How to Overcome the “Too Old” Stereotype in Your CV

Got a mail from “M”. She was frustrated. Angry. Threatening to … actually here are her words:

I need to see you; if I get told I’m too old again I’ll murder someone!

Obviously her job hunt was going nowhere – and she put it all down to age prejudice. It does happen a lot. Here’s my reply with the antidote to ‘age prejudice’ and the “too old” stereotype.

Hi M

Thanks for your mail. Frustrated, huh? Sorry to hear that. There’s only one way to counteract a negative stereotype (“too old”). Here it is:

  • Show how you are uniquely valuable.
  • Show how you’ll provide powerful benefits.
  • Show how you’ll solve the reader’s (employer’s) problem.

Your problem may not be that you’re too old – you are what you are, so that’s good news! Your problem may be that you’re not doing a great job of showing how you can be of great value to the employer. Maybe I’m wrong? Your thoughts? See attached if you’d like to get me to help you solve the problem by re-writing your CV.

[PS Meeting isn’t something I usually do with my clients. I do work for people all over the world so have everything set up to help people from far.]

Gerard
CV Writer and Job Hunting Coach

“M”‘s CV was good in one way: It was one page – something which shows confidence and has an ‘up-to-dateness’ that is appealing. But she really blew it in other ways. Her age was all over the place – pretty much the first line was her age/date of birth. She had her picture there. She’s pretty in a mature kind of way. BUT no spring-chicken. And it was a casual pic, relaxing on the couch (this kind of pic seldom goes down well in promoting oneself in a professional environment).

Also there was NO sense of focus – “here’s what I’m looking for, this is the value I can provide, this is why it’ll be good to have me around, these are the problems I can solve for you.” No doubt she has good skills. She has good qualifications. Great in fact. But even on the one page I only noticed her Bachelor of Business Administration degree on my 3rd look.

There IS a negative stigma associated with age. Who knows why? It may have something to do with a very fast, technology driven world that some older people find hard to keep up with. It may be totally wrong.

But whatever the case – there’s no point in doing nothing to counteract the negative perceptions. One’s personal marketing has to be smarter, more focussed to stay competitive.

Good lessons these. What are you saying in your CV? Are you promoting “YOU” as powerfully as you should? It’s important, because “YOU” are all you have. See www.wowcv.net/ for more on my CV writing service.

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