So we have decided that we will continue to work after we retire. We want to do something different, something that we have always wanted to so. Something that feeds our soul and our passion. Maybe we just want to do something where we are productive, something where there is a chance to get out of the house and communicate with others. There are many reasons that women and men of a certain age want to continue to work after their formal retirement.
Most of us remember when we first started to work and people would wonder if we were old enough for the job. Guess what? Now they wonder are we too old for the job.
You see that gray hair can be a giveaway to our age, and age discrimination is real. I know there are millennials sporting the gray look, but for the most part they get theirs out of a box.
Take it from someone who has finally divorced hair color and decided it is what it is. It does seem interesting that most of the people in power around the world are gray haired or other unnatural hair colors, but when it comes to getting a job it is a deterrent to the interviewer. It’s hard to even get an interview or get through the interview when the interviewer sees you as his mother or God forbid his grandmother.
This article by columnist Mitchel Schnurman recently appeared in the Dallas Morning News. It is an opinion piece, but personally I think it speaks the truth. Does gray hair stop you from getting pass the interview?
Then it hit me, maybe we should follow the lead of the millennials. Remember when we wouldn’t hire them because their hair was blue, hot pink, too long, dredded or whatever? What did they do? They started their own businesses. Why not start our own business doing what we want? We have the time, the experience and education so why not go for it?
Millennials did not wait for baby boomers to hire them so why are we waiting on them to hire us? We taught them to go for it. Let’s take our own advice and just do it.
Remember “thisisyourbestyear”. What are you waiting for?