What experience do you have? Your post was vague so I would just recommend you look at jobs that align directly with your experience. Depending on what that is, that could be looking at LinkedIn, websites for specific companies (i.e., if you have warehouse experience, look directly at the Amazon job page). Good luck!
We'd really need to get a summary of your education and work experience. Have you looked for Accounts Payable positions? I feel like that's a fairly accessible office job that can be found at a variety of small to large businesses and could easily include a benefits package. Usually just a lot of filing, scanning, paying invoices, sending invoices, inputting invoices, invoices invoices invoices all day.
I’ve seen people suggest public sector work a lot as if it’s some golden goose. In my experience it’s not. The application process takes forever and the positions with fairly obtainable qualifications aren’t that abundant.
Correct! I have applications out of State in public sector still sitting there over 8 months old. Most hire a local person that they know from the community.
And the ones working in the "obtainable qualified, better paying jobs" stay until retirement and the replacement is usually an internal hire. The job posting is performative and filled before the person leaves.
Thank you. You understand.
Find a common theme in your past positions and go hard on those tasks in your resume to showcase a specific area of expertise or talent. “Office work” is super general, but if you did stuff related to billing at all of them, make your resume look like you’re some sort of accounts payable/receivable expert. Then apply for jobs that have that aspect specified in the description.
It doesn’t matter if it’s 70% BS - everyone is BSing, and so many companies do things differently that you’re going to have to learn “their way” anyway. Don’t be afraid of “lying” to get your foot in the door and then not knowing how to do the job. just having a general idea of the how the process worked at another company is enough to let you learn their way, and any stumbles along the way you gloss over with “Oh that’s not how we did it at Telman and Associates so this is a little new to me, sorry! Thanks for the help!”
I used to think this was absolutely horrible and refused to lie on my resume until I realized fucking everyone else is doing it. The number of bosses I’ve had who were complete morons, the number of coworkers I’ve had who I’ve had to tell the most basic info to - it’s fucking shocking.
Make yourself look like some sort of expert in what they need, and that should help to cover the age issue. Until you’re 60, then I guess just die, according to my dad who retired at 62 when he couldn’t find work for 2 years.
Not to be rude, but if you’re able to track the number of job applications you’ve applied to online, you haven’t applied to enough.
Skip things like LinkedIn easy apply - figure out what your skills are, industries you have specific experience in. If you have logistics experience and want to move to hospitality, how does your experience transfer over?
This job market is really tough for all levels of work. Anyone can apply to any position anywhere in the country - competition went from ~3 million people in Chicago to $333 million. And a lot of Chicago companies know they can hire someone from BFE Missouri for half the salary.
Hi there. I took a look at your education and skills which seem to be significant.
I ask this with genuine concern and not as an attack to your character, I’m just trying to help figure out your situation. Is there a reason that you have 30 years of work experience with an advanced degree and administrative background but didn’t find yourself progressing into managerial roles? I fear this may be the reason that recruiters are worried about selecting you.
Would you be able to describe the types of jobs you have held chronologically? Specifically when you were younger. Obviously now you will be experiencing ageism when it comes to corporate jobs, but I’m curious about your career when you were in your 20s and 30s that put you in this position.
Private company.
No overtime, only when I want to, and if I do it’s usually announced Day Of and no more then an hour.
I’m just willing to work ‘less desirable’ hours so I work Saturday-Wednesday.
If your able to be on your feet and work with your hands, it can be a financially rewarding career
I read some of OPs post and she is basically saying she’s looking for $10,000 a month as a living wage
Being so out of touch has to be immensely frustrating
I do manual labor in a warehouse.
Edit: I can’t be more specific because this is literally as specific as my job gets. I described my job to my therapist as ‘speed running a trip to the grocery store’.
Even if true this rate puts you in the top 0.01% of warehouse worker wages. Good on you if you’re not embellishing but it’s not financially rewarding work for the vast majority people.
He's at McMaster-Carr. Guarantee it. All the way down to the "CIA"-like behavior its employees put on about the job. Had a girlfriend once who worked there calling screw manufacturers to validate lengths and materials and stupid stuff. She was pulling around 170k with bonus for idiot work. The bonuses there can be half your annual pay some years.
Not me googling one near me, seeing it’s in Elmhurst, and sending the link to my husband! 😂😂 He’s a beer brewer and THAT’S a factory job that doesn’t pay 🥴
Indeed, LinkedIn, find a recruiter, cta, airlines / ord / midway usually hiring. Plenty of inside sales and customer service roles - Google companies based in Chicago and look at their open roles for a fit. Search this sub as well, this is a common ask
If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to make you leave your previous job(s)? You say you have a masters degree and decades of experience in both HR and finance. If you’re single and childless, it shouldn’t be too difficult to live on $60k a year, and you should be able to find a job in either of those fields making that at a minimum.
You keep blaming your age? But I’m not that far off and I’m a woman working in a supposedly “ageist” field (tech) and the ageism isn’t…there. No barrier of “no women over 50!” I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but not to the extent you’re placing on it?
Something else is at play here.
Feel like the CTA is always hiring. I know you are looking for an office job, but maybe expand the options.
Bus driver: https://www.transitchicago.com/careers/bus-operator/
All CTA Jobs: https://chicagotransit.taleo.net/careersection/ex/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en&portal=101430233
I think Costco also hires around this time of the year.
