Realizing Discrimination and the New Job Hunting Process

Over the last three weeks, I have realized that age discrimination in the workplace is a very real thing. I got a bunch of calls the first week I put my resume out there. The minute I entered the date of my college graduation in the late 1970s, I turned into ebola on the hoof. I haven't had any calls last week and only a few the week before.

At least back in the day, as frustrating as it was, you could pound the pavement, going door to door, searching the want ads in the local newspaper. When I came back from my last semester in college, the following Monday I took the bus downtown and started filling out applications. Within a week or two, I had three job offers. I decided not to go with the church secretary position because, being exposed to Emma for three months, I had developed a swearing habit that would make a Marine blanch. I went with the bookstore because, duh, that's where my heart is. I didn't learn until later that it was the publishing arm of the United Methodist Church.

I can't hit the pavement anymore. Now I have to go through various gyrations to get my resume to any organization and they always involve a middleman/consulting company. I'm interested in working for Pharma Co. A. I looked on their website. They don't even have a "careers" tab anymore. I am on my own. I've heard that in certain non-entertainment industries (in entertainment, age discrimination is sadly a widespread reality) hitting your 30s and 40s makes you vulnerable to age discrimination.

I can file for early retirement next month. Dr. A. exclaimed, "How can you even think of it! I'd go out of my mind with boredom." Not me. Is my house cleaner? No. Have I painted any rooms? No. Do I have TV? I have Netflix and a cable connection. Have I been bored one day? Absolutely not. Aside from that great time-suck, Facebook, I have managed to keep myself entertained and busy. I have the library's latest schedule of events. If I wanted, I could be busy nearly every evening of the week.

But I would have to move hastily from New Jersey to the backwoods of northern Georgia.

I'm not ready for that.

Besides, it's only been three weeks. So far, I've been very careful with my money. BTW, don't have any health insurance. It would take up half of my Unemployment Insurance and the other half would go to my house payment, leaving me with nothing to pay for utilities.

I try to console myself that it's early days yet. But that doesn't make me very comfortable.