Mature Person Gets Interview! A Career Coach Goes Undercover in Search of a Job

I hadn’t intended to apply for a job.

It popped up in my in box, what seemed like a perfect fit, almost begging me to complete the application.

As a career coach, I always urge clients to press forward; to plan their job search strategy and work the plan. Apply for jobs when you see them.

After all, you can’t turn it down until they make you an offer, right?

Sometimes I’m on the receiving end of eye rolls or blank stares that seem to say, “You have no clue how hard it is, do you?”

Ah…but I do know how hard it is. Remember, I’ve “Been there and done that.”

Then there are the clients and others I meet who are weary from the job search who tell me:

“You can’t get a job through the internet”
“No one responds to online applications anymore”
“Mature workers don’t get job interviews”

The list goes on and on.

These statements puzzle me. I’m surprised to be surrounded by so many who have spoken to “everyone” and know for a fact that “no one” responds.

I get it; it’s not easy. There are obstacles to overcome.

Having conducted my own job searches over the years, including after a layoff, I’m pretty sure I understand the ins and outs.

I know; it’s a jungle out there.

Although the thought had crossed my mind. What if my job search experience was more than a bit rusty? What if it was – gasp – obsolete?

When I saw the job posting in my in-box, I knew I had to apply. It was a chance to put my own advice to the test.

Time for the teacher to become the student.

After all, I built my business on being the coach with “relevant” real-world experience, not one who had only learned through classroom training or seminars. Time to see if my experience still held true.

Even for a “mature” job candidate.

Here’s what I did to prepare for submitting my information:

• Updated my resume to better align with the job
• Included relevant key words
• Highlighted skills relevant to the job. Note: this does not mean that I literally “highlighted” them. It means I moved them to a more prominent location within the resume to be more easily noticed, i.e. re-arranging bullets.
• Included an appropriate professional title
• Wrote a cover letter with examples that showed why I would be an excellent candidate for the job. Note: I only include a cover letter when asked. This time it was required.
• Eliminated “fluffy” words such as, “dedicated” and “hard-working” that may be true yet are difficult to prove

Yes, it was time consuming to tailor my resume, write the cover letter, and complete the online application. Those job apps are a pain, I know.

I hit send and went back to my work. Under normal circumstances I would have found someone in my network to make a personal connection on my behalf and help my resume get to the top of the stack. In this rare instance, I had no connections at the organization. And for this experiment I wanted to see what would happen without a personal connection.

Ten days later, my phone rang.

I got an interview.

Solely on the basis of my resume and cover letter, and possibly my LinkedIn profile – assuming they reviewed it.

So what does this mean?

Yes, I might have been lucky.  Although I think there’s more to it than that.

In my opinion, my getting a job interview indicates:

• Well-written resumes with key words will make it through the ATS
• Experience does count – my qualifications lined up well against the job description
• Education and certificates help – I’m convinced additional certificates and my advanced degree knocked down barriers even though they were not required
• Age isn’t necessarily a stumbling block. It’s easy to tell from my experience I’m not fresh out of school.

The key take-away: It is possible to get an interview with a well-written resume.

One criteria we cannot ignore: we all have to put in the time and effort. Which is a stumbling block for many who tell me it’s too time consuming to apply for jobs.

I agree; it’s time consuming. It took me almost a day for one application.

Yet I don’t know what to tell you except that finding a new job is work.

Looking for job openings is work. Tailoring your resume is work. Networking is work. Following up is work.

And the real work begins once you secure an interview!

Every job seeker goes through this process. And if you’re plan isn’t working, maybe it’s time to shift strategies and go at it from a different perspective.

Bottom line: We must persevere in order to succeed.

What are you going to do? That’s the real question.