Think anyone over 50 can’t deal with change in the work place? Think again. We have both seen and adapted to more change in the 30 plus years we have been working than prior generations. Now, this isn’t a ‘kids today have it so easy’ kind of statement. This is something that we often times forget ourselves – but we shouldn’t. When fighting the stereotype that women over 50 are too set in their ways, it doesn’t hurt to casually mention how both technology and globalization have required you to continually learn and grow. Having a candidate that is aware of the need for (and embraces) positive change is a benefit to any organization.
You can and should make your own list, but here is my personal list of how much change I have been through in the last 30 years:
Email & Shared Drives:
When I started my career, my first company did not have email. If I wanted to send a note to five people, I wrote the memo, made five copies, then took those five copies to the mailroom to be distributed. Have a spreadsheet that someone else needs a copy of or needs to work on? Save the file to a disk, and bring it to their office. It sounds a bit archaic doesn’t it? Now everything is on a shared drive, and security levels indicate what you have access to anytime you need it. Once we all had emails, we had to learn how to send hyperlinks to files, send files as attachments on emails, and even collaborate on files without printing out anything on paper.
ERP Systems:
Remember the term ‘green screen’ and “GUI?” Remember when each department had it’s own software and if there was any integration it was fairly archaic? Then companies like SAP and Oracle came on the scene. The activities that used to be performed by IT were now expected to be handled by people like you and me. When I was in my 20’s and I needed a new report, I wrote out my request, when to the server room, opened a little sliding door and dropped my request into a basket. It could be three days or three months before I received my report. Now, I am expected to know how to create my own report. Excel has become so sophisticated you are basically writing code. Which brings me to…
Excel & PowerPoint:
Do you remember Lotus Notes? Remember creating all the data on one page and then formatting it on a different page? Remember when presentations were printed out on plastic slides used on an overhead projector versus putting together PowerPoint slides that are shared via WebEx? We went from everyone in the same conference room, to everyone learning software applications to allow us all to be on-line in various time zones looking at group presentations on our own PC. Which brings me to…
Globalization:
It seemed inconvenient when my company’s manufacturing moved to Mexico, and I couldn’t walk onto the shop floor to talk to the supervisor about his production schedule. Poor me – I had to call people who were in a slightly different time zone. Now, I participate in 6am global conference calls because my company has plants in Mexico, Canada, China, and the Philippines. I work regularly with people I have never met and will probably never meet face to face. In the process, we have all learned a little about cultural norms, and how to respect the culture we are dealing with at the time. Clear, concise communication is key when English isn’t everyone’s first language.
You should be proud of how much you have had to learn and grow and adapt during your career. It shows you are capable of doing so now and in the future. To keep up your confidence in an ever-changing world, get some tips on dealing with change. Don’t underestimate the value of this, and how this differentiates you from a younger candidate. It is another reason why you need to remember – you are fabulous!
