[tlug] Employment for "oldies"

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

BALUTA Chris writes:

 >    I'm in a "transitional period"[1] and a conversation at the latest 
 > TLUG meeting has me realizing and fearing that perhaps a big transition 
 > may be in order. My specific concern, beyond finding a job, is this: I am 
 > knocking on the door of 50. Just how viable is it to start (largely)
 > a career and to maintain employment through to retirement?

"That depends," of course.

Generally speaking, even in academia, I'm pretty sure age has counted
against me in several attempts to move to a higher-paying position at
a private university with students of reasonable quality.  I think you
will almost surely have to accept a lower-status post in a lower-
status firm than you think you deserve.

But what are your skills?  If you're a COBOL, Python 2, or Perl 5.8
programmer, you'll become more valuable as time goes on (old code
never dies, it just become less dense in the diffs).  If you've got
project management experience, maybe there's a place for you at JAXA
or TEPCO. ;-)

If you haven't heard of "What Color is Your Parachute?" by Richard
Bolles, it is the best book for job seekers of all types, from junior
high school students looking to babysit to career-changers in midlife
(sound familiar?)  Of course it's US-specific, but the advice about
evaluating what you can do for an employer, how to set goals, and how
to sell yourself to a desireable employer are pretty universal.