As an older worker in Connecticut, what's it like trying to find a new job? Here's what we learned.

[TexasTowelie]

Imagine, late in your career, creating a LinkedIn profile, chopping your extensive resume down to two pages, and peppering your cover letter with algorithm-friendly keywords.

After months of trying, you finally land the elusive phone or in-person interview with a hiring manager. And then: crickets.

Computer programmer Mark Kirschblum has been looking for work since December 2018.

"It's more of a science, almost an art," Kirschblum says. "I'm somewhat introverted, so to do the networking gets me out of my comfort zone. But you do what you have to do."

Read more: https://www.courant.com/politics/capitol-watch/hc-pol-capitol-watch-podcast-older-workers-in-connecticut-20191001-dr7ltx7bbna6pc6xvugeovvt7i-story.html
(Hartford Courant)

[pertello]

1. It sucks

I lost my job at 59. I applied to over 250 jobs in my industry (paralegal) and to any and all office jobs. I scored 3 interviews: 1 with a home care agency, they asked my previous salary and said they couldn’t match it, and 2 temp agencies who never had work for me after the interview.
It takes exactly 2 seconds to look up my full name in google and learn that I’m 60.
I changed fields and became certified and licensed as a CNA, got a low paying job in a nursing home, but it was too physically demanding (there’s a lot of lifting, carrying). I had to quit. I’m now a stay at home caregiver for my disabled 85 y.o. Mother at a mere $47 per day. We can barely get by on the “Gold Coast”, with high rent. I’m on a wait list for low income housing. I go to a food pantry now. I was rejected for Husky healthcare.

So that’s what it’s like to be an older unemployed worker in CT.

[LittleGirl]

2. I'll be 60

In a couple of weeks and gave up looking.

The last phone interview I had was in Switzerland and the second question was “how old are you?”

I was so shocked I had to think for a minute and said 55. The interview continued, I was looking for an office job even though I was previously an IT administrator for a global company and I never heard from them again.

I returned to AZ in 2017 and physically went to all the temp agencies and they wouldn’t even consider me because I hadn’t worked for 2 years. I asked one recruiter how that was fair to new Mothers and she had no answer for me.

[Farmer-Rick]

3. Yeah when the crash hit, or the great RepubliCON recession, I lost my job at 57

I was lucky, I owned a functioning farm. I merely beefed up the farming half of my working life.

But I tried and tried to find a paying job to finish up my working life. I got interviews, my resume is good. But when they see me, gray hair wrinkles and all, within 5 minutes I would get these questions to ferret out my age.

It use to be, if I interviewed, I got the job. Not after the Bush and Cheney crash. I went to 12 interviews and not a single offer. It's like they knew they could easily get away with age discrimination.

[SWBTATTReg]

10. Amazing that age questions are illegal, but they (interviewers) still either manage to blatantly...

still ask what your age is or they figure it out via other ways. Doesn't experience count for anything anymore? I was glad to hear that you still have that other side of your working life, the working farm. Take care.

[Nay]

11. No, experience doesn't count for anything anymore. Know why? Your experience is

not worth (to them) the added health insurance use (if offered), the cheapness of a young new hire, the naivete of a new hire, etc.

[LittleGirl]

20. Ding, Ding, Ding!!! BINGO

That’s it in a nutshell. They don’t give af.
Benefits, what’s that?

If you don’t work out, another is waiting behind them.

[LittleGirl]

21. Yup! It all changed. N/t

[kimbutgar]

27. My brother in law at 59 took a job with the post office in Arizona FYI because he couldn't find a

A job in his field as a system administrator. Good pay and benefits like paid vacation the post office. He drives his truck delivering mail and likes it!

[calimary]

4. Bookmarking.

[NCDEM4EVR]

5. Was in the same boat 6 years ago

Had been an IT Manager for a number of companies for over 30 years, my last job was with a local privately owned telecom company running their IT service and support division, and had been with them for about 7 years when the owner decided to retire and sell the company. It took 1 month from the time it was announced that the company was sold till it changed hands, and when the new owner cleaned house, the offered me a position as a excusive contractor. Had a big decision to make, I was 62 at the time and had for years toyed with the fact of doing my own thing, but never pulled the trigger. There was a lot of safety in always having a paycheck coming in to count on, and of course the benefits. However, I decided that if it was going to happen, that was the time and I pulled that trigger and formed my own business. Best move I ever made, although the sleepless nights for the first year was no picnic. Sometimes you just need to stop looking outside for the solution and look within, it's there, you just need to listed closely and have faith in yourself (that was the hard part for me).

