If you’re over 30, no one should be able to guess how old you are by taking a look at your resume. It’s bad for you when a hiring manager mentally thinks of you as old. It doesn’t help you one bit. If you take pride in your wealth of experience, don’t. The hiring manager’s goal is to run a business that makes money. OLD = EXPENSIVE. Why hire an old fart when you can hire someone cheaper and younger? You’re in luck, because there’s is a formula that completely neuters being old. Here’s the secret formula for getting hired at any age…

LIKABLE + HUMBLE + MATURE = HIRE-ABLE. Look below to get in the door and blow them away with your awesomeness..

• Step 1. You’ve heard this before; don’t put more than 5-10 years of experience on your resume. If you’re stuck on listing everything you’ve done for the last 30 years, get over it. You can compromise if you really, really have to by going up to 15 years back, but that’s really pushing it.
• Step 2. Take the dates off your education. Also, if your school has changed it’s name, use the new name instead of the old one. I graduated from DeVry Institute of Technology, and the school changed its name to DeVry University, and I list DeVry University on my resume.
• Step 3. Once you’ve got the interview, be likable, humble, and mature. Smile, give short and concise answers to stupid interview questions, and don’t be ornery. Carry yourself with professionalism, poise, and maturity. Don’t brag about exploits, but rather reference relevant experiences. Your maturity is your best weapon, because most companies rarely find well adjusted applicants at any age. If you execute well, your hiring manager will go from thinking “too expensive or grumpy” to “worth every frikkin’ penny”.
• Step 4. Stay in the game. Young people struggle to find work to, and you’ll likely need to interview many times before you find a job that’s a good fit. Don’t take rejection personally, because it’s going to happen more often than not

———–

This post was written by guest blogger Michael Pope, a recruiter from the San Francisco Bay Area. To read more of his insights visit him at the Captain Recruiter Blog.