Older Workers - The Age Advantage!

Assets include your education and training, your work and life experience, and your attitude and work ethic.
Transferable skills are skills that you can use in any job, such as resourcefulness, working hard, listening well, thinking logically, working with your hands, or supervising others. These and other skills can be gained from work experience or through hobbies and volunteer work.
Personal attributes are your attitudes, personal characteristics, and work habits. Personal attributes are extremely important to many employers.

What this means for the Older Worker

The more you know about your assets, the more comfortable you will become "selling" your job-related transferable skills and personal attributes to a potential employer.
When you know your personal assets, it is much easier to identify gaps in training or experience and find a way to address them.
Thinking about your skills and knowing what you do well in all areas of your life decreases the chance of underestimating or undervaluing your skills when you explain them to employers.

You may be much more comfortable playing down your skills than giving yourself credit for all that you know and can do. You may feel that your work record speaks for itself, and if you have a résumé you have likely placed much more focus on your work history than on your skills. You may not feel it is necessary to describe your skills based on the belief that people reading your résumé will know what they are based on your past job experience.

Skills are learned in all areas of life, not just at work. You learn skills at home, in your volunteer and community activities, and in your hobbies.

Throughout your job search, and in your cover letter and résumé, you need to highlight your job-related skills (skills you need to do the job or task), your transferable skills (skills that can be used in any job), and your personal attributes (your attitudes, characteristics, and work habits). Show the potential employer how your skills work together to make you the best person for the job.

Things to think about

Employers want to know what you can offer them: your job skills, transferable skills, and personal attributes. Make this information clear to them in your cover letter, résumé, and interview.
You may need to practise giving yourself credit and talking about your skills.

Things to do

Sometimes the people who know us best can help us identify our skills. Work with a friend to make a list of your skills under the headings of Job-Related Skills, Transferable Skills, and Personal Attributes. Focus on your most current and up-to-date skills; use anything that you feel confident you can still do.
Next select the skills and attributes you feel are required in the job for which you are applying. Use these skills to create your cover letter and résumé.
Practise presenting your skills by rehearsing for your job interview. Think of how you will present your skills and attributes with confidence.
Give yourself credit for what you can do and what you have spent a lifetime learning to do well.

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