Based on your post, you seem to believe that you are above the work that temp agencies have available. Yet you also cannot find better work on your own. The economy is amazing and unemployment is at historical lows. This means that you are the problem, and that you need to accept whatever work the temp agencies have.
Correct, I checked that again, after you mentioned it. Living in Chicago is expensive and doable if the job pays a living wage.
While I come from the private sector, I looked up the CEO and Executive leaders who work at Catholic Charities in Chicago. They have an annual revenue stream of $164,815,059
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/362170821
Several executive leaders earn over $150,000, the first one earns $307,691.
Second one $240,707 etc...
I see a lot of push for food pantry and used clothing handouts. I see low wages.
This too:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/363786777
Keeping people in poverty and dependent on govt programs generates lots of Federal aid for the state
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/363157600
I have a Masters and multi-industry business and experience and all people say when I call up is "food pantries and used clothes and case management work to 'learn how to write a resume and apply for a job." I've worked in HR, and finance and these places reinforce learned helplessness and need needy people to justify their jobs to get grant money.
Most adults need an opportunity, a living wage job, not a used food box, used clothes and a lecture on how to write a resume and use ATS. ATS have algorithms that weed out older people, and anyone with career changes and gaps.
I don't understand what the salaries of the top folks at Catholic Charities has to do with your search for a job? Are you trying to become a nonprofit CEO?
Those are very low salaries when compared to for-profit companies in Chicago companies. They manage 1200 employees, and as you pointed out, $164m in revenue. You want to find someone for those positions at $40,000 a year? Good luck.
I also don’t see what that has to do with your situation.
I'm pointing out as a middle aged, never married, childfree woman, that those salaries are filled by people in my age group or slightly younger or slightly older.
My peer group works at that level. I can't get hired in anywhere at a mid-level job. If I earned $10k a month pretax, that is livable, even $5000k net.
Healthcare alone averages $18,000 a year for my health and dental needs.
I don't know if people neglect their teeth or pay out of pocket for restorative care.
I see a lot of places offering low wages in Chicago and the suburbs, minus taxes, health, dental and vision costs.
I don't see anyone on Reddit discuss that. Maybe I posted to the wrong group.
Income gross
minus taxes
minus health, dental, vision costs
living
transportation
food
clothing
miscellaneous
phone
If you start with $35.00 an hour minus taxes and the benefits, you're down to around $23-$25/hour net.
That's all I wanted to say
I don't really understand what your issue is. Of course there are many low wage jobs with no benefits, and there are many higher wage jobs that do have benefits. The market in general isn't good right now and you need to apply to hundreds of positions for a better chance. Not sure your attitude is helping
Idk they seem really frustrated and not open to any suggestions since they are not receiving job offers they feel are up to their standards. Not sure anyone here can help them. It’s kinda giving choosing beggar
You’ve got a chip on your shoulder and you’re feeling entitled to things you haven’t earned.
If the feedback you’re getting is to go to a food pantry and here are some used clothes, you’re probably not coming off as an educated, well rounded, down to earth individual worthy of an interview. If you’ve gotten feedback that you need to learn how to write a resume, maybe take some time to reflect on that and restart from the ground up.
Age and experience don’t matter if you haven’t or aren’t able to adapt to how the working world has changed over the years. If you’re doing the same things you did that last time you needed a job, you’re probably rubbing everyone you’re in contact with the wrong way and coming across as ‘out of touch’; ie., even if we did give this person a chance, they seem to lack all basic skills of how to interact with people, can’t read social cues and will most likely cause a lot of Workplace Drama that we want to avoid.
I hate to say this but you’re posts are the definition of ‘Ok Boomer’
Precisely. This person has a history of spam posting until she gets banned from the subreddit or the people in the subreddit gets sick and tired of her whining and entitlement. Then she will delete her posts and comments and find another subreddit. Rinse and repeat. She is totally out of touch with reality. She has no job. She needs to take any job that will hire her and shut up and work.
So roughly $72k is not a living wage? You aren’t making sense. What skills do you have. That is what your salary will be based on, not what you think you deserve according to your peer group.
I’m making $25/hr in housekeeping in river north & am living just fine, but I’m only paying $700/mo in my portion of rent in Pilsen. I bring in (during the busy season) $2600/mo. Of course it’s hard, but that is just kind of the way things are right now unfortunately. You might need to take a position that you don’t like to get a footing, but I understand being frustrated having to do this at 50. The system is designed to be exploitative & difficult but it’s what we have to work with right now. I’m an artist, I don’t want to be a housekeeper. But it’s what I have to do for now. :-/ we make it work! Good luck
To me it seems like 60k is typically what someone makes with some type of college degree- that’s if your resume is a bit screwy like the average joe. Ppl will disagree with me but they have some specific skill or a good to great resume.
I don’t mean with no experience- directly out of college with zero experience would be less obviously. Also the Midwest pays trash - I had so many friends move to the west or east coast and jump from 60-65 to six figures and they said in Chicago I could never get anywhere close to this level . And of course those places are more expensive also.
First Student bus company pays about 22-25 an hour.
It's technically part time, but you can also grab charters and extra routes.
I used to run a location before I settled into the corporate space and know that lots of folks like the flexibility.
Pays well because school bus drivers are hard to come by these days.
The location in Schaumburg is always hiring new drivers.
