You have something the young folks don't......WORK ETHIC.......I know a person that hired for Lowes and they would rather hire a healthy retiree than a youngster because older folks show up every day and on time. I know this has to be the case in other companies.
Well i got my notice last week. not a total surprise but still a kick in the nuts. spent a lot of time soul searching. i'm 59, debt free, we have lived well below our means and while not rich, could swing it if push comes to shove, big unknowns aside. what i have is what i saved, no pension or anything like that. still wanted to work til 62 to buy some big ticket items though which i am not going to do unless i get another job. while i am marketable, i am also competing against people half my age, 2/3 my salary and frankly usually quicker learners. my ability to learn new complicated things has diminished in the past 10 or so years and my field changes a lot. i am looking for work but am bracing for the worst. fortunately my company is giving me a pretty good severance pkg which really helps. my emotions run the gamut from scared to happy to hopeful to anxious and all flavors in between. last time this happened was right smack dab in the middle of 2008 recession and i was schitting bricks with kids, mortgage, car payment, etc. totally different feeling now. i haven't enjoyed my line of work for 15 or more years but it pays really well. considering some totally different job but not sure what. most jobs suck and if a job is going to suck, i want it to pay well if possible. i have worked for 45 years and always been a saver. switching to being a spender is disconcerting.
anybody else ever just totally changed jobs at this point? the panhandling gig seems pretty good. just need to stay away from the intersections around clarksville.
Another Avenue is technical training. Probably not what you were making before but it’s a solid $65 to $90k a year job.
I would get on LinkedIn, create a profile that highlights your skill sets and check the box that’s says you are open to job offers. Make posts about technical topics you know, link to other topics that interest you. Show a potential employer you are highly engaged in your field.
Start networking with known associates and their connections. That will open up more opportunities.
Also hit up indeed.com. Seems to be a landing spot for tech jobs.
Finally with your down time pick up a relatively new skill set that is in demand, like python or low code apps like Mendix
Good luck, losing a job in our age bracket is a reality all of us could face.
Last edited by KFWA; 01/25/21.
have you paid your dues, can you moan the blues, can you bend them guitar strings
anybody else ever just totally changed jobs at this point?
Yes. The first step is being honest with yourself. You can only be good at what your good at. It doesn't have to be IT, but it does need to be something you can do well. Capitalize on your passion.
The only thing worse than a liberal is a liberal that thinks they're a conservative.
Another Avenue is technical training. Probably not what you were making before but it’s a solid $65 to $90k a year job.
I would get on LinkedIn, create a profile that highlights your skill sets and check the box that’s says you are open to job offers. Make posts about technical topics you know, link to other topics that interest you. Show a potential employer you are highly engaged in your field.
Start networking with known associates and their connections. That will open up more opportunities.
Also hit up indeed.com. Seems to be a landing spot for tech jobs.
Finally with your down time pick up a relatively new skill set that is in demand, like python or low code apps like Mendix
Good luck, losing a job in our age bracket is a reality all of us could face.
i used to be able to kick a brothas ass but that schit hurts too much these days. i'd be good for 30-45 seconds of furious action and then looking for the exit. i would be more suited to being bounced than doing the bouncing anymore.
Canned in 2008 w 599 other salaried. Took 2 yrs tonland a gig w insurance, and not what I used to do. Took yrs to get back to where I was wage wise.
Expecting layoffs w Biden at the helm.
Snow and ice, heading out to driveway to work on my POS 98 suv. Aint gonna buy nothing new(er) til a conservative prez.
OP - sorry to hear, know the feeling. Good luck moving forward!
Hookeye - understand - or until the Givernment forces all to buy electric....and outlaws fossil fuel burners. Indeed the future is uncertain.
Little security or stability in corporate America- not sure if much better being self employed with the radicals in charge. They are anti small business as we know.
Folks strive to make the most we can. Keep debt and spending as low as reasonably possible. Save, invest, hope and pray for the best.
Where are you located? and what type of IT work do you do?
G23
i am in PA and i do linux/network/vmware admin. i don't mind that work, if the job is not a pressure cooker. maintaining a banks transaction and storage environments or a healthcares datawarehouse sucks. good money, stress out the ass. oncall, RCA's, phone bridges in the middle of the night, that kind of schit. schit goes sideways and the buzzards circle. everybody in those environments is stressed usually. i would like to find a low stress linux admin job where i am not the Man. hit and run contracting has its appeal, but you are treated like a janitor most of the time. i could be an old fugger IT guy at a community college though. but those jobs pay less than unemployment usually.
Where you are does not matter as much any more.
