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I'm afraid this would be an ideal world, Suzette. Age discrimination
exists in Canada, it is a violation of our rights, but there's not a
lot an older worker can do except complain and not get hired anyway.
On 9-Jul-09, at 5:05 PM, Suzette Leeming wrote:
> Um, I believe in Canada we call that "age discrimination", which is a
> violation of our rights.
>
> Some companies love bright, young graduates fresh out of university
> (they
> work cheaper). Others like the young family type with
> responsibilities (less
> likely to move on). Other companies realize the value that an older,
> more
> experience worker can bring. No on-the-job training required - they
> hit the
> ground running, they've learned from past mistakes, and they bring
> maturity,
> wisdom, and experience to the job. In this environment, with so many
> people
> out of work, the experienced worked is a valued worker.
>
> Many companies have been started by "older" employees who have been
> forced
> into retirement. Tell your mother to either start a techwriting agency
> (something that also does well in a recession) or start a whole new
> career.
> She's entering the best stage of her life!
>
> How old is too old? If the eyes can no longer see, the ears can no
> longer
> hear, the fingers can no longer type, or if Alzheimer's has set it,
> then
> that is too old. Otherwise, age should be considered a benefit, not a
> deterrent.
>
> Suzette Leeming
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 4:57 PM, Leonard C. Porrello <
> Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- soleratec -dot- com> wrote:
>
>> What do people think about how old it is too old? Is it 40, 50, 60?
>>
>> Leonard
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard.porrello<techwr-l-bounces
>> %2Bleonard.porrello>
>> =soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
>> om] On Behalf Of Sarah Stegall
>> Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 1:51 PM
>> To: TECHWR-L Writing
>> Subject: Aging out was RE: job-hunt weirdness
>>
>> Dunno about Canada, but about the worst thing you can do in Northern
>> California is brag about (or even mention) being "long-in-the-tooth".
>> Kiss of death out here.
>>
>> I watched my highly competent, smart, professional mother, with
>> years of
>> experience and business savvy, get involuntarily "retired" from
>> technical writing for the sin of being older than the people she was
>> interviewing with for a job. The last job she had, she was actually
>> told
>> by her manager that if he'd known her age he would never have
>> considered
>> her for the job. She did all the usual--wrote her resume to eliminate
>> about ten years of experience, concealed the date of her graduation
>> (even dropped a degree), dyed her hair, dressed younger. None of it
>> worked. After she got laid off, she never again got past an initial
>> interview.
>>
>> I figure I'm in my last or next to last job as an employee; if and
>> when
>> I leave this one, I have at best a 50/50 chance of being hired full
>> time
>> somewhere because I am too old. I'm keeping my freelance skills up,
>> and
>> hoping my husband keeps his job so that his benefits can cover us.
>>
>>
>>
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Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices. http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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