Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

When I was 25 years old I bought my first new car. It was a Toyota Celica and it was beautiful although I couldn't afford air conditioning or an automatic transmission. It had a manual transmission and since I didn't know how to operate a stick shift, my dad drove it home from the dealership. I bought it on a Saturday and I had to drive it to work the following Monday. What was I thinking? I spent the weekend practicing in the parking lot of Saint Michael's Church. The lot had a slight incline so I learned to change from first to second gear by going up and down that incline. Come Monday morning I drove from my home on the Jersey shore to Westchester County New York. I sailed through the toll booths in second gear, threw my quarter blindly and hoped it landed in the basket.

I thought about that time yesterday after purchasing a Blackberry. I wanted one for the convenience of scheduling and checking my business email while away from my office. When the salesman started throwing acronyms at me about the phone I challenged myself to get with the program. It took me 24 hours to figure out where my email contacts are and I mistakenly called my daughter as she was welcoming her group of first graders to their first day of school. Still, I am not going to let this uneasy bump in my learning curve get to me. I am still figuring it out and tonight plan to run over to Borders and pick up a copy of Blackberry’s for Dummies.

What's this have to do with the job search? Lots. Older (over 40) job seekers need to always stay on top of technology and be willing to learn about it even in their off time. Reading, classes, and practice are the keys to staying fresh in the business. This isn't hard for those who are technically savvy but it can be challenging for those of us who use the other side of our brains. Don't throw up your hands and say it is too difficult; don't let a position turn you off because you feel it might be too complicated. Stay fresh, stay optimistic and don't ever let yourself become untrainable. Like the pleasure I felt shifting gears on the Garden State Parkway all those years ago, it is just another obstacle conquered.