Of course it’s possible to get work at age 40+. Is there a cut-off notice, a label stamped on people’s foreheads, on their skills? Shucks, I’ve seen more baby boomers and even 65+ folks rocking and rolling harder than the younger ones.
I think 40+ should be severely redefined. When I was growing up anything over 35 was considered old–people even looked older back then than we do at 35-ish and over. I mean, we wear jeans that fit us properly now, that are actually stylish. Maybe that’s why we’re so hip and youthful. It’s our jeans. Seriously though, I’m glad I for one don’t subscribe to “done at 40+” like I’ve seen others do. Why put a nail in the casket when you could have 50 more years left?
Dad got his final job at 45. Purchasing Manager in a not-yet-opened hospital.
One of his brothers got a job as Personnel Manager in a car factory in his 40s; left for a better job with the “state” Chamber of Commerce in his 50s.
I’m 43, a self-employed consultant, currently sort-of between projects, and last Thursday I got so many calls re. potential jobs that I ended up shutting down my cellphone, not before my niece asked her mother, in one of those children’s whispers that can be heard from a mile away, “when did Aunt Nava turn into Dora the Explorer?” (a couple of the agents decided it was a great chance to practice their Spanish; another one conducted the interview in Spanish but asked a few questions in English to gauge my language skills; another kept switching back and forth). I say sort-of between projects because I actually have a couple of very short but very prestigious and potentially very $$$$ mini-projects going on.
Not only are ads wishlists, but often they contain items which were listed routinely by HR or whomever posted the ad, without actually asking (much less thinking) - sometimes this leads to the kind of ads Chimera described, sometimes it’s less blatant, but it’s ridiculously frequent.