Beating Against The Current

The above photo is from a recent job fair I attended. The opportunities offered were mostly sales positions at communications, life insurance, and health club companies; NYPD and NYFD recruitment; and temp agencies shilling for resumes.

The end of the year 2014 still finds me, brain atrophying, working as a part time law firm receptionist, where the phone is often an inarticulate instrument. My hours, recently cut, have been rearranged and pasted on to additional days, necessitating an increase in the gasoline budget. Bills from the two colleges my youngest children attend arrive every month like proverbial Swiss clockwork. Our post-Hurricane Sandy bank account remains as empty and infertile as the drought-stricken California farmland; replenishment from my end looks to be as unlikely as a forecast for a steady, gentle months-long West Coast rain.

The past year’s efforts at finding full time employment in the midst of the stagnating recession simmered occasionally, and then iced up, because of what I can only perceive to be the unwillingness of the ironically named human resources departments to see beyond the middle-aged face to the value inherent in an older worker.  What I can offer is a fabulous work ethic; kick-ass writing, editing, and proofreading abilities; professionalism and a dedication to client satisfaction; a good working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite; insatiable curiosity; and a desire to add to my knowledge base by any training that might be offered.

My half-a-dozen interviews for executive support, office management, and administrative assistant positions culminated in nothing except despair; several expressed interest in a second meeting but led in every case to radio silence and an occasional regretful e-mail relaying the fact that someone else was a better fit. What might lie ahead in 2015? More of the same, I’d wager. But still, to paraphrase Fitzgerald, I beat on against the current of the modern, job-seeking reality and persevere with an optimism that becomes harder to maintain.

For more on the subject of the pervasive ageism rampant in the American job market, read Ann Brenoff's article, highlighted by Huffington Post editor Shelley Emling as 14 Blog Posts from 2014 That Everyone Over 50 Must Read.

 "5 Years After I Lost My Job:What's Changed?
"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ann-brenoff/being-laid-off_b_4949989.html