Job seeking at 57

[Bringmebread]

Name changed for this post but I have followed the work forum for years and love reading the advice.

I am currently on Garden Leave in my three-month notice period following a TUPE process. This resulted in a breakdown of relationship between my new operations director and myself, regarding the direction the new owners were taking the business.

I had worked for my previous employers for four years, and our professional relationship is intact despite the owner selling her business for personal reasons.

I am now seeking a new role and having difficulty with recruiters in my sector. I have branched out and turned my skill set into narratives that would appeal to different employers. I work in revenue management for hotels and restaurants. I have over 30 years experience and have literally 'grown up ' within the sector in terms of online booking agents (Expedia, booking.com etc)

However, following an open and transparent conversation with a recruiter today, Ibwas informed that my social media presence is too limited for roles I am seeking. I am failing on track records within B2B (which I accept that it isn't on my CV but well covered in my cover letters) and while she said I checked many boxes for her client, I don't have the proven track record in that area.

I am currently on 60K and now seeking roles at 40K. It has been a long time since I have been on the job market and other than moving to a GM position, within the hospitality sector, entailing having a weekend presence, I am hoping for some clear advice on next steps for me. I have no problem with social media as I ran the social media for four years in my current position to optimise revenue.

What am I doing wrong ?

Do you have a strong LinkedIn presence?

Is your CV and LinkedIn optimised for ATS?

All/most recruitment uses AI now, so you need to use it to to make sure you get through the initial AI screening or AI searching.

This is what I've learnt (as a 50-yr-old) on the job market for the first time in 17 years!

Also, salaries are going down and the expectations of what you'll bring to the role are going up. It sucks

Thank you, I do not have any LinkedIn presence.

I have noticed that salary expectations are going down.

I am quite happy with a salary of 40K, I am not fighting for anywhere near that I am on currently, however, I am limiting myself in many respects due to mo presence on LinkedIn.

I have used the time while on Garden Leave to take on a couple of courses and upskill, in the coding area.

I am getting the feeling that vocal is nowhere near as important as online these days.

How are you getting on @FlappicusSmith ?

It is a rough time out there for us.

I don’t understand half the jargon in this post 🤣 what the hell is optimised for ATS??

Well, I am uncertain on what ATS means.

Where I come from. It is where I buy my car tyres.

Still, who knows.

ATS is applicant tracking system. You have to make sure that the screening system can pick up all the relevant info. So don’t have your CV in a table, use words that they have used in their job description and the same job title. Don’t put relevant info in a cover letter, it won’t be seen.

I’m no expert - just googled it.

I agree with PP about LinkedIn, I got my last role through it. Their job listings are very good and generally easy to apply for.

I don't know anything about your industry but I do think you need to be on LinkedIn these days.

I'd suggest working with a career coach. There are also online career coaching sites/ services/ group type things. It's made all the difference to my understanding of the job market/ hunting. I joined two - one that is specific to career changing later in your career (Brave Starts, which is great and about £90 for the first year) and ivee, which is geared to career returners (which I'm not strictly, but they've been great at helping my understanding of the importance/ use of AI in recruitment. This one is free, with a paid option). I also signed up for a couple of sessions with a 1-1 career coach who specialises in people leaving my previous sector.

I've somewhat given up on trying to find a permanent/ employed position and I'm instead putting my energies into setting up as a freelance/ consultant. It's scary, but I'm tired of spending ages filling in application forms, tweaking my CV for each position, etc. I've had some interviews, but they too have been very time consuming to prepare for, etc. So I figured my time is better spent investing in my own business. And it does seem that is increasingly the way the world of work is going (portfolio careers, freelancing, etc). I actually feel a little bit excited, after getting increasingly despondent during my several months of job searching.

Thanks for the responses. I am finding it and interesting & challenging journey in terms of the landscape as hospitality has always had jobs available and where I live tourism is a main driver of the economy, therefore I have always been able to walk into a job.

Thank you for the guidance @FlappicusSmith and for your account of your journey. I must admit, it is a very different landscape to even four years ago. Good plans for a work coach. I don't want to give up just yet. My skills on my CV are longer than my work history.

The sector is crying out for staff as I know how hard it was to recruit good staff for our place.

I am speaking with another recruitmer this morning who has found me without LinkedIn so I will see what their feedback is. The one yesterday was clearly very good at her job and she absolutely was very open about her findings which I appreciate. I am still finding it hard to accept I need to sharpen up my act to enter the rat race.

You seem quite reluctant to be on LinkedIn? It’s not just about being found on there, or networking. A lot of places (directly, or through recruiters) advertise on the jobs section. May not be applicable to your industry but would be worth a look, it doesn’t take long to create a profile on there.

No, I am not reluctant @DarkRootsBlue I have spoken with some other peers who have said the same.

I am having a browse now. Willing to do what is necessary and I will drag myself into the ring if that's what it takes.

Great, good luck to you. I’m the same age and am likely to be looking for work next year due to redundancy. It’s been six years since I last had to go out looking and am a bit intimidated about how the job market and applying has changed.

It is a brutal market @DarkRootsBlue and having had a skim of the market on LinkedIn there are a lot of vacancies in my sector, just very limited in my region. Although I can travel but my nearest train station is 30 miles away. I am very rural.

Oh, I am sorry to hear this. Solidarity

The market has been impacted doubly by AI

AI means it is far easier for people to submit applications (as they get AI to write the CV, etc) and LinkedIn's 'easy apply' function means you can apply with 1 click. This means positions are inundated with loads (many unsuitable) applications. This in turn means AI is needed to review the applications. And the cycle continues

AI also means that many companies aren't hiring as many entry-level people (or are more cautious about it) as some/many entry-level tasks can be easily carried out using LLMs like ChatGPT. This is having impact 'up the chain', so everything is a bit stagnant. But in my (new) field I still see lots of ads, but only for highly qualified, experienced people. Basically companies expect you to come in with all the experience and skills and to have done exactly the same thing/ role/ duties. It's mental.

Plus general economic downturn makes it a triple-whamy really.

I absolutely agree @FlappicusSmith i have had another recruiter informal chat today, who has taken me down a very different route, which I hadn't thought of.

AI has not particularly impacted my sector as the sector is very much a customer facing role at entry level. It is a sector in my location that draws university students for operations. We still require humans for all the roles.

My role, which is why I was on my way out, can be outsourced for less than they were paying me. I was also responsible for the site, H&S, Fire Competent Person, EHO, recruitment & payroll along with revenue generation/yield management.

I can certainly relate to your comments @FlappicusSmith as my the core objective of my role was revenue management which can be performed dynamically these days, I learned to do over the years as it was necessary.

I do have an interview afternoon. This will be my second. I do have some time as on Garden Leave and still available for my current employers should I be required.

I had a dive into LinkedIn and in my sector, mainly larger city centre organisations recruiting there. I have launched my profile and I will see what happens.

I have had the most success through Rest Less but CloudFare outage today put paid to that service for a few hours.