Friday, April 5, 2013

Over 50

Should you find yourself out of a job and over fifty years old you are probably going to find yourself falling on hard times. People want to believe that age discrimination does not exist but, I am here to tell you that it is alive and well and you would do well to hide your age at every turn. Lucky enough to be currently employed then if I were in your shoes I would start the process of thinking, acting and looking younger. What I mean by that is if you are going gray then color your hair. Should you have wrinkles around your eyes or on your face then get Botox. Start some sort of exercise and go on a diet and lose some weight. I am not talking about women here I want men to do this also. More than ever you need to do whatever it takes to keep your job and looking younger is they way to go. Should you lose your income and you're over fifty you are in a world of hurt and probably this will be the toughest time of your life. The stress it puts on you and your family is significant and you cannot imagine how bad it can get and I do mean divorce and worse. I believe it is the same as being told you have a terminal illness.

Should you become unemployed then you need to start looking for a job on day one and spend at least eight hours a day trying to secure new employment. Don't take the severance money should you get a check and think you can coast for a time and then look for a new job. You're behind the eight ball from the moment you are let go just because of your age. You may not feel old and everyone tells you that the fifties are the new forties. Nice sentiment for the over fifty crowd but, nothing but empty platitudes as far as employment is concerned.

Friends and family for most of us can be a saving grace and tend to help out as best they can but, they can only do so much. This is as I said much like a terminal illness and you have to go all out to save yourself. Many of you already know what I mean and have suffered through this terrible time but, for those of you who will lose your employment its war in every sense of the word. How do I know this? I have been living this hell for over a year. The take home message is hold on to your job as best you can and if you find yourself out of work fight like hell to get another!

This is my last blog post as we will be losing are internet service due to our own budget cuts. I want to thank the morning journal and specifically editor Tom Skoch for affording me this opportunity. I would also like to thank the readers and those who choose to interact.

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