I’m 50 and need to get a job. What should I do?

[Anonymous]

Also, teacher doesn't have to be a public/private school teacher. Look at enrichment programs for kids such as JEI, Kumon etc. which offer Language arts, writing classes for kids. They have a set curriculum and perhaps less brutal work hours. Once you have some teaching experience then you can also freelance at outschool.com. Tutor at care.com etc. Many many working parents are turning to enrichment classes as the teacher shortage in public school has led to less than optimal learning. There is no steep learning curve, as mostly you would be teaching elementary and middle school kids and can potentially work your way to an admin post or a center owner. You would need to somewhat love working with children

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Search the internet and modernize your resume, remove the dates for your degree, include unpaid experiences and volunteer work. Take free online courses to refresh your skills, list certificates from these classes on your resume. Try applying for lower level Federal government jobs. Great benefits and advancement opportunities. I was in a similar position due to divorce, I was hired by the Fed and advanced pretty quickly, now make six figures. You can do this.

OP should give your advice a try, BUT, things are different now. The "screening" process for federal applications is largely automated, which means if your resumé has a 10 yr gap on it, it doesn't matter how closely your prior experience matches the job, the automated system will kick it out. Years ago (maybe when PP applied to lower level jobs), an actual human reviewed the applications and might have made certain allowances. But, now, the computers will kick out applications that don't have the right "code" words on them. You can't "hide" the dates of college or past jobs just by not listing them on a paper resume. The online application forms won't let you proceed unless you fill in the dates. It's how systemic age discrimination, or even gender discrimination gets baked into the hiring process (i.e. screening out people who have stayed at home with kids -- most likely moms -- most likely female).

[Anonymous]

OP keep in mind you are entitled to half of all of your assets including half of retirements. I think also get half his social security since you were married more than 10 years but I’m not sure about that.

I’m 43 and if I got divorced I could make do with 1/2 of our current assets and a minimum wage job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP keep in mind you are entitled to half of all of your assets including half of retirements. I think also get half his social security since you were married more than 10 years but I’m not sure about that.

I’m 43 and if I got divorced I could make do with 1/2 of our current assets and a minimum wage job.

You are right that you can get half of spouses SS if married 10 or more years, assuming half is more than your own full SS. Then if spouse dies before you you can get their full SS instead of your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP keep in mind you are entitled to half of all of your assets including half of retirements. I think also get half his social security since you were married more than 10 years but I’m not sure about that.

I’m 43 and if I got divorced I could make do with 1/2 of our current assets and a minimum wage job.

You are right that you can get half of spouses SS if married 10 or more years, assuming half is more than your own full SS. Then if spouse dies before you you can get their full SS instead of your own.

This just happened to a friend of my mom who has been divorced for like 35 years (but 15 year marriage I think). The ex-husband died and her SS doubled overnight. She was mightily surprised.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. Just want to give my sincerest thanks for all the supportive responses. I honestly was prepared to be bashed and shamed because I’ve been out of work for so long and have no security at all at age 50! Thank you for being kind! 🙏

We're rooting for you, OP. Becoming a teacher for a public school system is by far the best thing I've seen listed here in terms of salary and benefits. You already have the degree and just need the certification. Plus there's a nationwide teacher shortage so you're almost guaranteed to get a job. Look into it now.

OP,
One word of caution about teaching: there’s a reason for the teaching shortage. The job is brutal. Yes, there are openings and you will definitely get hired. Just go in with realistic expectations and be prepared to work 60 hour weeks as you get your feet under you.

I switched to teaching from another career. (Look for resident teacher programs.) I cried daily on the way home my first year, but I feel like I can handle anything now. If you can effectively manage 140 teenagers, you can face anything the world throws at you.

This. Most of you all wouldn’t last a year in a teaching gig. There’s a reason for the nationwide teacher shortage. And recommending a 50 year old with no previous teaching experience and who was a sahm for years to go into it? Are you all serious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think for nursing schools, there are some science requirements you must fulfill before you can apply.

