Coaches, marketing plan can boost midcareer job seekers

Sep 11th, 2005 | By Bill | Category: Employment News



Coaches, marketing plan can boost midcareer job seekers:

Midcareer professionals who market themselves for today’s competitive workplace are getting noticed — and are being hired, according to job counselors.

By working intensively with coaches and employment specialists, workers in their 40s and 50s can receive the assistance they need in brushing up on their job and presentation skills and creating a winning image, counselors say.

Moreover, they note, in working with professional advisers, candidates become more self-confident, an essential quality for getting a foot in the door again at midcareer.

A counselor’s efforts on behalf of older job candidates often boils down ”to being a cheerleader for them,” said Jane McHale, a career coach in Newton.

But, at the same time, McHale and others emphasized, cheerleading must be combined with a comprehensive and realistic marketing plan.

”People in their 40s and 50s, especially, have to package themselves, showcasing their talents and experience for specific jobs,” outplacement specialist Renee Gilson said.

And that also means putting aside concerns that ”age will stand in your way,” added Gilson, senior vice president and managing director in New England for Lee Hecht Harrison, based in Westborough. ”Age is becoming less of an issue because companies are thinking ahead about losing a lot of ‘knowledge people’?” through retirements, she said.

In choosing marketing plan tools for a job search, older candidates frequently overlook the importance of networking and selling themselves, McHale said. ”Some don’t give much thought to networking because they got their previous jobs fairly easily through friends or contacts. Others don’t take advantage of sales techniques like practice interview sessions that are videotaped.”

One of her clients, a scientist, fine-tuned his presentation skills by seeing himself on videotape, McHale said, adding that he recently accepted a job offer from a pharmaceutical company in the Chicago area.

Robert Burg, 47, is putting his marketing plan together piece by piece, in hopes of fielding offers for jobs in a new career, accounting. Burg, who lives in Revere, had been a software engineer for four companies when he was laid off three years ago. ”After not getting any response to my résumé for more than a year, I started thinking about, and doing some research on, switching careers,” he said.

Then, in early 2004, he turned to the Jewish Vocational Service of Boston for assistance. ”They were starting a Success Team series, made up of six candidates, all professional people, who were coached by a JVS manager. I became a member of one of those teams,” Burg said. Last December, he enrolled in an accounting diploma program at Boston’s Suffolk University, thanks in part to advice given him by the vocational service. ”I’m now halfway to getting my diploma,” he added.

Knowing how much he wanted to get some training in accounting, a Success Team colleague steered him to a part-time job at the Massachusetts Historical Society. He began working for the society’s chief financial officer last February and completed his stint last week.

”My primary area of responsibility was overseeing accounts payable matters, using Microsoft programs,” said Burg. ”This was excellent experience for me as I go on to look for full-time opportunities [in accounting].”

Martha Plotkin, a Jewish Vocational Service career counselor, said Burg, like other Success Team members, has benefited from learning how ”to keep on track” with new career goals.

But to achieve midcareer goals, all candidates must combine what they’ve learned from special counseling with patience, said McHale, the Newton career coach. ”Some are shocked when told that it takes time to get another job, or typically one month for every $10,000 in salary that you’re seeking.”

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