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Date: June 7, 2005
See: http://www.mutualofamerica.com/articles/Fortune/May2005/Fortune.asp
It used to be true that, if you lost a job at 45, 50 and up, it would take perhaps 6-8 months before you landed another one.
Not true these days.
Even with the advent of monsterjobs.com, dice.com, hotjobs.com and myriad of other internet-based resume-posting options, jobs at their last level for the older employee have gone out the window.
Age discrimination?
You bet.
And many down-sized, redundant employees past a certain age may have valid lawsuits pending in the near term.
But it is also indicative of something else, which articles belaying the problem do not always mention.
Fired or reduction victim executives try to regain an executive position at their past salary if not higher.
First, this is an invalid expectation. You were down-sized because your skill set was out of date. You age was merely an indicator. You will never get back where you were.
Second, while in the past it could take two or more years to re-climb the salary ladder once you were working, that is not the case anymore. Salaries dropped. You will never get back to where you were.
Third, you probably were focused on doing one job, when you should have demonstrated a willingness and ability to be flexible. If you do not know how to multi-task, you will never get back to where you were.
The options left to you are these:
First, access your skill-set. When is the last time you took a class? Went to a skill-set seminar? What skills do you have besides those used by the last position you held? If you do not have any, that is part of your problem.
Second, are you computer-savy, internet-savy, and email-savy? Meaning, if the system crashes, do you become hysterical or do you know what to do, who to call, and how to recover? Do you fully understand back up, the proper operation of the Microsoft office tools (Word, PowerPoint and Excel) and Outlook or a related email package? What other software are you familiar with or have expertise with?
If you answered no or none to any of these questions, get thee to a classroom nearest you. You are obsolete.
Some of us are still working in our 60s and looking forward to retirement. How did we do it?
Use contract work as a bridge. This lets you stay active.
Some people works as consultants. Others do tasks.
In my case, I accepted contract work as a technical writer/content developer, a much-reduced status at a pretty reasonable pay rate that was close to my lost salary. I had 3 to 4 months between contracts, when I used up my unemployment, my severance pay and the 13-week unemployment extension. Some people cannot handle that up and down pay rate. I welcomed it since I had a sick child who liked having me home. Good timing. I can also budget. Good skill. I reduced expenses.
Temporary jobs can expose you to new people and build your network of contacts.
I listed myself in the temporary job sources, and refused jobs that did not pay my rate. This is reasonable. You do not want to be seen to be groveling. Accept too low a rate and you devalue yourself on the job market. It was good advice. I listened and I took it.
I had many skills, of which writing was one. Multi-skills have fall-back positions.
Keep a list of active references. Phone numbers and email.
Computer literacy, exemplified by a home system equipped with all the latest software a company might think about requiring, like FrameMaker, QuarkXpress, Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, Dreamweaver, etc. set me in good stead.
If you read the job descriptions in your work area of interest, or even related job descriptions, you will pick up what software you need to know. You get it, you play with it, and you add it to your resume. (Unless it is a network-centric package, which you cannot afford. In that case, take a class.)
I did websites as a hobby to keep up that job skill. I wrote pieces for the web. I have readers.
I have written textbooks and started another one to keep up my publishing skills.
I published two technical eBooks to the web between jobs, updated books based on ones I published hardcopy 22 years ago. My new contracts came from those older books. You never know where things come from. Never throw anything related to work skills away (within reason).
If you have published in your field, someone may know you. They may find you on the web.
Get yourself a website. List your publications. List your bio and resume. List your contact information (email, phone). You should know how to set meta-indexing on your web page so you pop up in a keyword search.
Someone I worked with at one of the contract positions brought me into my current position which is full-time, has a lower title (manager instead of director), and a lower salary than I had been earning before the down-sizing, but it is good enough to pay the bills, provide health insurance and let me survive.
Pride has no place when you need to pay the mortgage. Do not turn down a lead that is less than you made before, unless it is very well below what you think you can get somewhere else and would devalue your position. However, unemployment runs out. It is a balancing act.
How often should you take a class? Once a year you should be trained in something. You resume should add things as older things fall off.
If your degree was 20 years or more back, it will not be looked at on your resume. They only want the last 14 years.
You should add a professional certificate or another degree in something from time to time so your education slot is never empty. I took a Professional Certificate in Market Communications in 1994 since my PhD in Computer Science was dated 1974. I attend seminars on products, methodologies, other topics from time to time. I attend trade shows and take classes there on occasion. I read. I will need to add another certificate or retire soon. I will also publish something.
These things are important.
If you cannot find work, you did not do this while you were working. You need to make up for it.
One other thing.
You will most likely not get a job unless you know someone who has a job. You need lots of someones. 90% or more of jobs are still filled by referral. Employers go through 200-500 or more resumes for every job they advertise.
Tragic but true.
Keyword resumes work better than others. Check out the keywords or buzzwords in job descriptions that match what you are seeking. If they apply to your skill set, put them on your resume in a keyword list. Do not lie.
You would be amazed.
Network. Talk to people. Talk to contacts. Keep track of people.
Taking a class allows you to meet the instructor, who may have other contacts you can use.
Dye your hair (you should have been doing this already). Gray is not "in". Age discrimination is a reality.
Work-out. This provides an image of energy.
Lose weight. There is weight-discrimination to be considered.
I do not recommend a sex change, although gender-discrimination is still with us.
Plastic surgery? Refreshing your face is not a bad idea if you want to stay working. Drastic action is not to be thought of. You can't lie about your age, but you can make them forget it.
Update your wordrobe to be current but not flashy. Hide your body flaws.
Last on the list, or first depending where you are in thinking about it, start your own company.
If you have a saleable item (I write books), and some ready cash you can risk, then you can start your own company and peddle that product.
If you are lucky, you can have a better title than the one you lost.
Income is another matter. Survival comes first. Success can come later.
If you are lucky, eventually that will come as well.
Above all, the next job should be one that you really want to do.
Life is short. I have reason to know this.
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