Queenager Careers: Over 50 and looking for a job? Check out our Noon Jobs Board

Check out our exclusive list of roles picked for Queenagers

Dear Queenagers,

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been addicted to And Just Like That, the Sex and the City reboot for Queenagers… and I particularly love the Charlotte storyline about her going back to work and ‘slaying’ in the gallery. It’s not just on the TV that older women can boss it - our generation of women are working longer and more successfully than any that has come before. But we know it gets more tricky to get back in as we age which is why we do these monthly Queenager Jobs Board newsletters, to link you up with employers who are actively recruiting over 50s.

So Welcome to our August Queenager Jobs newsletter. We understand how depressing it can be to apply for endless jobs online and never hear anything back; but just remember, it’s not YOU, it’s the algorithm. Recent research found that anyone with a career gap in their CV (ie loads of Queenagers) or just a birth date putting them north of 50 was immediately removed from contention: the computer said NO.

If you couple recalcitrant algorithms with conscious and unconscious bias in recruiters, then it is not surprising that older applicants using traditional jobs boards can have a success rate of only 1-3% compared to up to 20 per cent for younger workers. New research from 55Redefined shows that only 24% of HR leaders aged 25-30 are motivated to hire 55-75 year olds compared to 63% of HR leaders aged 46-50. As 55 Redefined’s Founder Lyndsey Simpson puts it “That is a huge barrier!”

Add to those systemic issues the fact that gendered ageism -  where sexism hits ageism -  also unfairly impacts Queenagers (if you want to feel really depressed about it read this article about a new study in the Harvard Business Review)  and you have the perfect storm!

Luckily help is at hand. Here at The Queenager and on Noon (our platform for women in midlife noon.org.uk where the Queenager Jobs Board sits) we are trying to change the story we tell about the later stages of women’s lives to something more optimistic and fit for purpose.

We’re doing that by telling inspirational stories of women 50 plus who have pivoted into a new career, or chapter, or purpose, or started a business, or gone on an adventure. Our motto is: So Much More to Come. We are a unique and pioneering generation of women; there have never been women like us at this stage before. We are the first cohort to work all the way through our lives, raising our kids (if we have them nearly a third of university educated Queenagers are childfree)  while mostly staying employed. This shift is there in the 2019 Census where women over 40 started earning more money than women under 40 for the first time ever. And guess what? Many of us want, and need, to keep earning… why should we stop? Many of us are likely to lead a 100 year life – and in the 100 year life, 50 is only half way through.

But there are still battles to fight. I love this quote from Baroness Martha Lane Fox (yes I am a fan, I interviewed her earlier this summer here is a link if you missed it)

about older workers:  "In some areas of working life, we relish the older generation, albeit men more than women: think of presidential campaigns, touring aged rockers or even monarchs. In business, we still seem squeamish and biased. This is a shame. We have potential as a country to do more to support older people in remaining in or returning to work. Let’s unleash their power, not hide it away."

So YES Martha, that is exactly what we are trying to do – and if you are a Queenager who wants a job, check out some of these, from this month’s age-friendly featured employer NatWest Bank. If you’d like to know more about their age-friendly policies and support for what they call ‘colleague wellbeing practices then check them out HERE: 

 This month because we know that you Queenagers are looking for different things from a job we’ve got some new headings:

1.      Purpose driven – jobs which will make a difference

Journey Transformation Leads in the HR function at Nat West.   
Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, London
 “lead and develop a small team that's focused on processes, experience improvements and innovation” Click for info: HERE

Nat West Customer Journey Developers in the Banking Relationships Team
Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, London, Surrey.

“As a Customer Journey Developer within our Start and Manage My Banking Relationship team, you'll support a prioritised journey backlog to improve the end-to-end customer journey for bereavements, closures and customer driven exits. You'll use your experience to identify opportunities to improve the customer experience and reduce pain points in the journey. Working in sprints as part of a self-organising team, you'll make sure that we place the customer at the heart of everything we do, while retaining a commercial drive.  “ Click for info: HERE

2.      We know that flexibility is 16 times more important to Queenagers than status, so here are some jobs with flexibility built in

Nat West have Personal Banker roles up and down the country in branches on your local High Street with flexible options – full time, part time, permanent and temporary.
“As the first point of contact in our branches, customers will be at the very heart of your role” Click HERE for more information

3. A specific area of expertise

Nat West Fraud and Scam prevention Click for info  HERE

Nat West Audit, Accounting, book keeping: Click for info  HERE

3.      Additional Age Inclusive Jobs

Hargreaves Lansdown, Bristol

Part time, full time, flexible Customer Service Roles… HERE

Or if you have Pensions and Benefits Administrator experience and live near Bristol click HERE

Bank of Ireland Dublin, Senior Legal Role

Head of Legal, Mortgage and Consumer Banking – click for info HERE

We’d love to hear from you about your jobs search – and whether any of these jobs have worked for you – please email me at eleanor@inherspace.co.uk and tell me your stories. Are you fed up with the Algorithm? Having trouble finding work? Or maybe it’s all great, either way I’d love to hear from you!

And if you’d like to find out more about what 55 Redefined are trying to do to make workplaces more open to older employees find out HERE

Have a great bank holiday weekend! I’ll be sending out my Eleanor’s Letter newsletter all about how to cope with endings on Sunday.

Love

Eleanor