Online resume advice gurus are also encouraging middle-aged jobseekers to hide clues that could give away their age. It can be tricky when many companies require applicants to share their college graduation year, but it has become a survival tactic for mid-career employees trying to avoid appearing too inexperienced or too experienced.
While she didn’t mention anything about hiding your age, she said the key to winning over hiring managers is proving you can match younger candidates’ stamina and cultural fluency while showing off your industry know-how.
She encouraged people of all ages to form so-called “irregular relationships” and get comfortable speaking with younger and older people who could be potential coworkers. For older candidates, understanding younger people can convince hiring managers that you’re a good “cultural fit.”
“[Gen Z and young millennials] have a totally different language. They care about totally different things. They have a totally different sense of humor,” she said.
Welch also advised more experienced candidates to stop focusing on past experiences in interviews and look toward the future.
“Your currency is your currency,” she said, adding that keeping up with market, industry, and geopolitical trends is a must for older candidates. “You have to prove that your currency is forward thinking. It’s out ahead. And that’s true of everybody, but the onus is much higher on the oldsters.”
She explained it’s easier for hiring to assume older candidates are stuck in their ways and less likely to adapt to a new company: “What they’re afraid of is your wealth of knowledge about what’s been.”
Welch urged jobseekers to articulate what they can do that younger people can’t do. Naturally, older candidates are better at recognizing patterns because they have more experience, which makes making decisions easier, she said.
“You can navigate a crisis because you have been through so many,” she said. “If you’ve been around in the workplace, you’ve seen hard times.”
A version of this story was published on Fortune.com on February 7, 2026.
