Older Workers: Get Over Your Fear of the Computer

Here's an interesting piece from CareerJournal that lists their thoughts on how older job hunters can stage a career comeback. In particular, I found this set of quotes very interesting:

According to a study by Forrester Research, 78% of working-age adults in the United States use computers, either at home or at work.

Trouble is, says Don Sutaria, president of career counseling firm CareerQuest in Union, N.J., "A lot of people over the age of 45 or 50 are afraid of the computer, since they didn't grow up with it."

But unless and until the remainder of the population gains mastery over the computer, their careers will be stymied. Says career counselor Linsey Levine: "They're shooting themselves in the foot."

I know exactly what they mean. I can think of several people who either 1) are afraid of the computer or 2) say they "don't need it." These people are all over 50. I don't know a single person 40 or below who says he/she doesn't like/need a computer.

Yes, there will be plenty of Wal-mart greeter-type jobs available for a time to come, but many, many jobs will require older workers to learn at least basic computer skills. CareerJournal says that most older workers simply need to learn three simple tasks:

The ability to operate a basic computer, by typing on a keyboard; manipulating a small device, known far and wide as the mouse, that controls the movement of the cursor on the computer monitor; and navigating the files and menu systems on a Mac or PC.
 
The ability to operate Microsoft Office programs, especially Word (a word-processing program which enables you to create and edit basic documents), Excel (which enables you to create and edit spreadsheets) and PowerPoint (which enables you to create presentations).
 
The ability to use essential Internet skills such as employing e-mail (which enables you to send and receive messages around the world in an instant), Web browsing (which enables you to navigate Web pages on the Internet) and searching for information on the Web.

Seems really, really easy for most of us, but then again, we grew up with the computer.

If you're an older worker and looking to re-enter the job market (or maybe advance in your career), you need to be honest with yourself and determine whether or not your lack of computer skills is holding you back. If it is, then do something about it to correct the situation. Your career is your most important financial asset, so don't waste or minimize it because of the unknown.

Besides, running a computer is really FUN!!!!! ;-)

Comments

[MoleOnABull]

Haha... nice title :-)

It's true though.

[Ciji]

I know someone who was so scared (stubborn? short-sighted?) to learn new computer skills she passed up promotion after promotion, even tho' her job offered paid training for the skills. When she finally HAD to take a promotion, she hid her ignorance by passing off any computer-related work to co-workers. After 10 years of this, her job finally told her to take a basic class or be forced into early retirement. She took retirement. When I showed her how much money she lost over the years and how she lost BIG by retiring early, she nearly fainted: nearly $175K in earnings.

And I can't tell you how different my dad's business would be if he would have been at least open to the idea of incorporating computer technology into his company. I know he wouldn't still be working at 73.

[A Tentative Personal Finance Blog]

My parents aren't necessarily extremely old, but their aversion to computers really puzzles me. Both of them worked at USRobotics during the tech boom and you would think that people working at a company so tied to computers and technology would love the things they produce... but my mom is a luddite and my dad has retired and hates being in front of a computer. They say it's too hard or too complicated to learn. They came from Vietnam and had much simpler lives growing up. Maybe that's the cause for the aversion.