Over Fifty and Out of Work Options for this story ’m 55, well, almost 56, and I haven’t been able to keep a steady job since 2009, when I got washed out to sea in a mass company layoff. I enjoyed a 30-year career as a print journalist, working around the world, making many friends and helping a lot of companies along the way. Of course, I should have seen the signs : The cracks in the foundation of the Fourth Estate have been noticeable for quite some time now. In a kind of double whammy, I also chose to become a copy editor — newspapers are laying them all off en masse as ad money withers. No need for specialists. Grammar doesn’t matter when the money isn’t rolling in. But so be it. I made my bed; now I have to sleep in it, as the saying goes. I guess I always thought that, if you worked hard and persevered, you’d have a good career. When I left college in 1980, jobs literally grew on trees. People still used IBM Selectrics and no one could have foreseen smartphones or any of the other kind kinds of technology we take for granted now. But that doesn’t mean I can’t work. I went back to school on scholarship, earning my degree in 2012, and I’ve taken advanced computer courses to keep my skills sharp and mind strong. But I’m over 50. At some point, after years of trying to regain full-time employment (I work as a “casual” worker for a large media company) and no success, you get worn down. Your confidence level plummets, your health deteriorates (I have no health insurance) and your spirit erodes. I know the experts are right when they say we should all stay perky and level headed, but it’s easier said than done. I’m living in the Bay Area, the tech hub of the world, and many corporations are continually hiring, so I thought I’d have a chance. I’ve learned that relying on Internet job boards is a waste of time: 85 percent of jobs are never advertised. So, you must research companies on sites like LinkedIn, really dig deep, and learn everything possible about those you wish to work. You must resonate. Then you write a kind of marketing letter — with the emphasis on them — saying how you can help boost their bottom line. Recently, after weeks focusing on a single company in San Francisco, I wrote just such a letter. As it so happened, I’d been attending a job training program in the city, and one of the persons in charge said they knew the hiring manager I myself had identified. They were nice enough to set up an “informational interview” for me there. This is not a job interview, mind you, but a session in which you can simply ask questions and learn more about the company. I was ignored. The rub is that this company gets special treatment from the city in the form of tax breaks. All they have to do is help a few people get back on the right track, career-wise. But they don’t do it. I’m not giving up: I’m going to drop journalism for good, something I should have done years ago, and try to find something new, maybe an apprenticeship. I have a wife and two young kids, and it’s hard to hang on. I hope to come out of this OK, and I hope to talk to more people in my situation. Let’s lick this thing together
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 15:52:57 +0000
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