How to change career age 53?

[Hmmmmminteresting]

My DM left a job of 19 years last year due to her new boss being an awful human being and making hers and everyone else's life a misery.
Everyone told her she could easily get another job. Shes a very lovely, well spoken and well dressed 53 year old with 30 years of admin and secretarial experience. However shes spent the last year in and out of part time tempting positions. She always does well there but nobody can offer her anything permanent. She applied for everything but it's like her age holds her back, despite her not being "old".
Shes so disheartened and is losing confidence fast. She is open minded to a new career altogether however it would need to be something that she could train for quickly, or that doesn't take much training. She wants to work for the next 15 or so years, but obviously nothing massively strenuous. Please help with any suggestions.
Thanks!

I guess it depends on what she’s prepared to accept pay wise. My mate who is 55 hasn’t worked for a few years just got a job on the reception desk at a comprehensive school. But the pay isn’t brilliant. I’m 51 and retrained last year to work as a teaching assistant in a primary school, again though the pay is low for someone of my age and experience.

An admin or other basic role in the civil service? They generally seem a bit less likely to discriminate.

If she was pushed out of her job, could she sue under Constructive Dismissal? Just a thought.

This book is worth a read and available from libraries and to read on the internet for free. It treats every spell out of work as a job change opportunity.

What color is your parachute

I'd set up as a self-employed as a PA... There is lots of need for secretarial /admin staff to work remotely... Doing basic accounts/typing /social media admin

How about updating skills and doing a medical terminology course, looking at becoming a medical secretary? Would she be interested in that?

@italiangreyhound she took a big payout, aa did a few others. It went down as redundancy as they were offering it elsewhere but was signed into her contract that it would be left there and no constructive dismissal would be bought against them in the future (she had a huge case as this new boss wanted his old P.A bringing over!)

Some good suggestions here. Does anyone have any tips about setting up as a remote PA? I helped her look into this but we came a bit unstuck.
Medical secretary and civil service good ideas also. I suggested a teaching assistant role but she doesn't really like kids much

'a teaching assistant role' will not pay much and as she doesn't need to fit around school hours I cannot see the benefits.

If she is PA material she could be proactive and write to all major companies in a 50 mile radios of her home.

being older with no young dependent kids means possible flexibility, ability to travel etc, (I'm assuming she is not caring for older relatives etc) so I'd look at great companies that have offices overseas etc and might value a 'drop of the hat' free to travel PA!

Do CVs need to include the birth date on them? I'm your mums age but I've been in my company years. I don't envy her looking for work at her age but I also feel a positive attitude and looking around away from just job ads could work.

Does she have special skills interests, languages etc?

Wish her the best, she has loads to give and she will find the right job soon.

and always encourage her to look for jobs above her 'station/role/experience' etc as well as a bit below.

(Massively sexist/agest assumption coming....) Some men/ some younger people are rumored to often think they can do jobs they are not actually qualified for. I think some older people, some women sometimes lack behind!

Like if the ad says desirable that you have XYZ experience, a woman/older person might say I only have X and Z but a guy/younger person may say I only have Z experience but will go for it!

So we need to be like those cocky young guys (male or female) who say yes, i can do it!

Outside of London and the big cities, PA roles are becoming harder to find and the secretarial / admin roles are badly paid and dogsbody type roles. I was a PA in banking in a prestigious role in the City on around 40k working in a nice office. Here in the south-west, PA roles pay 18-22k.

The NHS is one place that seems to have loads of admin jobs going and lots of older ladies doing them. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be a medical secretary but until automatic dictation is improved, there will still be jobs. NHS pay is low - looking at starting pay is around 18k for admin roles.

Yes I was just about to say the NHS; it's not exactly stress-free though, even for admin roles.

I really feel for your mother. I am a similar age and job opportunities are few and far between. There is a lot of age discrimination in the workplace nowadays, much more than twenty years ago ime. I wish recruiters would look at the wealth of experience, common sense and wisdom that older employees can bring to a role.

I second the pp who suggested applying to local companies. Most jobs are not advertised.

Good luck to your mum!

I'm in my 40s and I've taken all the dates off the education section of my cv and only included the last 15 years of work experience, made a massive difference!!

Sadly, despite the usual cries on mumsnet (that usually pops up,) of how you are 'just a spring chicken' in your mid-50s, you are really not. It's a shame, but it's how it is.

Very few people want to employ people over 50 for anything other than shop assistant or carer or volunteer work.

I know a woman who started a degree in psychology at 48 (finished it at 53.) She had been working as a receptionist/admin clerk with the local authority for a quarter century or so. She did the degree part time whilst still working.

She was made redundant from her LA job, about 6 months after finishing her degree. She seemed to think she would waltz into a job as a psychologist, or even a job IN a psychology department.

No such luck. All she was able to get was a job as a carer. A job that people without a single GCSE to their name can get. 3 years later, she is still doing it; and she hasn't even got a set amount of hours. She is on zero hours contract, and has to wait to see what hours she has for the next month (at the start of each month.)

