a care giver to elderly parents. What about a travel sabbatical where you gained cultural and geographic knowledge? How about becoming a parent? That’s a full time job in itself!

Employers are seeking clarification on gaps, be open and be honest!

Does your resume stand out from the competition?

In today’s cut throat and performance-driven world job applicants need to deliver a memorable impression. We employ legal professionals to prepare our wills and provide other legal services. We use the expertise of service providers to repair and maintain our homes. How valuable is your career? Do you make an investment in your future? Are you ambitious? Do you create and deliver a striking image and synopsis of your work?

How about investing in a professionally written resume? It will convey a unique tone and approach that makes you look impressive and effective and most importantly, gets YOU noticed.

So what can you expect from a professionally written resume? What makes you look outstanding and compelling?

The ‘WOW’ factor.

A resume is a psychological document; the format has to be impeccable and seductive. A reader needs to see the title of the position you are seeking, as well as a series of soft skills and the hard skills you can bring pertinent to the job. This top section relays a message on who you are and what your core strengths you offer!

Includes the differentiator branding positioning statement.

We are all unique, many Human Resource Leaders have the same skill sets and knowledge, however, each one has their own distinctive brand! Are you communicating that brand to the reader to achieve maximum exposure to induce a further read?

Separates job descriptions from accomplishments.

North America is the most performance-driven society in the world. A future employer is going to hire you based on consistent delivery. Extracting accomplishments into bullet points based on the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique advances your candidacy to the next level and separates you from the other applicants.

Uses concise strong language to attract optimum impact.

A professionally written resume is free from spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. Use of strong enticing language, rich in action words, key words and dynamic phases is very important.

An experienced and Certified Professional Resume Writer invariably knows your profession. When conducting due diligence into a resume writer ask some probing questions, drop acronyms to see if they are familiar them. Build constructive and open dialogue to understand their perspective on how they would meet the challenge of portraying you!

Strengths, not weaknesses!

As a Certified Professional Resume Writer I answer many intriguing and probing questions regarding my services, experiences and my approach to making my diverse clientele look outstanding and highly competitive.

Today however, I was rather taken back by a question from a client as we were proceeding through the draft stage of the resume. The question, “Why don’t you show my weaknesses”?

How astounding?

I replied back, “You have made an investment in my services, why should I even mention anything negative? I focus solely on the positive”.

Potential employers and Recruiters review you as a performance-driven resource, not an under-performance resource.

Your comments and questions are most welcome. Constructive dialogue is important. Education on how to optimize your job search is a major component of Elite Resumes mandate and shifting your mindset into a positive approach.

For more details about Elite Resumes positive, performance-driven career management services please visit our web site: www.aneliteresume.com

Your resume, your GPA!

Should you place your GPA on your resume? Once you have been out of school for five or more years your GPA becomes less relevant to an employer. Be wise, you should not list your GPA on a resume at all if it was below 3.0. 4.0 is an acknowledged achievement, this number can be listed forever.

Always list any honours received with the degree including Dean’s List, Phi Beta Kappa or Cum Laude. These are significant distinctions, be proud and display them on your resume.

Confused on how to write a resume? Look at samples on the Elite Resumes web site: http://www.aneliteresume.com/

Is your resume telling the true story about your accomplishments?

We are in an accomplishment-driven society. Potential employers and Recruiters are hiring people who deliver consistent measurables. They aren’t hiring couch potatoes!

Numbers, dollar values and percentages clearly portraying your drive to generate and deliver results is going to seduce the reader.

Some examples of performance taken from clients resumes include:

¬ Captured significant acquisitions from the competition in the education sector to drive growth a further 30%. Boosted shipments in the government sector from 11,956 units to 14,257 07/08. Elevated education shipments from 15,707 to 18,289 07/08 with a combined 17.6% increase.

¬ Initiated a radical production management realignment, involving scheduling, packaging and plant layout, which catapulted fill rate from 90% to 99% in 3 months adding $3.4 million in sales.

¬ Catapulted revenue in year 1 300% over budget. Consistently exceeded annual mandated targets ranging from 105% to 125%.

Do these snippets entice you to read more?

Are you selling yourself to your optimum? Will I call you for an interview over the competition? Are you comfortable with your resume?

If not, would you like a free no obligation resume critique? If so, please e mail via: http://www.aneliteresume.com/

But I don’t have a degree. I won’t be considered!

Not so. Many potential clients call me and say I have seen an interesting position, I’m the perfect fit except that I don’t have an under graduate degree. No problem.

I’m a firm believer that if you consider you have all the skill sets required go for the position anyway. What are you going to lose?

If you have an outstanding performance-driven career and you quite clearly portray the skill set they are seeking on your resume, employers will sometimes overlook the absence of a degree. The resume has to provide the reader with quantifiable examples in the form of percentages, dollar amounts, and before/after comparisons.

Although you didn’t graduate from a university or college, clearly portray your education studies that you did complete. This way you can introduce the buzz words including BA or BS into the resume without being misleading or dishonest.

This is how I show these circumstances on a resume:

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario 2004 – 2006
Completed 24 modules towards the Bachelor of Arts, Political Science degree

The key component here is to be 100% honest and upfront. For many reasons students don’t complete their studies which is OK. Family commitments or even an enticing job offer can halt education. I tend to tell the reasons in a cover letter. “Due to my father requiring my full time attention for serious health problems, I was unable complete my under graduate degree. However, I firmly believe I have the perfect qualifications for this intriguing position, my degree has been completed in the workplace, and here are a couple of examples”.

Don’t count yourself out of good opportunities simply because you lack the academic credentials. Go for it!

It’s imperative that your resume makes you look more competitive than a contender with a degree. Does your resume stand out? Are you making a compelling statement that you are the perfect fit for the job? Would you like a free no obligation resume critique? If so, please submit via www.aneliteresume.com

Putting Your Telephone Number on a Resume!

This may seem very trivial, but it can portray a negative impression if you have not taken into consideration the response when a potential employer calls you. Obviously you have to provide the Recruiter or Human Resources Professional with the most effective way of contacting you quickly. Your home telephone number should be included; however, is it your voice on the answering machine rather than your kids? Make sure you have a professional scripted, articulate and confident message encouraging a reply. Nothing is worse than a weak, inaudible message.

I would suggest you avoid using your work telephone number. What message does that send to a potential employer, that using an employer’s time and resources for personal communication is acceptable?

A mobile telephone number is perfect if you feel comfortable in answering while conducting your business.

First impressions count. A verbal telephone message is the second chance you have to impress. Your first is your resume which should make you look outstanding, competitive and lure the reader into calling you. If you don’t have a good resume I offer a free, no obligation resume critique. Go to www.aneliteresume.com to submit your resume.

Always be cognizant of sending positive vibes in all your messaging!

How to conquer a demotion on a resume.

It’s a fact of life, mergers and acquisitions have been plentiful in the last few years. Restructuring goes part and parcel after a merger and one of the benefits to an employer is resource consolidation. Many people loose their jobs or are reassigned to other duties laterally or demoted.

As a Resume Writer I am charged by my client to provide them with the optimum return on investment and entice a potential employer into granting an interview.

When writing a resume, I am very open in clarifying the reason why a client has been demoted.

“Reassigned duties as the Sales Account Manager as a result of a business realignment after a merger with ABC Company”.

It’s simple and truthful.

Are you in a similar position? I can help!