Navigating a successful job search can be tricky for job seekers over the age of 50 (and very often those over 40 too). Age discrimination is alive and well, and even though your resume got you to the interview, your \u201cexperience\u201d might be a drawback.<\/p>\n
Here are three interview questions you may be asked as an older job seeker with the best strategies for how to answer them.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n This isn\u2019t framed as a question, but it does demand a response\u2014or you\u2019ve lost the opportunity. You know they liked what they saw in your resume, but when they\u2019re staring you in the face, they\u2019re wondering if you\u2019re really going to be a good fit. Will you be unhappy that you\u2019re taking a job that\u2019s “less than” what you\u2019re capable of? Will you be bored? Will you fit in? Are you only marking time until retirement?<\/p>\n Help them see that you\u2019re a good fit with an answer that addresses those underlying concerns:<\/p>\n \u201cI may be overqualified, but I see that as a bonus for you. I am more than ready to do this job, and I understand what it takes to be successful in it. Aside from learning the specific way you do things at this organization, my actual task learning curve would be flat and I could produce results almost immediately.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Pointing out what they stand to gain from this deal is always a good idea.<\/p>\n \u201cI may be overqualified, but this particular position looks great to me because of X.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n “X” may be any number of reasons: you really like their product \/service, you are excited about the work they\u2019re doing, or even a more personal reason.<\/p>\n One gentleman I know told his interviewer, \u201cMy current job is over an hour away and I don\u2019t want to move because I like where I live. The quality of life I\u2019d get from eliminating that long commute would mean a lot to me.\u201d It was a real reason and calmed their fears about hiring him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is not just a question of motivation, but also one about your energy and enthusiasm. You have several good options for answering it:<\/p>\n Offer your references to speak for you and your work ethic. References are powerful.Point out a recent big accomplishment. If it\u2019s only been a few months since you won an award or conquered a major challenge, the motivation question should be answered.Bring a 30-60-90 day plan<\/a> to your interview. There\u2019s nothing like putting together a plan for success on the job before you get it. It\u2019s a powerful demonstration of your work ethic, your knowledge, and your critical thinking skills.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Working for someone who knows less than you do is not great\u2014and if you truly are someone who\u2019s been around the block, you\u2019ve probably gained a lot of wisdom and judgment that a younger person just can\u2019t have. However, to answer this question, the only really good answer sounds something like this:<\/p>\n \u201cI have found that even if someone knows less than me in one area, they know more than me in another. I usually find that I can learn something useful from everyone, and I think it\u2019s exciting to work with a wide range of people because of that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Keep all your answers focused on the positive, and they will go a long way toward supporting your candidacy.<\/p>\n Need more help with your job search?<\/strong><\/p>\n Become a member<\/a> to learn how to land a job and UNLEASH your true potential to get what you want from work!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Navigating a successful job search can be tricky for job seekers over the age of 50 (and very often those over 40 too). Age discrimination is alive and well, and even though your resume got you to the interview, your \u201cexperience\u201d might be a drawback. Here are three interview questions you may be asked as… Read More »How To Answer 3 Interview Questions For The “Over 50” Job Seeker<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.alvintech.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.alvintech.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.alvintech.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.alvintech.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.alvintech.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/docs.alvintech.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.alvintech.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/docs.alvintech.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.alvintech.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/docs.alvintech.co\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. How Do I Know You\u2019ll Be Really Motivated To Do This Job?<\/h3>\n
3. How Would You Feel If You Worked For Someone Who Knows Less Than You?<\/h3>\n