What's all this ageism talk??

[Anonymous]

OP here, I'm 45, hopefully the CPA and CGFM will keep me employable until retirement. I joined the feds last year. As a contractor I got steady offers in my 40's, I never burn bridges, easy to work with/for and keep my network active....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is ageism less prevalent for accounting jobs - controller, CFO?

I'm the PP at 19:59. My mom's worked in accounting/finance her whole career. Degree in accounting, but never went the CPA route. She was the Accounting Manager when she was laid off (Accounting and Customer Service depts. were outsourced to India). Now she's just an A/P manager and is 60. She knows if she gets let go again, it'll just mean early retirement & probably working something part time for extra money.

As another poster said, non-specialized accounting jobs are being given to anyone who is young and cheap. My mom saw this trend happening years ago and pushed me to get my CPA. Where I work now, the G/L team are all CPAs and those in A/P and A/R are just young college grads. They last 2-3 years and none have had accounting degrees since I've been here 8 years.

So you're a CPA then? I passed in my late 40s and it has worked well in terms of marketability. It provides credibility. I cannot understand why people let it lapse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, I'm 45, hopefully the CPA and CGFM will keep me employable until retirement. I joined the feds last year. As a contractor I got steady offers in my 40's, I never burn bridges, easy to work with/for and keep my network active....

My experience is that contract assignments do not have an age component. They just want the work done.

[Anonymous]

Reading this, sooo grateful to have landed a comms job with a federal agency last year, at age 53. With undyed, graying hair, no less. I chalk it up to being up on social media and tech, and an always-learning, inquisitive mindset. I have a friend a few years older who has been doing comms on her own for over 10 years and in the last two years the work has dried up for her. It's scary for her. When I was in the nonprofit world I was envious of her fat years, but sadly she hasn't kept up on social media, design, technology. It's like the world is moving too fast for her.