How to Successfully Navigate Job Search Ageism

How to Successfully Navigate Job Search AgeismHow to Successfully Navigate Job Search Ageism14Ageism is a fact of life. According to Dictionary.com, the definition of ageism is a tendency to regard older persons as debilitated, unworthy of attention, or unsuitable for employment. Job search ageism can be a difficult issue to tackle.Unfortunately, employment ageism exists. I define job search ageism as being perceived as unable to do a job due to health, appearance, or skills. Notice that I said perceived. Often, our perceptions become our realities.Automobile AgeismI just traded in my 2003 Honda Element DX, which Id owned for 13 years, and it had 130,000 miles on it. In this example, my Honda experienced discrimination because of its age. The dealer looked at three things to determine the cars valueMechanics (or health)AppearanceFeatures (or skills)The vehicles mechanics were in pretty good shape. I maintained it well, butit did have the original clutch and brakes. Im easy on a carTh e appearance welches okay with a few exceptions. It had no dents or dings, but the front seat welches worn and the windshield was cracked. A rock chipped the windshield, and I didnt repair it quickly enough. Because of this, a crack formed quickly and went across the entire window. The crack didnt affect my vision, so I left it. It was like that for years.The car wasnt feature-rich. It was a base model with a five-speed manual transmission. Id done nothing to upgrade the vehicle, like adding a stereo, seat covers, a steering wheel cover, or anything else.The vehicle showed its age and experienced ageism, because I was offered less on the trade-in as it was perceived as being old.See where am I going with this?Ageism in the Second Half of LifeWhen we reach the second half of life, we may experience age discrimination or ageism. Ageism is the perception that were old and not capable of doing the job. In some cases, the perception is that we may be too expensive.HealthJust like my Hond a, were judged based on our health. This is how we walk, our weight, hair color (or lack of hair), or our general physical demeanor. If we look old, many will judge us and wonder whether we can keep up.My boss at my last corporate gig told me that the trainer I was trying to hire didnt have the energy he wanted. This was code for too old. The person I was trying to hire was approximately the same age as me. He was a bit overweight and had a bit of gray hair, but nothing extreme. This was a classic case of ageism that was based on my bosss perception of the individual.I resigned several months later.AppearanceHow you dress and carry yourself is important. I have an image consultant who picks out all of my new clothes, because I lack good taste in clothes. When I hired her to evaluate colors for me, she eliminated more than half of my clothes during the wardrobe evaluation. By the way, this made my wife very happy.When I worked at my first tech startup in 2000, I was one in a group of four people out of 100 employees who was more than 40 years old. I depended on the young engineers who worked directly with the customers to feed information to me for my training program. Therefore, I came to work in T-shirts and jeans and because of this I was treated like a peer and not like a manager. In this instance, I managed their perceptions by how I dressed.Youll be perceived by how you dress. I have a client in her late 50s, who interviewed for a position with a hedge fund manager. She didnt ask about the dress code before the interview, so she showed up dressed in a conservative business suit. The hedge fund manager, who was in her early 30s, wore torn blue jeans. To say the least, she didnt get the job.SkillsWere hired for our skills. Just like my Honda in which I didnt invest any upgrades, if you dont invest in learning new skills, youll likely face discrimination. Most of the time, youll not be considered for a position without these skills, even though you could eas ily learn them on the job.Companies no longer wish to train their employees. Its the employees responsibility to maintain their skills. This has been a major shift in the last 10 to 20 years.Navigating Job Search AgeismThe easiest way to combat ageism is to focus on your health, appearance, and skills before you ever experience ageism. Follow these tips to combat ageismLead a healthy lifestyle. Yeahwe all know we should do this.Dress appropriately. If you need help like I do, then get help.Maintain your skills. Make sure you know your industry trends. Make sure that your skills are up to date and that, if theres a shift coming, you anticipate it. Sometimes, this is easier said than done, but if you want to stay employed, you need to keep abreast of changes.If youre experiencing job search ageism, youre perceived to be old and unable to do the job. You should focus on your health, appearance, and skills- but not necessarily in that order.Identify which area you should first focus on by asking your peers. You need to get honest feedback on where to begin. Its not about what you think, but what they thinkMy last tech startup left me worn out, and I looked old when I resigned Ive since been focusing on my health by eating right, getting exercise, seeing my chiropractor regularly, and monitoring my health. For me, my health was my biggest issue, and I have been focusing on that.Readers, whats the biggest issue thats causing you job search ageism? Tell us in the comment section belowMarc Miller is the founder of Career Pivot, which helps Baby Boomers and others design careers they can grow into for the next 30 years. 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