Changing Careers At Age 50 - Any Advice?

 I have been employed in the same field for all of my adult life. I worked hard and sacrificed over the years to get where I am now. What does it mean to work hard and sarcrifice you may ask. Well for me it was putting my goals in order. When my friends were travelling to ski country or renting condos on the beach, I was at the office making sure the drawings were complete by the deadline for the latest project that was due for construction bidding and permitting. Some people think that being in the office is a piece of cake. I can assure you that when the president or the office manager is screaming at you in mid December that the drawings need to be done....the pressure can be intense.

In my efforts to prove myself valuable to the companies I worked for I put my personal life second. Need someone to work nights? I'll do it. Stay the whole weekend to help meet a deadline? That's me, I'll stay. Not that I didn't also mind the added benefit of overtime pay. I didn't have an engineering degree. I didn't make the big bucks. I figure'd I could supplement my income with the occasional stretch of overtime. I knew that eventually the fact that I did not have a degree may come back to haunt me. I didn't know it was going to happen so suddenly.

I struggled over the last 2 years to keep a job. The construction industry has been hit very hard by this economy. I personally have been witness to floors of office space with empty cubicles where architects were previously designing spaces for new or renovated buildings. I have seen the emply cubicles. Row upon row where once sat draftsmen and designers and engineers. Now the cubicle is empty. The chair is there. The desk is there. The power strip is there but the employee is no longer there. This past Thanksgiving the ax finally hit me. As I sat at my desk an email was received. No subject matter. It was from the CEO of the firm. "Effective noon today all employees are terminated". How's that for a Thanksgiving to remember. I was not expecting that kind of an email. I was expecting something more like "Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving, why don't you all take the afternoon off and beat the traffic".

Three months have now passed. My resume is posted on the major job boards. I have contacted former employers and associates in an effort to try to get a job. I have yet to get a phone call. I am beginning to get discouraged in the job search.

There are reasons why the construction industry has been hit so hard. The biggest reason is the credit crunch. Banks have slashed the credit lines for most employers to what they owe. No longer can an employer issue paychecks using the million dollar line of credit he/she may have used in the past to meet payroll during a down time. I don't see this issue being addressed by the current administration as of yet. I keep reading about health care. Yes I need health care too but I sure would like to have a job. I hear the rhetoric from the politicians. A $5,000 tax credit for small businesses to help spur job growth. Sorry but that is just not going to spur any employers to create a job. The cost of health care alone is over $1,000 a month for family health care plans.

I have now enrolled in classes at a local college. I have learned that I can collect unemployment benefits as I attend night school. I will continue to seek employment but I also am thinking it's time for a career change. How does one choose a new career at the age of 50? Part of the reason I feel that I am not being contacted is that prospective employers are looking at my age. I have no college degree. The college grads these days are being hired at bargain salaries. I have kids and a mortgage. I don't mind taking a paycut but I do have responsibilities that need to be addressed.

One of the trends that I am seeing now is that employers are offering jobs on a temporary basis. These jobs pay no where near the former pay scales that were standard only two years ago. These jobs also come with no benefits. No health care, no vacation time, no sick leave. The job I was just let go from was on a three month trial period. Supposedly after the three months were up I was to be informed how I fit in with the company and that I would be either hired full time or let go. I worked hard for those three months. I had to sacrifice time with my kids in order to be able to prove myself a valuable asset to the firm. After the three months were up I was told "We are extending you for another month". That was how they were going to get around paying for my benefits. How long can they keep extending me I asked? As long as they want was pretty much the answer. I have friends who are going through the same thing now. We will review your performance after three months and make a decision. Three months go by and then the decision is "we are extending you at this time indefinitely".

Is this the new norm for employment in this country? I have worked hard my whole life. I was a paperboy, I was a pizza delivery driver. I have worked two jobs at times in an effort to further my career and to save money in order to buy a home. Is that not what I was told was the Amercian Dream. Work hard? Sacrifice? Set priorities? I have done these things for close to thirty years now. At age 50 I am at a crossroads. How do I change my career at 50 and still provide for my children?