Hustle and Apply for that Job

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was laid off at the end of September 2024. I started applying for jobs. I got a job offer to start mid-January 2024. I was laid off after two months. I applied for any and every job with my previous title. I did receive some "over qualified" comments.

I start a new job April 15, with a pay increase of $10K and more than 40% pay increase from the job that laid me off in September.

And, I am over the age of 50.

Don't give up hope.

For me, I've never transitioned in my career from an individual contributor role. It's really because I don't want to get a PMP certificate, and I think Agile is stupid unless you're software developers.

I earned a doctorate in 2005. I take some short courses on LinkedIn. I attend and participate in conferences. I coach executives. I've done consulting work in my field.

If you don't apply, you won't get the job.

LinkedIn is so easy with "easy apply", what you have to lose? Same with Indeed. You might as well apply.

Today is Day 366 of unemployment from full time work. I've been doing a ton of freelancing the last three months, which has been great, but I've basically stopped looking for and applying for jobs because I'm completely demoralized. I went to a career day a few weeks ago and while it was helpful, I realized my cover letters weren't great (regurgitating my resume) and all the advice I get from employed folks seems so overwhelming (if you don't know someone who knows the hiring manager for this position, don't even bother applying...).

Until March, I had applied for around 80 jobs, got 10.5 interviews (HR screen = 0.5), zero job offers. I have been completely abandoned by my previous industry. 40 years old and cast to the scrap heap. I'm completely demoralized. It's humiliating to tell everyone you know and meet "hey! I'm still looking!" like I'm f4cking defective.

I worked super hard in my career and took a risk that apparently blew up in my face and left me undesirable and unemployable. I'm humiliated and demoralized. And my birthday is around the corner. Worst birthday I've ever had.

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I also took a career risk and feel like it was the worst decision I ever made. It has been so hard to get back on track or back in my industry. It has been a painfully expensive lesson. I hope we both have better luck soon.

Like both of you, I too took a risk and cannot get back into my line of work. However, my risk was not to change employers but to stay home. While I will never regret the early years, I seriously regret not doing some consulting or going back part-time once my kids were more independent. I started looking casually a few years ago but it was half-hearted. In November, I went all in on applying and it has been very discouraging since. The only options for me seem to be extremely low paying. I did this to myself. Everyone warned me. While DH and I can make ends meet just fine, I hate feeling 100% dependent.

This is exactly my situation. Somewhat comforting to know that others are going through this. Maybe I should be targeting much lower paying jobs / jobs that I am over qualified for.

Another one. Such regret. I think I have to abandon my industry and start from scratch and work way up. Any ideas for companies or jobs that are friendly to older?

This is what I think is required. I finally got a job offer this week but it is for less than I made 20 years ago. Yet I’ve concluded i need to take it and start from scratch. I’ll be doing admin work. Try temp companies, medical offices, etc. I had hoped to break into the federal government but that hasn’t worked out for me yet. But I’m still hoping to eventually get an interview since they supposedly give credit for volunteer work and I have loads of volunteer experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was laid off at the end of September 2024. I started applying for jobs. I got a job offer to start mid-January 2024. I was laid off after two months. I applied for any and every job with my previous title. I did receive some "over qualified" comments.

I start a new job April 15, with a pay increase of $10K and more than 40% pay increase from the job that laid me off in September.

And, I am over the age of 50.

Don't give up hope.

For me, I've never transitioned in my career from an individual contributor role. It's really because I don't want to get a PMP certificate, and I think Agile is stupid unless you're software developers.

I earned a doctorate in 2005. I take some short courses on LinkedIn. I attend and participate in conferences. I coach executives. I've done consulting work in my field.

If you don't apply, you won't get the job.

LinkedIn is so easy with "easy apply", what you have to lose? Same with Indeed. You might as well apply.

Today is Day 366 of unemployment from full time work. I've been doing a ton of freelancing the last three months, which has been great, but I've basically stopped looking for and applying for jobs because I'm completely demoralized. I went to a career day a few weeks ago and while it was helpful, I realized my cover letters weren't great (regurgitating my resume) and all the advice I get from employed folks seems so overwhelming (if you don't know someone who knows the hiring manager for this position, don't even bother applying...).

Until March, I had applied for around 80 jobs, got 10.5 interviews (HR screen = 0.5), zero job offers. I have been completely abandoned by my previous industry. 40 years old and cast to the scrap heap. I'm completely demoralized. It's humiliating to tell everyone you know and meet "hey! I'm still looking!" like I'm f4cking defective.

I worked super hard in my career and took a risk that apparently blew up in my face and left me undesirable and unemployable. I'm humiliated and demoralized. And my birthday is around the corner. Worst birthday I've ever had.

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I also took a career risk and feel like it was the worst decision I ever made. It has been so hard to get back on track or back in my industry. It has been a painfully expensive lesson. I hope we both have better luck soon.

Like both of you, I too took a risk and cannot get back into my line of work. However, my risk was not to change employers but to stay home. While I will never regret the early years, I seriously regret not doing some consulting or going back part-time once my kids were more independent. I started looking casually a few years ago but it was half-hearted. In November, I went all in on applying and it has been very discouraging since. The only options for me seem to be extremely low paying. I did this to myself. Everyone warned me. While DH and I can make ends meet just fine, I hate feeling 100% dependent.

This is exactly my situation. Somewhat comforting to know that others are going through this. Maybe I should be targeting much lower paying jobs / jobs that I am over qualified for.

Another one. Such regret. I think I have to abandon my industry and start from scratch and work way up. Any ideas for companies or jobs that are friendly to older?

Flight attendant and Nursing