To think job market for those 55 and over is dire

Tbh I keep pointing this out to older colleagues when they claim not to know basics. I think some people don't do any favours to others of that ages with the strategic incompetence. It just keeps the stereotype alive

I retrained in my 30s and found age discrimination even back then too when going for junior roles. Despite the fact they wouldn’t give me the senior roles due to my lack of experience in that particular field, they had an attitude of wanting young people for junior roles.

I was hired by a Public relations agency straight after I completed my masters in PR at age 32. I had redacted some information including the graduation date for my undergrad and certain previous work experience so they assumed I was early 20s.

I never put my school qualifications, seems pointless with all the other qualifications I’ve got since plus it was so long ago. I remember this one woman at th groups interview. She was probably my age - but unlike me she looked it. She was brilliant and knew a lot more than most there but I immediately got the impression that they didn’t really like her. And I found out later she wasn’t one of the ones they selected for the role.

Well I was selected and at this glitzy PR agency I soon found out they treated junior staff terrible. One of them let slip they were furious when they found out my age from HR as they figured that’s why I was challenging them.

I left that to another job and then eventually this role that I’ve been in for quite a while. If I had to start applying for jobs again as a late 30s woman I’d probably fudge things on my cv and LinkedIn once more - so they think I’m several years younger.

It’s outrageous that it has to be done though. Well it doesn’t have to be done but it does help me.

I think this must be quite specific to your workplace. I've found the opposite in my engineering/high tech workplace- the over 50s have been quickest to pick up AI and are better with tech generally as they grew up with it evolving and have experienced rapid changes in technology. The younger generation have been used to tech being neatly packaged up and really don't understand it to the same extent as those that experienced it being built from what I've seen.

I was hired because I did (measurably) know more than all the other applicants. One of them ended up being hired as my assistant.

Right! I am mid 50s and am one of the people that everyone comes to with tech questions.

I’m also one of the people seriously examining how we can use AI at work. I use it daily.

Our Director of Business Apps is my age, as is our VP of IT.

Agree! I have just officially moved into a complex IT related role at 55, from a totally different role within the same company. If I had applied to another place for the same job, I would have had no chance but because they knew me, and knew I was good at it and keen to learn, they deemed me more suitable than recruiting outside.

Agree the older person 'bad at IT' trope is tiresome. At 63, I am ahead of most of my colleagues with IT. I also got a job at 58 in the civil service. Also agree that this peri and menopause obsession is making things harder for women. I wasn't affected adversely at work by either and hadn't even heard of peri.

There is some good CV advice here. Unfortunately it's much harder to actually knock years off your age now like my Dad did in the eighties when job seeking in his late fifties.

Try the civil service. I got in a year ago in the ONS and I’m now transferring to the CPS - applied externally too

100% agree with this.
it’s a such a cliche that ‘old’ people can’t pick up new technology. Of course we can, we’ve been doing it for 30 years.

I’ve gone from a paper based customer databases to AI-driven customer automation with every stop inbetween. I can see how
much the world has changed and embrace it. I’m still training, still picking up new skills.

its Really frustrating to run into this attitude that 50 year olds are too old to understand tech.

I don't understand remarks like that either! I was using a computer at college in the late 1980s. I was hardly unusual. At the same time, my mum had a computer at work. She retired in 1992, and continued with 'tech' until her nineties.

Who are these people my age who don't know how to use it? I find it baffling that there could possibly be more than a tiny minority who are clueless.

The care industry is friendly to people aged over 50. You could walk into a job being a carer or support worker with the potential to earn up to £4k a month. There's also bank work, if you want more flexibility.

The job market is dire for everyone. A result of the retirement age going up, so people who would have retired are still working, this not freeing up jobs for younger people, and the high birth rate in the years 2005-2008 - those babies are now just nearly all over 18 and a lot of them are looking for the jobs that are blocked by the over 60s who cannot retire.

The government would have you believe it's all down to AI of course.

If you've tried all these things on their own and they didn't make much of a dent then do push for more than one preventative at a time. Everyday migraines is a pretty untenable situation. I've been under the care of my Neurologist for 20 years now and tried pretty much everything but I seem to need stacked treatments to get any relief.

