A Boomer's Journey Through The Job Market

Next month I’ll turn 54. I’m sliding into my mid-fifties, not as good as early 50’s, but still better then late fifties (and of course, way better than dead). It’s an odd time for many of us. Having acquired a world of experience, it sometimes feels as though the world has already written us off. This is most apparent to anyone who’s looked for a job after the age of 45.

After the company I worked at for eight years closed their New York office, I decided to take some time off to spend with my then 6 year old daughter and work on some creative projects, including forming an all mom standup comedy group called the Full Metal Mamas. My husband had a radio show and worked odd hours, it seemed silly to spend so much money on a nanny and frankly, we had the luxury of being able to live on my husband’s salary. I foolishly thought that I would be able to restart my career as an Executive Assistant when I was ready.

After a couple of years, I decided to dip my toe back in the job hunting waters. I sent my resume and immediately got an appointment with a downtown employment agency. The woman who interviewed me must have thought I was younger when she read the resume (although I did have my graduation dates listed) because after asking me just a few questions, she looked at me with disgust and said, “What am I going to do with you?” She spoke to me like I was a lost dog who had been following her around all day.

I was shocked! First of all, she was a dumpy broad in synthetic stretch pants with dirty hair. And she wasn’t any spring chicken either. Where did she get off being so rude! So much for my vast experience, I ran out of there with my middle-aged tail between my legs. But I wasn’t ready to give up.

A former boss recommended me to another employment agency. This time I was interviewed by a sweet, young woman who really seemed to value what I had to offer. She introduced me to a couple of other agents who appeared to be glad to meet me and promised to let me know if they had jobs that might be right for me. Not long after, I started getting phone calls from the agency telling me about job openings and asking if I’d like to be submitted. I cheerfully chirped “Yes, please!” After about seven or eight calls, not one of the prospective employers asked for an interview, not one!!! I didn’t follow up with the agency after that because I was so embarrassed. I really hadn’t obsessed about my age before, but I suppose I should have. I was so freaked out I didn’t even try to look for a job for another year.

A year later opportunities were still scarce, and this was before the banks crashed and burned. It was clear that the only person who was going to give me a job was someone who knew me before my age turned me into job interview napalm. I got the word out to some of my former bosses and one came through, and she came through like the cavalry. Just 4 weeks after I started working in her office (although not for her); my husband lost his radio show. She has a name, but I like to call her The Reason My Family Eats.

Although radio doesn’t require heavy lifting, my husband also ran onto age discrimination while trying to get another radio gig. He tried networking but radio changes so fast, some of his old bosses had already moved onto different aspects of radio other than programming. Like television, radio programmers try to attract listeners with lots of cash to spend on their sponsors’ products. They often want their radio hosts to reflect that demographic, not the portion of the population they see as retiring within the next 15 years.

Without many radio stations looking for hosts, and even fewer looking for hosts that aren’t staunch conservatives, we realized that it might be time for my husband to make a change. He decided on real estate. Right after he earned his real estate license he got a job with a large real estate agency in Manhattan. He worked at that agency for about a year and now he’s about to move up to a higher end agency. I’ve very proud of him and he’s excited to embark on the next step of his new career.

Has it been easy? Hell no! Tears were shed and savings dipped into. But we’re still here and hopeful about the future. Little by little I’m allowing myself to think about the possibility of having enough income to go out and have some fun, maybe even take a vacation that doesn’t entail driving our 14 year old Kia for a few hours and crashing at a relative’s home. There’s more life to be lived and more fun to be had!