Starting over at 55. Anyone with similar experience?

[alamostation]

In six weeks, I will be unemployed. The company I am working for is consolidating operations at their divisional headquarters. I have no interest in moving to the remote western portion of Virginia, so I am looking for a job in south Texas, preferably on the coast.

As a going away prize, I will get a small stay until the end bonus and two months salary after I am layed off. The way the thing is structured, I can also collect unemployment for six of the weeks I am getting paid.

There are quite a few job openings for chemists with FDA/governmental regulation compliance experience in Texas. My concern is whether my age will be a handicap or an excuse to offer a lower wage.

Has anyone had experience looking for a job later in life?

[Skippy]

At least there are openings in your field. I haven't been able to find another engineering job locally, nor decent mechanic work (though I'm finally taking some ASE certification tests next month which will probably help), nor will the Navy let me go active duty full time. I decided a change is in order and took some interest and personality tests with the counselors at the local college. Results in a few weeks.

[jplinville]

Originally Posted by alamostation

In six weeks, I will be unemployed. The company I am working for is consolidating operations at their divisional headquarters. I have no interest in moving to the remote western portion of Virginia, so I am looking for a job in south Texas, preferably on the coast.

As a going away prize, I will get a small stay until the end bonus and two months salary after I am layed off. The way the thing is structured, I can also collect unemployment for six of the weeks I am getting paid.

There are quite a few job openings for chemists with FDA/governmental regulation compliance experience in Texas. My concern is whether my age will be a handicap or an excuse to offer a lower wage.

Has anyone had experience looking for a job later in life?

No matter what the law states on age discrimination, your age WILL factor in. I have hired a good number of people, and always look for younger people with young kids. They are usually the type that I'm willing to invest time and training on, as they are more apt to become a greater investment in the long run.

You would probably have greater luck becoming a contractor or consultant. You'd be responsible for your own taxes and insurance, but it gives you freedoms that you don't have otherwise.

[Skid Row Joe]

Originally Posted by jplinville

No matter what the law states on age discrimination, your age WILL factor in. I have hired a good number of people, and always look for younger people with young kids. They are usually the type that I'm willing to invest time and training on, as they are more apt to become a greater investment in the long run.

You would probably have greater luck becoming a contractor or consultant. You'd be responsible for your own taxes and insurance, but it gives you freedoms that you don't have otherwise.

Correct me if I am wrong, but legally speaking, what does your hiring criteria have anything to do with a person's background or ability to do his or her job? Is this information you wrote, in your company's hiring benefits handbook's by-laws or rules and regulations?

I am sickened and deeply troubled to read your personal practice here, as well as I am having a hard time believeing that you would write this heavily prejudiced, likely illegal, and almost cultish statement about how you go about hiring in America for the firm you represent.

I am wondering if your company that you represent fosters your hiring standards, or even knows how you go about your weeding out of applicants?

Is the information you disclosed above, given to the interviewees as the reason they were not hired?

[t walgamuth]

Oh for Pete's sake.....

[layback40]

Originally Posted by alamostation

In six weeks, I will be unemployed. The company I am working for is consolidating operations at their divisional headquarters. I have no interest in moving to the remote western portion of Virginia, so I am looking for a job in south Texas, preferably on the coast.

As a going away prize, I will get a small stay until the end bonus and two months salary after I am layed off. The way the thing is structured, I can also collect unemployment for six of the weeks I am getting paid.

There are quite a few job openings for chemists with FDA/governmental regulation compliance experience in Texas. My concern is whether my age will be a handicap or an excuse to offer a lower wage.

Has anyone had experience looking for a job later in life?

Just keep your fingers crossed.
Often they want some one with some life experience that can relate to all. Not some green behind the ears grad.
Have a talk to TW, he recently was on the job seeking trail.

Good Luck !!!

[Rafi]

you can become a contractor. Lot of companies are now hiring contractors so they do not have to pay benefits, vacation etc and can can easily get rid of them.

[t walgamuth]

I had to close my Architecture office after thirty years plus. I was very concerned that at age 59 would anybody hire me? I started looking around feeling in my gut I might end up driving a bus or something unrelated to my profession. The economy was deep in the toilet and no end in sight.

I knew a few people at Purdue and had substitute taught there for one semester a few years earlier so started looking in that department while looking each day at their website and applying for anything in the area of buildings, etc.

I managed to secure a nice job in the office of Physical Faciliities working as a Project Manager. I have some friends there who may have helped things along a bit but I am not proud. I felt and still feel very fortunate to have landed a job at my age, but where else but at an institute of higher learning should they value education and experience of which I have both in large quantities.

It is a little funny sometimes because I am older and more experienced than anybody in my department up to three levels higher than I reside at. But nobody makes age jokes because it is strictly not allowed. There are quite a few folks older than I am.

