Q: I am looking for a full-time job that uses my writing, people and information-gathering talents from 25 years as a Los Angeles Times staff writer. My concern, validated by the coach at the retraining corporation, is that I am over 40. That coach actually told me to leave the dates of college attendance, etc., off my resume. My brother, president of a publicly-traded company, said this advice was nonsense, although he did say age is an issue (and he''''s older than I am).Can you address this issue of inferiority complex for those of us competing with candidates 20 years our junior? How do we address it? How can we compensate for the potential perception that we are burn-outs or tired when we might -- in my case -- just be bored because we know the job so well?
我正在找全職工作，希望可以利用到我在《洛杉磯時報》做了25年撰稿人所積累的寫作經驗、人脈關系和信息收集的技能。我擔心的是我已經 40多歲了。我的這種擔心已經被再培訓公司的教練所證實。那個教練實際上是告訴我不要在自己的簡歷中填寫上大學的時間。我的哥哥是一家上市公司的總裁，他說教練的建議是胡說八道，不過他的確說年齡是個問題（他可是我哥哥，年紀比我還要大。）你能談談，像我們這樣與比自己小20歲的應聘者競爭的人所遇到的自卑感嗎？我們該如何解決這個問題？我們如何才能消除人們對我們的這樣一種潛在看法：我們油盡燈枯了或太累了，而實際上，比如我，只是因為對工作太熟悉而感到無聊而已。
A: No doubt, age discrimination does exist in the workplace. But don''''t despair. There actually are advantages to being over
40.
答：毫無疑問，職場上確實存在年齡歧視。不過不要失望。年齡超過了40歲實際上也有好處。
''''This is a good time to position yourself as a deeply competent and confident professional in your area of expertise and experience,'''' says Rabia de Lande Long, a consultant and executive coach at Chartwell Advisors. ''''In uncertain economic times, employers can be drawn more to experienced workers who join with ready-to-use skills and a shallow learning curve,'''' she says.
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Chartwell Advisors的顧問、執行教練德蘭德龍(Rabia de Lande Long)說，這是一個好機會，你可以把自己定位成在你的專業領域中一個非常有能力、非常自信的專業人士。她說，在不確定的經濟時期，雇主可能會對經驗豐富的人更感興趣，他們擁有現成的技能，無需經過太多的培訓。
年過半百找工作
Finding Employment in Your 50s
年過半百找工作
What''''s more, younger workers are often perceived as job hoppers -- quick to jump from one opportunity to the next. Employers aren''''t likely to want to invest in training new talent -- especially in this environment -- unless employees are committed and stable.
此外，較年輕的員工常常被視為容易跳槽。雇主不太可能希望在培訓新人上投資，特別是在目前這樣的環境下，除非員工盡忠職守、工作踏實。
As to whether or not you include the dates of your degrees, career experts have varying opinions. In most cases, it is a good idea to include them. If your resume attempts to indicate that you are younger by leaving out graduation dates or eliminating 10 years of early career history, ''''you could run the risk of surprising the interviewer and disqualifying yourself -- not so much because of age, but because you have misled the employer,'''' says Sheryl Spanier, a career coach and consultant. When you include early work experience, it isn''''t difficult to calculate the general age of a candidate. So why make the recruiter do the math? Leaving out the dates of your degrees may also make it appear that you have something to hide. What''''s more, many employers verify degrees and will ask you to provide graduation dates, so you might as well provide them. Be sure to include any recent continuing education and dates you completed the work.
至于你是否要把自己的教育時間包括在簡歷中，職業專家的觀點各異。大部分情況下，把教育時間寫進去是個好主意。職業教練、顧問斯潘尼亞(Sheryl Spanier)說，如果在簡歷中不寫畢業時間或是最初10年的工作經歷，為的是顯得你更年輕的話，你在面試的時候可能會把面試官嚇一跳、失去機會，并不是因為你的年齡，而是因為你誤導了雇主。當把早期的工作經歷寫進去，就不難算出一個應聘者的大概年齡了。所以，為什么要讓招聘官做算數呢？把教育時間省略掉，還可能讓你看起來像在掩蓋什么。此外，很多雇主會核實應聘者的學歷，要求你提供畢業時間，所以你最好還是在簡歷中寫明。記得把任何最近的繼續教育經歷和時間寫到簡歷中。
For professionals who are in their mid-50s and older, it will be harder to overcome potential employer biases. ''''If you are a youthful 55, perhaps you could post a professional photo of yourself on LinkedIn, which most recruiters check these days,'''' says Ms. de Lande Long. In addition, in your cover letter, you''''ll want to differentiate yourself ''''by showing results, (understanding of) technology and demonstrate ease in interacting with colleagues of all ages,'''' she says.
對于55歲以上的專業人士來說，就更難克服潛在的雇主偏見了。德蘭德龍說，如果你55歲，但看起來很有活力，或許你可以在LinkedIn發布一張自己的職業照，如今大部分招聘者都會瀏LinkedIn。她說，此外，在你的自我介紹中，你要讓自己與眾不同，展示自己的成果，對技術的理解，以及自己與各個年齡段的同事溝通交流都得心應手。
During the interview process, avoid the ''''been there, done that'''' attitude. Instead, show interest, commitment, enthusiasm and energy. ''''If you''''re bored with your profession, you can be sure that comes through in an interview,'''' says Susan Chadick, a principal at Chadick Ellig, an executive-search firm serving small and mid-size companies and startups.
在面試過程中，避免平鋪直敘式的態度。相反，要展示自己的興趣、奉獻精神、熱情和能量。Chadick Ellig的一位負責人查蒂克(Susan Chadick)說，如果你對自己的專業厭倦了，你肯定會在面試時顯露出來。這是一家高管獵頭公司，為中小企業和初創公司提供服務。