Linux/vmware ... really. I would think with the "covid" going around technical support for virtual environments would be high. Sell yourself as an "expert in technology enabling remote work environments." Linux is a a bit of a no go for low tech companies. Seems like people are afraid of it. Have you used proxmox? Maybe you could come in and offer complete open source solutions and save lots of money for them. Then of course they are afraid of loosing the tech knowledge too. Microsoft is safe.
The tech industry is a world of young minds who think old mind are dumb minds. They are too young to realize the IT industry is a world of rehashed buzz words and they are being taken for a ride.
Where are you located? and what type of IT work do you do?
G23
i am in PA and i do linux/network/vmware admin. i don't mind that work, if the job is not a pressure cooker. maintaining a banks transaction and storage environments or a healthcares datawarehouse sucks. good money, stress out the ass. oncall, RCA's, phone bridges in the middle of the night, that kind of schit. schit goes sideways and the buzzards circle. everybody in those environments is stressed usually. i would like to find a low stress linux admin job where i am not the Man. hit and run contracting has its appeal, but you are treated like a janitor most of the time. i could be an old fugger IT guy at a community college though. but those jobs pay less than unemployment usually.
Where you are does not matter as much any more.
Linux/vmware ... really. I would think with the "covid" going around technical support for virtual environments would be high. Sell yourself as an "expert in technology enabling remote work environments." Linux is a a bit of a no go for low tech companies. Seems like people are afraid of it. Have you used proxmox? Maybe you could come in and offer complete open source solutions and save lots of money for them. Then of course they are afraid of loosing the tech knowledge too. Microsoft is safe.
The tech industry is a world of young minds who think old mind are dumb minds. They are too young to realize the IT industry is a world of rehashed buzz words and they are being taken for a ride.
speaking of rehashed buzzwords, throw in Cloud computing (essentially VMware remotely) and Managed Services (running their software apps on the cloud so they don't have to buy hardware - think Office 365 now)
Consider taking some time learning about how its done on AWS if you don't know already. The transition to that world probably wouldn't be very hard given your background.
Last edited by KFWA; 01/25/21.
have you paid your dues, can you moan the blues, can you bend them guitar strings
I retired at 59. My company was bought out by a foreign outfit. I did not want to start a new career at that age, so I just left the work world. 15 years later, all is copacetic.
rem, sorry to hear. Tough pill to swallow. If you decide to keep working, best of luck in your search. With some health problems rearing their heads, my brother just decided to bag it this year at the same age. Had a pacemaker put in that got infected. He was a picture of health, prior. Still lifting heavy weight. STD is done. He's milking out vacation now. Will extend through LTD, then pull the switch. 3rd party healthcare admins harassing him, of course. Its the way the big corps maintain that pretty face to the world. Might return as a contractor. He's got 35 years in at same company.
The Best to you.
Last edited by local_dirt; 01/25/21.
Slaves get what they need. Free men get what they want.
ya i actually know some cloud computing too. thats what i have been doing for the past 6 months. not aws though. i think one problem i have is that i have been in a one-company bubble for 11 years doing pretty specialized work. and honestly i have kind of lulled myself into the idea of staying at this job until 62 so i haven't been as diligent about keeping my skill set up to date. my passion for the work has diminished as well. i think the proper term is burn-out. thats where the soul searching comes in.
Where are you located? and what type of IT work do you do?
G23
i am in PA and i do linux/network/vmware admin. i don't mind that work, if the job is not a pressure cooker. maintaining a banks transaction and storage environments or a healthcares datawarehouse sucks. good money, stress out the ass. oncall, RCA's, phone bridges in the middle of the night, that kind of schit. schit goes sideways and the buzzards circle. everybody in those environments is stressed usually. i would like to find a low stress linux admin job where i am not the Man. hit and run contracting has its appeal, but you are treated like a janitor most of the time. i could be an old fugger IT guy at a community college though. but those jobs pay less than unemployment usually.
Start your own business working with small business owners or small .gov entities to get them off their 20+ year old servers and in the cloud. Just helped my BIL get the local transportation authority off a server ( his IT contractor was collecting 275 per month to monitor a 16 year of server with no backup ) and moved to AWS.
Been where you are now and it sucks. But I will make you this promise, you will land in a better place.
ya i actually know some cloud computing too. thats what i have been doing for the past 6 months. not aws though. i think one problem i have is that i have been in a one-company bubble for 11 years doing pretty specialized work. and honestly i have kind of lulled myself into the idea of staying at this job until 62 so i haven't been as diligent about keeping my skill set up to date. my passion for the work has diminished as well. i think the proper term is burn-out. thats where the soul searching comes in.
I find it is the sense of accomplishment I enjoy more than the work.
