55 year old - been searching for job for almost 2 years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Husband is the breadwinner and out of work. I gave up my career to raise kids and would be hard to get back in after 7 years out of the professional workplace.

Sounds lazy - I got back in after 16 years. Start hustling sweetie

[Anonymous]

Hard at 55. All about networking and catching the opening before other candidates. Look for smaller companies but ageism and AI are hard. Has he kept up with all the new tools?

[Anonymous]

OP I went back after 8 years and make more money than I did before. I work in IT. It hadn't changed that much and I had published some articles and conducted research in my "off time". You can do it! You really can. What is your field? Maybe you just need a pep talk and confidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Im 54 laid off 10 months. Svp level.
Can he set up an llc so the gap doesn’t seem so large? What about adjunct prof jobs or teaching jobs ?
Board positions ( non paid)
I’m looking at all these

I'm sorry, but we (hiring managers) see right through that trick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband is the breadwinner and out of work. I gave up my career to raise kids and would be hard to get back in after 7 years out of the professional workplace.

Oh no, you're being lazy - schools are always hiring. You can get an office job or cafeteria helper type job at your children's school, or you can substitute teach. If you get a bus driver job, they will pay for you to get your commercial driver's license. There are also retail jobs and temp agencies.

If the OP is not a troll then they are obviously rich and living off of it right now. Husband probably made a ton of money before the company realized he’s grossly overpaid and fired him. Wife certainly doesn’t want to work , she wants him to work instead.

[Anonymous]

locally speaking is ageism more prevalent to certain industries/fields? if so which ones?

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry, OP, ageism is unforgiving.

My husband had a similar experience at around the same age. He took 18 months to find another job in his very niche field.

Does he look old? He needs to dye his hair, look fit, present well, practice his responses. This is probably what’a tripping him up if he gets the interviews and nothing comes of them. He might need a coach.

Hang in there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Husband is the breadwinner and out of work. I gave up my career to raise kids and would be hard to get back in after 7 years out of the professional workplace.

I get that, and have been there. AND you don't know how long it's going to take him to find another job. If you are working, it takes some of the pressure off him.

[Anonymous]

Find yourself a sugar daddy/mama, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Husband is the breadwinner and out of work. I gave up my career to raise kids and would be hard to get back in after 7 years out of the professional workplace.

I get that, and have been there. AND you don't know how long it's going to take him to find another job. If you are working, it takes some of the pressure off him.

+1 I'm a DW, with a retired (forced out aged out) DH. Thankfully, I'm working right now, but I also did take time out to be at home with the kids. But, if DH couldn't find a job for a year, I'd be hustling to find one because we don't have family money.

You either must not be that financially desperate or you have your head in the sand.

Sure, you may think that it's harder for you because you've been out longer than him and have less experience, but that doesn't mean you also shouldn't try if he's not getting anything after almost 2 years.

I really don't understand your mentality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't he think he has gotten any offers after interviews? Maybe he needs to do some practice interviews to see what is happening. I knew that people say it's age discrimination but I have seen a lot of late career people who are more senior say some really dumb things in interviews. Especially if they aren't used to the terrible overly structured interviews most companies are using now.

This is worth considering. I work at a very diverse organization that serves a high need population. I was shocked in an interview when an older white male, who seemed otherwise qualified, made a very inappropriate comment about the people the organization serves. He didn’t seem to realize - but the staff on the panel interviewing sure did even though everyone was polite and didn’t comment.

Also, even if you’ve been out of the workforce 7 years, you should look for something that will at least help some. You shouldn’t sit there and do nothing while you use up your savings!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hard at 55. All about networking and catching the opening before other candidates. Look for smaller companies but ageism and AI are hard. Has he kept up with all the new tools?

Have him start reading the work of Hebba Youssef. She has a weekly blog about HR trends, tech platforms, etc. Maybe from that he can get some ideas/freshen his industry knowledge. It might even be possible to network with her.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hebba-youssef

Is his network providing help? Has he contacted former coworkers? Or is that all tapped out?

How many VPs were there at his company? He was the only one? CEO direct report? Or there were many? My big company has an SVP, then VPs, then Exec Directors. Maybe have him look one position level down by title.

Some people advertise themselves as "fractional executives". It's gig work. Smaller companies and startups sometimes are willing to hire. But you need to be able to address all of the practice areas under an HR leader.

[Anonymous]

At your ages, you both should be networking like crazy. It's what my spouse did after being fired at 60. Took 8 months, but it finally paid off (a couple of years back, not as bad of a job market as right now).

[Anonymous]

Dye is hair. Does he need to lose weight? He needs to look lean and fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't he think he has gotten any offers after interviews? Maybe he needs to do some practice interviews to see what is happening. I knew that people say it's age discrimination but I have seen a lot of late career people who are more senior say some really dumb things in interviews. Especially if they aren't used to the terrible overly structured interviews most companies are using now.

This is worth considering. I work at a very diverse organization that serves a high need population. I was shocked in an interview when an older white male, who seemed otherwise qualified, made a very inappropriate comment about the people the organization serves. He didn’t seem to realize - but the staff on the panel interviewing sure did even though everyone was polite and didn’t comment.

Also, even if you’ve been out of the workforce 7 years, you should look for something that will at least help some. You shouldn’t sit there and do nothing while you use up your savings!

he wants a job not a cult