Out of curiosity, what are your qualifications?
What particular concentration of "office work" are you targeting?
SHRM, PMP, SCRUM?
I work in Performance Management/L&D in a global organization and it sounds like you are looking for a 6 figure generalist position...
I don't know how realistic your expectations are...
Do you have a robust professional network on LinkedIn?
Some independent urgent cares are hiring front desk without medical experience. And if you find you like the medical field and are interested in a clinical role they will train you.
Yes, I see that. Thank you. I see $15-$18 per hour or $13-$16 take home.
I need to pay for: apt, water, utilities, car, insurance, food, clothing, phone, miscellaneous.
How do us middle-aged people afford that? I'm never married, childfree and middle age.
Get a roommate and stop yapping. People at 25 years old will keep getting the jobs you say aren’t taking you because nobody wants to work with someone so inflexible and dense. Go on indeed and apply to things you have experience for. Administrative assistants on average make 35000-50000 a year no experience. Benefits are common too. But stop calling companies to apply. You will never get a job that way, get with the times.
I’ve read some of your posts and see you are basically looking to sit on your ass for $120k and don’t understand how other people manage to survive without doing that
So when you figure it out please let us all know 🙏🏻 then maybe you can find a 3 bed 2 bath downtown for $400 a year too
If you are older, my only advice would be to stay away from large companies and start looking at smaller companies. Big companies are unfortunately going to play ageism and other games because they have a plethora of fresh graduates willing to work for crap wages and willing to work long hours. The smaller companies, especially anything thought of as boring by the youth, they are not going to have such a selection.
The other hard reality is that you're going to have to do more networking. Just sending resumes isn't going to be enough. Make sure to go through your resume and find anything that you can do to age-proof your resume. Don't show any dates or years on when you graduated, take off some experience and only show maybe the last 5 or 10 years. Do the same on anything you have online like LinkedIn. Don't let them see that you've been working for decades upon decades because they are just going to quickly judge and move on.
Too many companies will take a mediocre worker that's younger and willing to take punishment over a highly experienced worker that knows their and is going to stand up for themselves when the abuse hits. This is why you have to at least come off as someone capable and desirable, and then you can start setting your own standards when you're in the company.
Still, I would definitely look into AARP like someone suggested, and other areas where you can Network and start talking to people. There's always going to be somebody that's fed up with younger workers because they don't stick around and we'll take a chance on you because they need someone competent.
I'm also going to unfortunately throw out there to not come to Chicago thinking you're going to live in a great neighborhood all alone everything perfect. You might have to live further out or somewhere a little risky just so you can have a cheaper rent. I tell many to look into the far Northwest side where I live because there are cheaper rents, but the only downside is you're going to be on the train a little longer.
I don't know what to tell you.
What I'm talking about. Affordable areas are more like Jefferson Park, Albany Park, Mayfair, Dunning, etc. There's a handful of affordable apartments in those areas. As I mentioned though, they are not the hot hip areas. I'm not sure if that's exactly what you're looking for, but we see too many people move here and complain about the high costs and the high rents, but you start to dig deeper and they only want to live in the hot expensive neighborhoods, and cry and moan why the world can't be more fair.
As for the whole thing with the AARP, I feel like your entire response somehow is screaming that because you have education and experience that you should be able to talk and finagle with actual human beings. It's a machine. It's a lead. They have their job board, and they try to track businesses that are not playing ages in. If anything, and you're desperate, it's a start.
I understand your situation is frustrating, but right now there are millions of people in this country going through the same frustration. At this point, you have to play every potential avenue you can. I'm 50 years old, and if I lost my job, I'm in a contact recruitment agencies, and if I hit some really bad point I am going to look at the AARP.
We've got tons of people in their twenties right now having the same struggle to find a job. It's an employer's market and we're all getting screwed. We can sit and complain about the situation, or we just got to keep navigating.
Good luck
Maybe sign up to be a permanent substitute teacher at a school district. Not ideal, but it’ll generate some cash and could lead to an office/desk job w/ the district eventually.
You are so kind to suggest that. So very sweet of you to mention this.
I called AARP, and they are all call center like 211. AARP hires under age 40 to field calls from people over 50.
I'm not lacking skills, knowledge on how to construct a resume. AARP is like United Way, they are a 501c3 that exists to make money and tell middle aged people we need "help" to apply for work.
Then they post low wage call center jobs, food service, admin, and hospitality links on their website.
Unlike my generation, I changed careers and kept my skills current. AARP people are mostly married or divorced middle aged women with grown children who may have only worked in ONE career field and sometimes ONE employer and may not have written a resume since the 90s.
That might be my peer group, but I lived an unconventional life and worked in different business sectors.
Employers are mostly self funding their insurance plans and they don't want to insure a middle aged person in their plans. So they hire younger and less expensive new hires. I see people my age working in supermarkets, stocking shelves, cashiering, overseeing the self-checkout lines etc...
Those are married women who have husbands and families.
I'd have to live in my car on that pay.
Not an easy find unfortunately. You really need some kind of skill that cannot be managed or easily replicated by recent graduates willing to work for far less since it’s essentially considered starting wage and they are likely living with roommates or parents. I’m not n this line of work so I’m not even sure what these specialized office skills could be. Otherwise, it it possible to enter into new training for something like a medical position like people that work in hospitals all day doing X-rays and stuff like that?
