Older Job Seekers Having Tough Time Getting Work
MIAMI (CBS4) - Recently in South Florida, a seminar was held that was geared towards finding a job for people who are over 50 and have been hit hard but recent cut backs in our poor economy.
The instructor of the class told attendees that they need to learn how to handle the truth and the truth is, you need to reinvent yourself.
"Due to the local economy the local business (I worked for) went out of business and I was unemployed," said job seeker Evelio Perez, 59.
Perez was an executive for national and international sales for ten years. He thought retirement was just around the corner when cutbacks placed him in the unemployment line.
"I felt uncomfortable and horrible that I didn't have a position," said Perez.
Joseph Garcia knows Perez's pain. He's 50 and has been looking for work for about two years now.
"I studied here. I went to the University of Miami and I've worked as a managerial consultant for developers, construction companies and power companies for 25 years," said Garcia. "I'm looking for the right opportunity with the right company."
Both Perez and Garcia found "Back on Track" a free, faith based organization to help people do just that, get back on track. They found out the truth was they weren't alone.
Beatriz Boo Torrente has been a head hunter for years with Fortune 500 companies. She volunteers with "Back on Track" and held the recent seminar. She says first and foremost get caught up on the communication generation.
"You have to get up to date on technologies," recommends Torrente.
Eighty-five percent of the people who get placed in new jobs through "Back on Track" get some sort of lead or contact through the website 'Linked In'. That's a social media site for professionals, which lead to the second "must".
Perez says, "I think networking is one of the key components."
Find out about the networking events in town and go to them.
Third, have a good attitude!
"Many of the people they are reporting to are people the age of their daughters or their sons," said Torrente.
But that's ok. Experts recommend telling potential employers that you can bring experience and stability to the company and that you are not trying to climb the corporate ladder and take their job.
For Evelio it worked. He got a job 5 1/2 months ago. He's a sales manager with the company Cartridge World.
As for Joseph Garcia, he's still looking but he's in good company with those searching and learning and finding out how to network and advance in social media and learning how to deal with the truth.
For more information on free meetings through 'Back on Track' go to www.backontracknet.org.