Ageism is real, and you just need to accept and deal the things you can control, that isn't one of them, it is what it is.

[SWBTATTReg]

13. Good advice. "Ageism is real and you just need to accept and deal with" (it (sic))" ...

Perhaps they'll crack down on this job discrimination due to age, but I doubt it. I don't laugh anymore when someone tells me a 'Be a door greeter at Walmart' joke or such...not very funny if you ask me. Not that I'm knocking the door greeter job, its a job and pays money. It is the demeaning of a whole generation of Americans because of their age by the rest of Americans.

Take care.

[NJCher]

14. way to go

However, I decided that if it was going to happen, that was the time and I pulled that trigger and formed my own business.

I think this is one of the best options. If you're going to work, work for yourself. You're going to be pinching pennies anyway, waiting for an offer to come through, so why not build up some income propositions instead of waiting for a job offer to develop?

Another note: watch for businesses where older people run the place. They are very often happy to have someone else on board and with whom they can relate. I know of a number of situations like this and it's worked every time.

Yet another one: I know of an older person who is very successful with this. He positions himself as the "grandfather" of the industry. Now people actually come to him with their contracts. If "grandfather" can't get them into the marketplace, then no one can is kind of the thinking. So in other words, make age/experience a marketing point.

[lonely bird]

6. Hey, c'mon!

You should be polishing your brand! Anyone can be an entrepreneur!

Sorry, please do not step in the steaming puddle of sarcasm.

Colin Couch believes that the gig economy will go away. I do not share his optimism. Not only is the gig economy here to stay, it will increase. Jobs with corporations will become more and more focused on benefits for the employer with much negative impact on the employee.

There is only one way to change that.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. No there are at least TWO ways to change that. It is part of the widening income/wealth inequality

Wide inequalities of the the type we are experiencing now do not last. Either

1) They are democratically improved by wealth redistribution (higher taxes on the rich is a start).

2) They are non-democratically but popularly improved by violent revolution.

It's the choice of the 1% which way they want to go. Poor and lower economic class people don't have as much to lose.

[SWBTATTReg]

15. Since a heck of a big chunk goes to the top 1%ers, why should they worry about what a ...

sizeable chunk of America's workers say? They still are going to get their 1%er slice of the pie, while leaving us all in the lurch.

You are exactly right that this is a widening income/wealth disparity/income gap...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Stupid employers don't realize that older folks have a wealth of experience and keen judgement

That is all being wasted by the 30-45 year olds in Human Resources who think they are so smart by automatically rejecting older people.

[Joe Nation]

9. I will be 61 this week and I fortunately work in a recession proof business

I'm going to retire in a year and a half. I would hate the thought of having to look for a job at my age. I have tons of experience and have kept my skills up to date and have always been a person that shows up for work on time, a person that does his job, and gets along with everyone in the office. The chances of me getting another professional job at my age = 0. I wouldn't even bother trying.

[Perseus]

12. The reality is that the new wave of entrepreneurs is going to come from the older generation

Ageism has always been an issue in the workforce, corporations want younger employees because they think they will bring fresh ideas, and to an extent that is true, older folks tend to stay in their comfort zone and many times are reluctant to embrace new technologies and new ideas. If it works why fix it?

Where employers fail is to value the incredible experience that older folks bring to the table, they know what has worked in the past and what has not, younger employees will make the same mistakes that could have been avoided if an experience person had been on the team.

Anyway, ageism has forced the older generation to go on their own, to start new businesses, and that is what the older generation should embrace, to try new things, it is rejuvenating, don't be afraid to buy courses in places like UDEMY, if you are in technology, they are cheap and can give you the knowledge you need to become competitive by learning new technologies.

Don't loose faith, be adventurous to embrace the new stuff, maybe it is time to make your hobby into a successful business. A friend of mine's hobby was carpentry, he retired and decided to start making furniture to sell it on the week-ends at garage sales from his backyard, the stuff he makes is beautiful so people started noticing, suddenly a commission came around, then more commissions, he now has a woodworking shop and a couple of employees, I don't know how far he is going to take it, but today he is making enough money to enjoy his life while having fun with his hobby.

