“There are good chances for the 50s age group to win executive positions! It is worth paying more attention to the 50+ generation, because of their change in attitude and their appreciation in the labour market, ” – said Györgyi Kristóf, Manager and Strategic Adviser of Hammel & Hochreiter.
Experience shows that job interviews and the current selection process have a disadvantage for this age group simply because they have grown up in a different system. In former times, when they were headhunted in the so-called pull market, there was a shortage in managers and employees. In the early 1990s, many new companies moved to Hungary. These companies were lacking managers, so this age group did not have to learn to write CVs and to participate in telephone or personal interviews. This is exactly what we experience in the current process. Proactively, they are not good enough, they have little practice in this field, which is a disadvantage. What counts as a benefit to this age group is that today’s 45- to 50-year-olds are no longer the age group of our parents. Their awareness, self-recognition, self-confidence, experience, openness to technology, and responsiveness to changes are much greater. They use the same devices, the same hardware, software, and platforms as their kids. In this respect, today’s twenties, thirties, forties and fifties are quite similar.
Nowadays, employer can rely more on a 40- to 50-year-old in the long run than on a 20 or 30-year-old worker. The reason for this is very simple: The elderly is experienced, restrained, and because of their family situation, they no longer want to move. Although this does not only depend on the age group, but rather on the personality profile that both employers and those in the selection often mix. It is not the age which determines how flexible, open-minded or whether you are suited to be a long-term employee you are, but it is the personality.
When we talk about senior job vacancies in Hungary today, it is evident that men are more likely to be in such positions than women. Of course, this also depends on what kind of industry, business culture and position we are talking about. In a technical area, for example a production company, a German company culture, is sure to choose a man rather than a female leader. Women have a leading role in HR, marketing, or a supportive function. The position of chief accountant may be possible, but the controlling or financial leader is mostly male. Analysing this phenomenon from another perspective, it can be said that women are much more tolerant to transition periods in their lives. In these situations, they focus more on their family, their children, their husband or their partner. Women are less vulnerable when it comes to changes. According to research, 40-50+ men are eight times more likely to have a possible heart attack when they do not have a job, as opposed to just working a lot, having stress, smoking, or leading an unhealthy lifestyle.
High level of self-knowledge and self-awareness bear a great importance regardless of age. According to our experiences, younger people (20-30-year-olds) have a very high level of self-knowledge, self-awareness and career planning. The fifties could not reach that, they were not forced into consciousness, nor did they think about what their core professions would be, what university they went to, where they worked, because they studied in Hungary, became an economist, a lawyer, an engineer, a doctor. Today, however, it is possible to study in any country, university or faculty, and much greater self-awareness is needed to start a career. Due to the previous pull market system, self-knowledge and self-awareness of the fifties is what requires great development. Managers in their 50s still do not anticipate deliberately. If you spend 10 to 20 years in one place and then you are not planning the industry, business culture or location consciously, then you will typically switch your job in every 1.5 years. When you are at the age of 50, you should practically think about what you will do in the next 5 to 10 to 15 years, because you will no longer have the option to switch every 1.5 years until retirement, simply because there will be no demand for somebody like you. Consciousness, planning and self-knowledge are all very important factors that make the fifties more prosperous in the labour market.
