Opinion: Jump-starting a stalled job search

Question: What advice do you have for women over 50 who want to re-enter the corporate world after a 10-year absence? I was a vice president when I left. Should I pursue a lower-level job? What should I say about the gap on my resume?

-- Carolyn Austin, Greenwich, Conn.

Carolyn: Let me ask you a question: "Are you sure you want to go back to the corporate world?"

I don't know why you were away from your career for 10 years, but a lot has changed since then. The greatest changes may have occurred within you. Keeping regular hours and commuting to an office may not be as appealing as you might think. Even though flextime and other more relaxed working arrangements have taken hold, large-company environments can be difficult for women with family obligations.

"The corporate world is tough on executives who are 50-plus and even more so on women," says Janet Scarborough, a psychologist in the Seattle area who specializes in career development. "So ask yourself whether it will be rewarding enough to make the stress worth it if you do succeed in getting a job."

If you decide to go for it, realize that older executives who left jobs much more recently than you often struggle to find new ones because fewer positions are available at their rung on the ladder. To hiring managers -- right or wrong and almost always wrong, older candidates also may not seem as energetic or interested in working hard as younger applicants.

Have you considered seeking out smaller or more entrepreneurial companies, where performance and results matter more than appearance or the fact that you took time off to do something that was important to you?

As to whether you should seek a lower-level position than your last one, absolutely not, says Lauren Mackler, a Boston-based career coach. "I don't suggest ever going backwards," she says.

Employers don't like filling jobs with overqualified people. They question why you would downgrade yourself or want to work for less money. Moreover, by seeking a lesser job, you automatically devalue what you have done during the past decade, says Ms. Mackler.

It might help to think of your next job not in terms of its title, but in terms of its content and responsibilities. Today's job titles often hold little resemblance to someone's importance to an organization.

To land a good job, you must decide what you want to do. Don't expect employers to figure it out, and don't assume that it's what you once did. Review your current interests and passions and how your skills and talents mesh with them. This should be the area you pursue. Also "know what type of work lifestyle you want and the kind of people you want to work around," says Ms. Mackler. "The more specific you are, the more likely you can create this."

Find ways to repair any skill gaps between what you want and what you can do. Take classes or volunteer. Having a volunteer job on your resume will provide you with recent employment you can talk about.

Identify what you've achieved during the past decade. Then extract the skills and abilities you used and list them on your resume. If you did any volunteer work or handled specific responsibilities, cite these on the resume as well. This should help with your resume gap.

Before talking with anyone about your job search, develop a 30-second statement that summarizes who you are, what you have been doing lately and what you want to do now, Ms. Mackler advises. You don't want to be caught short when asked about yourself and your career goals.

Be clear about the value you gained while taking time out of the workforce. Ms. Scarborough says that women can take a lesson from men in this regard. Many women are apologetic about their decisions to stay home, but men she helps to return to the work force after they stayed home to raise children don't apologize, she says. Instead, they tell prospective employers that their decision to be caregivers was a priority for them at the time, but their priority now is their career, she says.

"They have been extremely successful about reentering the job market by being very clear and confident about what they were doing," she says. "Women can learn from that."

Answering job postings and then sending resumes isn't the best way for older candidates to find opportunities. The gap on your resume will stand out more this way. This is the time to exercise your networking muscles.

Network on a one-to-one basis first with people who know you and appreciate your value. Your contacts needn't be from the business world. Talk to the parents of children the same age as your children, members of your community organizations, or retailers in your neighborhood. Ask them for suggestions or referrals to other people. And never forget that networking is more about how you can help others than how they can aid you.

Seek interim project-oriented assignments where you can demonstrate value, and at the same time, try out an employer for size. The idea here is to minimize questions about your age by showing what you can achieve within a specific time.

As you job hunt, you'll likely encounter obstacles and at times feel discouraged. Keep "gracious perseverance" as your two-word mantra, Ms. Mackler suggests. You can always change the tactics that don't work for you.

-- October 3, 2005