Don't loose faith friend, reinvent yourself, you can do it, and I bet you can do better than working for someone else. I know the insurance may be a factor, but with a new Democratic president that is going to be solved, have faith and good luck to you.

[SWBTATTReg]

16. Good advice!! nt

[TexasTowelie]

18. Even that can be difficult these days.

I've lived in mid-sized cities that instituted ordinances that limit residents to two garage/yard sales per year and others that limited the number of additional buildings on their property. Some cities also limit parking on the street and only allow vehicles to park on "improved surfaces" on private property. These aren't HOAs or gated communities, but middle class towns with plenty of blue-collar and trade workers. Those regulations make it tough to start or keep a business.

[Skittles]

24. excellent advice

just one correction: it is LOSE faith, not loose

[yankeepants]

17. I will be 62 in 3 weeks

I lost my last best job in 2008 in the Bush era economic disaster. I was a technical proofreader working on a 5 year- $25/hr project upgrading Procedure Documents at a Nuke Plant. I had been there6 months when Lehman Bros. fell overnight the project was shut down. The plant was bonded through them. The powers that be (no pun intended) walked in, told us to clean out and go home. So many lost their retirement etc.
Being a 50 something woman in search of work is no joke. It is like being inspected rather than interviewed. The job I did land at reduced pay was supposed to be working with the web designer writing text for a bio equipment company. Instead I was used as a secretary transcribing the rantings of the narcissist CEO.
This co. also had a layoff . They let the web guy go so I asked the CEO to let me walk . He did and I was able to collect unemployment while I planned my next move and enjoyed a summer.
I always had a passion for animals and took in a rescue cattle dog that i intended to rehome so i took flyers to a local dog trainer and told him if he ever needed help... He called the next day and i went to work for $8 an hour. Best move ever. After being there for 2 years doing everything--kennel cleaning, feeding, intake, you name it and eventually training(with steady pay increases) I now own my own dog board and train facility on my own property. I have never been busier, happier, or more financially sound.
My age actually works for me. People love leaving thier dogs with Gramma and Grampa! We have great training classes and I don't answer to anyone aside from the occasional whiney baby puppy. BTW I still have that lucky Cattle Dog!
REINVENT!

[Backseat Driver]

19. Not much different than in Ohio.

Lost my last one at the age of 61 - a supposedly FT long-term opportunity during the recession. On the 90th day of probation, I was let go after I had cleaned up a backlog and told I had failed to meet performance though they hadn't bothered to document it or raise any concerns with me. The one before, 8 months earlier, and with 6 years of seniority, because I was told that ostensibly CT medical transcribers were in worse shape job-wise than Ohioans. The truth was the dictation had to have been going overseas and digitally returned all signed and "ready" for the charts without review by the dictator docs - not even CT folks could have made the errors we caught. PS: Introvert here too!

DH, an IT pro and extroverted people person, encountered another problem besides ageism: Beware the rackets going on between hiring managers and recruiters "splitting" the commissions earned for placements that last just long enough for those commissions to be processed and paid out! When the W-2 opportunities dried up, the FT 1099 gig terms were NEVER as advertised, lasting perhaps days or weeks instead of the 6- or 12-month right to hire! So just as one had picked up the "personal" benefits like healthcare one was thrown right back into the pool of the unemployed, often without eligibility to return to unemployment and without income for mortgage, rent, food, or utilities...over and over and over!

It's bad enough when opportunities are living wage in his field, but DH has encountered similar situations in the low-wage FT jobs offered to seniors; yup, things are really bad! The family meat-market "manager" gig @ $15 reduced by owner to $11.00 then poofed because he wasn't family; the big name union grocer deli clerk gig @ $11.00 eliminated; the next, a different grocery CSR desk @ $10; being a convenient store clerk @ $10 included in a "suspension" of all clerks on the shift until it was determined who was "stung" by the cigarette-to-minor shopper (never did hear exactly who--no one was called back to work and all managers either shuffled or gone as well); now an unliveable 40 hours @ $9.50 as a storage facility clerk where again, he works alone and never has a "weekend" (two days off in a row) off because they're always short-handed (can't imagine why...lol). Always looking and applying...

