University careers advisers are used to steering fresh-faced students towards the labour market \u2013 but they are now increasingly seeing graduates in their 40s and 50s looking for help to revive their careers.<\/p>\n
More UK universities are now giving their graduates lifelong access to campus careers services, including advice with job applications and interview preparation as well as helping to find new opportunities for those who feel stuck.<\/p>\n
Gil Hamilton had been in the same job for 17 years and was increasingly unhappy. She said she had no idea she could still access careers advice at the Lancaster University, where she studied in the mid-2000s, until a chance remark earlier this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really quite worried about changing jobs, I hadn\u2019t had a job interview in 18 years, I hadn\u2019t had a different job in all that time, I didn\u2019t have a CV, I didn\u2019t have anything. It was quite daunting. I couldn\u2019t remember how to write a CV or cover letters, interviews were obviously terrifying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t thought about speaking to anyone in a professional capacity, and then a friend mentioned that they\u2019d read in an alumni magazine about getting careers advice from their university, so that\u2019s how I heard about it,\u201d Hamilton said.<\/p>\n
Lancaster\u2019s careers service put her in touch with its career coach Rachel Beauchamp, who proofread her CV and talked her through the rigours of the current job market.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was feeling, do I actually have any other skills? Can I do anything else? Rachel was really good at saying: look at all these things that you\u2019ve done and how you could use those in different contexts. That was probably the most helpful thing, as well as a bit of confidence,\u201d said Hamilton, who successfully interviewed for a new job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so nervous on the day of the interview \u2013 I\u2019d had interview prep with Rachel where we talked about the questions that might be asked and how to prepare for them. Although I was terrified at the interview \u2013 I could feel myself shaking \u2013 I felt I sold myself well and got across all the things I am good at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beauchamp said Hamilton was like many older graduates who had not applied for jobs through formal routes for 15 to 20 years, and wanted trusted sources of advice.<\/p>\n
Beauchamp said: \u201cI\u2019ve had quite a few people who have had caring responsibilities and have been out of work for quite some time. Now they are going back into the workplace and don\u2019t know how to approach it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore recently, it\u2019s been around people facing redundancies or changes at their work, so they may be looking at retraining or going into something new.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of the challenge for older graduates, according to Beauchamp, is recognising the skills they have gained outside their workplace. Beauchamp recently helped a graduate with extensive experience running parent groups at her children\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019d been out of work for 12 years and now she wanted to get back into the workforce. I had an initial appointment with her about writing her CV, and I saw that she\u2019d undersold herself. She\u2019s now just started in an administrative role in the NHS, based on that confidence boost and the CV support,\u201d Beauchamp said.<\/p>\n