Facing Challenges in a Middle Aged Rehab Job Search
If you are over 40 and searching for a rehab job, you are considered middle aged. While not always an issue, there are challenges that can arise when doing a job search once we reach middle age and beyond.
Facing Challenges in a Middle Aged Rehab Job Search
What is now being termed, ageism, many older job candidates are facing silent age discrimination as they head into job interviews and end up sitting across from hiring managers who are half their age. These elephants in the room are never mentioned outright of course but they are no doubt influencers in the decision-making process. Is there a way to head this off at the pass? Yes, there are several things that you can do if you are the one interviewing and want this addressed.
Many times there is the fear or misconception on the part of younger hiring manager that an older person will not want to work for them. They are afraid that a person who is as old as their parent will not be able to be in a subordinate position. You can head this off by simply asking the question of them in the interview. Sometimes this displaces the one fear that they had and is enough to make a difference.
Qualifications also come into questions quite often when there is an age issue. This is a question of a person who is older perhaps being overqualified due to more years in the workforce. They may feel that you have too much experience for the position or fear that you will leave soon after being hired should something better come along. The way to handle this is to tone down your resume to make it most relevant to the position that you are interviewing for. Don’t show that you’re overqualified.
There are other misconceptions about older people that get in the way. Some may believe that older people lack energy or are more likely to have health problems. The best way to combat these assumptions is to remain enthusiastic for the job and the company. If you are physically active and have just done something cool, like climbed a mountain, work it into the conversation if you can. As far as health goes, there’s not much you can do about this other than to invest time and effort into your appearance to look and act as healthy as possible.
There may be the idea that older workers are more set in their ways and are not able to deal with change in the way that younger workers are. This does have some validity so you will need to work to head this one off. Perhaps the employer already has some older workers on staff who are resistant to change. Look back in your life to see where you have weathered difficult situations, adapted to conditions and made some major changes. Have several stories practiced and prepared to illustrate this.
The best way to face challenges in a middle aged rehab job search isn’t to ignore them but to confront them and be confident about your experience.
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