|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
 |
Success Story: Battling Ageism, Money Troubles in a Job SearchWith a range of PR skills and a low target salary minimum, a PR manager, 52, didn't expect too much difficulty in her job search -- until it turned into a three-year ordeal
November 23, 2005 - Diana White, a public-relations manager in Columbus, Ohio, was 52 when she began looking for a new job in the fall of 2002. She didn't expect too much difficulty, since she has a range of PR skills and sought a minimum of $50,000 in annual salary. Instead, her search turned into a three-year ordeal. Age discrimination was a major problem, she believes. And, without severance to support herself and a dependent son, she worked hourly wage jobs to stay afloat. Even so, she ended up deep in debt. What galled her most, she says, was the age bias she felt. Ms. White earned a bachelor's degree in public relations eight years ago while working full time. She believes that when employers read her resume, they expected to meet a 30-something with extensive experience. "They knew I'd graduated in 1998, and then they would see me with gray hair, bifocals and a few wrinkles, and you could see and feel them back off," says Ms. White. She had resigned her prior job as marketing director of a Columbus vocational-rehabilitation organization due to management differences in 2002. Her hunt for a new position started immediately. Ms. White scanned want ads in the local paper and on the Internet, attended local job-search clubs and networked with members of groups, such as the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations. Positions for PR pros in Columbus aren't that plentiful, and her unwillingness to relocate limited her opportunities, she says. Still, she applied for about 300 positions and went on about 50 interviews. Some employers rejected her, she says, because she lacked a particular skill, such as governmental relations. Ms. White's experience was mostly in the nonprofit and health-care arenas, which limited her further, she says. As she searched, she struggled to pay bills. After four months, her small retirement-savings account was depleted. At first, she received about $345 a week in unemployment benefits. However, this amount declined as she began working temporary-services jobs and eventually, it ran out. Most of her temporary positions paid $7 to $9 per hour, she says. For about six months, she worked in a men's clothing store where she learned to do tailor markings. "I didn't like reaching into men's inseams, and they didn't like it, either," she says. For a while, she says, she worked in a bakery and sandwich outlet, which sometimes meant sweeping floors, and one neighbor paid Ms. White to sort out clutter in her home. "I would do anything," says Ms. White. "This was almost constant for three years." When a PR agency gave her a contract assignment, she hoped for about a year of work. However, the stint lasted only four months. Then she decided to start her own PR firm, thinking that having several clients might provide her with a living. But she didn't get enough projects, and she kept working hourly jobs at night. That year -- 2004 -- her income totaled about $8,000, she says. Ms. White used credit cards to cover her expenses. Eventually, she had five cards and transferred balances from one to another. Sometimes, she took cash advances to pay for groceries, gas and health insurance. To keep Ms. White going, her parents gave her money. Eventually, her credit-card debt totaled about $25,000, she says. In January 2005, Ms. White spotted a help-wanted ad in her local newspaper for a physician-relations manager for the Ohio Hospital for Psychiatry, a 49-bed hospital in Columbus for patients under 18 owned by the Behavioral Centers of America in Nashville, Tenn. She applied for the job, but didn't hear anything. In early September, the hospital invited her to interview for a position as community-relations manager. Ms. White says she pulled out all the stops for the meeting. She wore contact lenses, dyed her hair, and put on a short skirt, girdle and high-heels. "I did all I could do to look presentable but still professional," she says. The interview with hospital chief executive Jeff Beasley went well. He says he wanted someone with hospital and mental-health experience and marketing skills -- exactly Ms. White's background. When Mr. Beasley asked what Ms. White brought to the job, she says, she told him that, unlike younger candidates, she had an understanding of human nature that came only from experience. He says she also showed energy and "a sense of humor." The meeting convinced him she was the best of the 60 applicants for the job, Mr. Beasley says, adding that Ms. White's age was never an issue. Ms. White says she is earning slightly less than her goal salary but is happy with the steady paycheck and job responsibilities. She's now cleaning up the financial wreckage of the past three years. She recently secured a home-equity loan that will pay off 80% of the credit-card debt, she says. Other over-50 job seekers should be prepared for "the long haul" and research all sources of work, Ms. White says. If possible, don't resign a job without lining a new one up first, and take advantage of all government assistance, she adds. "If you're lucky, your story won't be mine," Ms. White says.
Success Story is an occasional column about a job hunter's successful search for a new position. If you have a success story to share, contact Perri Capell at frances.capell@dowjones.com or visit CareerJournal's discussion board to share your thoughts on this search or others.
Other Readings of Interest
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||
|
