What age is the hardest to find a job? \ stacker news ~AskSN

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292 sats \ 16 comments \ @stack_harder 12 Aug AskSN

I think it has to be a bell curve of being hard starting out , and then probably I can imagine once a person hits like 50, things get hard again.

I'm 40, but I think that, really, once you hit 50, it's not going to be pretty, people have inherent ageism, whether they admit it or not.

People are expected to work until they're basically 70, and, quite honestly, I wonder in what jobs? My only plan is to stack whatever I can and just buckle up.

What do you stackers think?

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31 sats \ 0 replies \ @justin_shocknet 12 Aug

Depends on the kind of job you're looking for, and as you age your needs change in a way that erodes your leverage.

I don't think ageism has anything to do with experience or knowledge as it relates to technology, quite the opposite in my experience, particularly in established enterprises where stability and adherence to process is valued above all.

A 50yo with a mortgage and kids in college will take abuse for years from the leviathan conglomerate that a 20-something wouldn't, simply because they have to.

This is where age becomes a culture-fit thing so you need to target those (mostly undesirable) organizations. All the leviathan cares about is that you're not too close to retirement such that they can recoup their investment in on-boarding you.

A startup or turn-around story on the other hand would prize adaptability and inventiveness, so that culture tends not to be a fit for people later in their career with one eye on the clock and where comp trumps equity.

"It's not what you know, it's who you know"

"Your network is your net-worth"

If you were a fit for a GREAT job, why are you coming in off the street after having 20+ years to build relationships/value? You should have enough connections by now that you're constantly being hounded to fill executive or mercenary roles from the best people you've worked with in the past, not debasing and commoditizing yourself to strangers on LinkedIn.

Coming from enterprise tech myself I see that very few people understand this. It's downright sad to see old friends and colleagues chasing down the latest industry certifications like the next one will turn things around. It demonstrates an insecurity over their reputation and what they can prove to buy the same sheepskins a rookie would in-lieu of actual experience.

32 sats \ 4 replies \ @TheBTCManual 12 Aug

I think after 50 and you're not in some management position where your value is based on how much productivity a younger team below you can deliver, it's going to be tough!

You'll either need to lower your salary expectations, which could be done if you already have savings and this is just to extend runway, or you'll have to go out and take risk and start a business and face the market head on

1 sat \ 2 replies \ @stack_harder OP 12 Aug

i think the one of the hardest things is when people have to take massive pay cuts as their older, it hits the ego hard. men especially place a lot of value on income, and identity is usually whatever the job is.

I'm self-employed so things are a bit different, but i think we all become basically a bit invisible in the 5th decade

33 sats \ 1 reply \ @SimpleStacker 12 Aug

As an educator, I sometimes feel bad because I make a lot less than other people my age who work in the private sector. But my wife reassures me that I'll be glad for my job when I'm in my 50s and 60s and still have stable income in a job I can work even into my 70s if I want to.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @stack_harder OP 8h

It's true, comparison is the thief of joy, you'll be golden if you keep stacking tho !

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 12 Aug

There's a lot of truth to that. I've seen some older people who had very high titles in their company, even as high as CFO, have a lot of trouble getting work after getting laid off in their 50s/60s.

I think what happens is that most of your value became your insider knowledge of how your company operates. But that doesn't always translate to a new company. You might also be accustomed to older ways of doing things, if you're coming from an older well-established but low-tech company

32 sats \ 1 reply \ @chaoticalHeavy 12 Aug

You need to spend time learning and working on projects that implement new technology.

I got recruited for a job at a Fortune 30 company at 60 years of age.

I retired unexpectedly at 69 because they insisted on our "return to the office".

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @stack_harder OP 12 Aug

That's great and i stay on top of things personally, tech etc, but it seems after 30 or 40, people just stop developing, or having any kind of personal growth

14 sats \ 1 reply \ @Maximux 12 Aug

That depends on several factors: type of employment, personal health status. But in general, I think it's harder to start a new job after age 60.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @stack_harder OP 8h

most people in the west already have some kind of chronic health issues in their 50s and im not even sure how many people are physically and mentally fit for most jobs

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 12 Aug

I'm not so sure. Do the zoomers really want to work? Would you rather hire a hard working 50yo or a lazy complaining zoomed?