Forty is the new Sixty; or at Least that's how it Feels for Many Public Sector Workers, Report Guardian Jobs

LONDON, March 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

You would be forgiven for thinking that the only employment demographic that is suffering at the hands of the recession are young graduates, students and school-leavers, but you would be very much mistaken. Guardian Jobs users, many of whom work in public sector organisations for the NHS, local councils and in social care, are experiencing redundancies after 10 to 20 plus years of service. And they are finding when applying for jobs that they are both being looked over for lack of 'relevant' experience and for having too much experience. It seems that check box recruitment is in order where only those with the exact 'sector' experience need apply for jobs that require the very skills that these dedicated candidates have in abundance. In addition the excuse that many hear from recruiters and hiring managers is that their level of experience will mean that they won't stay, that the job is too 'junior' for them.

Thankfully Guardian Jobs has in equal abundance advice on how both middle-aged (forty plus) and young (late teens to late twenties) candidates can tackle the 'Goldilocks' experience treatment. Starting with CVs, there is no longer a requirement for candidates to state their age or date of birth. In addition, though classic CVs list work histories in reverse chronology; candidates that are able to submit their own electronic, or, paper CV are advised to present a portfolio CV where instead work is listed as single projects. The added advantage of this is that it enables the candidate to promote their work experience in terms of what they contributed, and what they did. The focus is taken away from lists of responsibilities with a start and finish date. In addition in a portfolio CV candidates can list qualifications, skills, membership to trade bodies, awards and courses completed in a portfolio manner too. Where relevant skills or qualifications are picked out to support the application rather than listing every single qualification plus the academic institution plus the year the qualification was attained in. Any recruiter can work out that if you list 'O levels' rather GCSEs with the qualification date that you must be of a certain age. The advice is to tailor make the CV to fit the job description as closely as possible without embellishing qualifications, experience or skills.

If, as is the case for electronic form-led CVs (these are used by many jobs boards and larger employers), candidates often have to fill qualification dates and work experience in reverse chronology; the advice is still to highlight relevant experience, skills or qualifications. In addition joining professional networks, and working on obtaining strong endorsements of work done, or recommendations from colleagues and peers helps to show the attitude of the candidate. Jobseekers are advised to highlight their 'connectedness' to the sector, or company/organisation that the job for which they are applying for sits in; this demonstrates a 'switched on' attitude.

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