Theres A Solution to Your Age Discrimination Problem

Theres A Solution to Your Age Discrimination ProblemTheres A Solution to Your Age Discrimination ProblemI just had an interview and I thought the conversation went pretty well. But when we both stood up at the end, I could see upside-down on my resume on his desk that he wrote 55 in a big circle. I welches so shocked I didnt know what to do, and now I dont expect Ill be hearing from them.That was pretty blatant. Usually hiring managers are more savvy about finding out what your age is, then using it as a way to keep you out. What strikes me about the scenario above is age was the most memorable point for the hiring manager. What if you left him with something else to remember?Winning at job search requires that you distinguish yourself, first from the masses, then from the short list of qualified candidates. Everyone on the short list is faced with the same standard questions So, tell me about yourself. Walk me through your resume. Whats your greatest weakness? When you study the Int ernet, practice your answers, and deliver those answers in your interview congratulations you look exactly like everybody else.Instead of asking the Internet the best answers to the most common interview questions, devote that same time and energy to real research. You already know you need to research the organization. I hope youre not limiting yourself to the about us and company history pages, but have taken a deep dive into the companys social media platforms. Beyond that, youve heard that you also need to research the person. Usually that translates into finding out where they went to school or what activities or organizations theyre involved in, so that you can identify some point of commonality. Instead, lets shift that personal research into something real that you can use in your interview.Put Yourself In The Hiring Managers PlaceThe hiring manager has a job to get done every day. And she needs to add a person to her team you or someone else in order to do it. A gap exis ts. Perhaps the team is strained now and someones overloaded, or some critical task is not getting done well and customers are feeling it. There is some issue that the hiring manager needs solved. Put yourself in the hiring managers place by considering whats keeping the person up at night. Unless a person is physically ill, the cause of most peoples sleeplessness is stress. What are they worried about? What do they fear could happen? What do they fear is not going to happen?Think Of A TheoryThis is where your real company research comes in. Use what you find out from social media or Google news to build a working theory. Your theory doesnt have to be 100% correct. It only has to be reasonable, something that demonstrates the thought you put into it.For example, theyre interviewing you for the role of ausverkauf Manager. You asked the Internet and found out the organization is expanding into the Midwest. Your theory is they need to assign a Sales Manager in the Midwest because a key competitor has just emerged there.The hiring manager knows that she still has to make quota regardless of the evolving competitive landscape. She has to get a team into the Midwest, and she needs a leader who can hit the ground running so that this team can deliver immediately, continually increase the revenue they generate, and outpace the competitor. This all needs to happen without negatively impacting the existing customer base.Flip The ScriptYouve adopted the hiring managers perspective, reasonably theorized the business problems shes likely facing right now, and youre about to bring this knowledge into your interview. Your goals are to distinguish yourself from the other candidates on the short list, and to make yourself memorable. The way to not achieve that is to answer the tell me about yourself question, stop talking, and wait for her next question.Youre in a conversation. Conversations go back and forth. Theres always a volley and you have to keep the ball up in the air from your side. Therefore, your approach in this and every interview is to answer the question, then ask a question of your own.Heres how that soundszu sich So, tell me about yourself.YOU You know, Im so glad to be in this conversation with you today, because its clear from the ad you need someone who can really guide your team in best practices in consultative selling, which is exactly what Ive been doing for the last 10 years. Thats why Im eager to dive deeper into the conversation today. I was actually thinking about something that I have a question about.herbei Sure.YOU Your particular division is about to expand into the Midwest, right?HER We are. Thats projected for next quarter.YOU (Even though you may already know the answer to your next question) Whats the reason for breaking into that particular frontier?HER Globex just launched there and we want to make sure we have significant presence there as well.YOU Ahhh, how long ago did they open the market?HER About 6 months ago. YOU So is the idea with this Sales Manager role to be able to whip up a team to, basically, deliver almost immediately, and then over-deliver as far as revenue performance?HER In an ideal world, that is what we need.YOU You know, when I was at Initech 2 years ago, it was a very similar scene And you proceed to illustrate how you provided leadership and delivered the type of success the hiring manager is looking for right now.Isnt that a lot more interesting than just walking her through your resume? The hiring manager is a lot less concerned with your age when you demonstrate that youre very concerned with solving the problem thats on her plate right now. And you dont just talk about how youve led teams to meet and exceed sales quotas. Rather, you demonstrate that youve done that exact thing in your recent professional history. Thats what distinguishes you from the other candidates, and thats what shell remember.A new survey just out says a candidate over age of 50 takes 20% longer to get hired than someone in the age 41-45 bracket. But that doesnt have to be you. Theres a cheat sheet and video training on how highly-qualified jobseekers age 50+ land the right job and right salary in 8 weeks or less. Find out the specific steps former jobseekers ages 54, 56, and 57 did to go from job searching to job found