4 Benefits of Mature Workers

If you’ve been working for 30+ years and/or are 55 years of age or older, you may be referred to as a mature worker. As a mature worker, you are likely closer to the end of your professional career than the beginning. And sometimes, as a mature worker, you feel like your age or experience is a barrier to success in the workplace or the job market.  Maybe you’ve been passed over for a promotion or an exciting work assignment, in favor of a more junior colleague. Maybe you are struggling to land a new job, or just get a job interview. 

Age discrimination does exist, and can absolutely derail your professional ambitions. But often times, it's your mindset that is the ultimate barrier to achieving your goals. 

It's time to recognize your strengths. It’s time to recognize that your age and experience can be an asset. It’s time for a mindset shift.

Below are 4 positive traits, skills, and experiences that mature workers bring to the workplace and/or job search that they should recognize and lean into:

1.      Adaptability

You’ve been in the workforce a long time. You think that’s a liability. But really, it’s your biggest asset. Here’s why: Today’s economy and workplace is characterized by continuous change, ambiguity, and uncertainty. As a mature worker, you’ve been through SO MANY instances of disruption in your professional life. Think about the transition from paper-based work to computer-based work. The integration of the internet in your workplace. The diversification of your local workforce (race, gender, age etc.). You’ve been through SO MANY changes and survived (and thrived!). Your experience adapting to change in the workplace is your #1 asset as a mature worker. If you were my client and didn’t utilize this as one of your main selling/talking points, I’d be yelling at you. LIKE THIS! And you’d know I’m right. (And so secretly, you’d LOVE IT!)

2.      Insight & wisdom

Experience matters.  But a lot of people have experience. What matters is what you learned from your experience – and therefore what you can share and apply with your potential employer and coworkers. You’ve worked in many different roles with many different employers, seen and heard a lot of things (some you want to forget), and failed and succeeded. Through it all you’ve learned best practices, good habits, and how to make good decisions – things that help you be successful at work. The insight and wisdom you learned over the last few decades is invaluable to an organization and can differentiate you from less experienced employees.

3.      Experience working with multiple generations

Most companies employ people from 3 or 4 different “generations” i.e. Gen X, millennials, Gen Z, who, generally speaking, bring different perspectives, skills, habits, and experiences to the workplace. The ability to work effectively with people of all generations and ages is a prized workplace skill and can set you apart from those with less experience working with other-aged people. The good news is that your professional experience has provided you the opportunity to work alongside people from multiple generations. You can empathize what it’s like being a more junior employee, someone in mid-career, and a more senior employee. You’ve likely learned from, mentored, and coached people from multiple generations. Your experience working effectively with teammates of different ages – who approach work in slightly different ways (ok, sometimes in dramatically different ways) – is a strength of yours and a desired workplace ability that you should lean into. 

4.      Maturity & professionalism

Most employers, when asked what general workplace traits they are looking for, will say things like: maturity, professionalism, conscientiousness, a team player, and someone who will show up on time every day. That sounds a lot like most experienced, mature workers (that’s not to say it doesn’t also describe younger employees). Employers understand that these basic workplace traits are foundational for employee success. As a mature worker who possesses these skills, you should take every opportunity to highlight these prized competencies, especially while networking, on your resume, and during an interview. Don’t dismiss or overlook these “soft” skills (they are actually human or life skills) that can differentiate you from less experienced and conscientious workers and job seekers.

Don’t let the real or perceived biases of others, or your own negative mindset, become a barrier to your professional success. Rather than looking at your age and experience as liabilities, look at them as assets. Because they are.

Your adaptability, insight & wisdom, experience working with multiple generations, and your maturity & professionalism are desired workplace traits and skills. Lean into them. Use them to your advantage in the workplace and in a job search.  

Your professional experience is part of your story, your identity, and what makes you unique. It’s not a weakness. It’s a strength. 

For more career development tips and information, visit https://www.leonardworkforcesolutions.com/news

For information about 1:1 career development services, visit: https://www.leonardworkforcesolutions.com/careerdevelopment

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[This article was originally published on LinkedIn on 6/1/22: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-benefits-mature-workers-bill-leonard-mhrm/?trackingId=3rBe8EiFT3KbmQtkZ0YXAQ%3D%3D]