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Old Guys Scoring Jobs: The Sizzle Doesn’t Sell
Last week I talked to a lecture hall full of executive MBA students at Cornell’s Johnson School of Management. During the cocktail reception, a seasoned exec told me about difficulties in getting ahead at her company. Despite her prowess on the job, she thinks her age is the problem. My guess is she’s about 28.
But old guys worry about bias, too. Advertising Age lays it out in simple English: “Aging In Adland: The Gray-Hair Phobia That’s Hindering Older Execs.” This story repeats itself in most industries, but it has an extra edge in the creative world. How can old execs compete with young creative types who have a finger on the pulse of what’s cool today?
Gee, I dunno. Maybe ask that woman from Cornell because her youth isn’t giving her the edge that Advertising Age suggests it should. I’ll share the advice I gave her, but first let’s talk about the centerpiece of the Advertising Age article.
Dave Shea is an award-winning creative director. We’re told his problem is that he’s 56. Since he was laid off in 2010, all he hears from employers is that he doesn’t fit the profile of the “cutting-edge” person (translation: one that’s young) they want to hire.
Both Shea and the 20-something executive MBA have the same problem: They’re too worried about their resumes. That is, they’re too worried about who they are and about how employers perceive them. (Anyone see an irony about perceptions when we’re talking about an industry whose product is perceptions?) Let’s look at the story, and then let’s consider what’s really going on and offer Dave a bit of advice.
- Dave makes daily visits to websites that list jobs: TalentZoo, Monster, CareerBuilder, Indeed, LinkedIn. “Then I started following all the recruiters' tweets, but that was like chasing my tail. There are not too many people advertising for traditional ad people right now."
Advice for Dave: Only a tiny percentage of jobs are found and filled through job boards. (For example, employers fill about 3% of their jobs through Monster.) Social media is cool and useful, but your experience should tell you it’s not where jobs come from. Stop feeling like it’s your age. It’s not. It’s your behavior. Change it.
- The article offers Dave advice from the U.K. Telegraph’s jobs editor, who offers this to a “late 50s” creative director: “Get digital, find a headhunter and good luck.”
Advice for Dave: You’re a smart guy. Trivial tips from people who sell advertising are useless. Getting digital, dumping your problems on others, and hoping for luck isn’t productive behavior. It’s not how you won all those awards. Stop trying to follow lemmings, and start following your own instincts and considerable street smarts.
- “According to the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, the average age of employees in the U.K. ad industry is 34. More than two-fifths are 30 or under, and just 5.3% are over 50.”
Advice for Dave: Listen carefully. This is a biggie. Nobody gets awards for focusing on the incredibly low odds of getting an award. At 62, Clint Eastwood got his first Oscar. At 74 he got another. He got Oscars for selling stories to consumers—kind of like advertising. Stop acting like your age is a problem. It’s better to tell the IPA to screw off because they’re distracting you. Quality still sells. Dave, sell qualities your competitors don’t possess. Compete on substance, not on job listings.
- Also from the Advertising Age article: "There's a mindset in agencies that if you're [over 55] you don't understand the people we need to speak to," said Chuck Schroeder,” a 1960’s era ad exec.
Advice for Dave: There’s also a mindset in every good agency that we’re going to go belly up if we don’t hone a business plan that will make money. Now for my advice: Stop trying to sell the digital sizzle, and start delivering the beef. It’s what I told that 28-year old.
In next week’s column, I’ll explain how to serve that beef.
In the meantime, join me to argue about ageism on the Ask The Headhunter discussion forum. I think anybody at any age can land the job they want if they do the work.
About Nick Corcodilos
Nick started headhunting in Silicon Valley in 1979. His contrarian "Ask The Headhunter" media properties feature his radical approach to winning jobs and to hiring great workers. On CMO.com, Nick shows you how to tackle the daunting obstacles that job hunters and managers face when trying to work together. Join Nick on the discussion board to talk shop and get an edge in the C-suite. In addition, his newest books, How to Work with Headhunters and How Can I Change Careers?, are available as PDFs.
