Welcome to MY world. At 58 years old, the opportunities virtually disappear in front of your eyes. I was in manufacturing automation in the textile industry for many years until all of the textile giants in the US died off. Most of the textile work has gone to China, so I had to reinvent myself in 2001. Now, I'm having to do it again in 2009. Hmm... what do I want to be THIS time? Cowboy? Fireman? Indian Chief? Don't know, but it will most certainly be something different...
Randy ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 8:29 AM Subject: [gatortalk] Re: Herald sports writer Mike Phillips This is getting off Gators - so if we need to move it somewhere else - I understand Things are so tight and different today. I am 47 years old now and already seeing the age discrimination thing - even though there is suppose to be a shortage of skilled workers in programming. 20+ years of experience, plus BS and Master's no longer seems to matter. Being able to "figure things out" no longer seems to matter. People use to hire me to go figure out how to do things. Nowadays - unless you've been doing something for 3 to 5 years - they assume you have no clue and never will be able to figure it out. What you did several years ago does not matter. For 20+ years I did manufacturing automation. Have done very little in the last 7 years. My resume only goes back about 7 years. People are looking for someone in automation - look at my resume - and tell me that I have no knowledge or experience. How does someone change jobs and maintain an income the same? If you completely start over - doesn't your income? Doesn't your income drop to 1/4 of what it was? Times are a changing ... -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [gatortalk] Re: Herald sports writer Mike Phillips From: Helen Huntley <[email protected]> Date: Fri, March 13, 2009 7:40 am To: [email protected] You try to figure out what else you can do. I took a buyout from the St. Pete Times last year because I could see that things were only going to get worse for the newspaper industry. Because I was personal finance editor, I thought reinventing myself as a financial adviser was a logical course of action. (http://www.holifieldhuntley.com/) I also have been doing some freelance writing and research. For example, I helped with the research for this book: http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Your-Money-Getting-Fortune/dp/0767929845/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236944055&sr=1-1 . So far things are working out. However, my husband works in local government, where they are planning major layoffs, so he could be job hunting later this year. Helen On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 4:40 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: I was thinking about that similar thing today. I think that the Raleigh newspaper laid off its sports writers and now th only sports writers are in Charlotte covering the whole state. If all you've ever done is go to college for something, and done something for like 20 years - what do you do when you are laid off and no one is hiring in your field? It seems kind of ridiculous going back to school - after you've already graduated with a bachelor's or Master's. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [gatortalk] Herald sports writer Mike Phillips From: Helen Huntley <[email protected]> Date: Thu, March 12, 2009 3:58 pm To: gatortalk <[email protected]> Is one of the Miami Herald writers who lost his job this week in the big layoff they had, according to a report I read. We've often had his stories posted to Gator News. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
