Why you used to be a genius

By Neil Patrick

I have posted before about the struggles that governments are having dealing with the global economic jobs crisis.

This RSA Animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benjamin Franklin award.

Here Ken explains how our education system has become disconnected from the needs of the modern global economy and hence how at an individual level, we are poorly equipped as individuals to deal with it when disaster strikes us. Whilst the topic of school education may not at first seem to be directly related to the jobs crisis, as mature professionals, we are a product of our education system. Intelligence and education are totally separate things and this film explains why regardless of our educational achievements, we all have a great deal more innate intelligence and ability than we may have been led to believe.

I am a firm advocate of the need for job hunters to think outside the box and much of what I post here is provided to help people do that. One positive message you can take from this film is that you have a very great deal more capacity to turn your situation around if you forget about what you were taught in school and university and instead engage your creative ability and harness all the learning that you have acquired through your life.

Oh and you’ll discover too why you used to be a genius!




The RSA is a 258 year-old charity devoted to driving social progress and spreading world-changing ideas. For more information about the RSA and its work, visit http://www.thersa.org.

In job hunt, older workers must step up their game

 By Bridgette A. Lacy  

Holly Springs resident James Chambers was laid off about two years ago. The 59-year-old Chambers networks, consults with small businesses and stays current on LinkedIn.

But Chambers, like many older workers, is having a hard time finding a new position.

 “I have 10 more years to work for somebody,” says Chambers, the former general manager for Carolina Mobility & Seating, an Apex company that provides pediatric medical equipment including wheelchairs, strollers and walking aids. 

Chambers has made it to a second interview several times, only to be told he was overqualified. “Nothing changed in my resume between the first and second interview,” he says. “It’s a polite way of saying you are too old. Sometimes I want to say, ‘And the risk to you is what?’ ”

Many older workers like Chambers bring years of problem-solving and management experience, but the statistics clearly show the tide is against them. AARP State Director Doug Dickerson said older workers tend to be out of work a little more than a year, which is longer than younger workers.

According to the AARP’s Public Policy Institute, job seekers 50 and older now make up a higher percentage of the long-term unemployed. In 2007, they were 23 percent; in 2009, they were 38 percent and now they are 54 percent.

Because those 50-plus workers make up such a large part of the long-term unemployed, they will be hit especially hard come the end of the year. The Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which extended initial unemployment benefits, ends the week of Dec. 29. That means about 75,000 to 87,000 North Carolina claimants will stop receiving an unemployment check, according to the N.C. Division of Employment Security. More than 6,000 of those claimants live in Wake County; 2,803 in Durham and about 500 in Orange County.

Adaptable, trainable

There are companies who don’t want to hire older workers. Managers think older, more experienced workers will have higher salary expectations, and that they could lead to higher health care costs. They also may think older workers are not up-to-date on technology or able to work longer hours. Younger workers are perceived as more energetic and cheaper.

It’s not surprising for mature workers to feel they are being discriminated against, Dickerson said. “They feel a high degree of job insecurity, especially women,” he said.

Such an extended time without a job is taking its toll.

“People are worried about insufficient 401(k)s and reduced health care benefits,” Dickerson said.

And because many may have put off families to focus on careers, they also are the generation that may have children in college and aging parents to care for.

Because of such stresses, many seasoned professionals tend to be looking for high job satisfaction more than a high paycheck. And Dickerson said, employers need to realize that older workers are adaptable and trainable, and usually have a shorter learning curve than inexperienced workers.

But with employers still having the upper hand, mature job seekers must up their game. One way to do that is to tap into organizations that provide resources specifically for older workers.

Resources available

Ivan Gobern, the state program coordinator for the National Caucus and Center On Black Aged(NCBA), a national subcontractor of the U.S. Department of Labor, said local and regional employers are seeking older workers who are comfortable with, or willing to learn, contemporary business norms (email, online applications, team-based performance, etc.), have strong interpersonal and customer service skills, are interested in both learning and sharing what they know, and are flexible while functioning in faster-paced environments.

Gobern manages one of the state’s Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) offices with the ability to support 240 mature job seekers in 18 central Carolina counties. The program is designed for unemployed men and women who are 55 or older. Applicants must be capable of performing part-time training duties and have an annual family income that does not exceed 125 percent of the federal poverty income guidelines.

Participants are paid a stipend to train and job search for a maximum of 20 hours per week. The positions range from working at a library to a custodian at a school. Training resembles on-the-job learning with business partnerships that are mainly nonprofits or government agencies. Participants are paid no less than the federal or state minimum wage.

In 2011, more than 60 older job seekers successfully left the NCBA program by securing full or part-time employment, Gobern said. Even in this economy, Gobern’s experience is that there are jobs for seniors who go after them and employers who are looking for their talent.

The state’s Division of Workforce Solutions has older worker coordinators at most of its Employment Security Commission offices. “We provide them with advice and resources on how to best advertise themselves for jobs,” said Jim Korth, one of the coordinators.

Korth said he and the other coordinators assist the 50-plus crowd with up-to-date job search practices including how to apply for jobs online and in some cases hide their maturity to potential employers.

Lloyd Diggs, an employment coordinator at one the ESC’s Raleigh offices, leads a monthly workshop for older workers. They can come and talk about the obstacles they face in securing employment.

His advice to job seekers?

• Emphasize “your value” not “your age.”

• Leverage what you have in term of experience.

• Understand that wages are suppressed so you might not be able to command your former salary.

