To think job market for those 55 and over is dire

[Bettyfordtoday]

At 55, and recently made redundant from a highly paid corporate role I am struggling to get another role or even an interview.

I'm wondering what others do at this age point, too young to retire but seemingly too old to interview ?

Have a mortgage etc to pay and don't want to get in debt , redundancy pay will last if I am careful to the end of the year at most

i’m 48 and worried that if I get made redundant again I’m basically unemployable in my field

Last time I had an interview I’m fairly sure the only reason I didn’t get the job was my age

I'm going to sound like the most awkward negative Nancy here, but I failed Maths four times, have no A-levels and no degree. On paper it's a miracle I've ever been employed lol x fortunately call centres used to take almost anyone. Other jobs used to be down to a combination of contacts (no longer an option) and my "winning personality" in person. Trouble is these days getting in front of a person is nigh on impossible, and if interviewers are young and anything like the pink koala person upthread, I'm scared already 😂 It still smarts that Primark rejected my online application a few years back....

There's another thread about older applicants being made redundant from the CS at the mo. Sadly

I’m finding it’s dire and I’m 44. I do think all the info about menopause massively puts people off recruiting this age as we’re all basically mental apparently.

I agree. It was hard enough with employers not taking on women of child bearing age because they might be ‘unreliable’.

Now they are doing the same with menopause, I’m all for awareness but talking about leave etc just continues the myth that we are weak little beings who have to have special concessions made at all stages of our lives. I think it will hurt recruitment of women greatly.

No, you don’t need to put education dates on your CV.

Yes I have heard someone else (in Recruitment) say this and it made me think!

Even more fun when you're 44 and actually mental.

My last job was understanding about my issues - which also include autism and ADHD. The former makes me nervous about having to do AI interviews that grade you on things like eye contact, the latter makes me think I just wouldn't cope with anything more admin-based than what I used to do.

I’m planning to rewrite my CV in the way you describe.

I’m late 40s and a high earner in the city but not at the most senior level I could be. I will have an empty nest by age 50 and I was planning to really turbo charge things and apply for more senior roles outside my current company after my DC go to university. Work like crazy until mid-late 50s and then slow down.

I am worried about ageism definitely but I am hoping that going for senior roles where you need 15-20 years experience will work in my favour somewhat…

If I wrote all the dates and jobs I’ve had on paper it would look like I have 25 years experience. In reality I took a couple of years out when DC were small and worked very part time for a few years so my equivalent experience is around 19 years. So I’m trying to work out how to write my CV in that way.

unfortunately I can’t just leave off the first 5 years or whatever because the first 5 years of my career is hugely differentiating in my field so would hinder my application to leave it out.

so I want to say something like “5 years in x area followed by 15 years experience in y area” and keeping dates a bit vague.

If anyone has seen a way to do this I’d love to hear about it!

I wouldnt even mention them to be honest. I dont on my CV but I do have professional qualifications that superseded them.

Mention your achievements through your working life; not school in your teens.

Ive slways worked as an NHS clinician and they want me to work to 70 because we are so short staffed. Im 64 now. I work full time.

I was made redundant at 61, they just wanted me out of the way so they could employ a specific friend of the CEO.

I was expecting it to be difficult but was pleasantly surprised. I had three interviews within the month and signed a new contract in seven weeks.

Slightly lower pay but local, almost zero commuting cost and much less stress. I was very lucky I think, right place, right time.

Good luck OP. Focus on your skills, your long experience, your lack of family ties.

this line of thinking is discrimination and illegal. You wouldn’t apply that kind of logic to any other protected characteristic.

one day, you’ll find yourself on the wrong side of 50.

I agree. DH was in this position last year and it was awful. Very demoralising. He applied for over 150 jobs which got him about 5 interviews and he finally got a job after about 6 months (luckily, as the redundancy pay had run out).

It's a less senior role on significantly less pay though. But local, so reduced commuting costs.

However, the younger people I know looking for jobs don't seem to be having much more success.

Leave the dates off of your school/uni and then delete early work experience so it's only the most recent/relevant stuff. With that, you can't know someone's age from a CV alone

55 is the new 65!

I’ve just taken someone on that is, by my reckoning, early 60s. I’ve guessed this from the fact his application mentioned ‘o levels’ in the early 80s. He certainly didn’t look older at the interview. He was by far the best candidate.

I’m in the same boat 57 years old and out of work 9 months and rapidly running through my savings.
Too young to retire but not getting an interview/job, they want younger people. I’m a professional high earner and getting nowhere …trying to keep going but battling. I feel in the scrap heap and don’t know what to do. Done hundreds of applications.

I've been saying that since everyone became obsessed with perimenopause. I've been told off on here for saying that I think all this menopause awareness training at work is bad. It just makes people think that you're falling to bits after a certain age.

@MistressoftheDarkSide you've listed all your achievements yes? Keeping in mind that what you and I don't see as an achievement, a lot of people will. So to us certain things that are no big deal are really big deal to others, particularly relating to being able to offer proof of organisational skills and reliability.

my best friend has been made redundant twice in the last five years or six years

She's 55. She's found work extremely quickly both times and actually got a step up

I realise that won't apply to everybody in terms of her skill set and career trajectory and so on, but it does make me think there is hope

I thought Jeremy Hunt was objecting to how many over 50s are choosing not to work? Basically, they want the tax money. So they will tell you off if you are over 50 and can afford to retire early - but they won't do anything about the barriers people face.

How do they know your age before interviewing? Have you spend the last 30 years working in the same place? It is illegal for employers to ask your age in application and interviews, unless it is critical for the job

Where I work, in Retail, we've been advertising for various jobs for months now, one is a FT shift manager position, which still remains unfilled. Our staff ranges in age from mainly students to 40+. Please don't disregard retail. Yes, the hours are a PITA, but its a job. Personally, I prefer older applicants because they tend to have more common sense.

Depends on your skills and the sector you work in. I'm over 55 and I've been headhunted twice in the last 3 years.

I'm going to add some positivity to the thread - DH was made redundant from a senior marketing role in July 2024. He'd been looking for jobs for about 6 months before that because he'd been TUPE'd over and knew what was coming. We have four children (two at uni and two heading there in the next year or so) and still had a SE size mortgage so I was terrified because although I'd had a professional career, I gave it up after my fourth child. He applied for literally 100s of jobs - he was told by recruiters and his network "you have amazing experience, you'll be snapped up" etc.....he wasn't. I went straight out and got a job as a PA within a week of him being made redundant, but it paid less than a 1/5 of what he'd been earning.

Fast forward to January 2026 and I went back to my profession through a returnship (at 53!) and have just landed a permanent contract in the civil service because of it....DH has also secured a job as a CEO of an exciting company and our household income is about 50k higher than it was before DH was made redundant...... so miracles DO happen, stay positive and just keep applying/sweating your networks/having coffees etc.

Good luck to those looking!

You mean you can't manipulate them into being your slave by dangling the carrot of promotion? ( also, wrong, many 50+ still want to climb the ladder)

You’d like to think so, and I agree re age discrimination etc. I do think though, rightly or wrongly, with all the hype around employers having to have menopause policies they are perhaps reluctant to employ women of menopausal age.