How Not to be Chum Looking for a Job After 40

Have you ever noticed how once you hit 40 (or it seems so to some), there are young vicious sharks swimming around you on your search for work? They act friendly, but you just KNOW that they are circling and waiting to have you for lunch. I’d like to give you a few tips on how to keep the sharks at bay¦

1. Never and I mean NEVER use the word old to describe yourself. Good grief, if you’re not 80 you’re not old to begin with and need slapped upside the head just for saying it. Saying that you’re getting old is like opening a wound and dripping blood in the water. Stop it!
2. Feeling squishy and slow among your 12 year old coworkers? Let me break it to you¦ Watching American Idol while eating chips and playing couch potato isn’t going to advance you career, only your waist. Get up off your butt and get active.
3. And if you try to get active and suddenly EVERYTHING hurt¦ Get over it! It will! I don’t know how many people give up after the first time they exercise simply because it hurts. Don’t overdo it, but don’t mosey through the neighborhood without breaking a sweat and call that enough. Sweat, baby, sweat!
4. When you do exercise, listen to something upbeat. Smooth jazz may keep you from getting violent on the drive home, but goodness it will do NOTHING for a workout. Think of it this way, if the music can cause your pulse to pick up just listening or watching the video, imagine what it can do for a workout.
5. Another don’t is the constant complaining about the younger former bosses and fellow workers¦ It makes you look like the curmudgeon of the office and like you should be saying something like When I was a kid, we walked 10 miles to school, uphill, both ways. Complaining gets you nowhere, fast!
6. Understand that you should be at the top of your game and you’re never too old to take classes and seek professional development. The only way to stay on top is to be a continuous student.
7. And finally¦ Be active in your community and make a difference in lives. There’s a much bigger world than just the only you live in. Look out for more than just you and your own. This keeps you active, your resume current, and an impact that can advance or build a career.

Follow these guidelines and not only will you stand a chance with the sharks, but you might just become a force to be reckoned with (instead of sleeping with the fishes).

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Angela Current, CPRW is a Certified Resume Writer/Career and Interview Coach offering no nonsense approach to job searching and career advice, as well as serving as a freelance writing fiend on a number of topics. A cancer survivor that has a heart for those job hunters with unusual circumstances, like survivors returning to work and the 50+ worker. Love a challenge!

Tagged as: 40, Job Search, job search blogger contest, job search secrets, job seeker, over 40