BEING FORTY AT WORK

Sir,

I am a 42-year-old man and that officially puts me in an age group that is endangered at a workplace. Why? Recruiters and other talent seekers are quite hesitant to hire this group of people unless they have exceptional skills. What do I like or hate about being 40? A number of things come to mind really but the one that stands out is ability to be in a perpetual bad mood and have an alibi for it, a midlife crisis. I am at an age whereby, I could plausibly blame my past and current failures including a stagnant career on a midlife crisis and get away with it. I could argue that I thought I would make CEO of some blue-chip company by the time I turned 40 and seeing that it didn’t happen, I am allowed to be in a perpetual bad mood!
Being 40 enables one to proudly use the word ‘No’ frequently sometimes unnecessarily so and get away with it. If you ask me for anything, the answer is going to be a resounding no from now on before I even apply my mind to it.

Opportunity

What does being 40 mean in the work environment? I have had a tremendous opportunity of working in a consulting environment for about 13 years and part of my core responsibilities have been recruiting staff for many client organisations in SD. I have interviewed candidates and I have met so many interesting people in the process. I am going to focus on how I previously treated candidates who were over 40. As usual, most of my candidates had great jobs and ditto pays but they were not very happy or satisfied anymore and this applied specifically to the over 40 something group! They felt unfulfilled. Yet, switching careers was also not an easy thing to do.

Switch

For some it is implied switching lives, handing in a bit of financial security for instance. I understand that it was not always possible for unseasoned recruiters like myself at the time to make it possible for an over 40 to switch careers. Earning less does not feel very comfortable when your mortgage is due, let alone being unemployed. So, people preferred not taking any risks and try switching careers, while still employed, for a similar package. And that is unfortunately a major issue, especially when you’re over forty years old.

At the beginning of our career, we are all very wanted. Most of us have ample opportunities. We can build a career in just a few years. At the age of 35 we are the new leaders, at the helm of some multinational brand and with big salaries to show for it. Enjoy it, while it lasts, because when you turn 40, you will then need to compete with cheaper runner ups. I am not trying to be derogatory about it but it rhymes! Cheaper runner-ups! And if you lose, you may need to consider a (financial) demotion. When I was interviewing forty-something’s, I couldn’t help but wonder whether the client could really afford to pay that huge amount of money that comes with this experience.

Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t mind recommending paying big salaries where these were deserved. I’m have always been about return on investment. But, that’s very hard to tell beforehand. ‘Look, I would love to hire you. I can really use your expertise. But I cannot afford to gamble with the financial wellbeing of my client’s company. I know you understand. I know you love the challenge I’m offering. So please, reconsider’. I have used this standard line so many times because I was sitting across the table representing the employer. But I was dealing with forty-something is some cases and more often than not, they would say no and I would then be compelled to hire the cheaper and younger runner-ups. I didn’t realise that forty was also quickly closing in on me. Now that I know better, I realise that it was wrong to let so many talents stay in a golden cage and go to waste. I was supposed to take a leap of faith!

Why I would hire a forty-something! Now I don’t hire based on anything, except the ability to do the job. I don’t hire based on age (nor gender or anything else). I only care about the right (wo)man at the right place. Everybody is entitled to a fair chance. Young trainees, more experienced people, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that really counts is whether or not someone has the ability to do the job right and that a company gets a return on the investment. Why I prefer a forty-something now!

I have worked and managed 20, 30, 40 and 50 something’s. What I came to learn over the past few years compensates me for something I no longer have, which is youthfulness. I have a better work ethic than the 20 something, more experience than the 30 something more energy than all of them! I would be willing to take a pay cut and rely more on commission as long as the same requirements are across the board.

I don’t think that because you are in your 40s your energy is drained. We have more time to devote to work, we don’t have the family responsibilities that we did. Most ladies my age won’t take maternity leave. Forty-something can devote more of their day towards work (including nights and weekends). See if your twenty-something does can say the same thing.
A forty-something is not a gamble; they are a much better risk than a twenty-something. Don’t forget the cost of training!

Now you have a potential employee that may need significant training, may take maternity leave, may have lots of sick days, probably will leave after 1-2 years OR you have a seasoned professional, with little training needs, probably won’t take maternity leave, probably won’t have a lot of sick and hangover days, and will stay in it for the long haul AND will be more devoted to their job. Who would you choose? SRA should go on a relentless quest and recruit more of my age-mates than anyone else? Heek! The cabinet reshuffle announced on November 15, 2012, proved that experience is power. A younger PS, relatively speaking was given early retirement compared to another, an over 60-year-old official, who was given a three-year contract extension. Experience is golden, not silence

Bhekumusa Nxumalo

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