Layoff now in 8th month. Time to reconsider career?

Parent Cafe
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<p>As some of you recall, Happydad was laid off from a biotech in late February along with half of the company. Since then, he’s had half a dozen phone interviews with potential employers, several more with recruiters, and two on-site interviews. I am losing my ability to keep up a cheerful front. How he keeps plugging along at the applications is beyond me. We have enough reserves to keep going for another 6 to 8 months before we would need to tap into the retirement funds.</p>

<p>My question is, what re-training/new career options are there for someone in their 50s who just wants to have the possibility of a steady job? Preferably a career with a relatively short, inexpensive training period, and where age will not be a barrier for that critical first job. </p>

<p>Please no suggestions of K-12 science teaching, or for looking for a college/university adjunct position, or applying for science-writing jobs. I want new ideas.</p>

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<p>This depends a lot on where you live as well as his education, experience, and interests. A job in sales could be found in any type of company and involve selling a service, a car, a drug, a financial consulting firm, or new app. Heck, he could even get into recruiting or admissions.</p>

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<p>That is probably a reason why unemployment in the US is becoming longer in duration with slower employment recovery – the education and training cost for good career tracks has been increasing (in both time and money). Meanwhile, the labor market’s demand, in terms of the types of skills desired, changes more quickly.</p>

<p>There are some types of jobs where people often enter based on self-education (sales, computer software), but those who do so tend to be very good at it.</p>

<p>Some skilled blue collar jobs pay very well, presumably because many unemployed white collar workers are not interested in jobs that require some physical labor and are perceived to have low social status. Some may involve hazards or unpleasant situations (e.g. plumbers working on sewers). Of course, one would have to start as a lower paid trainee or apprentice.</p>

<p>There may be well paid oil and gas field jobs, but they would involve relocation, as well as the hazards or unpleasant situations.</p>

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<p>At age 46, many moons ago, I was burned out of high tech jobs. At that time, I was still useful as a system engineer, but I just could hold myself looking for another consulting job. I start to explore different alternatives. As limabean noted, sales jobs requires the least training and provided the highest rewards. Nevertheless, you must hold your hat and take a roller coaster ride, because my income goes up and down dramatically. Perhaps it is my choice, but for some sales jobs, income could be fairly steady.</p>

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<p>What are his other talents? Does he have the gift of gab? If so, maybe some kind of sales job? </p>

<p>I know that Enterprise car rental places hire frequently and people seem to like working there. </p>

<p>The cell phone companies pay surprisingly well (salary plus commission). A friend’s D was hired a few months ago and will make over $60k her first year. Not bad for just out of college. </p>

<p>Banking…The lending/investment side. </p>

<p>What type of salary is he looking for?</p>

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<p>Will echo, what sort of salary is he looking for? If you are looking for a company with solid benefits, I would recommend Costco. They are the top retailer and starting pay is in the mid-teens/hour and store managers make well into six figures. If he’s smart & dedicated, he will have opportunities to move up. (Costco is always my back up plan if I get desperate).</p>

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<p>It’s hard. When my H was 31 & we had a 4 yr old, his employer for the last 8 yrs all but shut down. It took him a good 1 &1/2 years to find a comparable job even though he was willing to settle for half his previous salary because the interviewers thought he would leave as soon as the company started up again. ( which they eventually did, but not for over 12 years).
We got by with odd jobs including babysitting & mowing grass.
It’s even harder now when companies are laying people off who only have ten yrs or so before retirement, even if they had no intention of retiring.-</p>

<p>Self employment ( in which I include sales) is probably the way to go.
Lot of work but he could have more control.</p>

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<p>Could he do consulting for a biotech firm? I don’t know exactly what he did at his old job but I know of at least 2-3 middle aged men who either left their jobs or were laid off and now are consulting (using industry contacts and years of experience). The ones I know of have been doing specific projects that can last anywhere from 3-9 months, then they get another gig, and sometimes they overlap.</p>

<p>I’m sorry you’re going through this. Must be very stressful.</p>

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<p>First let me say - I am so sorry your family is going through this. A similar thing happened to me 6 years ago, when the pharma company I worked for closed my research site. At the time, I was a 45-year-old research chemist trying to stay in the same geographical area.</p>

<p>I did what your husband is doing - phone interviews, working with recruiters, praying a lot - and I did find another job, but it was NOT in chemistry (I have an undergrad degree in English and I was able to leverage that.) Honestly, I was just lucky to get the job - there was no special skill or strategy involved. Unfortunately, the job has not been a happy experience, but it does help pay the bills, and I am now retraining to be a high school teacher (and I fully understand why you don’t want to hear THAT any more!!)</p>

<p>To answer your question: I know a lot of highly trained scientists who scrambled for jobs for a long, long time (I know a few who are STILL looking, and most of my friends are underemployed.) Honestly, the happiest people seem to be those who retrained and left the lab bench. Some of these jobs include:</p>

<ul>
<li>Working for a patent firm as a patent examiner (no law school required, only a scientific or technical background - the job was difficult to get but might work for someone who likes minutiae!)</li>
<li>Nursing or healthcare related (this did require some retraining - I know a guy who became a PA, and he’s probably the happiest of us all)</li>
<li>Consulting (I know lots who became consultants, but very few who make any real money at it)</li>
<li>Tutoring (I know, sort of like teaching, but the tutoring can be decent money if you have the stomach for it, and it’s something you can do part-time while looking for other stuff)</li>
<li>Medical writing (and I’m not talking about scientific writing - I mean writing for contract firms that do medical writing for regulatory projects and such. I almost took a job doing this, but again, they can be hard to find.)</li>
<li>Regulatory affairs/ clinical trials coordination (I know quite a few people who became certified to coordinate and oversee clinical research trials for universities and major hospitals. As I recall, the training was pretty short - 6 to 8 months for some kind of certification - and jobs were fairly easy to find. Most of these people work in research hospitals now.)</li>
<li>Vineyard worker (he actually does the testing and monitoring of the grapes and wine)</li>
</ul>

