Monday, Monday

Quick tips for all the 50 Plus Jobseekers out there.

1. The number one day for job search is Monday. (You'd think that people would search NOT on work hours...but interestingly, weekends are the slowest times! So...Jobseekers are searching for new jobs while working for their current employers. Ouch.)

Most companies schedule their jobs to post on Mondays. Typically, someone on a serious job search, will note all new job postings that appear on Mondays and will have submitted their interest within the first three days of the new posting.

HR professionals expect a deluge of applications within those three days. Our site works a little differently, because when you search on Gen Plus, you are usually directed to the career site for the hiring company. Once you hit their site, you can often customize how to look for jobs depending upon how they have their internal search engine set up.

2. There are two solid strategies in job search. Look for:

• Jobs posted within the past three days on the companies home site (if they have a career page) regardless of where you found the job listed. Make sure your cover letter and resume help you stand out in a crowd -- you are competing with all the active Jobseekers;
• Jobs posted within the past month. If a job is still listed within the month, that means that no qualified candidates were found. Don't ignore old postings, as many Jobseekers do. An HR professional will look at your resume, even if the posting is old. The position is still open and they will often have incentives based on the time it takes to fill the position. For an old posting, ensure that your cover letter and resume are tailored to the job posting so that a frustrated HR professional (when a job has been open for a month, yes...the HR professional will be frustrated) takes the time to notice you.

3. Keep current. Don't wait to act on new postings. Anytime you see a new posting that fits your search, get that resume in immediately while the HR professional is really on fire to fill. No one will hold a job waiting for you to decide whether or not you should or shouldn't apply. Once a good candidate is found, a hire will generally be swift. If you submit your resume and have not heard anything for two weeks, assume you are out of the running. Your resume will generally not be kept on file, so if you see a position come up that is relevant to your skill set at the same company, re-apply.

And you'll find newest postings...on Mondays.

Help. I'm 50 Plus. I've fallen and I can't get up!

When you run an internet-based business, one that is focused on a specific niche, like the 50 plus or Boomer market, you discover another world. It is the world of questions.

Because the internet is search engine driven, people, like you, find sites, like mine, by looking for information. And in the 50 plus demographic, often the information that you seek, is really a question. In our case, we see the same question repeated over and over again in many different ways.

How do I...

• make a career switch after fifty?
• start a career at fifty?
• find possibilities for a jobseeker after 50?
• discover job postings for 50 plus?
• find work as a writer, lawyer, accountant, teacher, marketer, etc., etc. after 50?
• reinvent myself in the job market?
• deal with turning 50?

And the emails I receive so often speak of the despair and insecurity that lies behind the question. Even though the net is such a vast, vast territory, 50 plussers who blog and create sites dedicated to 50 plus are relatively few. So I see increasing numbers of 50 plussers seeking us out...searching for answers to the job market problems that no one foresaw.

My commitment to the strength and success of those 50 plus looking to stay in the job market remains steady. Within the next month, I'll have some new materials to offer (and some fun and needed products in the shop!)

Summer is almost here for all my North American, European and Asian friends (and winter for my visitors from down under, of course.) Summer is a time to celebrate spring's renewal and take a vacation from the stressors of the day and to shed some sunlight on the despair -- there are many 50 plussers looking for new jobs, new careers, additional income.

The reason I have listed so many of the search keywords that pop up is because no one wants to believe that they are alone in their challenge. You are not alone.