As populations in the developed world are growing older and many countries are experiencing a crisis in the pension system, we are facing the prospect of having to work past the usual retirement age. Unfortunately, some more mature people find it difficult to get employed. If you are looking for a career change over the age of 40, people have reported a negative reaction from employers to this.

There are things you can do during a job search that will make you an attractive candidate no matter what age you are.

You need to target the job you are applying for re-writing your CV. If the job specification asks for certain skills, think about all the things you have done in your personal and professional life which apply. Age and experience go hand in hand so you should come up with enough examples. If you have had a career break in which time you raised children, you will still have developed skills that employers are looking for like communication and organisation.

It is not necessary to put personal information on your CV, it is illegal for an employer to ask your age during the recruitment process. You should either leave out your date of birth completely or put it at the end if you really want to include it.

It is unlikely that you will only be happy in one specific industry or job role. Write down all of the skills that you want to use or learn on your new job and what activities give you job satisfaction. It may turn out that you will only be really happy if you do more than one job. You might, for example, work as a freelance in your existing career for two or three days a week and set up a small business doing something completely different during the rest of the week. If you have mastered a skill, you could teach this to others. You could teach anything from a hobby to a fitness class, it doesn’t have to be related to your work. Look at everything you’ve done in your life so far and you’ll find that there are several areas in which you are an expert.

If you are willing to do something more than your average 9-5, you can make the things you enjoy into a profitable career.

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