Employers are gearing up after the summer slowdown, putting new projects into place, and hiring. They need employees to fill positions and carry out their plans—so don’t let this important time pass you by!

I know the news is bad and especially discouraging for older applicants. However, you need to realize that the statistics the articles quote do not take into account how YOU are conducting your search: how many hours a day you devote to looking for work, how you’re going about your search, how qualified you are, and who is in your network.

Please take best advantage of this special time of year and arm yourself with the latest and most effective ways to make your mark. I’m happy to say that I’ve recently revised my book, Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50 and added even more helpful tips and tools to get you on the path to your next position.

This truly is your time to shine, so get prepared, learn the best ways to navigate today’s competitive market, and let them know all the wonderful skills and attributes a jobseeker with maturity can bring. You just need to learn the ways to present yourself as the WINNER you are. Please take the brief 15 minutes and listen to this interview where I share tips and techniques to put you on the fast track to success!

In fact, if you’re an older applicant and are looking for a job, the best time to be doing so is right  NOW! Early fall is one of the two strongest hiring periods of the year. Companies large and small gear up after the summer slowdown and start putting new ventures and projects into place. This  means bringing on new managers, supervisors, individual contributors, and general employees to see these projects through.

So, if you want and need a job, don’t make the critical mistake older applicants often do and try to sell yourself on a resume and in an interview the way it worked 20 years ago. Believe me, it won’t work in today’s competitive market!

You’ve got to be current, confident, and well prepared and I’ve got a few ways that I know will help. My newly revised book, Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50, has even more insider tips and techniques to make you shine as the candidate of choice. Please take a moment to check it out.

Also, if you want or need immediate help, take a look at my E-book, The Baby Boomers’ Survival Guide to Finding Work Fast. For the price of a cup of coffee and a doughnut, you’ll have the winning tools that will set you up with what you need.

For those who want some personal help and coaching, I’ve joined forces with Life Coach and owner of Soul Purpose to Prosperity, Christine Laureano, to present a 3-day mini-teleclass series starting Tuesday, August 24th. Transition to Success: Midlife Tools for Career and Life Empowerment is certain to help you overcome blocks and fears, reignite your passion for work, and turbocharge your job search. Take a look here.

Don’t let this critical time pass you by. Most jobseekers don’t start really looking until after Labor Day. Right now your competition levels are low and, if you learn the ways to present yourself as the valuable candidate you are, you’ll find yourself first in line for that new position. So get ready, get set, and go!

Yet, now that we’re past fifty, friendship and a sense of community with likeminded women holds even greater meaning. Aging can bring with it a shrinking world: we may no longer be working and feel the loss of day-to-day communication; we might live on the opposite side of the country from our dearest family members and mourn the physical closeness we yearn for; and we may lack the social resources that once gave our lives richness and depth.

Viola! Enter The Transition Network. This nationwide organization was founded to fill the void that many of us feel as we move beyond our initial careers and seek to find fulfillment elsewhere. Their Mission is to provide “a community for women over 50, who join forces as they navigate the transition from one career to another—or whatever is next.”

And, true to the boomer trailblazing spirit, The Transition Network defines itself as a “movement”—a national movement of engaged and energetic women of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds who together will:

• DISCOVER new perspectives and opportunities
• IMPACT their lives and their communities
• ADVOCATE with a collective and powerful voice

Talk about a feisty spirit! I’ve recently become a member of TTN and look forward to interacting with women my own age who understand the issues and concerns I’m facing at this time in my life. And, making things even more exciting, I just had the pleasure of interviewing the inspiring speaker and “encore career role model,” Betsy Werley, who also happens to be the Executive Director of The Transition Network.

I invite you to spend the brief fifteen minutes to listen to what Betsy has to say. You’ll come away from the experience with a renewed sense of purpose and confidence in all you can accomplish during this rich and fertile time in your life.

Also, be certain to check out the website for The Transition Network. With a few new friends on your side, a bit of information and support, and the inherent power found within a group of menopausal women on a mission, you’ll be feeling feisty for sure!

Special Event: I’m joining forces with the National Association of Baby Boomer Women to present a special Teleseminar, How to Land the Job You Love on Thursday, Aug. 12th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. If you or a boomer friend are looking for work, please sign up and attend. There is absolutely no charge and we’ll be covering the critical tools and techniques that will jumpstart your search and help you maximize your opportunities in today’s competitive market. The last 10 minutes will be open for Q & A–so think of the special answers you need to know and plan on attending. Sign up here!

I don’t want to sugarcoat things too much or discount the difficulties inherent to finding work these days, but I call much of this doom and gloom just plain “overblown, exaggerated hooey!” The media knows bad news sells so that’s just what they spin: bad news on just about everything. Moreover, the figures they cite are drawn from generalities and take no account of the personal drive, and energy an individual puts into his/her job search. Adding to that, if you focus your search on industries and companies who welcome the experience and mature skill set you bring (and there are plenty of them out there), you’re far more likely to be successful.

