TITLE?

UCSD

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

WHAT DO YOU WANT STUDENTS

TO KNOW?

• How to effectively assist baby boomers (older workers?) in finding careers, jobs, and educational opportunities• How to establish rapport and manage a good working relationship with clients over 50• The over 50 job seeker, characteristics• Barriers to employment, stress• Myths (stereotypes) associated with the over 50 population• Helpful tools to use when working with this population:

SWOT

MBTI

Encore Careers

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO OUR

ROLE AS CAREER ADVISORS?

That there are a large number of unemployed baby boomers

Once they lose a job, it takes them twice the amount of time to find a job than other generations

This is a special population. Understanding this group, their strengths, barriers to employment, stereotypes, discrimination, emotional stress, financial stress related to unemployment is important in helping this unique group of clients.

HOW WILL THIS PRESENTATION

INCREASE CLASSMATES

KNOWLEDGE AND EFFECTIVENESS AS CAREER ADVISORS?

SWOT ANALYSISStrengths

Workplace WisdomStrong Work Ethic

Team OrientedHardworking

WeaknessesOvercoming fears

PrideOut of work for a long time

OpportunitiesCareer Change

WIA Funds for Education

ThreatsAge Discrimination

Stereotypes

Action Plan

BARRIERS RELATED TO OVER 50 JOB SEEKERS

Overcoming fear of the unknown, not knowing what the future holds, fear of a new career

Grief for the lost career, lost status

Depression

Lack of control over their lives

Inability to financially support themselves and families

Loss of income, loss of retirement, nest egg

Some are too young for retirement, take early retirement

Anger

WHO SAYS OLDER WORKERS AREN’T AMAZING?

FAST FACT: 75% of Fortune 500 Companies are run by Baby Boomers

DISPELLING THE MYTHS

Stereotypes of older workers leading to age discrimination

MYTH #1:

Older workers don’t possess the same level of tech skills as younger workers.

Reality Check: Baby boomers have been working with technology since the 80s.

They may not be as tech savvy as the under 25 crowd, but they’re catching up. In fact, baby boomers are the fastest growing demographic on social networking sites like Twitter and Face book. Outside of those professions where a high level of tech expertise is essential (like IT), most employees only need to master the technology needed to do their job. And, as we’ve seen in myth #3, older employees are eager to master new skills and often have solid technical backgrounds.

MYTH #2:

Older workers are not as innovative as younger workers.

MYTH #3: Myth #3: Older workers are

less productive. Reality Check: Productivity is not a function of age. Mature workers produce higher quality work, which can result in a significant cost savings for employers.

MYTH #4Older workers aren’t flexible or adaptable. They resist change. Reality Check: Older workers are just as adaptable once they understand the reason for the change.

MYTH #5Older workers don't stay on the job long. Reality Check: AARP survey of workers over 40 found that 76 percent intend to keep working and earning after the traditional retirement age of 65.

Betty White has said on numerous occasions she will never retire. In… she turned 91 years old and hasn’t slowed down yet.

MYTH #6: Older workers can’t keep up with – they have less energy and stamina. Reality Check: Most senior executives are over 50 and, after many years climbing the corporate ladder, still put in long hours and cope well with high stress levels. As a rule, older workers work just as hard as, if not harder than, their younger colleagues. Their experience and time management skills allow them to do the same amount of work in a shorter space of time. The Rolling Stones have been making music and touring since….

MYTH #7:

Older workers can't or won't learn new skills. Reality Check : Older workers have superior study habits and their accumulated experience actually lowers training costs. Older workers are generally eager to learn new skills – especially technological skills. They want to keep pace with change.At the age of …. Ron Howard became a director….

SWOT ANALYSIS FOR OLDER WORKERS

Build confidence

Dispel stereotypes

Stronger candidates

Career Planning Tool

MYERS BRIGGS/KEIRSEY

ASSESSMENTTool to assist clients in understanding themselves and how their personality/temperament relates to job search, work styles, and career choice

Helps advisor to build rapport, trust, confidence, better working relationship with clients

ENCORE CAREERS

An encore career is work in the second half of life that combines continued income, greater personal meaning, and social impact.

"If more people take on encore careers… Boomers may just be remembered more for what they did in their 60s than for what they did in the Sixties."

-Nicholas Kristof

Syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman cites Al Gore as a "poster child, the model for what Marc Freedman calls the 'encore career.'

Freedman says, 'Gore found himself by losing himself - literally losing - and being liberated from ambition, the idea that there's a particular ladder you have to scurry up and if you don't make it to the top it's all over. Essentially he found a different ladder.'"

REFERENCESThe Surprising Truth About Older Workers, Nathaniel Reade, AARP The Magazine, August/September 2013, published on www.aarp.org)