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Angela I heard an interesting interview on the radio the other day that was pointing out that whilst unemployment for young people is high, there are a larger proportion of people 50+ who are finding it really difficult to get work. Not sure if the pattern is the same in the US, but here a lot of people who have alway worked (many highly skilled) are finding it extremely difficult to get employment.

Hi Everyone - this is Kathie, your Midlife host. I have been keeping my ears opened and eyes peeled on this subject. What I have gleaned thus far is, whether in a poor economy or not, many people in Midlife must re-invent themselves at this point in their lives - why, I do not know - but they very often go in a completely different direction than what they have been doing. I have noted that even celebrities re-invent their personna, their style.

I am in Midlife and I am at that juncture at this time. I was an Exec. Secretary/Assistant my entire life (over 25 years) and it is not something I want to go back to. I worked in Manhattan for some of those years and have many good and not so good experiences to be told.

Having said that, I found that 'Homecaregiving' was something that interested me. I love helping people (in particular the elderly) and I am a very compassionate person. John Tesh and his wife who is a former actress is Connie Sellecca - they have a website that has all types of information on this subject. I truly enjoy caregiving work. However, that pay scale might not fit your needs.

There is a course that can be taken at the vocational schools which is roughly a 9 month course and you could be working in a clinic, doctors' office or hospital upon receiving your completion of the course. You can go to a search engine and check out 'medical assistant' or 'certified medical assistant' and find a school in your area. More often than not financial help may be available if you qualify.

Hi,

I am 53 this year and from the UK. I have been a full time, single mother for most of my life, had my own businesses and at times lived on state benefits and now live with my eldest son.

I have no income. I could claim state benefits, but the pressure of being made to take just any kind of work to satisfy their statistics, is not something I am prepared to put up with for less than �60/$97 a week.

I have applied for hundreds of jobs and sent out hundreds of CVs, all for positions I am more than capable of filling. I would say that of all the applications I sent out I had 10 replies at the most. Online or by post, no one seems to respond to negative applications anymore.

I am lucky my son is happy for me to live with him. I would enjoy working but I am not prepared to make someone else rich by my hard work. If I do work again it will be for myself. I just need to come up with a viable business idea.

Hi Linda,

What do you mean when you say "negative applications?"

I agree that women our age--or people of any age, really--will find success becoming entrepreneurs. We can't find a place for us in the traditional ranks; we need to carve out our own place in the world. That is good news because there never is real success working as a corporate cog. You're right about making someone else rich with your hard work!

What type of work would you like to do? Maybe I can help from here in the US. I went to this great conference and met people from different parts of the world who have businesses and would like to expand into different countries.

Chi

I thnk in the upcoming years, those who are successful are going to be the ones who create their own work. I see it among my 25 year old daughter's friends. They take a college degree and do something unexpected with it, forging their own path.

It used to be that people could work for one company and retire after 20-30 years but now most people can't do that. Older people are working longer, if they can, because they need the money and have seen their retirement nesteggs vanish. I read a lot of articles on the boomer generation and there is much animosity out there among the young that the oldsters should just get out of the way and leave the jobs to the young. They'd probably love to be can't afford it!

I also read a lot of retirment blogs and it's true that people in midlife tend to reinvent themselves because they see the life behind them and want something different for the rest of their life, maybe something they've always wanted to do bu never did or some passion they've never pursued. They realize if they don't do it now, they may never get to.

Angela, I have a section on my boomer blog with "money making ideas, which includes how to turn a hobby or passion into a stream of income and various other things.

I'm 60 so I know it's hard to reinvent yourself when you're over 50. I'm helping my sister set up a blog for extra income. She was making $60,000/yr and suddenly lost her job a year or so ago.

AT least with online stuff, people don't necessarily know how old you are as agism does exist in the job world for sure.

Here's a link to the articles on my website. Maybe you can find something to help you out there.