How to find a job after 50? Probably the very thought that you have to find a job at this age makes your skin prickle. You have been looking for a job for many months and you are already losing your strength? Learn practical tips on what to do to survive a difficult time and end your search with success, and find out where you can go for support.

Contents:

  1. How to find a job after 50: be successful
  2. How to find a job after 50: motivation
  3. How to find a job after 50: where to find help?
    • Employment offices
    • National Training Fund
    • Refunded jobs for the unemployed
    • Free computer courses
    • European funds

How to find a job after 50?At a time when the labor market is so difficult, especially for mature people? Among the many factors that make him less friendly are those inherent in ourselves - and that's really good news because it means we can change them. When you read online forums where people aged 50+ describe their struggle with looking for a job, you may get depressed.

"I don't have strength anymore", "Another sleepless nights", "I doubted myself", "Nobody wants me anymore", "I have been looking for a job for 8 months and nothing", "Nobody will hire a woman who is 58 years old because protection of 4 years before retirement was invented "- these are just some of the entries. These are voices portraying reality, which are confirmed in many reports and studies on the professional activity of mature people.

Among the many voices of Internet users, there are also positive comments and advice: "Maybe change your thinking: it is my right and I will enforce it, I do it for myself, I do what I can", "Do not focus on refusals, because it takes it away energy "," When I start to do something new, I always ask if there is any upper age limit, I am not interested in whether it falls out or not - I put aside life experience, which often limits "," Unfortunately, no one will fight for you there will be no, and it is a pity to waste energy on the lamentation itself ".

- The situation of people over 50 is special in the labor market. On the one hand, these are people who are few or a dozen years short of retirement and want to work, on the other hand, employers are not too eager to hire such people. Most oftenindicate incomplete education, no knowledge of foreign languages ​​or computer skills - says Monika Kwil-Skrzypińska, director of the Lower Silesian Labor Office.

How to find a job after 50: be successful

Psychologists, coaches and career counselors emphasize how important our personal inner attitude is in achieving success.

- It's hard to be optimistic when we lose our job. However, the biggest barriers are created by ourselves - explains Małgorzata Majewska, marketing manager and HR expert. - Our attitude, stereotypes or following common opinions do not help us, such as the fact that people over 50 are unnecessary on the labor market and no employer will hire them. It only increases the bad mood and depression. And yet each stage has its beginning and end.

Losing a job, regardless of age, should be treated as the beginning of a new stage and show courage and readiness to take on new challenges that lie ahead. Remember that people aged 50+ have many advantages important from the employer's point of view, i.e. experience, knowledge, patience, loy alty, and these are just some of them.

How to find a job after 50: motivation

"I turn 58 in January, but I am not afraid of challenges. I opened a real estate company in July, something is already starting to happen. We are also starting to offer refurbishment and adaptation options to clients buying real estate from the secondary market. If you are good in what you do, you can even start at this age "- this is how one of the participants of the forum on the website woman50plus.pl tells about her activity.

Not everyone who is looking for a job in their 50s or 60s finds such strength in themselves, especially if they have been looking for a job without success for several months. It is worth realizing that looking for a job is a process that must take a while, sometimes even longer than expected. Let's take a look at our actions - if we keep repeating them and they do not lead to the goal, maybe they need to be slightly modified or extended? Maybe you need to increase the scope of job search for related industries, ask your friends, look for a job in another city, work on your own account.

It's worth meeting with a career counselor - sometimes it just helps to change your CV and cover letter. This is what Małgorzata, 54, a market research expert with 30 years of experience, did, who has not been able to find a job for four months despite sending 5 to 15 CVs a day:

"A friend advised me to go to a career counselor who looked through my impressive CV and crossed out half of the old onespositions. He described the three managerial positions more softly - as managerial. I removed my age from my CV and my graduation dates. At the end, I changed the photo to a more smiling one, and I started to send a slimmed-down and changed CV - with more faith in success. I don't know if this change was decisive, but after a month I had a new job. "

- The key to success is determination, a positive attitude and not giving up. Let's focus on improving qualifications and training. We take part in industry meetings, where we will strengthen our self-confidence and build a network of contacts. Let's actively look for a job, using all available sources for this purpose, i.e. job portals, social media or networking (this is the process of building contacts and maintaining relationships with people from professional and social circles, social groups, discussion forums) - says Małgorzata Majewska. He adds that you should not close yourself within four walls when looking for a job.

