Modern Job Hunting Tips for the Boomer Generation

[equationgirl]

Best of luck Yuwipi Woman losing a job is hard at any time one's life. I wish you all the best with your search.

There are some great resources at www.askamanager.com that I have been using. Job market is brutal Inthe UK at the moment, have been searching since the start of the year.

 

[Pickman's model]

I didn't know that was a valuable skill set. I have a first aid and CPR certificates from a part-time job running events for a large non-profit. I'll drop that on there and see if it helps. I've also got a certification as a Medical Reference Librarian, Level 1. I'm hoping to do a practicum with a teaching hospital to get some experience soon.

Have you much recent experience of searching pubmed? Might help to brush up on it

 

[rubbershoes]

Definitely spend time on your CV. They're not as they were 30 years ago.

And as has been said, tailor it for each application

 

[equationgirl]

Also tailor cover letters for each application.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Have you much recent experience of searching pubmed? Might help to brush up on it

I'm pretty familiar with it along with about four other medical databases. If I do a practicum at a teaching hospital next semester, I would probably be searching databases to help compile Cochrane reports (review of the literature on a treatment protocol).

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

This sounds like a better plan than most side hustles I hear of. Just checked the cost of hand made saddles. Wah! Do it. Be happy and get minted.

I sat down and worked the numbers for making a living at it. I would need to produce (and sell) about $400 - $500 retail value per day, 5 days a week. It's doable, but damn hard work.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Best of luck Yuwipi Woman losing a job is hard at any time one's life. I wish you all the best with your search.

Yep. I'm not expecting it to be easy by any means. From what I've heard of job searches, they aren't as easy as they used to be, even if you're in your 20s. Searching at 60 could definitely be a challenge.

 

[StoneRoad]

IME the only advantage to being an older person when job-hunting is that you can offer much, much more experience - even from aspects of your life that don't initially seem relevant - than someone fresh out of college / university.

Using a carefully tailored CV & covering letter should allow you to cultivate that ...

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Sorry to hear your job is going Yuwipi Woman and hope you find something else soon.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

The real kicker about all of this is that I'm having to do meetings with the team that's replacing me to teach them my job. I'm also having to make videos explaining it so they'll have instructions on file. I could walk away and refuse, but I wouldn't get the severance package they've promised.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

The real kicker about all of this is that I'm having to do meetings with the team that's replacing me to teach them my job. I'm also having to make videos explaining it so they'll have instructions on file. I could walk away and refuse, but I wouldn't get the severance package they've promised.

Sabotage it in a way they won't discover until much later.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Awesome! I'm well versed in Spanish.

The other thing that might happen is that the company that bought my employer out might hire some of us. Most of their technical staff is in India, but they'll need someone in the US time zone to do technical support for our customer base. They don't seem to have considered that part of the transition yet. I'm in no way counting on that happening. In fact, I'm pretty sure it won't.

Have you pointed this out to them?

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Have you pointed this out to them?

My boss pointed this out to them yesterday with the suggestion that they should hire me. I don't think they'll go for it.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Sabotage it in a way they won't discover until much later.

I've met with them and I don't think I need to sabotage it. Their lack of experience will be an issue for a long time to come. Besides, I like my customers and I don't want them to have any more problems than they need to.

 

[Silas Loom]

The eyewatering day rate you would charge as an independent contractor to pass on your expertise and make things work properly after exiting the business will start to feel normal, and no more than you should be entitled to, after a few years of billing a couple of days a month. You can salve your conscience, if necessary, by handcrafting artisan saddles for disadvantaged steppe nomads.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

The eyewatering day rate you would charge as an independent contractor to pass on your expertise and make things work properly after exiting the business will start to feel normal, and no more than you should be entitled to, after a few years of billing a couple of days a month. You can salve your conscience, if necessary, by handcrafting artisan saddles for disadvantaged steppe nomads.

Do you think $250 an hour is too much to charge them?

 

[Silas Loom]

Do you think $250 an hour is too much to charge them?

Without knowing anything about your sector in the US, difficult to say, but 1% of annual FTE salary is an unambitious day rate, 2% is a rather aggressive acknowledgement that you have someone by the balls, while still often achievable. Contractors should charge by the day, leave hourly rates to lawyers.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Without knowing anything about your sector in the US, difficult to say, but 1% of annual FTE salary is an unambitious day rate, 2% is a rather aggressive acknowledgement that you have someone by the balls, while still often achievable. Contractors should charge by the day, leave hourly rates to lawyers.

Thanks! I'm rather naive about how that works.

 

[Silas Loom]

Thanks! I'm rather naive about how that works.

