For our Still in the Game series, Business Insider has been interviewing and surveying group in their 50s who are navigating occupation changes. As we've shared their struggles and triumphs through unemployment and occupation pivots, we've heard from additional than 100 readers via emails and comments, many expressing the identical sentiment: "Thank you for showing me that I'm not alone."
While looking for activity or starting complete at any age comes alongside challenges — particularly following spending decades construction a occupation and in the current difficult job market — several of those challenges may arrive as a surprise.
One astonishment this age demographic seems to portion is the abrupt realization that their job cognition doesn't clasp as much importance as they expected. As these Gen X job seekers go through the expanding pains of starting complete at 50, they reflected on that reality, affirmative the another challenging headwinds they're experiencing.
Here's what they told us.
Fifty is, apparently, old
When responding to our survey, one 55-year-old mentioned they're having difficulty finding activity since companies think group in their 50s are old now. "They ignore that my generation is the one that, much akin cockroaches, don't appear to age and are really difficult to kill," they wrote.
Almost all of the Gen X workers and job seekers we said alongside awareness that age bias is a important difficulty in their current occupation journey. At the identical time, they say it's difficult to prove. "It feels apparent to me that age is a aspect in why I can't discover a job," 56-year-old job seeker Kymm Dracup told BI.
Read additional concerning Dracup's story.
Getting former AI isn't as uncomplicated as they thought
Some of the group we said alongside additionally mentioned concerns concerning how AI power be keeping their applications from reaching recruiters.
They additionally have fears concerning how their constricted AI cognition is making them weaker candidates. "There's AI now, and having been out of the tech iteration for nearly five years, catching up at 52 is a minefield," Jodi Lynn Karpes said.
Thankfully, there are workarounds for the AI issue. For example, Karpes, akin to the another non-tech job seekers who responded to BI, is taking courses and educating herself concerning AI tools.
Read additional concerning Karpes' story.
Most companies deficiency hiring etiquette. The ghosting is out of control.
It power be difficult to believe, but there was a period whenever companies would communicate candidates if they weren't selected.
Job seekers who have been gainfully employed for the final 25 years and have established themselves in today's durable job market stated they are shocked by the deficiency of etiquette companies have shown.
Read additional stories concerning job hunting, unemployment, and starting complete following 50.
"The figure of times I've heard concerning allies of quarry in their 50s being ghosted — it's specified a slap in the visage to people," 56-year-old Michael Shmarak said. "I don't attention how elder or younger a function is; there's a deficiency of decency, and I'd affection to see that arrive back."
Shmarak has additionally informed being ghosted.
Read additional concerning Shmarak's story.
Job hunting can obtain a grave affectional toll
While the emotion of rejection isn't distinctive to job hunters in their 50s, it was among the most average challenges shared in our interviews and surveys.
Frustration. Low self-worth. Panic. Desperation. These feelings consistently surfaced in assorted interviews. "Rejections are all part of the process, but it's taken a big toll on my self-esteem and contributed to situational depression," 57-year-old Gregory Brooks told BI. "My job was a big part of my identity, and leaving it was a big blow."
Read additional concerning Brooks' story.
Job seekers in their 50s have to prompt themselves that their age and cognition are strengths, not weaknesses
After quitting her job of 15 years, 54-year-old Nicole Cicero landed a new one in a few months. Her finest advice? Go into interviews alongside confidence, saying, I cognize what I can do. "It's a mindset change that I've really embodied in my 50s," she said.
Cicero additionally relied on her connections and her network to quickly pivot into a new role.
Similar to Cicero, Shmarak shared how his mindset change has kept him motivated, notwithstanding the ghosting and rejection in his job search, "50-somethings can study to halt resting on the laurels of what we've done, and commencement focusing on the value we continue to deliver," he said.
Read additional concerning Cicero's story.
Are you navigating a occupation alter in your 50s? Contact this editor, Manseen Logan, at [email protected] to portion your story.
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Manseen Logan is a elder publishing company at Business Insider. She publishes compelling first-person stories, as-told-to essays, and roundups covering careers, unemployment, job searching, tech, business, and innovation. She additionally occasionally shares her firsthand experiences attending high-profile events and trying famous services.Before joining BI, she was an publishing company at Complex Media, anywhere she edited the Life division and created governmental satisfied for the Webby-nominated “Pull Up and Vote” campaign. Manseen additionally worked at the Liberian Consulate in Atlanta and is the originator and editor-in-chief of GTL, a sports and media organization. She received her MFA in penning from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
