My 'Jerry Maguire' Manifesto

I’ve got a bone to pick with hiring managers. I believe you’re overlooking a huge demographic of  hirees—women in their forties and fifties, looking to reenter the work space after taking time to raise a family.

Full disclosure: for the past few weeks, I’ve been applying for copywriter jobs, careful to pick the ones I know I’m qualified for. By that, I mean, I’m not applying for the ones looking for candidates who have spent the past ten years at a large agency, spearheading award-winning campaigns for luxury brands. But ones that fit perfectly with the skills I possess at this moment, so as to be a confident asset to the company. I’m not delulu, after all.

These women are being passed over even before they’ve had the opportunity to be interviewed. They’re receiving form letters praising their skills, yet the company is moving in another direction, only for the company to re-post the same job two weeks later.

These women, who are erasing all dates from their resumés, are a perfect fit for the listing they’ve taken the time to carefully analyze. They’re not over-inflating their qualifications, they’ve just spent the past two decades teaching their children not to lie. Unfortunately, they’re not being considered, not even being spoken to. They are severely overlooked and undervalued.

Do you know what they’ve spent the past twenty years doing? Exactly what you’re looking for! They’ve been multitasking, teaching, coordinating, scheduling, networking, promoting, writing, problem-solving, co-founding non-profits, supporting the current CEO, all while continuing their education, and all before dinner. They are strong, and scrappy and tireless and social.

I keep hearing complaints about how the younger generation doesn’t want to come in to the office. I personally know a young candidate who’s been fired a few times for not wanting to work in office…when their office was in the same building they lived in! Yet, every time this young person was fired, they were re-hired by a different company, at a higher salary.

Women in their forties and fifties look forward to coming into an office to work, as they haven’t worn their ‘outside clothes’ in years! They also want to collaborate, to be a part of the culture, to help you succeed. Plus, given the opportunity, they will create that campaign, that will win your company awards, because that’s just what they do. They don’t just survive, they thrive.

So, the next time you glance at that resumé of the woman (or man) who has taken a short hiatus to raise the next generation, give them a second look—and an interview, you just might be pleasantly surprised at what they bring to the table.

P.S. Not one word of this was written by AI