5 Ways You've Made Yourself Obsolete - And what to do about it

[philrosenberg]

Why can't employers see that our experience and wisdom makes us more valuable than someone 20 years our junior?

There are ways to avoid ageism, because we largely cause much of it ourselves.

Here are 5 ways you're made yourself obsolete and solutions for each:

https://recareered.infusionsoft.com/app/hostedEmail/6673702/8632fafa25eaf96a

[bg6638]

You missed the MOST important topic, namely employers have a bias towards older senior level employees, because they want paid MORE! If they can hire an H1B who will work for 50% less, who do you think the employer will hire?

[philrosenberg]

@bg6638 - That's because I don't write about H1Bs as a topic.  Perhaps your comment would be more effective on a post that's about H1B's.

[bg6638]

It USED TO BE a given that an older and more experienced worker was sought out by employers, and was hired at a premium for their knowledge! Fast forward to today ...................... employers want to pay the LEAST amount possible, and if it means hiring a foreign worker and/or offshoring the work, they'll do that BEFORE even considering the merits of hiring said older and more experienced worker!

[pitz]

bg, from what I've seen, the employers prefer older, not younger.  The older seem to be more willing to keep their salary expectations in check.  And they, unlike the younger, seem to have longer laundry lists of "skills" (but not necessarily aptitude). 

The big elephant in the room, one that Phil doesn't want to address, is H-1B.  The young are being destroyed by it.  So are the old.  Basically every domestic worker (and even Canadian) is negatively affected.

[philrosenberg]

@pitz - I write about tools to take control of your job search.  I don't find that complaining about the environment or hiring practices helps others find jobs.

That's why I suggested that if bg wants to vent about H1B's, do so on posting concerning H1B's.

[monkey_spanking]

Phil,

I can tell you there is a huge disconnect in hiring right now. As an expereinced recruiter you know that most employers are looking for the purple squirrel. As a expereinced recruiter I am sure you know what the term purple squirrel means? Its a candidate that does not exist. Every company is looking for the purple squirrel now.

The best way to get hired is via networking through friends or family. Your resume wont mean jack at that point. Outside of that, sending in your resume blind is akin to buying a lottery ticket. There are way, way too many candidates for every job and unless you are an H1B or your resume MATCHES exactly what they are looking for you will NOT be called.

Technology people have a special set of issues that are rarely addressed and those issues are offshoring and all the foreigners in the country on H1B. As you frequent these boards pushing your web site the H1B is not something to be ignored. In the last 10 years they have completely taken over IT. When you said that you dont address H1B, but you should because it dramatically impacts your job prospects.

Entire departments are H1B now and some companies are ALL H1B. This has happened in the last 10 years. If you say that it doesnt matter, you are WRONG, yes it does. I am the ONLY American on an entire floor of H1Bs. Why did I get hired - because I have special skills the H1Bs dont. Its just a matter of time before they learn this too.

Quite frankly resumes are largely irrelevant now. Formatting and appearance has gone by the wayside because of "talent management" systems. Unless you have a direct line in through the back door and you are able to bypass HR and their "talent management" systems your resume is going to get typed into some system like Taleo. The look and feel of your resume will be LOST - poof just like that. Most hiring managers get some pathetic dump of your resume that barely resembles your formatted resume.

All these tips and what not mean nothing once is in a "talent management" system.

[TechGuy0000FF]

I often see posts of people blaming H1B as being a major contributing factor with regards to the labor market today, not just in IT but in other fields as well.  I think it's important to have a balanced discussion and in my opinion the big elephant in the room is the fact that people do not want to take personal responsibility. 

Given the amount of negative sentiment regarding the job market, how is it possible that not a single one of these companies has gone bankrupt from these angry people shifting their spending habits?  No one needs to call for a boycott, all that needs to happen is for people to reward the companies that  they agree with and not reward the companies that they do not agree with.  Now, I am not saying that this is easy but if disatisfied people were to put a legitimate effort into this, how could the message not be heard?

Now I am not saying whether this is right or wrong, but from what I understand, several generations ago, some americans only bought american vehicles because they felt strongly about what the domestic auto industry meant to the country.  I think it's a bit of a double standard for the american citizen to insist that a company pay him/her good benefits/wages/etc when they turn their backs on those companies when they're out shopping and purchasing from companies that outsource their labor, pay low pages, no benefits, etc.

Each american citizen plays the role of the employee, consumer and possible investor via 401k.  If the american consumer says, give me cheap products, he/she is also saying to those companies, "I need you to lower your production costs by paying low wages and benefits in a country with lower taxes than america."  When he/she wears his/her 401k hat, he/she is saying the same thing to these companies.  Increase company earnings by lowering your production costs, outsource away.