I've seen a number of diaries and comments here that speak to the special situation we who are over 50 face in the current job market. So I thought it might be a good idea to start a weekly diary to allow those of us in this situation to vent, strategize and generally feel validated.
So to give a little of my background so that you know where I'm coming from...
I have been an IT professional for 30 years. I am female, so I'm somewhat of a pioneer. When I entered my profession (a little by accident), I was one of very few females in my working group. That has carried through most of my career. I'm happy to see more women joining IT and I have to say that the best manager I've ever had was a woman. I've spent my career mentoring younger women and helping them through the corporate political environment where we tend to be invisible.
In early 2007, there was major upheaval at the company I had worked for for 7 years. My great (female) manager was replaced by a young smart aleck male. I've been pretty good at adjusting to crappy managers throughout my career, but this guy took the cake. He made it clear that he was smarter than the woman who had been doing his job since he was in kindergarten. I'm sure you can guess the result. Despite good performance reviews for seven years, suddenly I did not have the requisite skills for the position. I wasn't too worried about being laid off, at the time. I had multiple phone calls, lots of phone interviews, lots of in-person interviews, but then... sadly no offers of employment. It took awhile before I realized that this time I was 55 years old - no longer the young up and comer. I finally got a full time job with a consulting firm after 8 months.
But then along came the Great Republican Recession. Work at my consulting firm dried up. So those of us who were hired in the last gasps of 2007 were no longer needed. Unemployment again. I was lucky to grab a contract that was supposed to start in January 2009 and last at least 6 months. Yeah right. In March 2009, the company decided to terminate all contractors.
Then came a long long period of crickets. For a long time, I couldn't even find any jobs to apply for (there were a number of jobs on the boards that kept popping up, but were clearly just there for gathering resumes. Finally in July 2010 I got a six-month contract. I was way overqualified for the job, but I had the skills they needed so I could do the work and give them added value for what they had originally asked. All was good.
Except. Now that contract is over and I am back to square one. Now what?
That's the point of this diary which I would like to make a series. Any advice for those of us in this situation would be greatly appreciated.
I also want to provide a place where we can vent, get hugs, give hugs, and generally support one another.
What do you think?
UPDATE: So based on the feedback, I see that there is interest in a weekly diary. So look for this every Thursday around 7:00 Pm CST (figure it out - you're smart!) Thanks for all the positive comments!