Finding My Identity After Losing My Job at 60

by Christina Leimer at nextavenue.org

I turned 60 last year, and within months learned that the job I'd hoped would be my last before retirement was being cut. I was angry, afraid, sad, anxious and felt betrayed. My confidence was punctured. But I felt relief too, and an elated sense of freedom and lightness…

    Then along came COVID-19, throwing many of us into confusion, chaos and uncertainty, me included.
 

It's not easy landing a job later in life. But these eight people prove it can be done.

    It’s never too late to land the position you’ve always wanted. Learn how these eight successful job seekers found their dream jobs. 
 

The holiday season is approaching, which means you’ll be making some big purchases in the near future. You may be looking for a way to make extra cash to help cover the costs — but watch out for job and work-from-home scams while you’re job-seeking.

    When the pandemic began scammers used it to target victims… Now, thieves are changing targets and starting to focus on job seekers. Some cybercriminals are even using man-in-the-middle attacks or other methods to intercept job offer emails, so watch out. You could be the target of a job candidate lure if you aren’t careful.
 

All it takes is an introduction. A harmless greeting is how most wonderful things start. How you find your spouse, how you meet your best friends and how you land your dream job. It starts with basic human connection.

    Networking, in theory, is a simple hello, but psychologically, it’s puzzling. In a study about networking, it was found that it can make people feel physically dirtier.
 

You heard it from your parents before you started school. Once in school, you heard it from your teachers. Through with school, you heard from boss (or bosses.) The message was always the same: these are rules, play by the rules.

    Now you’ve ridden the crest of the workforce past age 50 and guess what? The rules surrounding a job search have changed and they are continuing to change. And, most likely, they will not stop changing any time soon.

    A changing job search landscape is the new normal.

    What to do about the new normal? Motivational speaker Connie Podesta has excellent advice on the subject: “Deal with it!”

    But you’re in your 50s (or older) and you’ve just lost your job; you have a mortgage; you have (at least one) car payment; you a child in college; you have bills. And it’s just “not fair” that you lost your job.

    And do you know what else you are? You’re right.

    It’s not fair. Like John F. Kennedy said, “Life’s not fair.”

    And now, with the Covid craziness, the job market is changing all the more. And that’s not fair.

    What to do?

    Several recruiters have shared with us that the best thing to do is to keep at it. Consistency is the key. Network (live or online) as much as you can. Work LinkedIn for all its worth. Scour the online world for openings. Reach out to people and then call then back. And call them back again. Be creative. Don’t think for one minute that you’re going to find a job in 2020 the same way you did 20, 30, or 40 years ago. Just like the Carter Administration, those days are gone.

    It’s not going to be easy. It’s probably not going to be fun. But it is achievable.