Is anyone else feeling like they may be too old to find good jobs (early 50s)

[Thelaughingtonepoliceman]

I've worked more or less non stop since the age of 24. I'm 53. I love working and have always prided myself on being able to support myself, have never found it particularly difficult to find work. For specific reasons I hate my current job and know I need a change and I have been trying to find a new job since January 2024 without any success. I've applied for over 30 roles over that period, all of which I'm more than qualified for, and had three interviews, not been offered anything.

I'm postgraduate degree educated, have 11 years of industry-relevant experience in my current job and did an adjacent job at a high level for 20 years before that. I've been promoted four times in my current role. I have a good network (which I've been running threadbare over the past 3-4 months asking for coffees and advice) and good soft skills. Nothing has come up. And I mean nothing: not even stuff several pay grades below my level.

I can't help feeling that I'm now considered too old to hire and honestly it terrifies me. I'm really worried about what the future could hold. I've got a teenage DD who I think will go to university, so downsizing/taking foot off the pedal isn't an option for me for many years to come. I also really really don't want to stop work.

Is anyone else of roughly the same age feeling like this? Any positive stories about people coming through it?

It’s a hard thing to convey isn’t it, that you’ve got no plans to retire early….good luck op, I’m getting there and I wanted to say the market in the retail IT I mostly do has been really really quiet for about a year so it’s probably not just one factor - in a market with more people chasing fewer jobs that factor maybe biting more than it might have done though.

just a mad thought - my linked in is full of people doing runs or volunteering - anything in that space that could catch attention on linked in? Using your skills for community stuff etc.

Have you tried taking some of your early jobs off your CV, and also removing your DOB? Apparently any experience you had more than 5 years ago is largely irrelevant to employers.

The job market is very tough and I’m not sure it’s your age necessarily. I know plenty of 30 and 40 somethings having the same challenges. Tenacity unfortunately is the goal I think.

I work in tech marketing and have had no issue with finding new jobs at the right level (head of dept for companies of about £40m turnover). Maybe I've been lucky but there seems to be a skills shortage in my sector or possibly my geographic area.

I changed job last October aged 62 which took about 7 weeks.

My only thought is 30 roles over 18 months is not very many.

Husband nearly 50 and made redundant in April - ended up with 3 job offers and started a job and quit after a month as a much much better job came up

his age didn’t seem to be a factor at all in the process thankfully (something we did worry about)

The govt clearly thinks a job search takes longer on general when older though as the statutory redundancy for over 45s is higher than for under 45s.

Thanks: I've thought about this. Unfortunately my earlier career is also highly relevant to what I do now so I'm loathe to minimise this. But good advice to shorten that section.

Also encouraging to hear that people don't think it's necessarily a death sentence for your career to be over 50. I'd rather be told it's just me and that I need to get my act together than that it's going to be impossible to get work!

Depends on the sector. NHS/LA shouldn't be too bad!

This is shallow and controversial but it helps if you don't LOOK old. Being a healthy weight and presenting 'younger' (weight is most of that) will go a long way. I'm grateful for Zoom and slightly blurry filters... Take dates off anything that makes it clear that you are ancient (degree year, e.g. anything last century!!). Keep CV to two sides max.

Good luck, it's very tough out there. I was employed at 45 and was told I was a 'diversity hire' due to my age.

This really worries me. I last got a new job at 49 but I look and feel much older now (53). I have thought about starting to colour my hair again, I went grey in my early 40s and it looked fab, but now I just feel old

Depends on the type of work you would be seeking.

I work in IT, and at one interview at the age of 43 was asked (twice) if I 'had trouble picking new things up'. I didn't get the job. I should have sued for age discrimination really, but was just glad not to be working there. I'm on the wrong side of sixty now and would expect it to be impossible to find another IT job, purely because of age.

@WitchesofPainswick

This is shallow and controversial but it helps if you don't LOOK old. Being a healthy weight and presenting 'younger' (weight is most of that) will go a long way. I'm grateful for Zoom and slightly blurry filters... Take dates off anything that makes it clear that you are ancient (degree year, e.g. anything last century!!). Keep CV to two sides max.

So true.

I do present as 'younger' (I have to for my current job) so I dye my hair, I maintain a reasonable weight and I dress professionally. My industry puts quite a high premium on looks so this is pretty non-negotiable.

I'm very happy to do all this anyway as I value my health and and I enjoy looking good. At the same time the sexism of this pisses me off no end. No man in the history of work has ever been asked to dye his hair blonde to disguise his age and a long experience in an industry seems to be regarded as a positive for men.

If taking my graduation year off my CV helps I'm happy to do this (it's pretty irrelevant anyway for what I do). But I really bristle at the idea that I have to pretend to be 30 again. Why should inexperience be a virtue for a man and a drawback for a woman?

@StripyShirt

I work in IT, and at one interview at the age of 43 was asked (twice) if I 'had trouble picking new things up'.

Seriously? That's appalling. Even in Hollywood you wouldn't get away with that. You should indeed have sued.