A recent Fortune article — quoting Jason Levin, an MSB MBA alum — cites employment bright spots for college grads and and gray haired folks …
Punch line: The November unemployment rate for people 55 and older is lower than for any younger age group, welcome news for a group that often worries about being shut out of jobs by age bias.
Scratch the surface of November’s disappointing unemployment statistics, and you find yet more evidence that, while joblessness plagues almost every stratum of society, not everyone is affected in quite the same way.
With unemployment hovering around 5% for people with college degrees, about half the rate for the population as a whole, education is clearly a big factor.
Age is another.
Consider: The November unemployment rate for people 55 and older, at 7.3%, is lower than for any younger age group.
That’s all welcome news for a group that often worries about being shut out of jobs by age bias, or by what some call “the O word” (for “overqualified”).
Still, Russell points out, not all the numbers are cause for celebration. The average job hunter over 55, for instance, is still out of work for about 45 weeks, or three white-knuckle months longer than the average for those under 55.
Older people may take longer to find work for a variety of reasons, says Jason Levin, a senior account executive at career site Vault.com. “Bear in mind that these tend to be more experienced and more sophisticated candidates” than their wet-behind-the-ears counterparts, he notes, so “negotiations over salary and benefits may take longer. They may also have more savings to rely on while they look for exactly the right opportunity.”
Levin, for one, isn’t surprised that overall employment is rising for this group. “Companies that cut way back all through the recession are starting to realize that they need highly qualified people to get the work done,” he observes. “Older managers understand nuance and hierarchies. They have accumulated a lot of wisdom, and they know how to run projects.” He adds: “Experience matters. It will always matter.”
One subtle advantage that more mature job seekers have, adds Levin: “They know how to craft a well-thought-out handwritten note. At this time of year, that means holiday cards with actual stamps on them. If you want to make an impression, that’s worth 100 emails. The personal touch never gets old.”
Fortune, Over 55 and unemployed? Finally a bit of good news, December 8, 2010
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2010/12/08/over-55-and-unemployed-finally-a-bit-of-good-news/
The Homa Files 
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