50 and facing ageism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's probably salary requirements more than age

I was OK taking a big pay cut but they can figure out how old you are and much you used to make based on your resume.

A potential employer may assume that a 50 year old signing on for 2/3 of what they used to make will be out the door as soon as get an offer closer to their old pay.
The hook is that I won't get that "better offer" until I move from "looking for work after a layoff" to "currently employed".
That potential employer might be right not to hire me.

It is a bit of a trap.

Do your research on potential employers. Have people scrub and polish your resume to 2025. Make sure to have some short stories to tell. Work your network and good luck to you!

What does this mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's all about who you know. Network, use Linked In, and go to coffee with anyone and everyone in you know. Tell everyone you are looking. Talk about experiences interests, etc. It's connections that get jobs, not randomly applying

As someone with a job, I don't want to go to coffee with anyone. Do people really want to do that or am I just projecting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's all about who you know. Network, use Linked In, and go to coffee with anyone and everyone in you know. Tell everyone you are looking. Talk about experiences interests, etc. It's connections that get jobs, not randomly applying

As someone with a job, I don't want to go to coffee with anyone. Do people really want to do that or am I just projecting?

I don’t either. But, text me and send me your resume and I’ll give you an inside line on any job openings, if I can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH went through this. People aren't reading the applications, AI is. So they are programmed to kick out applications based on frequently unsuspected words.

He ultimately networked into a job, but at one point one of the network opportunities that he had, the guy who "had" to talk to him point blank told him my DH had more experience than he had. So, no way was that guy going to hire him.

Bad manager. I hired somebody to work for me who was older and had more expertise than I had. My boss told me it was a bold move and it was the right one for the organization. What I could do that he couldn't do is run an organization and not procrastinate.

[Anonymous]

I see many 50 somethings navigating the federal space without the ageism target.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone born 1975 is now 50 hardly old at all. In fact given retirement age is now 67 they will be working till 2042.

Jennifer Lopez, Paul Rudd and and Jennifer Aniston are all 55 years old.

It is your attitude, how you dress, staying current is key.

I work with 35 year olds who are dinosaurs stuck in their ways already talking about retirement and I work with 60 year olds who are go go go and hip.

So it is not just age, it is more than that.

I love this. So true. The job market has been so tough the last year no matter your age. I would reach out to any former co-workers, clients, etc and also your social group. Try to find creative ways to target companies that align with your experience, industry, niche skill set. Mass applying to jobs on job boards is useless. Go after smaller companies that may or may not be posting their jobs publicly. Email the CEO or any other leaders to do a quick intro (a great tool to research people, companies’ growth, number of employees etc is LinkedINSales Navigator.. it’s pricey but worth it). Go to in-person events to network as well. (Find via meetup, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone born 1975 is now 50 hardly old at all. In fact given retirement age is now 67 they will be working till 2042.

Jennifer Lopez, Paul Rudd and and Jennifer Aniston are all 55 years old.

It is your attitude, how you dress, staying current is key.

I work with 35 year olds who are dinosaurs stuck in their ways already talking about retirement and I work with 60 year olds who are go go go and hip.

So it is not just age, it is more than that.

not that easy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly this is exactly why I went ballz out to obtain a federal job when I was 52. I applied to everything whether it was appealing or not.

Now I am locked in, even with DOGE pretend calamity. And I have fed healthcare benefits when I retire.

This is the WAY to go OP, my friend just got into Fed end of 2024.
He is early 50s and plans to work ten more years and retire with pension & health benefits.

Or they could get actual skills, stay in shape, dress nice, network, stay current.

I don’t think you need to be super fit like a 30 year old. But good posture, tailored clothes and know how to communicate on teams/zoom will def help.

I'm not talking about my physical appearance. They are only seeing my resume or maybe they are not seeing it at all. I have tried taking dates off of my resume but honestly that seems kind of sketchy too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly this is exactly why I went ballz out to obtain a federal job when I was 52. I applied to everything whether it was appealing or not.

Now I am locked in, even with DOGE pretend calamity. And I have fed healthcare benefits when I retire.

This is the WAY to go OP, my friend just got into Fed end of 2024.
He is early 50s and plans to work ten more years and retire with pension & health benefits.

your friend is a parasite (and old)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see many 50 somethings navigating the federal space without the ageism target.

How so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone born 1975 is now 50 hardly old at all. In fact given retirement age is now 67 they will be working till 2042.

Jennifer Lopez, Paul Rudd and and Jennifer Aniston are all 55 years old.

It is your attitude, how you dress, staying current is key.

I work with 35 year olds who are dinosaurs stuck in their ways already talking about retirement and I work with 60 year olds who are go go go and hip.

So it is not just age, it is more than that.

not that easy

someone like me in my 60s who is incredibly good looking, hung like a curtain and as slick as an oil spill can get jobs all day long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's all about who you know. Network, use Linked In, and go to coffee with anyone and everyone in you know. Tell everyone you are looking. Talk about experiences interests, etc. It's connections that get jobs, not randomly applying

As someone with a job, I don't want to go to coffee with anyone. Do people really want to do that or am I just projecting?

I don’t want coffee either. If people text me or email me ask for a job referral and a resume, I will do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly this is exactly why I went ballz out to obtain a federal job when I was 52. I applied to everything whether it was appealing or not.

Now I am locked in, even with DOGE pretend calamity. And I have fed healthcare benefits when I retire.

This is the WAY to go OP, my friend just got into Fed end of 2024.
He is early 50s and plans to work ten more years and retire with pension & health benefits.

Or they could get actual skills, stay in shape, dress nice, network, stay current.

No see, they’ll still get pushed out no matter how much frozen forehead botox and duck lip they inject.

The job that you maaaybe get after 17 mos of networking and humiliation and self doubt will shit can you anyway after you are there for 21 mos. And then what? More procedures?

No thanks.

Plus I have the best benefits in the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't get an interview, it is your resume. How do people know how old you are if you don't list jobs from 20 years ago?

AI is trained to recognize things. I don't know the specifics, but think about a person who leaves off the early years of their career. Resume starts with a much higher level of job that straight out of college type job. That alone is a red flag for someone who is trying to seem younger.

Many of them force you to put dates in when you went to college. Yeah, its ageism

I agree, and so I lie. It totally works.


If you get an interview, claim it was a keystroke error and let’s talk about what I bring to the table here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't get an interview, it is your resume. How do people know how old you are if you don't list jobs from 20 years ago?

AI is trained to recognize things. I don't know the specifics, but think about a person who leaves off the early years of their career. Resume starts with a much higher level of job that straight out of college type job. That alone is a red flag for someone who is trying to seem younger.

Many of them force you to put dates in when you went to college. Yeah, its ageism

I agree, and so I lie. It totally works.


If you get an interview, claim it was a keystroke error and let’s talk about what I bring to the table here.

When they see you they will know. Maybe angle for a virtual interview and deep fake it?