Using LinkedIn to broaden your potential clients
I have forty or so years in the print graphic design and reproduction industry. I am now 61 years old and personally feel that given the extended age that we reach as people, today's 60-year-olds are yesterday's 50-year-olds. Over the last decade I have been retrenched three times... economic climate. What do I do with my skills and knowledge and does my age fall into any specialised group such as BEE or disadvantaged? - Colin
Hi Colin,
Thank you very much for your email and your great question.
You are right, 60 is the new 50, and there is a vast amount of opportunity out there particularly because of your experience.
Your retrenchment, I don't believe, is because of your age, the economic conditions caused many retrenchments, to the 20, 30, 40-year-olds and so on.
The best is to get your name out there as much as possible. Perhaps create a specialised profile that is particular to your industry to really target this area.
Another option is to freelance; have you ever considered this? You clearly have a lot of experience and if you could sign up two or three clients on a contractual basis, you at least have a base to work from. The best is to make sure you have a very updated profile on LinkedIn detailing your skills and what you can offer potential clients. You can then send your profile link to potential clients in your network as a start. If you would like more help with this have a look at this video for an idea of how to make your profile attractive to recruiters.
To answer your question, unfortunately you don't fall into any particular category that could boost your employment points, however I do believe your skills and experience will enable you to find the right job.
All the best in your job hunt!
I have heard that potential employers are looking at Facebook and LinkedIn profiles as a kind of "first interview". Is this legal and how can it affect my chances of getting the job? - Samantha R
Hi Samantha,
Thank you for your question.
It has in fact been known that companies are looking at social media profiles of potential employees to gauge what they are like and whether they would be a good fit for the company and job itself. There is nothing stopping them from doing this except your privacy settings, so if you don't want this information to be public make sure that your privacy settings are updated and only your direct friends can see your information. Remember that anything you post online is out there, it's in the public eye and can be found. If you're ever in doubt as to whether you should post something or not, rather don't, it's probably not appropriate.
In today's social media day and age the personal and company lines are very blurred; you tweet about your birthday and about the promotion you got, you post a link on Facebook of a video of your niece as well as your companies end-of-year function. You respond to a tweet at 8pm on a Friday to a client that needs your help. You are always on and always available and that's the reality. If you bear this in mind it will allow you to tread more carefully in the social media landscape and perhaps think twice about what you post, tweet, RT, link to etc.
I hope this helps, good luck with your interviews!
Always love what you do!
Juliette
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