Well, definitely best taking advice from people your side of the pond, I guess that the premium paid for flexible resource may be reduced in the US where employment protection is relatively weak, but it definitely sounds as if you’re in a position where they are likely to need your help after making you redundant, and as long as you have other irons in the fire (or a very good poker face) you should be able to turn that to your advantage. Good luck

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Well, definitely best taking advice from people your side of the pond, I guess that the premium paid for flexible resource may be reduced in the US where employment protection is relatively weak, but it definitely sounds as if you’re in a position where they are likely to need your help after making you redundant, and as long as you have other irons in the fire (or a very good poker face) you should be able to turn that to your advantage. Good luck

Thank you! That's very helpful.

Quite frankly, I may just let them twist in the wind.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Without knowing anything about your sector in the US, difficult to say, but 1% of annual FTE salary is an unambitious day rate, 2% is a rather aggressive acknowledgement that you have someone by the balls, while still often achievable. Contractors should charge by the day, leave hourly rates to lawyers.

yes - i've not done self employed / independent contractor work, but when i was working for a consultancy firm (yes i know - ) they charged me out at around twice what i was paid (they did provide an office for me to nap work in and computer kit and so on)

things you may want to take in to account -

don't know what the arrangements are there for paying taxes, pension contributions, health insurance and so on if you're self employed

likewise, if you're employed (here at least) you're entitled to holiday pay and sick pay, would you want to take out income protection insurance or anything like that?

would you need to provide your own computer / software etc?

would you need to take out professional indemnity insurance? if you're employed and balls something up, you might get the sack. if you're a contractor and balls something up, you might get sued.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Best of luck Yuwipi Woman losing a job is hard at any time one's life. I wish you all the best with your search.

There are some great resources at www.askamanager.com that I have been using. Job market is brutal Inthe UK at the moment, have been searching since the start of the year.

I hope you find something soon. It seems like the job hunt is difficult nearly everywhere.

 

[newme]

yes - i've not done self employed / independent contractor work, but when i was working for a consultancy firm (yes i know - ) they charged me out at around twice what i was paid (they did provide an office for me to nap work in and computer kit and so on)

things you may want to take in to account -

don't know what the arrangements are there for paying taxes, pension contributions, health insurance and so on if you're self employed

likewise, if you're employed (here at least) you're entitled to holiday pay and sick pay, would you want to take out income protection insurance or anything like that?

would you need to provide your own computer / software etc?

would you need to take out professional indemnity insurance? if you're employed and balls something up, you might get the sack. if you're a contractor and balls something up, you might get sued.

Yeh I was doing similar, just found out what they were charging me out as, it was eye opening

 

[weltweit]

It may be different for you but I think the bread and butter of job hunting is finding vacancies and applying to them. You have to be relentless and it can take some time to get interviews. Plus you often have agencies to deal with and your age may well work against you.

In the UK it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of age but my last job hunt I was turning 50 and a lot of potential employers ruled me out because of my age.

Don't rule out networking, first talk to everyone you know and tell them you are looking for a new position, and network as much as you can also with this motivation.

I once found a vacancy through networking and interviewed for it before it had even been advertised. I won the position and importantly I didn't have to compete with anyone.

 

[bellaozzydog]

I had a wierd teams meeting job interview last week

Well within my scope and CV and the HR goon repeatedly ask what my roles and responsibilities would be on the job if I got it.

I said exactly what is on the job description ie what ever I’m asked to do….

The HR goon insisted I roll through my ideas of what I’d be doing then requested I put it in a list and send it to them as they were “struggling to get them all down and don’t want to miss anything”

After the interview I cut and pasted the job description jiggled around and reworded it and sent it off

Got the job

Anyways I then got bombarded with social media posts about “white wording your CV” and I’m wondering if that was why they were asking for a word document list, they were gonna put it in the clients computer machine and filter it

Never heard of it before

“White fonting”

White fonting - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Guessing it was a thing but programmes are now on to it

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I had a wierd teams meeting job interview last week

was HR nurk trying to establish whether you understood what the job was about, or did they just not have a clue what the job was about?

 

[bellaozzydog]

was HR nurk trying to establish whether you understood what the job was about, or did they just not have a clue what the job was about?

They basically said they didn’t know what I did

They also dropped in the name of a company I had previously worked with who I rather casually said were a bit Shit 12 years ago and asked what involvement in the project do they have………..

They are the client they said

I probably need to work on my professionalism from now on

So got the job but they are DBSing me and I’ve got to go through the getting an Indian visa process so the wheels could still fall off

 

[Puddy_Tat]

They are the client they said

 

[Puddy_Tat]

So got the job but they are DBSing me and I’ve got to go through the getting an Indian visa process so the wheels could still fall off

this situation could go from hyderabad to hyderaworse...

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Never heard of it before

“White fonting”

White fonting - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Guessing it was a thing but programmes are now on to it

I've heard of this. Basically, its a way of getting by algorithms by putting codewords into your CV or cover letter in a way that can't be read by a human, but will be seen by a computer. I've heard of some people copying the job posting word for word and then pasting it in with such a small font that it won't look like anything to the naked eye.