- Let's go out and meet our friends. Maybe their employer is looking for employees and we will be recommended. We take part in trainings or conferences. Thanks to participation in them, we will not only raise our qualifications, but also meet new people and expand the group of contacts. Networking and referral programs are currently one of the most effective job search methods. A good solution is also to use the help of a career counselor. And let's not forget about a smile that allows you to relieve tension - our expert recalls.

Only 30 percent Polish women over 55 work professionally

Only one-third of Polish women continue their professional career after the age of 55. According to psychologists, the blame for this situation lies primarily with the stereotypical perception of women of this age by Polish society. For most people, an elderly woman is a passive person who does not want to develop professionally, dreams of a quick retirement and looking after her grandchildren.

Source: Lifestyle.newseria.pl

This will be useful to you

How to motivate yourself to act?

  • Break down your goals into small tasks according to the principle that it is impossible to eat an elephant whole, but piece by piece - absolutely.
  • Complete tasks, starting with the simplest ones, and reward yourself for each completed.
  • List all your professional and personal successes, hang on the wall, and come back to them when you start to lose faith in your own strength.
  • Keep the balance between looking for a job and free time, relax.
  • Talk to people, talk about your goals and how you are looking for a job. On the one hand, it will help you withkeeping commitments to yourself, on the other - maybe someone will be able to tell you something, e.g. his friend has a vacant place or a friend is looking for a partner for a new business or he has heard about a free computer or English language course.

How to find a job after 50: where to find help?

Employment offices

Let us not associate them only with the registration of the unemployed and the selection of job offers. Currently, employment offices offer various forms of assistance. If we register at the employment office as unemployed, we can use internships, training, professional apprenticeships for adults, also intervention works, public works, socially useful work and one-time funds to start a business, employment in an equipped or equipped workstation, loans training or financing the cost of exams or obtaining a license.

Employment offices from government and European funds launch various additional support programs. They have various forms: one-day motivational and activating workshops, the purchase of work and protective clothing or the organization of public works. It is worth asking your employment office carefully about any forms of support and additional activities.

National Training Fund

If the employer employs us under an employment contract and we are over 45 years old, we can ask him to use the resources of the National Training Fund available in each poviat labor office to finance the costs of selected courses or postgraduate studies. The employer should submit an appropriate application to the poviat labor office at the place of his seat or business.

Refunded jobs for the unemployed

If we are over 50 and unemployed, the employer who wants to hire us may get reimbursement of the cost of our salary for 12 months, and if we are 60 years old - for 24 months. The amount of this support is up to 50% of the minimum remuneration for work. After the end of the subsidy period, the employer continues employment for a period equal to at least half of the period for which he received funds from the Labor Fund, i.e. 6 months or 12 months, respectively.

How to get help?

Active job search through the use of many modern channels and various forms of professional activation is just one of the pillars of success. The second is adapting to the realities of the labor market.

- Mature workers need to change the way they think. There is a discrepancybetween the real market and their expectations. Until now, most of them had stable full-time jobs. Meanwhile, the realities of the labor market have changed. People 50+ must therefore open up to flexible forms of employment, such as temporary work, work under a specific specific task or leasing an employee - explains Dr. Rafał Muster from the Institute of Sociology of the University of Silesia.

- It is also important for them to improve their digitization skills. This is the digital divide generation and it needs to break into a virtual space. I encourage you: let grandmother teach your grandson ethical standards, and grandson to grandmother - the internet.

Free computer courses

If we are unfamiliar with computer skills or our skills are basic, we can take advantage of the Digital Poland of Equal Opportunities project. Trainers - Lighthouse Keepers of Digital Poland - operate throughout Poland.

Just call +48 14 688 80 12 to find a lighthouse keeper from your region, who will invite you to a free training course lasting from several to a dozen meetings.

