Success Story: Amidst Ageism

When we first met Lee, she felt doubtful and downtrodden. "Who is going to hire me at my age? Companies are going to hire the younger people who will grow over the years," she claimed to us.

"That's exactly why we want to position you to stand out from them," 4SIGHT's Ben Foster strategized. Unfortunately, ageism is real in the hiring world. Yet, Ben's intuition gained from sixteen years in recruiting told him that Lee would see the most success by being bold, staying true to herself, and highlighting her unique value. "There are companies out there who want an administrative professional exactly like you," he assured.

Given Lee's area of expertise in administrative management, executive assistance and office coordination, we leveraged our marketing minds to swiftly help secure Lee's next role.

We rewrote Lee's candidate summary on her resume to hit hard:

I am: Reliable, intuitive & anticipatory, professional, detailed; an expert process-improver and relationship-builder. Seeking an organization who values my simple desire & consistent ability to execute quality administrative work every day. And, I remove a mean printer jam.

I am not: Seeking a promotion in 6 months, under-challenged, the “diva” type, a flight risk.

"You sure about this?" asked Lee.

"Absolutely!" replied Ben. "A recruiter reads dozens, sometimes hundreds of resumes in one sitting, sifting through them for 10 seconds each until we're blurry-eyed. If I'm reviewing applicants for an admin professional and I come across this ... I'm going to stop, think to myself 'Whoa, this is different!' and give that resume a full look once, twice even three times." After all, the intro talks to the reader, says exactly what you'll get with the candidate (tailored to an admin job), and even adds some humor.

Within a few weeks of applying and with some strategic interview prep, Lee was hired into an ideal role at a great new employer, amidst an unprecedented Covid-era hiring climate.