We have at least two construction inspectors that must be nearly 80 and in the academic side I see folks who must be near ninety plugging away.

As a chemist I think you might be able to fit into a university somewhere. It is a pretty good place to work. Four weeks paid vacation (I keep repeating that over to myself quietly) and excellent retirement benefits (though I plan to work til I keel over) and excellent medical insurance.

Don't give up. There are jobs out there for old farts!

[aklim]

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

I managed to secure a nice job in the office of Physical Faciliities working as a Project Manager. I have some friends there who may have helped things along a bit but I am not proud.

Just because your friends helped open a door for you doesn't mean you can walk thru it. Sure, they started the process but if you succeed, it is your success. That nobody but you can do.

My wife's friend has her PhD and is doing post doc schooling. Very impressive till you see that it was her boyfriend she cheated on her husband with that was behind her. He did open the doors for her and even helped her with her work. Doesn't matter. She still sucks in both senses of the word which explains her current position. During her PhD, her adviser was trying to ditch her by suggesting that another adviser would be better suited for her, etc, etc. BF opened the door, she can't walk thru.

Restricting yourself to working in one small part of the world is a disadvantage. Consider consulting/contracting instead of another "job," where age/experience is considered an advantage instead of a handicap.

[kerry]

Lots of good advice here already. I've served on enough search committees to know that you can legislate against age discrimination all day long and the end result is only that people wont talk about it any more. It's probably better to keep the topic out in the open where it can be discussed rather than simply sweeping it under the rug. Sometimes age counts in a person's favor, sometimes youth. As long as people are afraid of lawsuits, it's difficult to make the case for the advantage of age and experience.

[Yak]

Originally Posted by alamostation

In six weeks, I will be unemployed. The company I am working for is consolidating operations at their divisional headquarters. I have no interest in moving to the remote western portion of Virginia, so I am looking for a job in south Texas, preferably on the coast.

As a going away prize, I will get a small stay until the end bonus and two months salary after I am layed off. The way the thing is structured, I can also collect unemployment for six of the weeks I am getting paid.

There are quite a few job openings for chemists with FDA/governmental regulation compliance experience in Texas. My concern is whether my age will be a handicap or an excuse to offer a lower wage.

Has anyone had experience looking for a job later in life?

Assuming you can translate the "regulation compliance experience" into the proper terms, I would think there could be demand for that with the expansion in the Ford Shale fields. It's more EPA than FDA, but may be there.

With the age and experience and potential skill set, and the current economy in Texas I would think Federal Government, then private industry, then state government. Check USAJOBS.com and work on some different search filters. Depending on what you want, for example, there are "Food Inspector" positions with the USDA at full time and temporary.

[Pooka]

I retired and then went back to work in my old field since I was just bored. My expertise in refinery and pipeline operations is had to find so after a few tests of mental ability I was offered a job at a much lower level than the one I once had, but then I was not in it for the money.

One problem I ran into was that my technical ability was far beyond the younger people I was working with. You will have to learn to deal with this. I just made some suggestions here and there and also introduced some new methods. 'Since that was the only way I knew how to do it' was my excuse, but I had to be careful to not make the management look dumb.

Is your age going to be a factor? Not to anyone who needs your skills. A smaller company would likely be the best place to look as they will see your skills as a jump on the other companies they compete with.

Just be careful to not make the boss or owner look bad, and sometimes that is not easy. What will be simple to you will be years ahead of them.

[engatwork]

I second that about making sure you don't make the boss/owner look bad.

I became unemployed in Jan of this year for the first time since I was 13 excluding four years of college. I'm going to set up a shop and do imported car repair. No one is doing it within 60 miles of here. I'll probably have more business than I want.

[lutzTD]

I change jobs a lot as a contractor. in the end most companies are the same and you will meet a lot of new freinds. Dont be afraid of change. it will surprise you how easily you will adapt and maybe you will be saying darn, I wish I would have done this ages ago. When your current job ends you will feel the weight of it lift off your shoulders. Its almowst a religous experience. Dont worry too much about the the next one, if you are truly looking the jobs are out there. This may even be an opportunity to move somewhere you always wanted. Be positive and play your strengths in the job market and all will be fine. In your new interviews dont even mention the bad of an old job, someday they will be the old job and no one likes a complainer. Always best to talk only of your good experiences, they will appreciate it and the interview stays on a psoitive tone.

Also on salary, going in too low is worse than too high. Add 10-20% to what you make now and make that your starting point. Usually if you worked for anyone for a long time you were under the industry standard. no company Ive ever worked for kept their people at industry standard, after many years of 2-4% raises you are likely well under where you should be. They should give you a general idea in the first interview, you should ask in the second.