Q I HAVE a friend with a degree who is 40 years old but has been unemployed since being retrenched four years ago from a finance company.

Even temp jobs in banks are hard to come by. She has tried employment agencies but to no avail and has considered switching to human resource (HR) or even recruitment consulting.

However, these avenues are not working either. Most HR jobs require experience or a HR diploma, but getting one of these might not be the solution either.

As age is now becoming a problem in getting a job, it seems like the end of the road for her. What should she do?

A RETRENCHMENT is definitely a life-changing, even traumatic, experience.

Your friend has to realise that retrenchment is a business decision made by the management and not a reflection of your friend's capabilities or value as an employee.

Your friend has accumulated a wealth of experience. List these and her achievements to identify her strengths and how these can be applied in the job market.

Start with her job history, indicating the period she was in each post. Go through them, indicating the type of organisation, industry, job function and responsibilities, experiences, achievements and so forth.

Also list her participation in any company-related activities, such as social and recreation clubs, orientation programmes for new employees, any voluntary work outside of work and even university-related activities.

The list should begin to look like a curriculum vitae (CV) now but don't view it as a conventional one. Help your friend see that she has accumulated significant experience in these jobs.

In structuring her CV, there may be two major sections. The first should highlight her knowledge and skills and the second may be a list of organisations she has worked in, with a summary of her responsibilities and achievements.

Knowledge is the intimate understanding of a particular job function or an industry. For example, sales experience in the aviation industry.

A skill is an ability acquired or developed through training or experience. Skills can be technical such as the ability to use a particular software, or soft skills such as communication, organisation, management or leadership.

At this point, you should see that there is a list of transferable knowledge and skills.

For example, your friend may have first attended software training that has equipped her with some basic knowledge and that has developed into a skill over time. She may even have acquired the ability to train another person in using the software.

This knowledge, skill and ability can be transferred to another organisation.

In writing her job history, she may indicate the years of experience instead of indicating a period of time - such as 'seven years of clinical research experience in a public health-care organisation'.

Help her identify the areas where she has accumulated substantial experience and look for job adverts that require her expertise. Structure her CV such that her experience addresses the needs of the job advertiser.

You should also prepare her for the actual interview. A good approach is to think of the interviewer as an acquaintance and the interview session as chit- chat. Role-play with her, introduce her to strangers and encourage her to engage in a conversation.

She should also prepare an answer as to why she has been jobless for four years, and honesty is always the best policy.

Employers typically select new employees based on their knowledge, skills and abilities and how they feel the new person will contribute and fit in.

If it is perceived that younger candidates are getting the jobs instead of your friend, it may be that they display more enthusiasm.

Assess your friend's natural personality and highlight the positive aspects of it. If she tends to be quiet, then get her to be confident so that she displays quiet confidence, which is another engaging personality.

Help your friend realise her strengths and how she can contribute to the Singapore economy, and help her focus on the positive for a positive outcome.

Jaime Lim
Consulting Director
PeopleSearch