It’s true that it may take longer to find a job in a tight market—especially if you’re of a certain age. Nevertheless, if you arm yourself with the techniques and strategies that work, you can’t help but set yourself apart from the crowd and get your name in front of key decision-makers. After that, you just need to present yourself as the problem solver they’re seeking. Actually, all of this is not so terribly difficult once you learn how.

My book, Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50, is packed with the insider tips and tricks I’ve learned over my twenty years as a career consultant/job search specialist. I KNOW from my experience that these techniques do work and they’ll save you time, money, and loads of frustration.

Right now, I’m revising the book to add even more cutting edge information. But the bad news is that the book will not be available on Amazon for several days while it’s being updated.

However, for those of you who are in a career crisis and want to find the most direct and immediate route to your next job, I’m now making an E-book available. For a limited time, the Baby Boomers’ Survival Guide to Finding Work Fast can be downloaded by clicking this link. It has all the information you’ll need to make yourself THE candidate of choice. So take a moment and check it out. Remember, summer is one of the very best times to look for a job: so get yourself armed with the essential tools and strategies you’ll need, prepare to shine, and expect success!

Even though you’re looking for work, you may have decided to take the summer off—or, at least, reduce your job search schedule. After all, people in your network are on vacation, new contacts are hard to come by, and it’s difficult to get appointments with key people you’d like to speak with. Rather than spin your wheels, you’d rather wait until fall when people return from their trips and business starts gearing up again.

However, if you make that decision, you’d be misguided. Despite the above realities, summer can be one of the most productive times people can look for work. And, as a jobseeker over fifty, you’ll want to make certain to make the most of every advantage.

There are two main reasons summer can be so productive:

#1 Your competition levels drop. Many people choose the hammock over the networking meeting so there aren’t as many active applicants during the summer months.

#2 Your networking is more productive. Although it’s true people are more difficult to reach, your meetings are likely to pay off in a big way. The early fall is one of the strongest hiring periods of the year because new projects are put in place after the summer slowdown. Therefore, the more people you connect with during the summer, the more likely you are to be the one called in for an interview.

So make the most of this special time! I invite you to check out my recently published book, Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50. Drawing on my twenty years experience counseling midlife jobseekers, the book gives older applicants the insider techniques they need to turn their age into their advantage. You’ll learn how to:

• Emphasize your special skills to set yourself apart from the competition

• Use the best resume format to highlight your experience as an older applicant

• Move your search forward and get in front of key decision makers

• Ensure you make a dynamic first impression, ace the interview, and much, much more

If you want to turbocharge your job search and make the most your summer, take a moment to check it out.

Indications are, however, that the economy is beginning to recover and this is certainly good news for us. In addition to increasing opportunities on the horizon, the future holds some pretty amazing possibilities. Our vast numbers ensure that boomers enjoy certain generational blessings and soon the job market will once again be in our favor.

As we are a generation of 76 million and the generation right behind us is comprised of a puny 45 million, the numerical discrepancy is going to create tons more jobs than workers to fill them. Although boomers do not generally see ourselves as “rocking chair retirees,” we will want to cut back. Therefore, as the oldest of our generation starts slowing down, job openings will be appearing left and right.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for work or have a boomer friend who is, I’ve recently published Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50. Using my twenty years’ experience as a career counselor/job search specialist, I wanted to write an information-packed book that gave older applicants the insider techniques to best turn their age into an advantage.

This book will teach you to:
• Identify and articulate your special skills and strengths and set yourself apart from the competition.
• Use the very best resume format to highlight your experience as an older applicant and ways to organize it so your key skills literally leap off the page.
• Know the surefire strategies to move your search forward and get you in front of key decision makers.
• The ways you can ensure you’ll make a dynamic first impression and ace the interview, and much, much more.

So take a moment and check it out. Now that the job market is beginning to recover, you’ll want to turbocharge your search so you’ll be primed and ready to take best advantage of all the good things to come!

As regular readers of Feisty know, I’ve recently published my first book, Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50, so they requested I speak to the concerns of older applicants.  Since I’ve been in the business of counseling midlife jobseekers for 20 years, I know this topic like the back of my hand and it’s one I love to cover. With so many of our fellow boomers out of work and worried about their prospects, I feel it’s both an honor and a privilege to get to share my insider knowledge with those who can really use the help.

Besides being informative, however, I wanted my talk to be uplifting, encouraging and even a bit of fun as well. So I went about looking for quotes that would help provide inspiration and I ran across a few of my old favorites:

“Age is an issue of mind over matter.  If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”  ~Mark Twain

And

“Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.”  ~Maurice Chevalier

And

“I still have a full deck; I just shuffle slower now.”  ~Author Unknown

But then I came across a quote that was new to me and I found it to be a total delight! Too bad the author is unknown because I’d love to shake her hand. At least I can provide the most sincere form of flattery and copy her whenever I get the opportunity. I invite you to do the same. Here’s the quote: “It’s important to put a twinkle in your wrinkle!”

