Divorce after Twenty years together Community Group
I want to start something for those of us that were married for a long long time. I think that we face a little different issues than those who were dating for a few years or even married for shorter period of time. Being married for so long we have older children some have grandkids dealing with teenagers and their reaction to the divorice empty nesters dating after 40...
I was wondering this morning if any of you who divorced later in life had been a stay-at-home mom. I was for 19 years. My daughter is now entering her sophomore year in college. It has been quite the challenge to return to the workforce. I was a publicist for 25 years before I had my daughter so I have a lot of experience. But, the marketing world changed dramatically over the 19 years I was raising her. Social media is where it's at now and I am just getting familiar with how that works. Most of the job available require 1-3 years of experience, which I just don't have. This is a very difficult task, especially given all the other difficult things going on in my life. Just wondering if anyone else had faced this and gotten back into the workforce successfully at a later age. I am 57.
We were married for 23 years. For the first few years, I had my own business. I was freelancer writer and publicist and had lots of business. I loved it. Won awards for my works. It was so fulfilling and exciting. Then, my daughter came along and I thought I could do both -write and take care of her - since I was doing both out of our house. I was wrong. She required a lot more time and effort so I dropped the last client I had. I had two other jobs while raising her - short - term, low pay positions just to contribute to the household income. What I found was that I worked my tail off then had not much to show for it. And no benefits. Everyone now - my H, my attorney, my financial planner is telling me to just get a little $10/hour job to contribute. I'm pushing back - at least at the moment - because I desperately want another career - not a $10/hour job. I was miserable in those. Getting back into a career takes a little time to acquire. Whether I'll have the luxury of doing that - I just don't know at this moment - just so many major things happening here at once. But that's my goal and I'm going to try to achieve it. A part-time, $10/hour spot makes sense temporarily but only until I can find what I really want to do.
But....it is what it is, and we have to make the best of it! I've applied for hundreds of jobs related to my profession, and had about 4 or 5 interviews. I didn't seem to make the cut....although I feel I present and interview well. Fact is, I'm FIFTY and I really do think that is a dealbreaker in many job competitions.
Ironically, women my age typically don't have young kids at home who will get sick and keep them home, and we typically have strong work ethics (baby boom gen) so I just don't get why I'm not getting hired!
I have a friend who's an exec at Target and she's trying to get me into a management training position....and it's not even CLOSE to the field that I'm trained for. But I'm so desperate, I'll take anything above minimum wage! I feel like I've forgotten what it's like to work, and now my confidence is really depleted. Sorry, I guess this post really belongs in an UNemployment support forum ;)
Anyhow, good luck to anyone out there who's looking or re-training! I spent the last year finishing a certification in my field but I still don't seem to have the work experience to get me the job I want. If I were younger and had more energy, I'd start my own business. Just too scared to lose my shirt....there's just not enough time to earn it back!