You guys have no idea what it takes to get into nursing program and actually get a license. You think it's easy. Well, you'll be for a rude awakening once you even manage to be accepted to nursing school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. Just want to give my sincerest thanks for all the supportive responses. I honestly was prepared to be bashed and shamed because I’ve been out of work for so long and have no security at all at age 50! Thank you for being kind! 🙏

We're rooting for you, OP. Becoming a teacher for a public school system is by far the best thing I've seen listed here in terms of salary and benefits. You already have the degree and just need the certification. Plus there's a nationwide teacher shortage so you're almost guaranteed to get a job. Look into it now.

OP,
One word of caution about teaching: there’s a reason for the teaching shortage. The job is brutal. Yes, there are openings and you will definitely get hired. Just go in with realistic expectations and be prepared to work 60 hour weeks as you get your feet under you.

I switched to teaching from another career. (Look for resident teacher programs.) I cried daily on the way home my first year, but I feel like I can handle anything now. If you can effectively manage 140 teenagers, you can face anything the world throws at you.

This. Most of you all wouldn’t last a year in a teaching gig. There’s a reason for the nationwide teacher shortage. And recommending a 50 year old with no previous teaching experience and who was a sahm for years to go into it? Are you all serious?

My retired husband is a substitute teacher. The stories he tells me about issues at school, I would never, ever recommend it to anyone. And he teaches in a great school that is rated 8 out of 10 score.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think for nursing schools, there are some science requirements you must fulfill before you can apply.

You guys have no idea what it takes to get into nursing program and actually get a license. You think it's easy. Well, you'll be for a rude awakening once you even manage to be accepted to nursing school.

LVN. - not difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go to nursing school. There’s a huge demand and it pays well. Enroll tomorrow.

This. You can earn $150K a few years from now doing shift work 12 x a month.

Explain the best case time-line if you go back to college to pursue nursing if you already have a BA. I thought RN programs were hyper competitive. And expensive. Does OP with a BA and MA want to take on debt? I doubt it.

Plus OP's undergrad is in sociology so she will have to go back and take bachelor's level biology classes, for example, before she even applies to nursing school. And I assume she has a family and can't move so she will be super limited in where she can go to school and/or train.

I have a friend who went from Stay at home mom to Nurse in two years. And she's working full time now. Did the school and got hired in DC. It can totally be done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think for nursing schools, there are some science requirements you must fulfill before you can apply.

You guys have no idea what it takes to get into nursing program and actually get a license. You think it's easy. Well, you'll be for a rude awakening once you even manage to be accepted to nursing school.

I doubt anyone things it's easy. But it can be done. Which is not the case for many fields at 50.

[Anonymous]

Temp agency. They will send you on assignments to get your foot in the door.

[Anonymous]

I am surprised nobody suggested IT. Do a simple QA certification, plenty of centers in NoVa, will take 4-5 months and you can get a 60-70k job and most probably WFH. A fiend of mine just did this, she is 40 and had no prior work experience at all, now she has a 70k full WFH job. Something to think and research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here again. Just want to give my sincerest thanks for all the supportive responses. I honestly was prepared to be bashed and shamed because I’ve been out of work for so long and have no security at all at age 50! Thank you for being kind! 🙏

We're rooting for you, OP. Becoming a teacher for a public school system is by far the best thing I've seen listed here in terms of salary and benefits. You already have the degree and just need the certification. Plus there's a nationwide teacher shortage so you're almost guaranteed to get a job. Look into it now.

It's even more true for preschools and daycares if you can manage working with little kids. And I don't believe there is any certifications needed, might be easier to get your foot in the door and they may also have more flexible shifts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised nobody suggested IT. Do a simple QA certification, plenty of centers in NoVa, will take 4-5 months and you can get a 60-70k job and most probably WFH. A fiend of mine just did this, she is 40 and had no prior work experience at all, now she has a 70k full WFH job. Something to think and research.

What is QA certification? Is it more like admin work? I always associate IT work with coding, which isn't for everyone, and you won't get good at it in a few months (unless you have natural inclination and talent for it). If it were easy then every idiot would apply, 70K remote after such short training sounds too good to be true without some connections..