Project positive attitude

John M. O’Connor, a Raleigh career coach with Career Pro, has his own advice for older job seekers, who he says sometimes say the right things but don’t project a positive attitude.

“You have to believe good things are going to happen,” O’Connor said. “Be mission-oriented. That’s infectious. Find a way to own that you have something to offer the marketplace. If you have an inner spirit that comes through, many potential employers will overlook some shortcomings that can be taught.”

Both employers and employees really need to think beyond their stereotypes of aging.

“Forget the antiquated notion of the older man or woman wandering around who may break a hip,” Korth says.

“They have the ability to learn new technology and are willing to try new things. They are less likely to call in sick than younger people with children at home.”

Some companies with older clients are recognizing their seasoned workers relate better to customers, he said.

Suzanne LaFollette-Black, AARP’s associate state director for community outreach which includes workforce issues, says some of the best North Carolina companies for older workers include Durham Regional Hospital, GlaxoSmithKline, SAS and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Earlier this year, AARP unveiled a new tool for job seekers called Work Reimagined. Companies sign a pledge acknowledging they understand the value of experienced workers. Job seekers can access companies who have signed the pledge by following Work Reimagined on LinkedIn.

Remember looking for a job is a process, Diggs said. So pace yourself but stay steady on the course. Also be creative. You might start off volunteering and then land a job.

“You’re just looking for a crack, not even a window,” he said. “You want an opportunity to display what you know.”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/11/17/2486425/advice-to-the-older-worker.html#storylink=cpy

You’re overqualified - and that’s a problem for your future

By John Rossheim, Monster Senior Contributing Writer

You were laid off from your executive job by a company that's now six feet under. You've sent out 800 resumes, done one interview, received zero offers. You find yourself looking lower and lower on the totem pole and occasionally eyeing openings for line managers at the competitor that killed your former employer. If you must apply for a position for which you're clearly overqualified, how do you actually land the job?

Withhold Your Resume

Here's what not to do: Fire off a volley of resumes to human resources departments. "Sending a resume is simply a way to oblivion," says Jeffrey Fox, author of Don't Send a Resume. HR departments must quickly eliminate nearly all of the hundreds of resumes submitted for a single opening. At the first whiff of your extra qualifications, most screeners will stamp "no" on your application. "Resumes are read to be rejected," Fox says.

What's the workaround for overqualified candidates? Go directly to the hiring manager to pitch your ability to excel in the open position. You can either call or write, but hold back your resume in the first round of communication with the employer.

Sell to the Employer's Need

Once you've found out as much as you can about the company and the position, you've got to imagine how your qualifications mesh perfectly with the job requirements. "If you're overqualified, you need to articulate how a handful of your skills will help that specific employer," says Nick Corcodilos, author of Ask the Headhunter. At least at first, say nothing about higher-level skills that don't pertain to the position at hand.

Use Emphasis to Shape Employer Perceptions

Sooner or later, you'll probably have to send a resume. More than you ever have before, you'll need to customize your one-page presentation of yourself. To de-emphasize those over-the-top elements of your professional background, "you can make some information more sparse, but you've got to be careful about misrepresenting yourself," says Corcodilos.

How do you tread this fine line? One solution is to create a functional resume where relevant skills are pumped up in detail toward the top of the resume, while overly impressive titles are demoted to the bottom and given little ink. Strategic emphasis is integral to persuasion; omission of recent, important rungs in your career ladder is unethical deception.

Make a Virtue of Your Extra Qualifications

In the interview, if your prospective employer says that your extraordinary qualifications cast doubt on your candidacy, recast your past as an asset to your future at the company. Emphasize that "you're getting somebody with the potential to move up," says Frances Haynes, coauthor with Daniel Porot of 101 Toughest Interview Questions.

Draw Out Objections; Don't Volunteer Them

Employers typically have the following objections to candidates with extra qualifications: You'll get bored quickly; you won't be satisfied with the salary; you'll jump to another company as soon as you get a better offer. "Employers are pretty reticent to hire overqualified people, because they believe when the economy picks up, they'll lose those people," says Haynes.

If you raise these issues early in the application process, you risk short-circuiting your candidacy. Instead, see what's on the minds of your interviewers by asking open-ended questions such as these: "What else do you need to hear to be convinced that I'm the best fit for the job? Do you have any questions about my candidacy that I haven't yet had the chance to answer?" Just make sure you've already ferreted out all the tough questions that your work history could possibly raise -- and practiced answering them.

The Ultimate Issue

Finally, be prepared to answer one question that the interviewer may be too embarrassed to ask: Won't it be humiliating for you to take a job that many people would consider beneath you? You can address this issue indirectly through the positive attitude you convey in everything you say about the available position and your fitness for it. "You have to be perceived as the kind of person who believes there is honor in every job," says Haynes.

This post originally appeared here: 

http://career-advice.monster.com/resumes-cover-letters/Resume-Writing-Tips/Resume-Dilemma-Im-Overqualified/article.aspx

My comments:

This is good advice if you are over-qualified for a job you are going after. I'd say it will get the best possible result from a difficult situation.  But I'm not convinced that any of it will overcome the prejudices and fears of many hiring managers who simply will not be brave enough to hire someone who is more experienced and quite possibly more capable than they are. 

That’s the rub; it’s line managers who generally make the decision about who to hire, and they will almost always put their own interests ahead of the organisation's best interests, unless they have a clear directive from above to overcome this tendency. 

So until firms realise this and put appropriate policies and procedures in place to make this happen, the default position I describe above will continue to prevail. What do you think?