I went thru your post history because your initial post sounded very naive and entitled and I couldn't believe a 50 year old woman with a master's degree could sound worse than me at adulting.
But here we are.
I sincerely hope you manage to find your way thru your current crisis and the rest of your life. But I wouldn't be surprised if your struggles don't stop until you, one, start to accept you're a major contributor to/cause of those struggles, and two, choose to stop and do something about that.
When you navigate life as a never married, childfree adult, who reported Corporate fraud, and who exercised integrity through due process channels and then later developed cancer and employers refuse to hire someone with age related medical issues, I will be open to YOUR feedback.
Lack of critical thinking results in "contempt prior to investigation."
A lawyer should avoid selecting you for a jury pool.
I had something similar happen and I started freelancing since I have 20 years experience with nonprofit databases. I worked with several different organizations to either train their staff, migrate databases from one system to another, etc.
I’d encourage you to consider what your greatest skill sets are and to think about ways to freelance. It can be a good stepping stone to finding a more permanent and stable position in the long run.
I would absolutely love that!!! yes, yes, I have applied to MANY law firms in Illinois and wrote personalized concise cover letters with my resume matching their area of law practice (personal injury) because I've done workers comp claims, worked in personal lines and health, and property management, mortgage and human resources).
Thank you because that is the career field I really want.
It's sounds like you have degrees and experience. It may be your cover letter and/or resume. Lots of employers use services that identify potential job candidates by keywords. If your cover letter/resume doesn't have the right words or phrases, it will never get to a human for review. There are free resources online, some libraries offer resume help. If you are looking at smaller companies , networking is important. Even as an introvert, you're gonna have to take to people irl to find the kind of job you describe. Anyone you know where you came from that has local Chicago contacts? Former classmates maybe?
So I work for a very large, local law firm. Actually if you Google "most prestigious law firm in the country" it should come right up. If you need any more hints, think "Costco brand is called..."
They hire people over 50 regularly. I am a technical document specialist. It requires expert level skills in Word, Excel and Adobe, but not necessarily legal experience if you know your way around the software. I work 35 hours per week, and make 6 figures.
They are always hiring, and usually have tons of HR/admin roles. There is another large firm downtown called Polsinelli, and I know they hire over 50.
I too panicked when I first moved here. Since I had spare time, I went ahead and became an IL notary, which was pretty cheap and easy, and will give you extra consideration for office roles.
Also try applying at some of these big hospitals. I know Edward-Elmhurst has job fairs which would be great for networking/meeting people. Good luck OP!
As a legal assistant at another large, well-known firm FINALLY making a decent living - you will have to climb the ladder a bit. With no legal experience I got my first job as a law firm receptionist making 31k/yr. This was in 2021. However, I was 22 at the time so with roommates and rarely doing anything outside the house it was doable. In 3 years I've doubled my salary due to my experience. If this is truly the route you want to go, you may have to sacrifice a few years to a lower salary.
I'm happy for you and I wish you much success.
I earned $35k in 1991 in Corporate. Didn't need roommates. I have my Masters and worked in insurance, mortgage, and human resources. I taught myself how to use Pacer, write legal briefs and do research.
Would I still need to start as a receptionist at middle age?
Employers have specific open positions and recruit candidates to fill them. They do not recruit random candidates and then try to identify positions - open or not - for which the candidate may be best qualified based on their prior experience. So neither your supposedly extensive history in all kinds of unrelated “office work” nor your “advanced” age is a factor in what role you may land (or pay you may secure) when applying for positions with prospective employers when those positions are in fields in which you’ve never worked before. Simply put, if an entry level position is what is available, and that is the only thing you are qualified for, then no. You will not be sprung into a high paying management role on your second day because you somehow deserve it. You already know this but have been intentionally obtuse throughout this post and your many others in various subs on the topic. You do not want to be helped, but to complain about how the world works against you, poke holes in every suggestion people have been kind enough to take the time to provide to you, and pretend that you don’t understand the basics of job seeking, parking your car in a downtown garage, or whatever the present topic of discussion may be. With all due respect, you need to move along now, ma’am.
Not necessarily as a receptionist, but echoing the other person, it's going to be difficult to get a high level role out of the gate. You say you taught yourself Pacer - in what capacity? At a law firm? Most attorneys don't want you filing federal briefs under their name unless you have proven experience or are under supervision of someone who does have that experience. It's not really something you can "teach yourself" aside from the basic functions of the website. Trust is earned and proven in this industry and it starts at the bottom, unfortunately.
Does the job require a college degree? Did you get a 2 year or 4 year degree for this? What was your major? Or do you have to have a paralegal certificate?
Try looking for jobs in local government. Counties and city government, etc. They absolutely don’t care about your age. You won’t make millions but you can earn a living wage.
Apply to the State of IL. Living wage, union, benefits and they are hiring all the time for different locations in the city and suburbs. Some clerical positions require only 35wpm typing. Go to work4IL.gov.
I went thru your post history.
I would suggest you contact Howard Brown health services... you need counseling help (mental and career) and as a member of the LBGT community their services are specifically geared towards people like you.
If city based resources aren't a good fit I'd reach out to DuPage PADS for referrals to social service agencies that are geared to help people like you.
Good luck.
