Women over 50 - Cast Aside by the Job Market?

Women over 50 – have they really been cast aside by the labour market?

I’ve gone backwards and forwards about writing this blog, but it’s a topic that continues to be raised by my clients. So in writing this I am reaching out to hopefully get your opinions.

I am not quite in the over-50 age bracket, but have to say that I already beginning to feel the effects of ageism. An ex-manager of mine - and an excellent mentor - probably 15 years ago told me that as soon as they go grey, women are completely overlooked in the workplace. It did stick with me at that point, wondering if she was simply being cynical or if indeed it was true. I’ve always pondered whether or not it was just enough to dye your hair and put off the ageing process. But why should we?  

I have recently been working with several clients in their late 50s, early 60s. Amazing, strong women with excellent work experience under their belts, not to mention extraordinary life experience, including working all over the world. They are by no means at the end of their careers, not ready, willing or able to retire, and they don’t foresee the end of their careers yet. However, they were all so utterly negative about their abilities to get work when they came to me that I was quite gob smacked. They had had some bad experiences when undertaking job searches and this had left them distressed, thinking that they had been left on the scrapheap.

What did I tell them?

I think I have a more positive attitude towards it than them, probably because I haven’t had the same experiences. I think this made some of the difference to begin with. My unwillingness to believe that they had been cast aside was my driving force to get behind them and push them forwards. Perhaps as we get older we lose confidence, therefore putting ourselves on the job market is more difficult. So it’s imperative to have a mentor or somebody there who can help encourage and motivate.  

One of my clients wanted me to help her ‘downgrade’ her CV to try and get a position with less responsibility, believing that this would help the situation. I told her that we could always adjust her CV, but I didn’t want to do that because I didn’t think it would make any difference. You can’t take away the experience you have nor the extent of that experience. What is important is that you aim for a position that will give you the level of seniority that you deserve, but perhaps not one where you would be expected to climb further up the ladder - think Management or Senior Management (depending on your experience of course).

From a recruitment perspective I genuinely believe that these women are superb assets to the workforce. Although perhaps not true of everyone, they are not looking to climb career ladders and change positions quickly. They don’t want to gather skills and experience for a year or two then move on. They want a job which gives them consistency and financial stability until the end of their careers. They will be inducted, trained and will want to stay with the company. They will show company loyalty. Surely this can only be a bonus for a business in this day and age, with transient workforces and increasing recruitment costs?

Another client is an unpublished writer. She believes that being over 50 she can’t get a good editor and therefore won’t sell books! What does this come down to? Once again, it’s appearance and perhaps secondly, the potential audience of a writer of this age. If it comes down to appearance – do you think this way too? Should I not expect to be able to do anything more in my career simply because I have grey hairs and wrinkles?

Call to Action

I’m not able to offer any real words of wisdom in this blog, but I am looking to research and understand it more. I want to be able to support my clients better, but at the same time, I intend to help to change the mindsets of recruiters who may have an ageist mindset. So, this is where you can help. What have your experiences been? Perhaps you are lucky to have had a positive experience. If so please share it with us. Alternatively, if you have had a negative experiences maybe you need someone to talk to. I would be happy to offer you some help and advice in return for your feedback. What can we do in terms of rallying society?

All feedback will be very gratefully received.