When you get older there’s a very real chance that the sort of opportunities you had earlier in life don’t exist. Firms either shut the door on over 50s or you will have made decisions that now close you off to job roles. Job hunting for over 50 year olds is therefore pretty hard. There are some things you can do to tip the scales in your favour though. CV Your CV is the start of everything and it’s the most important thing to get right. Don’t rely on the old one that you wrote many years ago, change it up. As well as starting from a new template, you should also look carefully at the information contained within the CV. You don’t need to tell prospective employers about jobs you did more than a decade before so cut all that stuff out. If you attended college decades ago, take that out too, unless the course was completed and its directly relevant to the job you’re seeking.

Networking

The days of looking through the local paper for your next job are long gone. Today you need to network to find the right opportunities. Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are ideal for this but the must-have account nowadays is Linked In (found at uk.linkedin.com). The social media site for work is a place where you can get in touch with professionals in your field, reconnect with those you used to work with and advertise your skills and experience to recruiters.

Employment sites

The other site you need to get an account for is jobsite.co.uk. You should also check out monster.co.uk as both of these sites will advertise a bunch of jobs that are snapped up before they get anywhere near print advertising (if they ever do nowadays). Use the “Email me Jobs” alerts and the other tools to maximise your chances of getting the sort of job you deserve.

Unadvertised jobs

Click here for a guide to finding unadvertised jobs.