“I am 52 and have been unemployed, after 30 years in banking, for the last four years. How can I convince others that I don’t care if I am overqualified for a clerk or receptionist’s job and to choose me over the 20-somethings out there?”
This cry for help from a jobless Baby Boomer is typical of the questions Wendy Spiegel addresses knowledgeably on her “Ask Wendy” feature on the Gen Plus™ blog. Gen Plus™ is a web-based company dedicated to reinventing the image of 50 plussers in the collective mind of the marketplace. “We are actively calling on employers to come to the rescue for their own benefit before a ‘Call 911’ crisis situation develops,” Spiegel states.
Like the 52-year-old unemployed banker, today’s jobseekers over 50 are looking far and wide for age-friendly employers. “Older jobseekers are increasingly coming to our website (http://www.genplususa.com), which runs a niche Job Bank exclusively for 50 plussers,” says Spiegel, who founded Gen Plus™ and encourages jobseekers to post their resumés on the site free of charge. “There is healthy jobseeker interest from Kansas, Missouri, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and West Virginia, just to name a few of the states where we are seeing a large need from this age group. But we need more employers who are 50 plus friendly to post their openings directly to this demographic, too.” Especially small business owners willing to hire older workers and profit from their life experience as their companies grow.
While employers who consider themselves 50 plus friendly may be posting openings on traditional job boards, 50 plussers can’t identify them amongst the thousands of employers listed nor compete with the volume of 20- and 30-somethings applying to each job posting. “We need employers who value the experience of 50 plus to actively pursue seasoned jobseekers,” says Spiegel. “That is why posting job openings in our niche job bank is so critical to the health of the job market in the long run.”
She notes that, with the exception of the 100 or so national employers – in fields like Healthcare, Finance, Education, Retail, and Engineering -- honored by AARP as being 50 plus friendly, most employers are still largely bypassing this demographic. “They are unwisely ignoring the management shortfall that has just started and is projected to escalate dramatically through 2015, when the last of the Baby Boomers , representing 78 million people, turns 50. A quarter of the present US population,” Spiegel muses, “and calling 911 won’t help.”
So how did Wendy advise the banker? “Honestly and with a lot of meaty information on the challenges facing a 50 plus jobseeker in today’s market,” she says. “In this case, my advice covered personal branding, effective resume building, how and where to post, and how to attack the job search – being proactive rather than reactive. And…it’s tough. But bottom line, if you are 50 plus…don’t give up.”
You can find Wendy’s full answer (http://genplus.blogspot.com/2006/02/ask-wendy.html) -- she makes a point of responding to all questions -- on the Gen Plus™ blog.
Gen Plus™ provides relevant, current services targeted to the 50 Plus generation. Services include job search, online dating, products, and education. For more information please visit http://www.genplususa.com. To learn more about the Gen Plus™ philosophy on issues ranging from Social Security opinion pieces to Aging in China to the power of blogging, please visit http://www.genplus.blogspot.com. Your comments are invited.
Contact:
Corinne Copnick
818.345.1531 or 877.939.7483
All of the above text is a press release provided by the quoted organization. TheMatureMarket.com accepts no responsibility for their accuracy.
Home page