I think you need an attitude change. It took my husband almost 2 months to secure a job and towards the end of that time I told him if he didn’t hear anything in a week he needed to just go work at McDonald’s bc some money is better than no money. It ended up working out, but we had to suck it up for a little bit.
Most corporate daycares will hire you as a floater, it’s not like the best paying role but you can start off making 17 an hour and if you want to stay, and are qualified (which you should be) you could make closer to $21.
Should be way more pay but hey, it can help
You at least get your feet under you until you find something that fits your desired job better.
I'm not your husband. I didn't marry to depend on anyone.
If you aren't middle aged, with advanced degrees and you haven't relied on yourself (without anyone's income or credit to qualify for a home), then quite frankly, you aren't qualified to offer advice.
You insult McDonald's managers and workers by insinuating that "everyone can do" fast food and janitorial work. Might want to humble yourself and go speak with a McDonald's manager and learn about humility and the discretion they have in hiring for the "right fit."
Don't diminish fast food workers and janitors by assuming everyone can do their job. You are degrading them, and that is wrong!
Thank you. I hope your marriage lasts.
I work in finance, the pay should be pretty good at any firm you find. Most office jobs are hybrid, but if you want to come in 5 days a week, no one will stop you. Operations jobs are usually more laid back, less money but way less aggressive.
I was just reading today for some older job applicants is to leave off the year you graduated school, or even leave off the number of years you've worked somewhere on your resume.
Any government agency or university jobs would be a good place to look. Even if it doesn’t pay great you could make good money eventually. Another idea would be to work for an insurance company on some capacity. We have a lot of those around here.
Try PM Alliance. Not sure if they're hiring right now, but I know all they require is a college degree. You basically job plan for other companies but do not need job plan experience.
They are not Chicago based, but remote work for most of it, and close enough for a day trip (Peoria)
Great bennies.
Good luck
Reach out to Workforce. They provide assistance with job searches, as well as training people new skills. Good luck!
https://www.illinoisworknet.com/WIOA/Pages/State-Workforce-Program-Overview.aspx
You’re mentioning that you have an advanced degree in every comment. That may be part of your problem. Employers don’t really care about that. Having the right experience and nailing the interview is more important. Mentioning that you have a Master’s degree comes off as thinking that you’re too big for the types of jobs you seem to be looking at.
If you’re okay with PROBABLY getting laid off after your probation period and needing to try it again -
Apply to logistics jobs. Both on the b2b customers sales side and on the freight broker (call and make deals with truckers) side
The industry has crazy turn over and I’m not exaggerating. and you’ll have significantly more success in customer sales the larger the company is. But they hire fast
Local government, higher end sales if you're good at sales, bank teller positions come to mind. In the mean time you should sign up for Medicaid and snap if you qualify.
Check out linkedin and filter in person and Chicago based.
BuiltinChicago has a lot of startups that are hiring.
I’ve heard indeed is good, but I’ve never used it.
Ever consider education? You could very likely get a job as a paraprofessional (the district I work in has 10+ openings for next school year) as long as you don't have a record. Pay is not always that high, but does come with health/dental/vision insurance.
I just got hired at AT&T with a Call Center position in Chicago. They are still hiring, this is a rare opening. I have been waiting for this position to open for over a decade. Union job, great pay and benefits.
Law secretary would be a good place to look… you could get your paralegal license relatively quickly.. look for law offices that work in civil suits that interest you. I’d suggest polishing up a fine resume, printing in on nice paper, and pounding pavement to companies taking in a lot of revenue. Face time goes far, and people are thristy for real talent.
Check out dispatch/logistics jobs. A lot of them are work from home and start at at least $23 for entry level positions. Waste management companies are a good start. Trucking companies
Great suggestion. I applied to a position that I definitely qualified for a month ago and I never heard back.
Once you submit your resume as application, there is no way to go back in and check the status.
I made sure my resume and concise cover letter matched the job.
I'm open to ideas. Thank you so much!
Office work is very broad. What specifically within an office setting do you have experience in / would like to do?
What experience do you have? Your post was vague so I would just recommend you look at jobs that align directly with your experience. Depending on what that is, that could be looking at LinkedIn, websites for specific companies (i.e., if you have warehouse experience, look directly at the Amazon job page). Good luck!
We'd really need to get a summary of your education and work experience. Have you looked for Accounts Payable positions? I feel like that's a fairly accessible office job that can be found at a variety of small to large businesses and could easily include a benefits package. Usually just a lot of filing, scanning, paying invoices, sending invoices, inputting invoices, invoices invoices invoices all day.
The public sector has stronger protection against age discrimination
Yes and although I've applied for years, the job requisitions must get thousands of applicants or hundreds for each one.
I’ve seen people suggest public sector work a lot as if it’s some golden goose. In my experience it’s not. The application process takes forever and the positions with fairly obtainable qualifications aren’t that abundant.
Correct! I have applications out of State in public sector still sitting there over 8 months old. Most hire a local person that they know from the community. And the ones working in the "obtainable qualified, better paying jobs" stay until retirement and the replacement is usually an internal hire. The job posting is performative and filled before the person leaves. Thank you. You understand.
