Hazel Reed: HR Manager and champion of later life working

When the Company I worked for closed, I was 61. At that age I was not prepared to 'settle down' but I was also quite certain that I might have to take a job with less salary and that I might also have to travel to work.  I suddenly found that the interest in Interim Employment for HR was growing rapidly and I applied for a maternity cover for a very large company.  They did not ask my age and did not know it until I filled an application form at the interview. 

At the interview I was offered the job immediately and in fact stayed with the company for three years doing four interim positions.  They did ask me to stay on in a permanent role, but for personal reasons I could not.  However, I was then introduced by an Agency to another High Tech company to do a maternity cover, Again they never asked my age, until the wages girl did her bit and she rang me because she thought I had made a mistake completing the form.   

After three years I am still here.  I have never had so much enthusiasm for what I have done and my continuing development has been such that I have just become a Fellow of the Charted Institute of Personnel and Development.   I am now just 68, I love my work and my company seems to appreciate me and has no desire for me to retire yet.

I do feel sometimes that job hunters over age 50 are their own worst enemy.  If you are looking for a job whilst you are employed you can take your time to find that perfect well paid job, with no travelling, flexible working arrangements and all the other things we think should go with our dream job.  However, when you are looking for a job from being unemployed it still may take a long time, but in reality it may not be any longer.  However, you do need to be realistic and go for what is out there and not what you think is there.  Ultimately it's important to look at what the employer wants and not so much at what you want.

Lets face it, 50 is still very young these days.  People are healthier and still ambitious and in a lot of cases look much younger than their parents used to look at their age. So, having the right attitude when looking for a job at that 'older' stage is the most important thing.  Don’t be 'older', just be wiser and flexible.

One other useful hint.   If you use Agencies during your search for work, build up a relationship, be good to them and they will be good to you!

 [story posted May 2007]