Over 50 and just lost job

[geek84]

Hi Folks

I hope you're all well. A friend of mine who is just over 50 years of age lost his job last month. He was working in an accounts department as a credit controller. He has about 15 years' experience of the job and has always done office work, - administration & credit control. He is now very upset and doesn't know what to do next, and wondering if anyone would employ him at his age.

He is now looking for other opportunities and needs to find a job/career that brings in a good wage which would cover his usually household bills and mortgage payments. He also has 2 young children attending secondary school.

Can someone be kind enough to advice the best course of action to take and whether he should keep in the same field of work (accounts) or retrain for something else?



Thank You.

 

[Ian H]

Does he have a hobby he could turn into work?

 

[stem]

I know a few folks that have moved into something that interested them or was a hobby. One (aged 52) is now a tiler which he loves, but was previously a charted surveyor. Another (aged 54) worked as a shop assistant, but now has a small ceramic workshop in her garage and as well as making items to sell, offers others the opportunity to try their hand at making things and some evenings does a bit of dance tuition too. Another (aged 45 ish) designs websites for small businesses part time. I can't remember exactly what he did before but it was something to do with accounts. Whilst they are probably not so well off, they seem happier and less stressed.

 

[motorbiking]

Find a job that leverages his skills. A lot of credit control has been outsourced to india etc. He could look for management accounting work in a finance department or even offer his services as a contractor in a smaller business. If he has skills in any of the big applications (e.g. Oracle or SAP etc) he could try his hand in a shared services outfit. He might even try procurement.

Does he have any industry special skills, could he go to a competitor and bring knowledge of customers (being careful not to disclose confidential info)

 

[Nige F]

Keep in accountancy - there may be small firms that will take a part timer. He'll know the way self employment works

 

[JP_]

Can he write? I went from 12 years in banking to running my own websites (which worked for a bit, then died) to getting a job for a local digital marketing agency - although I am a bit younger.
But a friend of mine lost his job last year (aged 42) and I sent him some writing work, and now he is almost writing full time as a freelancer. SO, that's one option, if he can turn numbers to letters.

 

[HawkEye244]

Tell him to sign onto a few different agencies who wil find him temp work but usually of good pay and in the mean time he can apply for full time jobs. A friend of mine is in finance and did this and he's a complete **** with terrible inter-personal skills but the point is he got a lot of jobs. He just didn't keep them. There is plenty of work in finance and there's a lot of over 50s in the sector. Computers can be an issue for the older crowd so without knowing why he was sacked, if it's not related then fine, but if it is related to his lack of computer literacy he should sort that our quickly. Get on a course or spend more time self-teaching on the compuer.

Someone like your mate with a track record will pick up something very quickly provided technology isn't a barrier. Sometimes temp jobs turn into full time jobs. He'll need his wits about him though because agencies can be sharks if you let them. Make sure he gets everything agreed in writing.

Certainly at 50 I would not re-train.

----------------------------------------------------

Stem - stuff like that sounds great but most people don't have the wherewithal, time or finances to build up a knowledge base that they can then monetise like that. People like you mention almost always have a lot of support, people they can financially lean on in hard times.

15 years experience is a lot to waste and quite frankly with a family to support there is no time for that sort of buggeration in my view. Too much at risk and too much at stake.

 

[Brigade77]

General administration & credit control do not bring in a good wage. Certainly not one that a mature man with children & a mortgage would call good.

I can get very capable admin for minimum wage.

Having said that, maturity & experience, not just of a narrowly defined subject, is something I've learned to value highly. I call it 'mileage'.

Your friend should first of all contact all those Co's in a similar business to the last one he worked for. If nothings happening there then the bottom rung is 'Security Guard', anything above that is the goal.

 

[stem]

Stem - stuff like that sounds great but most people don't have the wherewithal, time or finances to build up a knowledge base that they can then monetise like that.

It can't be that uncommon, if three of my friends have done it. They already had the knowledge and were set up because they did these things as a hobby / interest. Which was the point I was raising earlier. How good is that, if you can make a living doing something that you enjoy.

People like you mention almost always have a lot of support

I'm not aware of them having any specific support, other than 'words of encouragement'. Being erm...older, as in the OP's example, (I am allowed to can say this because I am in my 50's) they hadn't got much debt and only had small mortgages. Two of them already had income from other working partners that help with the bills. Maybe this is the case with the OP's example too. The guy who maintains websites has a family to support and his wife doesn't have any secular work that I know of.

there is no time for that sort of buggeration

Bit rude.

 

[DaveHerns]

He needs to get help preparing a good CV.

 

[nauseous]

How about retraining as a plumber or a heating engineer.

You can turn up at peeps houses 2 days late, scratch your ass and say

"yeah it's gonna be about 575 quid + vat (of course) mate, can do it day after tomorrow, then turn up at 5pm in a fortnights time and be out and on your way home 15 mins later."

 

[HawkEye244]

It can't be that uncommon, if three of my friends have done it. They already had the knowledge and were set up because they did these things as a hobby / interest. Which was the point I was raising earlier. How good is that, if you can make a living doing something that you enjoy.



I'm not aware of them having any specific support, other than 'words of encouragement'. Being erm...older, as in the OP's example, (I am allowed to can say this because I am in my 50's) they hadn't got much debt and only had small mortgages. Two of them already had income from other working partners that help with the bills. Maybe this is the case with the OP's example too. The guy who maintains websites has a family to support and his wife doesn't have any secular work that I know of.



Bit rude.

No mate don't get me wrong I think it's fantastic but how many people have hobbies or interests like that? Just making an observation really. Most of the younger crew's idea of a hobby is eating dominos in front of Call of Duty and the older crowd watch a mind-numbing amount of tv.

Mate support is time, finance, emotional, practical. You know it all adds or subtracts. I just don't think your views are realistic for the vast majority of people that spend a great deal of their lives in jobs they hate soley so they can get out ASAP on a pile of money. I mean anyone who picks finance as a career must not have happiness high on their priority list to begin with, what makes you think they'd start caring about it at 50 after 15 years sitting in front of a computer looking at microsoft spreadsheets? Not everyone cares about their job, other than as a means to eat and home themselves and raise a family.

Hope you don't misinterpret my tone. I'm c0ckney. Not to be confused with a c0ck.

 

[foxhole]

If he has a spare room he could foster, as a parent he already has the qualifications, no shortage of abused kids out there.

 

[Razor900]

How about retraining as a plumber or a heating engineer.

You can turn up at peeps houses 2 days late, scratch your ass and say

"yeah it's gonna be about 575 quid + vat (of course) mate, can do it day after tomorrow, then turn up at 5pm in a fortnights time and be out and on your way home 15 mins later."

That's outrageous

After 5 is double bubble

 

[matz]

OP what sort of age is your friend calling a "good wage" ?