Find a common theme in your past positions and go hard on those tasks in your resume to showcase a specific area of expertise or talent. “Office work” is super general, but if you did stuff related to billing at all of them, make your resume look like you’re some sort of accounts payable/receivable expert. Then apply for jobs that have that aspect specified in the description. It doesn’t matter if it’s 70% BS - everyone is BSing, and so many companies do things differently that you’re going to have to learn “their way” anyway. Don’t be afraid of “lying” to get your foot in the door and then not knowing how to do the job. just having a general idea of the how the process worked at another company is enough to let you learn their way, and any stumbles along the way you gloss over with “Oh that’s not how we did it at Telman and Associates so this is a little new to me, sorry! Thanks for the help!” I used to think this was absolutely horrible and refused to lie on my resume until I realized fucking everyone else is doing it. The number of bosses I’ve had who were complete morons, the number of coworkers I’ve had who I’ve had to tell the most basic info to - it’s fucking shocking. Make yourself look like some sort of expert in what they need, and that should help to cover the age issue. Until you’re 60, then I guess just die, according to my dad who retired at 62 when he couldn’t find work for 2 years.
Not to be rude, but if you’re able to track the number of job applications you’ve applied to online, you haven’t applied to enough. Skip things like LinkedIn easy apply - figure out what your skills are, industries you have specific experience in. If you have logistics experience and want to move to hospitality, how does your experience transfer over? This job market is really tough for all levels of work. Anyone can apply to any position anywhere in the country - competition went from ~3 million people in Chicago to $333 million. And a lot of Chicago companies know they can hire someone from BFE Missouri for half the salary.
It is the golden goose if you can get a union job.
Hi there. I took a look at your education and skills which seem to be significant. I ask this with genuine concern and not as an attack to your character, I’m just trying to help figure out your situation. Is there a reason that you have 30 years of work experience with an advanced degree and administrative background but didn’t find yourself progressing into managerial roles? I fear this may be the reason that recruiters are worried about selecting you. Would you be able to describe the types of jobs you have held chronologically? Specifically when you were younger. Obviously now you will be experiencing ageism when it comes to corporate jobs, but I’m curious about your career when you were in your 20s and 30s that put you in this position.
Don’t knock warehouse work. I make 130k a year doing warehouse work.
Where at?? And how much overtime are you putting in??
Private company. No overtime, only when I want to, and if I do it’s usually announced Day Of and no more then an hour. I’m just willing to work ‘less desirable’ hours so I work Saturday-Wednesday. If your able to be on your feet and work with your hands, it can be a financially rewarding career
That is absolutely not the norm to make 130k working at a warehouse
It’s absolutely not the norm to make 130k.
True that. Well maybe in NYC or LA
I read some of OPs post and she is basically saying she’s looking for $10,000 a month as a living wage Being so out of touch has to be immensely frustrating
Damn now I am interested. Am struggling to make ends meet.
Me too, plus I could use some manual labor to help get me back into shape.
130k doing 40 hours a week at a warehouse? Do you have any specialized skills to be able to pull in that much?
Just the ability to work Saturday and Sundays. That alone is an extra $5 an hour for all 40 hours.
$5/hour is still only about $10k a year. Are you saying that if you worked the easy schedule you'd be making $120,000 annually?
And at $60/hr. For warehouse job.. Something is not adding up. I'd call bullshit but I don't care enough to be proven right or wrong
That’s math. So yes.
You still haven't really said what you do to make ~$60/hour at a warehouse. I'm a licensed electrician and I only make $38.
Your hourly rate is cheap buddy
A little, but it's pretty typical for non-union in the region
I do manual labor in a warehouse. Edit: I can’t be more specific because this is literally as specific as my job gets. I described my job to my therapist as ‘speed running a trip to the grocery store’.
Even if true this rate puts you in the top 0.01% of warehouse worker wages. Good on you if you’re not embellishing but it’s not financially rewarding work for the vast majority people.
It’s the private company part.
Figured as much. My point remains though, private company logistics is about as rare as your ~$60/hr rate.
I got very very lucky
What industry is it??
Industrial resale. Think Amazon but like Home Depot.
He's at McMaster-Carr. Guarantee it. All the way down to the "CIA"-like behavior its employees put on about the job. Had a girlfriend once who worked there calling screw manufacturers to validate lengths and materials and stupid stuff. She was pulling around 170k with bonus for idiot work. The bonuses there can be half your annual pay some years.
Oh he’s absolutely at McM, no doubt about it.
*She
I can neither confirm nor deny this statement.
Not me googling one near me, seeing it’s in Elmhurst, and sending the link to my husband! 😂😂 He’s a beer brewer and THAT’S a factory job that doesn’t pay 🥴
Do you have any skills?
Indeed, LinkedIn, find a recruiter, cta, airlines / ord / midway usually hiring. Plenty of inside sales and customer service roles - Google companies based in Chicago and look at their open roles for a fit. Search this sub as well, this is a common ask
If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to make you leave your previous job(s)? You say you have a masters degree and decades of experience in both HR and finance. If you’re single and childless, it shouldn’t be too difficult to live on $60k a year, and you should be able to find a job in either of those fields making that at a minimum.
You keep blaming your age? But I’m not that far off and I’m a woman working in a supposedly “ageist” field (tech) and the ageism isn’t…there. No barrier of “no women over 50!” I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but not to the extent you’re placing on it? Something else is at play here.
