Is There Still Work for Me?

Cheryl in Daytona Beach, writes:

I read your column every day and enjoy your answers. Do you see a lucrative job for me in the near future? I now work part time (no benefits) at minimum wage dealing with abused children. I applied for a good job last week in another town and want that job, but I fear my age (65) will hold me back. I still have good clerical skills, look and act younger than my age. What do you see?

Dear Cheryl,

I’m very sorry, but I do not see you being offered the position you recently applied for. While that truly is disappointing, there will be other opportunities.

It really stinks that your age on paper is working against you, because you really are a young and vibrant 65. While that number will continue to get more than a few of your applications tossed, keep the faith. In person, when you are interviewed, the tables will turn and your age will become a benefit rather than a detriment. So, keep trying and applying.

I really wish I saw you continuing to work with children, or even with abused women, because it is something you are very good at. However, there don’t seem to be many opportunities in this field that can meet your needs until late summer of next year. By the time they start popping up, you won’t necessarily need the job, but you may want the change.

In September of this year I see you going on a series of interviews, partly due to a recruiter who takes a special interest in you. She will send you on an interview for a temporary clerical position that has the potential to become permanent. While that may not thrill you (I see you hesitating), it would be wise for you to go.

However, you still will be helping people, only in a different way. The position has the feel of social services, welfare, or a Social Security satellite office. Anyway, it is something along those lines, with a governmental paycheck attached. Even though the work itself isn’t presenting as the most stimulating or rewarding, it is a full-time position paying in the high 20’s to very low 30’s, and once it goes permanent the benefits really can’t be beat. While you will have other interviews and other opportunities, this is the one being presented as the job you will choose to accept.

Good luck!

Brightest Blessings,

Red