Introducing Seniors@work

GrownUps have kindly invited Seniors@work to write a monthly article covering a range of topics and advice for its members who may be looking for work. There will also be articles highlighting the values and benefits of considering mature workers for employers and some human interest stories as well.

So who are Seniors@work and what do we do, what is our purpose? In simplistic terms, Seniors@work is a jobsite totally dedicated to assisting job seekers in their mid-50’s and over to find work opportunities. I am a “Senior” myself

Our key goal and objective is to make a small but meaningful difference for those job seekers.

It has been set up as a tool to connect employees with a fantastic pool of talented, skilled and experienced people who can add real value to the workplace – similar to SEEK and Trade Me Jobs but much smaller, totally targeted and with some points of difference.

Whilst Seniors@work is still very young and has only been operating for a few months, we have been heartened and encouraged by the positive feedback and support we have been receiving from employers, business associations and community groups working in the seniors space. We are building slowly but surely and are getting more momentum and traction from both large private employers, government agencies, and small and medium sized businesses – with a good number now making medium and long term commitments for 2020. This is such meaningful support not just for Seniors@work but more importantly for job seekers in their mid-50’s and over.

I mainly knock on employer’s doors, talk about what we do, highlight the values and merits of mature, experienced workers and ask employers to at least consider mature job seekers for upcoming roles. The good news is that I am now finding more doors opening and more employers happy and keen to have a chat, which is positive and exciting for mature job seekers…. but we still have a long way to go!

I also feel that Seniors@work has become a site that many people over 50 who are looking for work visit, in the knowledge and confidence that every listed position is guaranteed to be suitable for a mature worker. A win both for us, and more importantly for our job seekers, who represent so much more than just New Zealand’s “ageing population problem”. A job seeker looking for work on Seniors@work also has the confidence to know that any employer who has listed a position with Seniors@work has made a conscious decision and commitment to want to recruit and welcome an older worker into their workplace – this is such a positive message for them and instantly takes away any possible questions or concerns about ageism discrimination!

Simple advice for this first article – if you are serious about finding suitable work, please do “spend some time” in preparation, whether with your CV, a covering letter, preparing for an interview, doing some “research” about the organisation which you are applying to work for etc. We will provide much more detailed advice in upcoming articles

If you are looking for work, which could be full-time, part-time, casual or project, at least have a look at our jobsite, https://seniorsatwork.nz/, register, drop in your CV and create an email job alert. It will cost you nothing – we have a Work Readiness info pack and the employers who list with us want to take on mature workers! You can also follow us on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SeniorsatworkNZ/