General / Off-Topic Something Only Elite Players Might Understand.

[Ralph Vargr]

The demographic for Elite skews a bit older than most games, so the board members might be able to sympathize.

I have everything a potential employer would want.

Except, a birthday after 1993.

My D&D buddy, who pulls down six figures at a labor law firm says, bluntly, my age is killing my job prospects.

I'm better than every other candidate. I'm also old enough to be their parent, or grandparent. They hate that.

I still have a decade left in me.

Now what?

I've run my own business, thank you very much, and have no desire to do so, ever again.

I apply for menial jobs. Same result.

Anyone have a convenient ice floe?

 

[ZeroAi]

While I'm self employed now, the ~35 years I spent being an employee in the technical support & technical sales support field (in the USA) is contradictory to what you posted.

Older, experienced employees were always welcomed, however the pay didn't always match their experience.

But many were able to rise in pay and position after proving themselves on the job.

The simple reason was they were more likely to be self starters and problem solvers requiring less training and hand holding simply due to their greater experience.

Regardless, I hope you find a position you'll truly enjoy in the near future!

Best of luck!

Grey

 

[Hasaf]

While I'm self employed now, the ~35 years I spent being an employee in the technical support & technical sales support field (in the USA) is contradictory to what you posted.

Older, experienced employees were always welcomed, however the pay didn't always match their experience.


Grey

Sorry, that isn't what I saw back when I was working on copiers and networked printers. Oddly enough, the paces that worked on presses kept a lot of older people, but the copier/printer companies didn't. It isn't that the older guys "couldn't keep up with the times," a particularly annoying excuse, the old guys took the same tests and classes as everyone else.

What follows is a part of something I wrote for another board where there was a general bemoaning of the fact that the trades were not getting enough respect as a career path. Later adapted to the "well, all those people unemployed by robots can become robot repairmen (trust me, the math doesn't work on that one)

In this short story I compare three friends. The trade I mention was repairing office equipment. It is very similar to robot repair. In fact I use that experience to teach Robotics. When it comes to the difference between the trades and college paths I am reminded of the story of three friends, of which I am one. We met in a community college trade program. All three of us were recently out of the military and drew together.

We had a similar starting point; but ended in different places. Two of us went directly into a trade, repairing office equipment (I am one of those two). Another bounced around a bit between various county and state technical jobs until he started his own HVAC business.


The friend who started his business got off the ground because his mother poured, quite literally, everything she had into his business to get him started. I remember delivering some of her personal jewelry to be sold in order to raise money for his business. He is now doing ok. We are all now in our 50s and he is pretty much completely broken down from the physical demand of his job. However, financially he is now stable (and has a lot of great guns, I love going out to his place just to see what he has added to his collection).


The other friend tried to stay in Office equipment too long. As he got older his numbers declined and he was let go right about 50. For reasons not understood by me, he decided to take that “opportunity” to get his college degree in a field that doesn’t hire people over 35 unless they are entering with a tremendous amount of experience. He is now delivering pizzas and struggling to hold onto his house.


Me, I saw the writing on the wall. Right around the time the company I was working for canceled the defined benefits pension program I looked around and realized that I saw no old guys. I went back to college and got my BA and eventually my MBA. I am not tall or good looking, I lack family connections and there was no way I could afford an expensive internship. I came from one of Americas poverty areas and, without question, it is part of who I am.

I was able to get a job teaching and took the accreditation over a period of a couple of years of evening courses. I now work as a teacher in rural district that, due to the number of immigrants, has many very urban problems.


What does this short biography have to do with the trades? Of the three of us one made it in the trades, mostly because his family had the resources to prop him up as long as it took to become stable. One (me) just plain left, bounced around and left the trades. The other tried to stay until he was pushed out.


Those promoting trades, look around. Do you see many old guys in that trade? How many 60 year olds? How many 70 year olds? As we push up the national retirement age who is going to hire that 70 year old?


I do not think trades are wrong, what I think is wrong is how our society treats tradesmen. As long as people are nothing but disposable cogs to be discarded once they are worn I am concerned about the pure trades’ path. It can, and I think should, be part of a person’s life

 

[Arry]

The demographic for Elite skews a bit older than most games, so the board members might be able to sympathize.

I have everything a potential employer would want.

Except, a birthday after 1993.

My D&D buddy, who pulls down six figures at a labor law firm says, bluntly, my age is killing my job prospects.

I'm better than every other candidate. I'm also old enough to be their parent, or grandparent. They hate that.

I still have a decade left in me.

Now what?

I've run my own business, thank you very much, and have no desire to do so, ever again.

I apply for menial jobs. Same result.

Anyone have a convenient ice floe?

Become a consultant.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Become a consultant.

Already am one.

 

[lysan]

The demographic for Elite skews a bit older than most games, so the board members might be able to sympathize.

I have everything a potential employer would want.

Except, a birthday after 1993.

My D&D buddy, who pulls down six figures at a labor law firm says, bluntly, my age is killing my job prospects.

I'm better than every other candidate. I'm also old enough to be their parent, or grandparent. They hate that.

I still have a decade left in me.

Now what?

I've run my own business, thank you very much, and have no desire to do so, ever again.

I apply for menial jobs. Same result.

Anyone have a convenient ice floe?

that is always a tough one, we're only as good as our last result, waiting for the retirement to kick in is also not the solution.
I don't have the answer, I'm in the same boat, but I manage to navigate around for now, still it's always good to have a plan B ready.

 

[Patrick_68000]

Already am one.

This is your destiny

You can not fight against your destiny

 

[Ralph Vargr]

This is your destiny

You can not fight against your destiny

I have to face Chad Vader again?

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Getting a job just sucks monkey balls.

I rarely make it to the interview stage, and if I do, they give it to someone who quits a few weeks later. Lol

Employers are just bad at picking new employees.

I'm only 35. Lol

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

I am 42 and just over 1 year into a job which at BEST case scenario I get 9 years before getting the boot (only highest management get to break the 9 year rule) meaning if I am lucky and do my full stint I will be entering the job market at 50. Not a good age to be looking for a job. I am making hay whilst the sun shines and trying to have money set aside as a buffer but with a 2 year old that ain't easy either.