Sadly, it's because of her age. Trying to start over in a new career - even a new job - over the age of 50 is very, very difficult. As I said, very few people want to employ older people, not for anything other than shop work, or care, or volunteer work. And even then, the shop work, will be (very) part time, maybe even as little as 8 hours a week, and the care work hours will be sporadic and unreliable (and often zero hours contracts.)

The woman I know, said to me (when she finished her degree,) that she was disgusted that all she could get was 'shitty little carer' jobs. (Her words!) She said 'I have a degree, how dare they offer me shitty jobs? I deserve more!'

As I said, 3 years later, she is still doing those 'shitty little care jobs' coz she can't get anything else. Not even basic admin. Not in her late 50s.

Not much help sorry @Hmmmmminteresting but I can see why it's happening. It's because of your mother's age. Unless she has got something out of the ordinary to offer (eg, she can speak 3-4 languages,) she has very few options sorry...

I often wonder who is getting jobs. All I read is that young people don’t get jobs as they have no experience. Then employees prefer workers under 25 as they have to pay a lower minimum wage. Nobody employs women aged between 18 and 40 in case they get pregnant and nobody over 40 gets a job as they are too old.

🤷🏻‍♀️

Admin jobs are getting fewer and fewer as companies make cutbacks and roles become more automated. I would never recommend a “career” in admin, train in a professional job. That’s not much use to your mum. I think a lot of older ladies who have always worked in office admin roles will be in the same position.

LOL @Basketofkittens good point!!

I work in charity and we have employed people in the middle years in admin. It is possible. And there are men in their middle years getting promotions all the time.

I started a new job in October at 53. Emergency despatcher. Not bad money but I had to get out of teaching

Personally I think retraining won't help, she should stick to full time temping until she finds a role.

I'm only a few years younger than your DM and I took redundancy. I had a specialist job but they are now few and far between so went for a job I had done 7 years ago and had much experience of. Started job hunting and I got nowhere. My specialist job had all the same skills as my previous role but I was told time and again that if I hadn't done X role in the last 5 years it would be almost impossible for me to get a job. Everyone wants someone who can hit the ground running. I was lucky to find a temp role that turned permanent but it was good timing that helped me. Recently they laid off a lot of temp staff due to budget cuts so I was very lucky.

Imo if she keeps temping she will get there in the end. There are fewer admin jobs and they pay less well than they used to but they do still exist. We have had a fantastic 60 year old admin in our team in the NHS for the past 6 months; we thank the gods for her every day because she has really good skills and common sense, treats patients well when they ring up etc. Keep looking on www.jobs.nhs.uk.

It is a sad reality unfortunately. A hangover from when retiring at 55 was more commonplace. Admin roles are reducing as people become more self reliant and systems have replaced many tasks. I would encourage her to think WHO she would like to work for and register for any job pages they have, follow them on Facebook etc. There may well be roles that are a little quirky but draw on her skills - try hospices, national trust, charities, universities, civil service etc. She needs to ensure her CV is modern in style and avoids dated concepts like including hobbies, referring to duties performed rather than what she achieved, having on her date of birth/marital status, citing training courses that were many years ago/outdated etc. Wish her luck!

You don't say where she is based OP but a role like this part-time Public Programmes Assistant in Chelsea might be just the ticket? Until another role is found?
www.indeed.co.uk/m/viewjob?jk=29213d67a7ef4913&from=serp

It isn’t just an age thing (not saying age discrimination may not be a factor) - it’s that these type of roles are starting to disappear so retraining is a good idea and a great way to show employers that she’s not ready to just retire yet!

Finance admin still needs to be done so applying for entry roles in finance or payroll? An incentive would be that she is more likely to stick around. Definitely add on the cv that she wants to pursue some qualifications. (Don’t have to be the higher level ones). A statement on the cv that really shows she is still open to learning really helps combat the perception recruiters have of older workers.

How dated is her CV? I'm 55 and considering switching careers. I've got down to the shortlist for one permanent job and then pulled out as I realised it wasn't the right place for me. I've just been invited to interview for another role.
I don't have my age anywhere on my CV.
I only show employment history for the last 10-15 years.
My CV is written in the current style with a descriptive paragraph at the top and then work history in full sentences explaining what I achieved for the companies I've worked for.

If she has an old-school CV with full dates, job title and neutral descriptions of duties on it, that will age her.
At interview when asked if my age is a problem, (yes, they do ask!) I turn it around and say, lots of your clients are my age and I have excellent insight into how people my age prefer to be treated/sold to etc. I speak their language and that's an asset your company currently lacks. That usually goes down well. Put a spin on it. And wear classic but fashionable clothes.

Has your mum considered training in something else, e.g. childminding (big demand around these parts), dog grooming, manicurist, massage therapist, etc. etc. ?