I don't understand this attitude at all. We were the generation that embraced all the new tech - went from no PCs and fax machines and Word Perfect to Internet, Microsoft Office, from no mobiles to 5G, from libraries to AI. Ultimate flexibility and ability to change

I think it is dire across the board. Ds1 'good' degree has had 2 temp jobs since qualifying during covid..he is 27 and has applied acroos the country for anything. Ds2 19 hasn't got anything yet. It is grim.

I have to say, I can relate to this. I’ve worked with a few over 50s in my team, and as lovely as they are, they are hopeless with tech, and very slow to pick up new things, despite getting the same training etc.

See, I don't understand comments like this. Not denying your experience but I had a computer to do my A Level essays on. I had Internet when I was mid 20s and I've grown with 'tech' as it's developed.

Technology isn't a new thing for people in their 50s. When I was in my 20s, there were people in their 50s who were transitioning from all paper offices to computers etc and there was some resistance there but anyone in their 50s now has been using tech and developing with it for the last 30 years.

We.might not have had tablets in our hands at 6 months old but my children (now in their 20s) didn't either.

It hasn't always been there for us, no, but it just means that we remember the time before it. Not that we can't use it now.

I literally don’t mention my age at work ever.

I’m 58, recently made redundant, had 2 interviews last week and have one next week.

I am continually learning tho.

I did a late degree and MA so only include work during and after them on any CV or application, which is from about 2010 when I was about 40ish. None of the rest is relevant as I had a complete career change.

I have to say, I can relate to this. I’ve worked with a few over 50s in my team, and as lovely as they are, they are hopeless with tech, and very slow to pick up new things, despite getting the same training etc. The annoying thing is that these people are often more senior than me and get paid more, simply because they are 15 years plus years older and have ‘more experience’. However, that experience doesn’t count for much when it isn’t up to date, and I end up spending a lot of time helping them and showing them how to do things.

It isn’t lack of effort or willingness to learn, it seems to me that learning just slows down after a certain age, which is problematic given the pace at which the world is changing. From that perspective, I can see why employers want to pay them less, but equally, it’s shit given how high retirement age is now

Thankfully for you we are not desperate and would rather work in tesco or a garden centre rather than under your poor management skills.
As for knowing more than you, I think your post says it all......

I wouldn't employ an older applicant because in my experience they think they know more than you, have no ambition, want an easy life and coast to retirement. Not fair on the rest of the team who have to pick up their slack.

There's a lot of this type of prejudice in education.

Ironically, it's the older members of staff who work harder and are willing to go above and beyond because that's what we've always done. So, as the demands have risen, we've just given more.

Teaching also used to be an attractive career so it attracted intelligent, hard working people. Now, most people with a good degree choose to go elsewhere. We have seen a decline on the quality and work ethic of new teaching students.

But still the mostly male HTs are most likely to go for younger teachers but that's actually because they've been fast tracked through and aren't as skilled or experienced as older female.teachers and their egos don't really like that.

I agree with this. Either you’re child bearing age, or you’ve got young children or demanding teens who will always need your time, then you’re menopausal and going off the rails. We can’t win!

Wow, with an opinion like that, those experienced older people almost certainly do know more than you,

There are two of us in my department. At 61 I'm in at 8am, I don't come in with a hangover, I don't have caring responsibilities, I am happy to drive any vehicle in our fleet if necessary. My younger colleague has a 13 month old and a four year old. She gets in at 9.10am, is forever taking time off because she or her dcs are poorly or the babysitter is sick. She'll only drive an automatic, only during daylight hours and leaves on the dot. None of that is her fault, but it means I spend a lot of time covering for her. I am infinitely more reliable and I panic less. I am more resourceful, more competent. She fusses constantly.

I'm 58 being made redundant this week. I have managed to get the first job I've applied for although it's only part time and low paid. I find out next week whether I got another one I interviewed for this week. It's put me in a real turmoil as I want the second one but have already accepted the first and by the time I find out regarding the second will be about ready to start the first. The anxiety is unreal. I wish I had just taken some time and not rushed.
I was actually surprised that two in my quite niche area of work came up together probably due to new funding coming up in the new tax year.
Good luck to all those struggling.