Reliability, ability to cope with stress and loyalty are among the values employers value in more mature workers, HR experts say.
“In today’s extremely and ongoing tight labour market, employers are realising that the broader the employment pool, the pool of people that they’re pulling from, the better,” said Australian HR Institute chief executive officer Sarah McCann-Bartlett said.
The Institute co-published its most recent report Employing and Retaining Older Workers with the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2023.
It found hiring managers considered older employees to be more reliable, committed, and loyal, plus had better concentration, attendance, and ability to cope with stress, compared with younger colleagues.
Ms McCann-Bartlett said job seekers aged 60 and over returning to the job market should think about their knowledge, skills, and experience and how they might be transferable across different organisations, roles, industries and sectors.
“Once you start to think about that, you will find that the breadth of opportunities available are wider than you might think,” she said.
Ms McCann-Bartlett said jobseekers should tell people already in their networks that they’re looking for a job, plus to reach out to recruiters and consider going back to a former workplace.
“People love employees coming back nowadays, because it means that they’ve still got that connection [and] they understand the business,” she said.
Ms McCann-Bartlett said people should have an up to date LinkedIn profile and to use modern words that describe their skills in their CV and any online job boards, as algorithms and AI that ‘read’ the information will come up with better matches and bring them further up the list of candidates.
They should practice answering modern interviewing behaviour-type questions where candidates need to give real examples to situations and the outcomes from them, plus how to present on camera.
For people seeking career advancement, she said people should bring their energy and demonstrate their understanding, experience and interest in technology to the interview process to help stave off any ageist views.
“Give examples of recent roles where you have really delivered, brought that energy and your experience, because that’s a really terrific combination,” she said.
For those wanting a casual role where younger people might be cheaper to hire, for example customer service, she said to highlight their ability to be calm under pressure, think on their feet, aren’t easily rattled, and willingly bring enthusiasm, skills and experience to share with their colleagues.
HR Partners managing director David Owens concurred with many of Ms McCann-Bartlett’s points.
Mr Owens said an interview in 2025 meant candidates can’t rely on tenure, longevity or senior title to prove that they can do a job.
“You have to be able to communicate that you are competent and capable by sharing good examples or recent metrics which can underscore your suitability,” he said.
For people looking to climb the corporate ladder, he said it was good to showcase any boards or advisor board experiences, plus being a speaker or contributor at a conference or lecturing or guest-starring in a training seminar or webinar, plus to be prepared to be asked about AI.