- Lighthouse Keepers of Digital Poland help both seniors in digital social activation and people aged 50+ who do not have any computer knowledge or know only the basics of a computer, and would like to learn something more - says Artur Krawczyk, coordinator of the Digital Poland Project Equal Opportunities.

- So far, over a quarter of a million Poles have used the services of 2,900 Lighthouse Keepers of Digital Poland. Thanks to this help, many of them raised their digital competences in the field of computer, smartphone and tablet use and took up a new professional activity, e.g. selling jewelry on the Internet, running a culinary blog or websites of a rural housewives club - says Artur Krawczyk.

Information and Career Planning Centers

Here we can find many forms of free support, both when we are unemployed and when we want to change profession or supplement our qualifications.

The centers are located in voivodeship labor offices. We can meet with an advisor with whom we will jointly define an action plan to increase the chances of gaining or maintaining employment; with a psychologist who will determine our talents and abilities, strengthen our motivation to act and help in overcoming obstacles inherent in beliefs.

We can also perform test examinations that facilitate the recognition of individual preferences, professional predispositions or talents. At CIiPKZ, we can also participate in group counseling and find information about professions, the labor market, courses, training, projects and employers. We can also use the computer to writeCV or view job offers.

Second and Third Age Universities

Although the U3A are created primarily for the social activation of seniors, sometimes they also conduct occupational activation classes. It is worth checking in your place of residence if they are not having meetings with a career counselor or psychological workshops.

An interesting initiative is the Second Age University, where you can sign up (often for a fee) for computer classes, English language courses or photography workshops, after which you can earn money, e.g. by taking Communion and wedding photos.

- We fill the gap between the first and third age in the process of lifelong learning - says Elżbieta Ćwiklińska-Kożuchowska, founder of the Second Age University.

- It is important for the ladies to believe in themselves and change the direction of their thinking, e.g. the former school headmistress can now give private lessons. Many of the women who took advantage of our classes later found a job: some set up companies, such as an online bookstore, others became babysitters. One of them completed a computer skills course with us, then another and obtained the European Certificate of Computer Skills. Currently she is a trainer and teaches others.

Professional counselor

Even if we think that we know what we want to do, and our CV and cover letter do not raise our concerns, meeting with a career counselor may open our eyes to many aspects that we have not taken into account so far.

A career counselor will help transform a good CV into an excellent one, will look at our experience in a broader perspective, in which we will notice that if we find it difficult to find an accounting job, but our advantage is an excellent organization of tasks, we can try to look for employment in e.g. financial analysis, administration and event organization offices.

It will help us prepare for the interview, tell us what to pay attention to and how to deal with tricky questions. Commercial consulting companies provide paid services. Free vocational counselors are available in poviat and voivodeship labor offices and in some social welfare centers, where psychologists are also available, and you can find other forms of support.

For example, in the Social Assistance Center in Warsaw's Ursynów, you can make an appointment with a career counselor or psychologist and sign up for group workshops, which cover such issues as job search techniques, preparation for an interview and professional self-presentation, including exercises in front of the camera, communication, assertiveness and dealing withstress.

European funds

It is worth finding out in voivodeship labor offices about specific activities financed from EU funds.

According to an expert

No comprehensive aid

Dr. Rafał Muster from the Institute of Sociology of the University of Silesia:

- It would be more advantageous if the help went a step further than the one offered by employment offices. That she would reach for individual counseling and that she would be reintegrated into the labor market. It would be good for a 50+ person who has undergone the stage of individual counseling to be directed directly to subsidized employment covered by the Labor Fund or European funds.

Currently, there is no assembly of aid activities into one whole. Such a positive example of comprehensive activation activities is the project "Silesian Challenges", which was implemented in 2014. 80 professionally inactive women - of all ages - were covered by multi-threaded activities for 3 months: training, classes with a make-up artist and stylist, and individual coaching sessions.

After the completion of the project, 92% of the respondents confirmed that thanks to participation in it, they find themselves better on the labor market. The employment efficiency ratio was as high as 52.6%.

"Zdrowie" monthly

Category:

Psychology