How to Look Younger for the Job Search

If you are searching for a job you must do everything possible to increase your chances of being hired. With the unemployment rates we see today there are several, and sometimes hundreds, of applicants for each position. Thousands of men in their 40’s and 50’s have been let go from jobs that seemed secure a year ago. You are competing against all these other people every time you apply for an opening. If you want to be successful in the job search you need to be the person the recruiter is looking for.

With so many people to choose from businesses can be very selective. The recruiters are no longer looking for just experience. They are looking for cost effective experience. This means, given two people with the same qualifications, they will choose the younger person because there is less potential for health care costs and the younger person will have a longer work life. What you must do is look as young as possible if you want a shot at filling that job.

One of the most telling attributes of a man’s age is his hair. Men with early onset male pattern baldness are routinely assumed to be 10 to 15 years older than their real age. It makes sense then to do something about that thinning on the top if you want to get ahead of the competition. The US Food and Drug Administration has certified two drugs for use in re-growing hair.

The first of these is Minoxidil which is marketing under the brand name Rogaine by Upjohn. This drug was originally tested as a treatment for high blood pressure but had the interesting side effect of helping some men to re-grow their hair after male pattern baldness set in. Rogaine is an over the counter product that is applied directly to the scalp. In one 48 week study 51% of men tested saw resulting hair growth in the frontal scalp area. Since Minoxidil can be purchased over the counter, you can try it out without the cost of a visit to your doctor.

The second certified drug is Finasteride marketed by Merck as Propecia and Proscar. This drug was also originally formulated to treat a completely different problem than baldness. Finasteride was approved by the FDA for the treatment of enlarged prostrate. This drug is taken orally in tablet form and only available by prescription. The results do seem to be better than Minoxidil though. In a study of over 1500 men with mildly to moderately thinning hair, 80% showed an increased appearance of hair with a visual inspection. Finasterides are only prescribed for men as there is an increased risk of birth defects with women who take the drug and are pregnant or become pregnant.

Neither one of these medications can be considered wonder drugs in the sense that they do not regrow hair overnight. Both drugs require several weeks or months to show results and not all men who were treated showed relief from male pattern baldness. For Minoxidil about 1 out of 2 men showed an increase in hair growth. Finasteride was more effective with 8 out of 10 increasing their hair appearance. But, in the cut throat job market we see today, everything we do to improve the appearance of youth will help our chances of landing that job.

The fact is the baby boomer generation is losing jobs in unprecedented numbers. These losses are occurring at a time when boomers are in middle age which is marked by hair loss in the majority of men. At the same time, recruiters are choosing younger looking applicants to fill the few openings there are. If you are experiencing male pattern baldness you owe it to yourself to look into getting that full head of hair back for a more youthful appearance.