Younger coworkers
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Anonymous
| OP, 4 or 5 years age difference among adults is nothing, even at your stage. I think there is something else going on here that is holding you back, like perhaps your perceived embarrassment at having this job? |
Anonymous
OP here. Yes. I am really embarrassed that I'm the oldest person with this job in our department. It's made worse by the fact that everyone else who was hired with me got promoted, moved on and I am still in the same job and my old coworkers have been replaced by 23-25 year olds. I feel deeply embarrassed that I'm still around and still with the same entry level job. |
Anonymous
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My younger coworkers gave me some great makeup tips and picked out an entire summer wardrobe for me one year. Greatly appreciated!
All under 30, I'm mid 40's. |
Anonymous
You're not so old. If you let this get the better of you, you are never going to be promoted. |
Anonymous
Do you want to move up? If so, I think you know what you need to do to do that. You honestly have no reason to focus on your younger coworkers. Focus on improving yourself, go out and meet others around your age. |
Anonymous
+1 I'm 46 and to me, anyone in their 20's is "the same age"! A few years either way doesn't make any difference. |
Anonymous
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I've been at my job for three years, and I can honestly say, I don't know the ages of my co-workers. I kind of have them grouped in my mind- the you get crowd twenties to early thirties, "my age" - thirties to late 50s/early sixties), and older workers, who seem to fall mid fifties to older, depending on their mind set (ie. Putting in time until retirement or working with the rest of the pack).
The thing about age is it only becomes an issue if you let it. I started in my industry very young... 19 years old and fresh out of school. A LOT of people took me under their wings, and I made some wonderful friends and mentors who were over double my age at the time. These have become some of the most important people in my network, and indeed, in the development of my career. Almost 20 years on, some of those people still call me "kiddo". The key here is this : even from then, I just did my job and did it well. These people, despite my age, had to take highly technical info and judgement from me. They may have called me kiddo, but I always respected that they didn't treat me that way. And it's something, as I've moved on, I try to think about in how I treat people. Firstly, you should never expect to have friends at work. I usually avoid it when I can, but certainly some relationships will form over the years. What you should do it be friendly with everyone you work with, even if you don't "fit" in. Get over your age and just do your job. Do it well. Worry less about the fact that you're embarrassed and do more to focus that energy in doing a stellar job. If you're new, it takes time. There's two ways you can further your career: stepping on people, or being a mentor and leader to those around you. I've always done the second, and it's worked out very well for me. Teach anyone you are supervising your job, which affords you time to learn new things and take on more challenging tasks. I JUST noticed you're in an RN role. And in this, believe me, having life experience behind you will help you deal with many of the terrible things you are about to see and deal with. And this is hardly a climbing to the top role, as it's going to be attitude, competence, and the like that will get you up into role of nurse manager. Take the bull by the horns. Be the first to offer assistance if someone is having trouble with sterile technique, or catheterization or getting an NG tube in. Be a mentor. Focus on improving your own skills. Also focus on your self. It seems you may have esteem issues, and that can delay promotion into a role that requires decision making and authority. Authority doesn't come magically with age, it comes from knowing that what you do, you do it will. It comes from being able to make decisions rant require confidence. It requires teaching people and having try confidence that you are prepping them for your job, so you can move even further up. It doesn't sound like you're there yet. |
Anonymous
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I really don't think about the age of my coworkers. Never have. I think about knowledge and capabilities. I do not really socialize with coworkers either; I did when I first started after grad school -- I was about 30. New project which hired about 15 or so people just out of school, brought them together in a new town (DC)...we hung together.
I do lunch with colleagues. I like lunch (it shows). |
Anonymous
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PP here. I want to add, one younger coworker, who was assisting me on a project, saved my life while overseas. We were delivering the product to the customer (in europe), and I got terribly sick -- H1N1, but with complications. He sat in my room, when I was at my worst -- 104.5 fever and poor breathing...got help when I could not breath.
He was also one of the best workers I have met -- smart, creative, and curious. Unfortunately, he has moved on... |
Anonymous
Seriously. I'm in my 40s and most of my co-workers are in their 20s. They are great, so much more responsible than I was at that age. Sometimes we go out together for all staff social time. Most of the time they hang out with each other socially, which seems appropriate to me. |
Anonymous
+1000 |
Anonymous
| I'm 51 and friends (outside work) with a couple 35 yos. And a 65 yo. |
Anonymous
| Not an issue. Agree u may b 2 self conscious. Bet there's a few commonalities. Family members. Trending tv shows everybody's watching. |
Anonymous
Christ, I'm 34 and I didn't think I was, like, worlds away from a 28 year old, but apparently I'm a completely different generation. Better stock up on my eye cream, I guess. |
Anonymous
I'm 41y and most of my co-worker friends are 30-35. Our lives are very different (I am the only one married with kids), but I have fun listening to their dating adventures. 
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