Having trouble getting a job as an older worker? This woman has some advice.
| Washington
Two years ago, Elizabeth White hit a wall.
For years she鈥檇 earned a six-digit income. Work was easy to find; she has a Master of Business Administration from Harvard and a master鈥檚 in international studies from Johns Hopkins University.
But then everything changed. Organizations weren鈥檛 responding to her job applications. They weren鈥檛 impressed she鈥檇 worked for the World Bank and had run her own retail business.
Ms. White exudes energy and grace. She looks much younger than you might expect a person in her early 60s to look. And she is the quintessential 鈥渟martest person in the room.鈥�
But White says her qualifications are ignored because 鈥渢here鈥檚 rampant age discrimination.鈥� Meanwhile, 鈥渋t doesn鈥檛 matter how you look because when you apply online ... you can鈥檛 hide when you graduated.鈥� Nonetheless, she kept up appearances, didn鈥檛 tell her friends she was in trouble, and pretended things were normal 鈥� until she couldn鈥檛.
White came out by writing an essay for the public-television website Next Avenue. She wrote about people like herself whose phones don鈥檛 鈥渞ing with opportunities anymore鈥� and who are struggling just to pay the phone bill.
After an enthusiastic response, and wanting to do more, she wrote a book, published late last year: 鈥淔ifty-Five, Unemployed, and Faking Normal.鈥�
鈥淔ifty-Five鈥� compassionately identifies issues that older workers face 鈥� issues such as unemployment, job discrimination, and financial insecurity. It gives voice to their stories. Then it suggests steps for restoring what White calls 鈥渁 richly textured life.鈥�
A key theme is to not be 鈥渇aking normal.鈥� Another is to realize 鈥渨e are not alone.... [T]here are millions of us.鈥� Another is to 鈥済et rid of the magical thinking鈥� that society is somehow going to provide a solution.
White has many recommendations for older people who aren鈥檛 finding work: Be willing to participate in the so-called gig economy. Cobble together multiple income streams. And get off your throne 鈥� don鈥檛 be snobbish about the work you accept.
Bottom line, it鈥檚 important to cultivate 鈥渁n entrepreneurial mind-set,鈥� which to White means being 鈥渙pen to doing things we鈥檝e never done before.鈥� She did this herself when she examined the skills she had to offer and decided to write her book.
鈥楧o not give up hope鈥�
Donna Satterthwaite, interim executive director of Senior Service America, an organization that helps older workers with employment needs, says by email: 鈥淗er advice is clear and forthright: Avoid denial, reassess reality, adjust to one鈥檚 new status, strategize.... Do not give up hope. Instead, take charge of your new reality and learn how to live in your new normal.鈥�
White also packed 鈥淔ifty-Five鈥� with lists of resources 鈥� organizations offering help with employment and supply issues. Since it鈥檚 a self-published, print-on-demand book, she can keep these resources up to date.
Juan Laster embodies a willingness to adapt. A woman in her 60s who has a master鈥檚 degree in business education and worked for years in corporate administration, Ms. Laster now juggles part-time jobs. She calls 鈥淔ifty-Five鈥� a 鈥渟urvival kit ... a reference book [that] should be in everyone鈥檚 back pocket.鈥� She strongly agrees with White鈥檚 principle of not 鈥渇aking normal鈥�: 鈥淚鈥檓 not here to impress anyone.鈥�
Laster has segued to being a community advocate for seniors. She also organizes offices. One time she even seized the opportunity to clean someone鈥檚 home for $200. Then she celebrated with a meal at her favorite restaurant and put the rest of the money in the bank.
A related, basic theme in White鈥檚 book is 鈥渟malling up鈥� 鈥� being willing to 鈥渓ive more frugally and to redefine what is enough.鈥�
Smalling up can mean new approaches to housing, often a person鈥檚 largest expense. She suggests living in a smaller home 鈥� perhaps even a 鈥渢iny house鈥� 鈥� sharing a home, or possibly trying a communal living arrangement. In 鈥淔ifty-Five,鈥� she recommends asking oneself: 鈥淲hat do you really need to feel deeply grounded and content?鈥�
Tagging along in D.C.
White practices thriftiness herself in Adams Morgan, the now-trendy neighborhood of Washington, D.C., where she鈥檚 lived for many years. 鈥淓nough鈥� for her includes driving a Fiat the size of a Bobby Car around a neighborhood filled with young professionals driving larger, fancier cars. She also 鈥渟hop[s] in her closet鈥� 鈥� wears the beautiful clothes she bought years ago when earning a generous income.
A visitor to the area recently tagged along for a few days to watch White in action. On the first morning, she drove her Fiat to the local university to meet with appreciative students she鈥檇 taught retail marketing to. Though teaching is not well paid, it helps others, and it鈥檚 one of White鈥檚 income streams.
Next, it was off to the gym at a community center where she works out. It鈥檚 grittier than the boutique gyms she used to be able to afford. But it鈥檚 clean and bright 鈥� and it鈥檚 free.
Perhaps most significant, White attended a get-together of older women at The Potter鈥檚 House, a funky bookstore and cafe that White calls her 鈥渓iving room.鈥�
A central recommendation White makes is to form 鈥渞esilience circles鈥� 鈥� support groups 鈥� specifically for employment and financial challenges. In her book she says, 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to navigate these waters alone.... Peer-to-peer support can keep you even keeled and open to possibility.鈥�
The group at Potter鈥檚 chewed over the difficulties that older women encounter in finding work. Christina, the meeting organizer, commented, 鈥淭o get a job in D.C., it鈥檚 very difficult if you are over 35.鈥�
Christina, who is in her early 50s and didn鈥檛 want her real name used because of career concerns, worked for many years as a lobbyist and had no problem getting jobs when she was younger. Circles 鈥渉elp you build that resilience,鈥� she says. They provide ideas and are a place where 鈥渨e build each other up and remind each other what we are good at.鈥�
鈥淥lder workers are overrepresented among the long-term unemployed,鈥� says Laurie McCann, senior attorney with AARP Foundation Litigation. 鈥淚t takes them much longer to find a job, and more often than not when they do ... it鈥檚 for significantly less money than they were making before.鈥�
Bob Harootyan, manager of research at Senior Service America, says by email, 鈥淏ased on a broad range of statistical data and national surveys, I believe the number of unemployed, underemployed and discouraged older workers who are in financial jeopardy reaches into the millions, including middle-class as well as lower-income older adults.鈥�
Ms. McCann, whose focus is age discrimination, blames stereotyping. 鈥淎s a society, we need to become as outraged about age discrimination as we [are about] other forms of discrimination,鈥� she says.
How Bruce sees it
Bruce, who asked for his last name to be withheld because of career concerns, was a media writer and producer in New York. 鈥淧eople don鈥檛 realize how hard it is ... to deal with incessant rejection,鈥� he says. His friends who are 鈥渋n the same struggle鈥� reassure each other that 鈥測ou are the same [competent professional]. Nothing has changed.鈥�
From his perspective, 鈥淭his is an economic phenomenon [involving] changing technology, changing corporate values ... changes in ethics.鈥� White, he adds, 鈥渂reak[s] new ground.... She gets it.鈥�
White鈥檚 own career has morphed into being an advocate and adviser for older workers 鈥� along with doing other work that feeds her income stream. She鈥檇 also like to collaborate with institutions and companies to create a world that better fits seniors.
鈥淣o one expected to be jettisoned out of the workforce 10 years before retirement,鈥� White says. 鈥淭hat is traumatic for people.... This book is an invitation to turn around and look at what鈥檚 in front for you.鈥�
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