Rant #2,524: Try Too Hard

Each and every weekday, I get up, take a shower, eat breakfast, go right on the computer, write this column, then look through all the job ads that I get, then I take my son to work, come home, look through the job ads again ...

Yes, it is monotonous, it is boring, and ultimately, it is a complete, total and utter waste of time, because nobody is going to hire me.

I know that I am not alone, and yesterday, in our local Newsday newspaper, an article caught my eye that pretty much ascertained that for me.

The article, "Job Loss In Your 50s: Traumatic, and Common" was in the back of the newspaper in the Business section, but to me, it was the most important story in the entire newspaper, worthy of page one prominence, simply because it spoke directly about my situation and the situation of millions of other people just like me.

To sum it all up, the article said that a study by nonprofit newsroom ProPublica and nonprofit think-tank the Urban Institute found that more than half of workers who entered their 50s with stable full-time jobs would eventually lose those jobs by age 65, and the prospects for getting another position of equal balance was just at 10 percent.

According to the report, "Such concerns can seem remote" with the official un employment rate currently at 3.5 percent and the unemployment rate at 2.4 percent for those 55 years of age and older, but "recessions are inevitable, and even in good times, older workers can be more vulnerable to involuntary job loss because of age discrimination."

The article went on to give some tips on how older workers can keep the jobs they have, which to me, was negligible, because I don't have a job right now because the company I worked for since 1996 went out of business in October.

But the gist of the article--that older workers should always be looking over their backs and be wary of what could happen to them and their jobs--was something that everyone, even those with solid jobs and job histories, should pay attention to.

Earlier in the day, due to complete and total frustration at my situation--and yes, probably due to a little boredom--I posted this message on Facebook. I had not yet read the article or even knew it was in the newspaper, as I usually finish up my newspaper reading when I have lunch.

Here is the message:

"As I look at a solid four months of unemployment ...
Look, here is my deal: In the past four months since I have been out of work, I have had a total of one phone interview and one in-person interview where the status of the job was changed from full-time to part-time.
I have applied to probably anywhere from 10 to 30 jobs per week, and that is all I have gotten out of it since October 2019. And that does not count the five years I had been looking before I lost my job, when I knew the company I worked for was not solvent.
So, in sum total, I have applied to probably at least 1,000 jobs over the past five-plus years, and all I have to show from it is a total of about a half-dozen phone interviews and maybe two or three face-to-face interviews.
Based on all of this, I have to conclude it has nothing to do with my resume, it has nothing to do with my cover letter ... it has to do with my age.
So while the professional resume writers and job professionals who promise me and others in my boat the world may mean well, the only people who know what is going on out there are the people like me who are actually out there looking for a job in today's environment, which preaches inclusion but does not extend that to older workers.
I am going to be forced to retire when my unemployment runs out in about three months. I would never pay a fee for anyone's services in helping me find a job, because the problem is not with what I have to offer, the problem is that my resume and cover letter are being looked at by people half my age, who look at me as if I am 162 years old rather than 62 years of age.
It is as simple as that, and if anyone wants to dispute this, go right ahead, because I can tell you from personal experience that you can talk all you like, but you have no idea what you are talking about."

That was before I read the article, which I could have finished and simply turned the page on, but I decided to take it one step further.

Since the article was in Newsday, I called them up and asked them to further look into the theme of that story by speaking to Long Islanders who are in the same boat as I am in, forced out of a job and not getting another one because of their age.

I spoke to a woman who took all of my information, and she encouraged me to have others in the same situation call Newsday, and my suggestion could lead to something in the newspaper.

So I followed up my original post with a repeat of that post, plus the following add-on:

"I posted this earlier today, pretty much throwing up my hands at my situation.

Funny, but in Newsday on Page A28 today, they have a story that fits me to a "T"

Entitled "Job Loss In Your 50s: Traumatic, and Common," talks about how the likelihood of losing your job in your 50s and 60s is, and the trouble that one has when this happens.

I contacted Newsday about the story, and had a story idea: why not fill this story out by doing an original story in Newsday about people, like myself, in this situation?

While they did not give me any positive word on whether they were buying my pitch, they did ask me to get as many people in this situation as possible to call Newsday and state that they would be interested in participating in such a story.

So if you live on Long Island--Nassau and Suffolk counties--and you are in this situation, please contact Newsday at 631-843-2700, and that you are following up on a story proposed by me related to the story in Newsday today.

It is worth a shot, and who knows? Maybe somebody will recognize us for our talents--not our age--and hire us!"

Did it work?

At this point on Wednesday morning< i have absolutely no idea. Nobody from Newsday called me back, I have no idea if anyone on Facebook called Newsday--or for that matter, anyone on Linked In, where I also posted all of this--so right now, I can't say.

I do hope they call, and I do hope that they follow up on this.

Look, I don't care who the president is--whether it is Trump, Obama, Bush, heck, even Eisenhower or Kennedy--but the worst barometer for success of a president is the unemployment rate, because it is so full of holes it makes swiss cheese look solid.

The rate does not count those who have fallen off the unemployment rolls or those that simply do not not look anymore out of complete frustration. And it doesn't look at those who have somehow taken jobs that are so beneath them and their previous experience that they are being underutilized.

So when I hear that the unemployment rate is 3.5 percent, I know that you can add at least 10 points onto that number to get the real percentage of American citizens out of work. And when Newsday tells readers, in previous articles, that unemployment is so low on Long Island that it is, in their words, "virtually non-existent," I know this rate is not the gauge of success it is cracked up to be.

And yes, "cracked up" is the operative term here.

So once again, I did my due diligence, and probably did it for naught.

What else is new?

I will continue to get up each day, take a shower, eat breakfast, go right on the computer, write this column, then look through all the job ads that I get, then I take my son to work, come home, look through the job ads again ...

Heck, maybe a letter directly to the president is in order ...

And don't put it past me to do just that.

But first I have to get up, take a shower, eat breakfast, go right on the computer, write this column, then look throughall the job ads that I get, then I take my son to work, come home, look through the job ads again ...

Hot fun in the wintertime for sure.