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50+ Women Returning to the Workforce

“Women account for 46.6 percent of the U.S. Workforce and hold almost half of the managerial and leadership positions of Fortune 500 companies,” says Careerwomen.com’s career resource page.  Now that you know the jobs are there…what are some ways to prepare yourself to reenter the workforce after a lengthy time away?

1.  Accept that there is stereotypical thinking in companies towards older adults.  The primary concerns are that seniors have less capacity for development and productivity, will be too rigid in their thinking and won’t be up-to-speed technologically.  Your advantage will be when you prove them wrong.  It starts in the research and interview process.

2.  Personally assess your own motivation for this job. If you’re going to sell them on you, you’d better be able to sell yourself on you first.  Employers need to be able to trust that you will be satisfied in the job and will give it 100% rather than trying to offset “empty-nest syndrome,” fight boredom, or bide time until you get your retirement check.

3. There are a number of free online assessments to learn more about yourself and test your qualifications.  Go to www.mycareerwhiz.com to discover how you stack up against others agewise with your experiences and interests.  Take the “real age test” at www.realage.com to determine where you measure up chronologically.  A short personality test with full feedback results can be downloaded at www.ActualMe.com.  Get the Now Discover Your Strengths book and take their online quiz to uncover your top strengths and memorize them to emphasize in your interview.  Develop those you’ll need for this job.

4.  What do you like about the type of work you’re pursuing and how do you know you’ll bring value to the job?   Take the motivation quiz by emailing info@creatingatwill.com and asking for it. 
5. Seek out five other women who’ve returned later in life to the workforce and interview them on what they did to prepare and get in position for the work they enjoy.  Learn what they did that didn’t work well too.
6. Learn as much as you can about the job and the company before your interview.  If you have peer contacts at the company, take them to lunch and ask them to tell you about the corporate culture, work pace, general lay of the land, and anything about the person leaving who was in the job you now want.
7.  Find out what computer systems and office equipment is lused in your industry and familiarize yourself with it.  Know how much computer knowledge is expected for the job role you’re pursuing.  Get training, then clearly demonstrate this knowledge on your resume, pointing it up if your job requires it.
[Read the complete article at this website by the same title for more tips on this topic and consider the beliefs work (see Services page) to eliminate fears that could sabotage how you perceive yourself and others see you.]
 
How did you prepare yourself to return to the workforce after being away for awhile?
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This entry was posted on Monday, August 20th, 2007 at 8:31 pm and is filed under Career Tips, Women Returning to the Workforce, Re Careering. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “50+ Women Returning to the Workforce”

  1. Del Says:
    August 22nd, 2007 at 7:02 am

    womensretirement.org.It must be so scary when returning to the workforce but I’m confused as to why they are returning? For personal fulfillment reasons or because they haven’t prepared for retirement? My organization at the Heinz Family Philanthropies recently published a free resource to help women prepare for retirement. It’s available at http://www.womensretirement.org.

    The landscape is extremely tough for senior women. For example, the median income in 2004 for retired women was $12,080 compared to men’s income of $21,102. Just as it’s important to get your will in order, women need the tools at an early age to begin to achieve financial security.

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