Is It Difficult For Someone In Their Late Fifties To Find A Job?

[dave50]

My wife and I are thinking of locating to a different part of the country (a major town on the coast) leading up to our eventual retirement. I have worked all my life in engineering but if we make this move I am prepared to do almost any job to tide me over for the next few years. Has anyone any experience of this and what are the employment prospects for men my age if they are open to anything? Any advice will be gratefully received.

[rsvp]

why not go and spend a couple of weeks in the chosen place and make enquiries as to the job situation for a man with your skeills? Is there an employment agency /centre there - what about advertising in local paper first to see the response. Big step to sell uip and relocate then find you either don't like the place and/or there's no employment there.
Good luck though and I hope it works out for you

[Cloverjo]

I think you won't find it hard to get a job in engineering, if you've spent your whole working life in it.
I don't have any experience myself, but I have a cousin who works in engineering and has worked in this country and France with no trouble.

[Old_Geezer]

Well I've assumed so. Given the choice I'd expect many employers to prefer younger folk who are more easy to control. But I guess it depends on what you apply for and how lucky you get. Can't see your situation being top choice though.

[rsvp]

and

[hc4361]

Have you researched the unemployment rate in the town you are hoping to move to?
You could see what vacancies are currently available by searching online, and then compare the results with where you currently live. This should give you an understanding of the situation.

Generally people 50 and over find it harder to change jobs or find a job then a younger person, this report from Saga is discouraging:

http://www.saga.co.uk/newsroom/press-releases/2015/feb/almost-half-of-the-long-term-unemploymed-are-aged-over-50.aspx

[Buenchico]

I was job-hunting in my late 50s (looking at anything from supermarket shelf-stacking upwards) until I reached 60 (when I qualified for a small pension from my teaching days):

Over 2000 applications.

Fewer than 200 replies.

Only 3 interviews.

After one interview I was provisionally offered the job but, a few days later, the 'big boss' decided to reorganise the firm and the job no longer existed.

After another I did a 13-hour unpaid shift as 'work experience' and never heard from them again.

After the last one I did one day's unpaid work experience and then another paid day, during which time I did all the required work and also, at their request, sorted out the firm's health & safety policy statement, which the boss had been struggling with for months. I was then denied the job on the grounds that I was 'too intelligent'!

Good luck, Dave! I think that you'll need it!

[Peter Pedant]

A few hard luck stories here

and to add one: when I returned from Egypt 1978 - sounded romantic, work on an archeological site Abu Simbel, and reality was a lot worse - I sent off applications in groups of ten and got up to 125 before I got employment

but but but 2011 when my then employer was trying to cut my wages ( o he was paying himself £214 000 and clearly hadnt lined himself up for a cut ) -I said - "why dont you fire all the olds and employ the young for peanuts ?" and he said " O I cant do that - the old ones like you can do anything."

and this might be your USP ( unique selling point ) - you have wide experience and can do anything that may come up - and in tgrouble shooting you will have seen it before .....

[AB Editor]

Depending on your engineering background, you could look for longer term project near your desired location and hunt down the contractors/consultants pitching for it - and pitch for the project work?

[-Talbot-]

I think any potential employer would be impressed to find out you had taken time out before the move to see what work was available in your new town.

[dave50]

Thank you for all your advice and opinions. I have researched and looked online at vacancies in the area and there are hardly any in engineering but there are other jobs, a lot minimum wage and seasonal as it is a holiday resort. As I said I will turn my hand to anything but from what some of you have said it doesn't sound too promising. It's just that we have always wanted to live by the sea so I will have to continue my investigations.

[Old_Geezer]

If you can afford it you could always look into triggering your pension early. But check the figures that you are offered. They can offer a payment that is horribly favourable to themselves. Of course some pensions are more flexible these days anyway. Mine are mostly final salary ones with little room for manoeuvre.

[shaneystar2]

My husband retired when he was 58 and we moved from London back to the seaside resort from whence I originated. He applied for several jobs in his field to no avail.It wasn't so much the money as we're comfortably off but more for something to do.
An old colleague gave him some freelance accounting which kept him occupied but said colleague has also now retired and then my husband was unfortunately seriously ill so work was out of the question.Luckily he suvived and is now 70 and has had enough of work :)
Ageism is still rife in the workplace.I would think long and hard about it.
Do you really want to take a menial job like chalet/caravan cleaning,
bar work etc which are only seasonal jobs in most seaside resorts when you've been used to a totally different kind of working environment.Where we live at the seaside jobs are very hard to come by for young people let alone old fogies.
Wish you well though.I do like to be beside the seaside :)

[hc4361]

What town do you want to move to?

[jomifl]

Get yourself made redundant and take your pension as early as possible. No point depressing yourself and being humiliated by school leavers vetting your application forms, take the money and enjoy your retirement.

[Hymie]

My advice would be to consider relocation to where you are offered a job. Being willing to move anywhere (on the coast) must significantly increase your chances of finding a job.

Engineers are in short supply, and the pay is much better than a supermarket shelf stacker – or any other job you are likely to be offered.

Search the main web job sites for a match to your skills – consider registering with a recruitment agency.

Finally, if you start to draw a personal pension, you will not be able to claim Job Seeker’s Allowance – so consider claiming your 6 months JSA before you start drawing any pension.

[jennyjoan]

if you were to get a job it would be very menial - would you like that.

A girlfriend of my brother (deceased) just told me that she has landed a cushy wee number - prepping veggies etc in a kitchen and for 12 hours work she is getting a £100 - so it is a risk.

[jourdain2]

A lot has to do with which bit of sea you want to be near t.b.h.. There are always employment opportunities e.g. B&Q like older employees!

It would make sense to decide on a couple of areas (no point in looking at Northumberland if you really want to be in Norfolk) and investigate them further.

I ended up in France and discovered that they didn't obey the rules about accepting other EU countries' qualifications!
Quite shattering at the time, but I survived.

#A lot depends on if you can afford to buy a home without a mortgage. Don't know if this helps. :)

[Prudie]

Well on the positive flipside I work in an engineering environment on the South coast between Bournemouth and Weymouth. Over the last couple of years due to a buy out a lot of our skilled staff in their 50s (and this includes engineers who have come off the shopfloor in to office roles) took voluntary redundancy. Some of them had been there for years and I thought what's going to happen to them but they have all found jobs in the area.Not senior management roles but they are all working. It depends what you want to accept and probably more what area you are talking.

[atalanta]

Get someone in the area you fancy living in to send you copies of the local newspapers. Or subscribe online, if you can. That will give you an idea how prosperous the places are and how much work there may be. And job advertisements. And ads for recruitment services, whom you can ring or email. And, of course, news of any big employers which are about to close.

[cassa333]

Register with an agency.

If it is a little used department of engineering you could set yourself up as a consultant.

Depending on your present employer see if there is a possibility of a transfer.

What sort of engineering are you in?