Be careful out there; it's a slippery slope trying to augment one's SS $$ while trying to pay the costs of not being an "entitled" eater. I'm refusing entirely, likely to my detriment; but, since Plan A for retirement went down in flames, Plan B is in progress - being as expensive to TPTB (GOP) as I can be even if it kills me before my time. To that end, I support M4A enhanced by vision, hearing, and dental - check; wealth tax - check; return of stolen SS monies by Congress; uncapped payments into FICA - check; free advanced education - check; free childcare - check - any and all programs or strategies that separate the wealthy from their pocket books. Suggestions are always welcomed and considered!

[Backseat Driver]

25. UPDATE: DH just had hours cut 50%

FT 40 hr, arbitrarily now set to 20 hrs, so money only half as well, ostensibly because storage unit group hired too many people, the last just days ago??? WTF - padding the labor stats much! Total FUBAR!

[drmeow]

22. At 54 and an academic trailing spouse

who moved across the country for his job, I am lucky that 1) most of the jobs I can do are at Universities in research where experience does matter and AA/EOC are strictly enforced and 2) I look incredibly young for my age

[George II]

23. When I was 40 years old I moved up to Connecticut for a new job. I sold my (cheap) condominium....

...and bought a (cheap) condominium in CT. Five years later, at 45, I was laid off because my job had been "eliminated".

What they didn't say was that the job of a woman who was on maternity leave had been eliminated, not mine, so they had to find a position for her.

I left on a Friday. On Monday morning she returned from maternity leave and was given my desk and my job title! I was 45, she was early 30s.

Thankfully CT has (or had, not sure anymore) one of the best state "EEOC" (they call it Commission on Human Rights and Opportunity), the oldest in the country. I filed a complaint of age and gender discrimination, and after 18 months of hearings, meetings, filings, I strutted in the front door - restored to my original job with a settlement worth about the equivalent of back pay!

About two years later, at 50 years old, they laid me off again, same person made the decision, same excuse, along with 10 others. Instant lawsuit for retaliation this time, and almost two years later another settlement.

I have to say, that was the best thing to happen to me - just weeks later I got a great job that I worked at for the last 16 years before I retired.

So, oldtimers, don't despair and if you do get laid off there could be legal options depending on the actual circumstances.

[Newest Reality]

26. Don't I know it...

No need to repeat the story that other people have related. Mine is similar. Early 60s.

[kimbutgar]

28. I went back to school in the early 2000's and got my teaching credential but never taught because

Of some family issues. When my boss died and my job ended I was able to activate my credential and become a substitute teacher. Then I found a job on Craigslist as a moving packer. I got hired by this lady and learned a skill on how to pack for move and unpack and reorganizing people’s stuff. Between the two jobs I can be busy if I want. Always worked office jobs and now at 63 I do something so different I surprised even my husband.

I would tell everyone to look outside your comfort into new fields who knows you might learn a new skill and be more employable. I am always looking for new job opportunities to try. The only thing I won’t do is retail though. Did it in college and hated it.

[Bradshaw3]

29. The only way I got a job at 60 was being hired by a former boss

I tried semi-retiring but couldn't make it after applying for 30 jobs (from minimum wage on up) and getting no response. Then I saw online my job I had 20 years before was open, called my old boss and he hired me immediately. Otherwise I don't think I ever would have gotten a job - made it clear to me, as others on here have found out - that ageism is real and nothing is being done about it.

Luckily, I am now enjoying my retirement.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

30. I have a counter story.

Two of them, actually. Although both involve entry level jobs.

I moved to Santa Fe at age 60, following a divorce, and needed to find work. I did temp jobs for a while, then got hired by the local hospital to do out patient registration. The woman doing the training commented favorably on my age, as she was tired of training 20 year olds.

After a while I retired, but kept on looking at the help wanted ads in the newspaper. One should up for a part time office assistant at a local company that bottles and sells water to individuals and businesses. I finally went to the business, resume in hand. During the interview it was clear that the woman owner was willing to hire me on the spot. Unfortunately, my idea of part time was 20 hours a week, and hers was 30 hours a week. She did ask me if I'd be available to come in for some temp work. I said yes, and about a month later they called and I worked a week there. Another month or so later they had me come in for about a three day project.

So jobs are there for older workers, just not necessarily what the older worker might want.