How I was discriminated against
Age discrimination is impossible to prove and the "at will" law for the employer is not for the employees benefit. Never calling in sick, working all weekends and good job performance did not matter. I helped teach the younger employees that would soon replace me. I took 6 credits of college classes to get my Substance Abuse license which was required. During my 61/2 years of employment I watched people that turned 50 be asked to leave for reasons that made no sense. I should of seen this coming but right after I turned 50 I got the pink slip. The employees were the 20 to 30 year range. Maybe I should start a business
What it's like being an older or younger job seeker
It is very challenging to write a resume that doesn't date yourself and with the economy employers can be particular. These are the hardest times to find employment. I noticed that the 7 years ago I received many calls after putting out my resume and I had choices. Today it is hard to get pass the resume screening much less to the interview process. I have used the state job site as well as career builders, Job Fox etc. In one week the jobs went from over 1400 to around 800. The economy is not doing well and I do believe that your appearance and age has a lot to do with whether you get a job or not. I have been unemployed for 1 year now and it seems to look dimmer by the day. I keep getting advertisements from expert resume writers but they charge over $500 and this is hard to pay when you are unemployed. I will keep trying to be creative and pray I find a job that will pay me enough to eat, keep my home and will appreciate the fact that being older can make you a great employee to have.
Lessons Learned
- Keep an open mind and try many ways to write a good resume.
- Send resumes that do not date yourself.
- Another good tip is to utilize State employment offices
- The rest is up to you.
- Is there a special job site for people over 50
- Start your own business as you risk staying employed as your age goes up anyway
If you have any other tips that would be useful I would like to know.