<p>Do you live near any major universities? Sometimes you can find science-ish jobs associated with someone’s research lab or someone’s research projects.</p>

<p>Some people I know also started up their own businesses, but these were usually related to a long-standing hobby or interest and were not related to their first job.</p>

<p>Hope this helps - but I’m guessing you’ve thought of most of these before. Again, you have my sympathy! Hugs to you and your family in this crazy time.</p>

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<p>No real suggestions to offer, just want to say I’ve been there. It took me 18 months to find another job, and when I did get one it was in a field I didn’t want, for $10,000 less than what I was making. But my unemployment was about to run out and it was the only offer I’d had so I took it. I lasted six months there, then took a job with the state for about the same money, with excellent benefits. That was six months of hell with the worst boss ever. Then I found another job in state goverment with a reasonable boss and reasonable expectations. The money could be better but I do have good health ins. and retirement benefits. I know what your husband is going through. Best of luck to both you and him.</p>

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<p>Thanks for all the moral support! It is good to know we aren’t the only ones with this issue in their lives.</p>

<p>Happydad was a bench scientist at a small biotech. No management experience beyond supervising and training the occasional summer intern, or working with the head of the animal facility to arrange for all the help needed for a given experiment.</p>

<p>Hobbies: Writing short stories (one Amazon-Kindle collection published, another one on hold until life re-starts).</p>

<p>Not really a “sales temperament”.</p>

<p>Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll add them to the list.</p>

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<p>I’m so sorry to hear about this and I can imagine how stressful. How fortunate you all have enough in savings to survive.</p>

<p>I hire for my company and I’ll just tell you the why’s behind when I hesitate about a more left field candidate.</p>

<p>First of all, I receive a gazillion resumes I have to go through. I have found people who have been at one job for a long time have always given off the vibe that they’re coming to me kicking and screaming and I fear they won’t be able to transition to a new thing easily. Be very mindful of the longing in the voice of the previous company/position.</p>

<p>When going to a brand new field, and you’ve been out of work for a long time - salary becomes an issue. If it’s an entry level job that really is only worth 35k to the company, wanting 60k will be a problem. You may deserve 60k at your previous employer - but this job in particular is really only worth 35k to me. </p>

<p>And if you do take a big drop, I have a legitimate concern that as soon as you can find something more suitable, you will leave. And we’ll have put all the time, money and energy into training.</p>

<p>My last suggestion - try temp companies. Accountemps in particular may have more tech related positions. We have used them to try people out before hiring.</p>

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<p>Just want to say my dad went through something similar to your husband (although he was a few years older and had been unemployed a bit longer). The first switch he wound up making was into the mortgage industry, which was a nightmare for a few years. He started doing substitute teaching just to get out of the house occasionally, and wound up getting a job offer to teach engineering at a local vocational school. It’s been almost ten years now, and as someone that thought he’d never enjoy teaching, he sure loves teaching. He gets to be involved in robotics competitions, building go-karts from scratch, and helping kids that never thought they’d go to college get scholarships. It amazed all of us how much it’s helped him change and relax after all of his years in a very aggressive corporate culture.</p>

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<p>Hugs to you both. I don’t think I could do what your H is doing, applause to him for keeping at it.</p>

<p>We have a friend whose entire career was in newspaper ad sales. As we all know, that is pretty much gone as a career. After being unemployed for a few months, he got a night job at a convenience store (so he could look for other work during the day.) He’s a very friendly guy and actually liked the work, so he went through the company’s management traning program. Not at all what he or his wife ever thought he would be doing, but I am proud of him.</p>

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<p>I was a bench developer/system engineer, I had no “sales temperament”. But when push came to a shove, I jumped in with two feet and hoping for the best! And it turned out ok, or its just me…:)</p>

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<p>I know a biologist in his 40s who became a patent lawyer, but that may require more training than you are willing to wait for. I can’t remember exactly, but I think he was able to start working at a lower capacity and got the degree at night.</p>

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<p>Some law firms hire scientists as “scientific advisors” which are professional positions that, well, advise on scientific matters. Things like helping the lawyers involved in cases understand the science of their cases, dealing with experts hired to testify in the cases, and most importantly, fact-checking anything that goes out the door with the firm’s name on it to ensure accuracy of all scientific representations. As I said, this is a professional, collaborative position that pays well (but not as well as a lawyer). Probably low six figures to about $150,000-ish.</p>

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<p>That is probably the root of a lot of what appears to be age discrimination against older people in the job market. If you are unwilling to take lower pay, you price yourself out of the market. If you are willing to take lower pay, employers fear that you will leave as soon as a better paying job comes along.</p>

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<p>Radiology technicians have relatively short training for certification and make about $60K, IIRC. There seem to be lots of jobs. They can outsource the reading to India, but someone has to actually take the pictures.</p>

<p>Something combining his technical background and writing is an obvious direction. Pharmaceutical companies hire a lot of people. There is also the possibility of advertising with a medical/technical specialty. (I don’t know if that is what you mean by “science writing.”) Leaving aside the various forms of technical writing, he could look into editing for textbook and technical publishers.</p>