Boomer-Angle

I remember the last time I was applying for work. My resume had an email address that included my birth month, day and.....year. At the time my adult son was in a hiring capacity at his job. "Change your email address on your resume, Mom. If you don't, it will just end up in the garbage!"

Garbage? What did he mean, garbage? I was only applying for positions that I met the requisite criteria for. In other words, those positions I was fully qualified to do. Therefore, why would my resume end up in the garbage? My son provided a possible, in retrospect probable answer. He told me that he'd been instructed by his supervisor, to discard all resumes submitted by people 50 and over. It didn't matter if they were qualified to do the job. Age disqualified them, right out of the gate. I was about to turn 50 at the time, and that was a fairly rude awakening for me.

That was ten years ago, and now, with my youngest planning for college, I find myself looking for a part-time remote position, to earn supplemental income. My personal situation does not enable me to work outside of my home, and even if it did, the reality is that I'm a lot worse off now, than I was ten years ago! Even in the post-COVID era of employers "not being able to find help," age discrimination is alive and well in the workforce!

If that wasn't bad enough, try looking for a legitimate work-from-home job! I have spent the better part of three days now, pounding the cyber pavement, and at this point, it's almost laughable. By way of airing my gripes with this process while letting others know what to expect, no one should have to spend any money, to obtain a telecommuting position! Whether "Flex Jobs," "Upwork," etc., I steer clear of any job board requiring a "membership" in order to "unlock" a list of job openings. The same holds true for these "Freelance" sites where you have to pay to join and then "bid" for assignments and end up, if you're "lucky," being paid peanuts for your work!

Then there are the "bait and switch" work-from-home ads, where you click on a link to apply for a "Remote Data Entry Position," and end up at a site where you can only register to take surveys, or be part of a focus group. These are NOT "work from home jobs," by any stretch of the imagination! If you try a Google search on "legitimate work from home jobs," you'll see the same redundant lists, claiming that the "best" way to find these jobs is to "network with your friends and family," use "LinkedIn," do Freelance work, etc. Not one "hit" takes you to a job board for legitimate telecommuting positions!

The "friends and family" part really irks me. When was the last time any of you were able to get any kind of "help" from friends and family? Who knows, maybe this is only inherent in my family, but that's a crock! I have recently been in a situation, after being the "go to" person in my friend group and family who helped everyone out for decades, where I could have used some help. What did I get? Crickets, that's what, and that sure left a bad taste in my mouth about the whole "F&F" thing. F that!

I don't know if I'm in a Catch-22 here: Even if I do find a source of legitimate work from home positions I can apply to properly, without having to spend a dime (rule of thumb: you should never have to spend money, to make money!), once my "DOB" is read, my application will end up on the electronic garbage heap! I am a firm believer in a favorable interpretation of the law of diminishing returns: The more effort I put into finding a part-time, telecommuting position, and the more positions I apply to that seem even quasi-legitimate, the greater my chances are to succeed. So I will keep looking for ways to cross that bridge, from where I am, to where I need to get to. If it's to be, it's up to me.