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by Ben on April 25, 2012 edit

How To Start An IT Career When You’re Over 50

A common problem in the IT industry (and the job market in general) is howpeople closer to retirement age f ind new jobs. I’ve been asked a f ew times howsomeone aged over 50 can f ind a job or start a career in the IT industry. I’velisted a f ew tips in this article to help people in this age bracket f ind a career in IT.

Play To Your Strengths

A good way to start a new career or new job is to lay to your strengths whengetting an interview. If you’d like to get a job in IT but have litt le to no experience,then you can play to your strengths by emphasising your communication skills,people management skills or project management skills. You can demonstrate how your past experiencesmatch to a new role that you’re going f or. Young IT prof essionals don’t have the experience and other skillsthat more senior workers have, so use this to your advantage.

Update Your Skills

It can be tough going back to learn new skills or qualif ications when all you want to do is f ind a job.However, it might be something that you just have to do. Some time ago, the only way to get a qualif icationwas to go to a university, study f or a f ew years f ull t ime, and get qualif ied. Now, that has all changed. Youcan study part t ime, do short courses, do online courses, even self study with exams. It ’s a lot more f lexiblethese days.

Employers may put less emphasis on degrees and more on experience f or senior workers. However, youshould still have some level of knowledge about IT. I would suggest f inding out what kind of IT role youwant to get into, and update your skills in that area. Most certif ication providers of f er an entry- level coursewhich serves two benef its – it teaches you the skills you need to know, and gives you an of f icialqualif ication to help f ind a job.

Use Your Connections

A great way f or people aged over 50 to f ind a job is to utilise their prof essional network. A lot of the time,jobs are opening without being advertised. Get in touch with f riends and co-workers, both recent anddistant, to let them know you’re looking f or a job and to see if there are any openings that they knowabout.

LinkedIn is a great way to do this. If you haven’t set up an account f or yourself , I recommend it. It ’s f ree,and it ’s a great way to set up an “online resume” and establish a prof essional network.

Downplay Your Age, But Don’t Lie

An important part of getting an IT job over 50 is to place less emphasis on your age. Sure, you may havegraduated f rom university in 1970, but it doesn’t need to go on your resume. You are a more senior memberof the workf orce, but your exact age isn’t very relevant to the posit ion or the employer at the interview orjob hunting stage.

This includes only listing posit ions or experiences that are relevant to the job. If you’ve had f if teen jobs inthe last thirty years, there’s probably no reason to list them all down. List only the ones that are mostrelevant to the posit ion you’re applying f or.

Be A Problem Solver

The main reason people get hired at a company is to solve a problem. That’s the kind of thing you’re aimingf or when looking f or a job. If you can f ind out what kind of problem the company is having, or why the jobposition is open, then you can play to that area and mention how your skills and experience can help solvethat problem.

Act Positive

It ’s important to act posit ive when going f or a job interview. Sure, in your t ime you may have had some less-than-f avourable employers or jobs, but this is no time to bring them up. Employers like the posit ivity andenthusiasm of their workers, so it ’s important to act posit ive. Try to think of how the job will help youachieve your goals and how it helps challenge you, or anything else you can use to think posit ive.

If you’re over 50 and looking to get started in the IT industry, I hope these tips help you in some way. Lastof all, good luck!

Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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