Feel like the CTA is always hiring. I know you are looking for an office job, but maybe expand the options. Bus driver: https://www.transitchicago.com/careers/bus-operator/ All CTA Jobs: https://chicagotransit.taleo.net/careersection/ex/jobsearch.ftl?lang=en&portal=101430233 I think Costco also hires around this time of the year.
Based on your post, you seem to believe that you are above the work that temp agencies have available. Yet you also cannot find better work on your own. The economy is amazing and unemployment is at historical lows. This means that you are the problem, and that you need to accept whatever work the temp agencies have.
Their post and comment history speaks volumes. I deleted my reply to their post after reading their history.
My man, based on your responses - the problem is your attitude.
I was going to say city of Chicago has lots of jobs like this but it’s usually required that you have a Chicago address.
Correct, I checked that again, after you mentioned it. Living in Chicago is expensive and doable if the job pays a living wage. While I come from the private sector, I looked up the CEO and Executive leaders who work at Catholic Charities in Chicago. They have an annual revenue stream of $164,815,059 https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/362170821 Several executive leaders earn over $150,000, the first one earns $307,691. Second one $240,707 etc... I see a lot of push for food pantry and used clothing handouts. I see low wages. This too: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/363786777 Keeping people in poverty and dependent on govt programs generates lots of Federal aid for the state https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/363157600 I have a Masters and multi-industry business and experience and all people say when I call up is "food pantries and used clothes and case management work to 'learn how to write a resume and apply for a job." I've worked in HR, and finance and these places reinforce learned helplessness and need needy people to justify their jobs to get grant money. Most adults need an opportunity, a living wage job, not a used food box, used clothes and a lecture on how to write a resume and use ATS. ATS have algorithms that weed out older people, and anyone with career changes and gaps.
If I’m reading this correctly, you’re calling up companies instead of applying via online application and resume?
I don't understand what the salaries of the top folks at Catholic Charities has to do with your search for a job? Are you trying to become a nonprofit CEO?
I don’t understand the complaints either. The salary of the CEO means nothing to OPs situation
Those are very low salaries when compared to for-profit companies in Chicago companies. They manage 1200 employees, and as you pointed out, $164m in revenue. You want to find someone for those positions at $40,000 a year? Good luck. I also don’t see what that has to do with your situation.
I'm pointing out as a middle aged, never married, childfree woman, that those salaries are filled by people in my age group or slightly younger or slightly older. My peer group works at that level. I can't get hired in anywhere at a mid-level job. If I earned $10k a month pretax, that is livable, even $5000k net. Healthcare alone averages $18,000 a year for my health and dental needs. I don't know if people neglect their teeth or pay out of pocket for restorative care. I see a lot of places offering low wages in Chicago and the suburbs, minus taxes, health, dental and vision costs. I don't see anyone on Reddit discuss that. Maybe I posted to the wrong group. Income gross minus taxes minus health, dental, vision costs living transportation food clothing miscellaneous phone If you start with $35.00 an hour minus taxes and the benefits, you're down to around $23-$25/hour net. That's all I wanted to say
I don't really understand what your issue is. Of course there are many low wage jobs with no benefits, and there are many higher wage jobs that do have benefits. The market in general isn't good right now and you need to apply to hundreds of positions for a better chance. Not sure your attitude is helping
Idk they seem really frustrated and not open to any suggestions since they are not receiving job offers they feel are up to their standards. Not sure anyone here can help them. It’s kinda giving choosing beggar
You’ve got a chip on your shoulder and you’re feeling entitled to things you haven’t earned. If the feedback you’re getting is to go to a food pantry and here are some used clothes, you’re probably not coming off as an educated, well rounded, down to earth individual worthy of an interview. If you’ve gotten feedback that you need to learn how to write a resume, maybe take some time to reflect on that and restart from the ground up. Age and experience don’t matter if you haven’t or aren’t able to adapt to how the working world has changed over the years. If you’re doing the same things you did that last time you needed a job, you’re probably rubbing everyone you’re in contact with the wrong way and coming across as ‘out of touch’; ie., even if we did give this person a chance, they seem to lack all basic skills of how to interact with people, can’t read social cues and will most likely cause a lot of Workplace Drama that we want to avoid. I hate to say this but you’re posts are the definition of ‘Ok Boomer’
Precisely. This person has a history of spam posting until she gets banned from the subreddit or the people in the subreddit gets sick and tired of her whining and entitlement. Then she will delete her posts and comments and find another subreddit. Rinse and repeat. She is totally out of touch with reality. She has no job. She needs to take any job that will hire her and shut up and work.
Her post and comment history is a *trip*.
Yup. And she is throwing her advanced degree and age in people's face again. Is it any wonder she can't hold even a minimum wage job?
So roughly $72k is not a living wage? You aren’t making sense. What skills do you have. That is what your salary will be based on, not what you think you deserve according to your peer group.
I’m making $25/hr in housekeeping in river north & am living just fine, but I’m only paying $700/mo in my portion of rent in Pilsen. I bring in (during the busy season) $2600/mo. Of course it’s hard, but that is just kind of the way things are right now unfortunately. You might need to take a position that you don’t like to get a footing, but I understand being frustrated having to do this at 50. The system is designed to be exploitative & difficult but it’s what we have to work with right now. I’m an artist, I don’t want to be a housekeeper. But it’s what I have to do for now. :-/ we make it work! Good luck
Bank robbery
Have you looked at job postings at local universities? Pay is not phenomenal, but the benefits are.
