Ok, you’re feeling a bit old these days, even if you’re not 50+. It seems there is a real age-bias running through the work world these days. It’s nothing you can put your finger on since it is illegal for a company to make hiring decisions based on age. But clearly in the youth-obsessed culture we currently seem to have, it can make finding and keeping that job your really want even tougher. Our culture is spellbound by youth – just look at the Democratic Presidential nominee – a Senator with barely two years of experience in Congress, and no significant achievements, yet he is the new rock star of the political scene.

We also hear it in the voices of the clients we work with daily — employers are eager to fill their offices with the supposed youthful energy, tech savvy, and open to new ideas 18- to 34-year-old age group. Pile on the annual crop of new college graduates reaching the job market who have only grown up in a digital, social network world, and even people in their early 40’s can think they’ve fallen out of the fast lane somehow.

So what can you do, what steps can you take to rework your “old” image:

  1. Change your look.  No, you don’t need to visit the plastic surgeon (well maybe), but you can look at simple things like a new hair style, glass frames, or other small tweaks that can help you look more current.
  2. Stay contemporary. Do some homework on a regular basis to understand what’s happening on the social network sites, read a magazine that is totally different than what you might like to cuddle up with, inquire what those latest buzzwords really mean.  In short, investing  even a little extra time your carer development will pay big dividends down the road.
  3. Start a blog or other website that lets you show off your hidden talents. Caution – nothing that reveals current company secrets, or on topics/subjects that could be considered a problem (e.g. NOT a political opinion site)
  4. Drop the dates.  On your resume, don’t put the date you graduated from college, and leave off some of your first jobs. No, I’m not suggesting you lie if asked about them but you want the focus on what you have done over the past 10 to 15 years of work experience.
  5. Keep that energy up – be the one that volunteers for the new stuff as often as you use to in the past
  6. Avoid the past.  Not totally, but try not to be constantly reminding people of how you did things 10 years ago, what worked in the 90’s, what you learned in that project 5 years ago, etc. etc.   It sounds so, so, so, 2002….

Be bold, be confident – the knowledge you have is something they don’t have and may never even understand.