How I Found a Job at 65
Tips for older job hunters
“You have to be realistic. There is no way you will find a job at your age.”
The message I was getting from my nearest and dearest was that, after being fired from my technical writing job at the age of sixty-five, I’d never find another job. No doubt they meant well, trying to save me from disappointment or the embarrassment of failure, but it was also sapping my self-confidence.
The truth is that, at any age, job hunting is about overcoming rejection. In the end, you need only one job, but the path to that job is through many failed attempts. As an older job-hunter, I found the biggest challenge was being doubted by friends and family; those whose support I most needed.
Getting fired was the best thing that could have happened.
Two months have now passed since I received the dismissal notice and am writing this article on the train, commuting to my new job. My new position is more interesting and better paid than the one from which I was fired. In retrospect, getting fired was the best thing that could have happened to me. At an age when many people were expecting me to retire, my career is entering a new exciting track, in a young startup company at the cutting edge…