So, dear boomer sisters, do be sure to put a twinkle in your wrinkle and shine on with all of your mature magnificence! And, if you know of someone who’s out of work and feeling low, please tell them about Land the Job You Love. Knowing the right strategies and tips to navigate the competitive market of today can make all the difference and it just might put that all important twinkle into a dear friend’s wrinkle!

But I beg to differ: In fact, what we midlife folk need to remember is who we are and from whence we came! Baby boomers are not a generation prone to giving up and limiting ourselves to the status quo. We’re revolutionary, spirited, trailblazers who’ve achieved far-reaching, positive social change that has bettered countless lives in countries around the world. Our vast numbers have allowed us to drive these successes on a grand scale—so why should we roll over and give up just because we have a few grey hairs?

Who says that older, more experienced workers are at a disadvantage? What rules suggest that a mature work ethic and career knowhow are out of style? How can having a large network of coworkers, clients, and customers built up over many years be a drawback to success?

Workers over fifty make up a huge percentage of the workforce and our ranks are one of the fastest growing segments in the marketplace. So rather than allowing ourselves to be pushed aside and shoved out of the labor force—we need to remind folks that we fit right in and boomers still command the stage! Regular readers of my blog are aware that I’ve just published my first book, Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50, and I’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of interest and enthusiasm for these very sentiments.

And, if you heed our generation’s mandate to change the world for the better and your focus is on finding a position in the non-profit arena, I urge you to attend a free telebriefing presented by Encore.org. The mission of this wonderful organization is to “engage millions of experienced individuals in becoming a force for social change” and to “create pathways to encore careers that provide continued income doing work that is personally fulfilling and helps address some of society’s biggest challenges.”

Save the date: Wednesday, March 3rd at 12-12:45 p.m. Pacific Time, 3-3:45 p.m. Eastern. Click here to sign up. Also, be sure and check out their Purpose Prize. These substantial cash awards go to people over age 60 who are inventing new ways to solve social problems—a win/win all the way around. Friday, March 5th is the deadline for nominations.

So, whether you’re looking for work in the government, the private sector, or the non-profit world, and want insider strategies and techniques guaranteed to save you time and frustration, please take a moment to check out Land the Job You Love. You may just find yourself hired and happily working in no time!

That’s why I get so upset when I hear about the impact of ageism in the workforce and the unspoken yet, nonetheless, very real inequities facing the older worker. Our generation has moved mountains in such complex issues as social justice and civil rights. I know we still have a long way to go but, if you doubt our amazing achievements, just turn on an episode of Madmen or watch an old 1940’s movie.

So why would we possibly allow ourselves to be discounted or pushed out of prime positions simply because of our age? Undoubtedly, corporations want much of their workforce young and cheap but they also need skilled, sophisticated, and smart workers at the top. And, these are US! In smaller firms, where the majority of hiring takes place, they can’t risk bringing in a number of inexperienced newbies who don’t have our work ethic and often haven’t learned such life skills as showing up on time and being prepared.

Nevertheless, if you’re out of work and looking for a job, age can be a factor in slowing your search. That is… if you let it! Regular readers of this blog know I’m a career counselor/job search specialist with twenty years’ experience in the field and I’ve just come out with my new book, Land the Job You Love: 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50. If you know of anyone in midlife who’s feeling down and discouraged because they’re having trouble finding work, please suggest they check it out.

At the risk of sounding immodest, my book one of a very small handful that addresses the special challenges of being an older applicant and the only one to provide insider tips that will turn your age into an advantage. So, my fellow boomers, let’s go after the job market coming from a position of power! With the force of our numbers and the strength of our spirit, there’s no way we should let a little thing called “ageism” dampen our prospects or push us aside. After all, we were and are the mightiest generation of them all—so let’s get out there and land those jobs we love!

So, if you’re looking for work, how can you take best advantage of the opportunities that become available this time of year? Well, one of the strongest tools in your job search arsenal is a dynamic and persuasive resume. Make sure your resume is a compelling document that’s loaded with key skills that will sell you to potential employers. Also make certain to underscore your strengths and talents with targeted examples of you performing your work at it’s best. In today’s competitive climate, it isn’t enough to simply list your skill sets, you need to show ownership of your skills by clearly stating how you’ve used them in the past.

Aside from displaying your skills, there is a specific format that works best for the older applicant. You need to make sure that your valuable experience is highlighted and easy to locate in a 30-second scan. Because that’s just about the length of time most resume reviewers spend deciding whether or not they’ll take the time to read through your resume.

For valuable tips on how to create a winning resume that will open the door to interviews, I invite you to check out Land the Job You Love! 10 Surefire Strategies for Jobseekers Over 50. Armed with the right techniques to set you apart from the competition and get you in front of key decision makers, you can’t go wrong. So turn your age into an advantage and make the most of the New Year. There won’t be a better time to turn your resume into a winner send you on your way to landing a job you will love!