If you’re around age 45, you have 1 key advantage at work

If you’re fortunate enough to be healthy and around the age of 45, you are uniquely qualified to take advantage of several essential skills that make you more marketable than others.

As a mid-level manager, I am always excited when applicants in their mid-forties apply for a position. 

One of the key advantages is your life experiences

People around 45 have been through several decades of work experience and the trials and struggles of life.

They have seen how to overcome obstacles and what strategies worked over time and which did not. This experience can’t be artificially taught or replaced.

The life experience alone is worth its weight in gold. Applying decades of life skills and knowledge to the workplace is conducive to displaying natural leadership skills.

In addition to using life experience to complement your current work environment, life experiences can prepare you to take advantage of the repotting theory.

You have management experience

As the workforce grows and expands, companies are now looking to hire people with management experience to lead their organizations forward into uncharted territories.

While younger generations may be more tech-savvy than the older, the management and leadership experience of those in their forties can provide much-needed direction.

Several studies have been published that show a decline in social skills due to social media prevalence. Older generations have less experience with social media, which is a significant factor in their overall ability to communicate clearly.

You know what you want

Workers in their 40s’ generally know what they want in life and are not willing to jump on the next available opportunity.

Younger generations tend to jump from job to job in search of bigger and better opportunities. However, older generations tend to remain with the same company for many years.

If you’re still motivated and driven, the decades of experience in the workforce provide a high level of expertise. The amount of work experience has added many tools to the employee’s toolbelt that they can draw from at any given time. With motivation and a good work ethic, employers recognize high experience levels and are willing to pay extra for the experience level alone.

You’re young enough to learn new skills

With the life and work experience at the age of 45, you are still young enough to learn new skills and adapt to new technologies.

We all know those who are afraid of the change either because they can’t or refuse to learn and adapt to new artificial intelligence automation. 

You have large professional networks

However, in your mid-forties, your mind is still young enough to comprehend many of these advances and changes to develop your life and work experience further.

While social media networks create artificial networks, employees around 45 usually have extensive personal networks they can draw from.

The Center on Aging and Work at Boston College conducted a study and found that 46.3% of employers reported their older employees to have more diverse and extensive professional networks than younger generations. The same study discovered that only 30% believed the younger workers had more expansive professional networks.

Another push for older workers comes from a scientific study published in SAGE journals Review of General Psychology. The study found that generally, mental horsepower begins to decline after the age of 30. However, knowledge and expertise, which are the main predictors of job performance, continue to increase past 80. 

Embrace your 40s

While some fear getting older, others understand the value workers around 45 bring to the workforce.

As people continue to live longer, our ability to offer more experience and value to the economy increases.