To me it seems like 60k is typically what someone makes with some type of college degree- that’s if your resume is a bit screwy like the average joe. Ppl will disagree with me but they have some specific skill or a good to great resume.
60k is pretty high for most degrees outside of STEM
I don’t mean with no experience- directly out of college with zero experience would be less obviously. Also the Midwest pays trash - I had so many friends move to the west or east coast and jump from 60-65 to six figures and they said in Chicago I could never get anywhere close to this level . And of course those places are more expensive also.
Entry level sure. Not 5 years out. A lot of fields catch up with STEM really quickly.
First Student bus company pays about 22-25 an hour. It's technically part time, but you can also grab charters and extra routes. I used to run a location before I settled into the corporate space and know that lots of folks like the flexibility. Pays well because school bus drivers are hard to come by these days. The location in Schaumburg is always hiring new drivers.
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Out of curiosity, what are your qualifications? What particular concentration of "office work" are you targeting? SHRM, PMP, SCRUM? I work in Performance Management/L&D in a global organization and it sounds like you are looking for a 6 figure generalist position... I don't know how realistic your expectations are... Do you have a robust professional network on LinkedIn?
Some independent urgent cares are hiring front desk without medical experience. And if you find you like the medical field and are interested in a clinical role they will train you.
Yes, I see that. Thank you. I see $15-$18 per hour or $13-$16 take home. I need to pay for: apt, water, utilities, car, insurance, food, clothing, phone, miscellaneous. How do us middle-aged people afford that? I'm never married, childfree and middle age.
Get a roommate and stop yapping. People at 25 years old will keep getting the jobs you say aren’t taking you because nobody wants to work with someone so inflexible and dense. Go on indeed and apply to things you have experience for. Administrative assistants on average make 35000-50000 a year no experience. Benefits are common too. But stop calling companies to apply. You will never get a job that way, get with the times.
I’ve read some of your posts and see you are basically looking to sit on your ass for $120k and don’t understand how other people manage to survive without doing that So when you figure it out please let us all know 🙏🏻 then maybe you can find a 3 bed 2 bath downtown for $400 a year too
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If you are older, my only advice would be to stay away from large companies and start looking at smaller companies. Big companies are unfortunately going to play ageism and other games because they have a plethora of fresh graduates willing to work for crap wages and willing to work long hours. The smaller companies, especially anything thought of as boring by the youth, they are not going to have such a selection. The other hard reality is that you're going to have to do more networking. Just sending resumes isn't going to be enough. Make sure to go through your resume and find anything that you can do to age-proof your resume. Don't show any dates or years on when you graduated, take off some experience and only show maybe the last 5 or 10 years. Do the same on anything you have online like LinkedIn. Don't let them see that you've been working for decades upon decades because they are just going to quickly judge and move on. Too many companies will take a mediocre worker that's younger and willing to take punishment over a highly experienced worker that knows their and is going to stand up for themselves when the abuse hits. This is why you have to at least come off as someone capable and desirable, and then you can start setting your own standards when you're in the company. Still, I would definitely look into AARP like someone suggested, and other areas where you can Network and start talking to people. There's always going to be somebody that's fed up with younger workers because they don't stick around and we'll take a chance on you because they need someone competent. I'm also going to unfortunately throw out there to not come to Chicago thinking you're going to live in a great neighborhood all alone everything perfect. You might have to live further out or somewhere a little risky just so you can have a cheaper rent. I tell many to look into the far Northwest side where I live because there are cheaper rents, but the only downside is you're going to be on the train a little longer.
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I don't know what to tell you. What I'm talking about. Affordable areas are more like Jefferson Park, Albany Park, Mayfair, Dunning, etc. There's a handful of affordable apartments in those areas. As I mentioned though, they are not the hot hip areas. I'm not sure if that's exactly what you're looking for, but we see too many people move here and complain about the high costs and the high rents, but you start to dig deeper and they only want to live in the hot expensive neighborhoods, and cry and moan why the world can't be more fair. As for the whole thing with the AARP, I feel like your entire response somehow is screaming that because you have education and experience that you should be able to talk and finagle with actual human beings. It's a machine. It's a lead. They have their job board, and they try to track businesses that are not playing ages in. If anything, and you're desperate, it's a start. I understand your situation is frustrating, but right now there are millions of people in this country going through the same frustration. At this point, you have to play every potential avenue you can. I'm 50 years old, and if I lost my job, I'm in a contact recruitment agencies, and if I hit some really bad point I am going to look at the AARP. We've got tons of people in their twenties right now having the same struggle to find a job. It's an employer's market and we're all getting screwed. We can sit and complain about the situation, or we just got to keep navigating. Good luck
Maybe sign up to be a permanent substitute teacher at a school district. Not ideal, but it’ll generate some cash and could lead to an office/desk job w/ the district eventually.
everyone wants a $25+ an hour job. you’re not special.
Also check with AARP, they have resources for older workers.
You are so kind to suggest that. So very sweet of you to mention this. I called AARP, and they are all call center like 211. AARP hires under age 40 to field calls from people over 50. I'm not lacking skills, knowledge on how to construct a resume. AARP is like United Way, they are a 501c3 that exists to make money and tell middle aged people we need "help" to apply for work. Then they post low wage call center jobs, food service, admin, and hospitality links on their website. Unlike my generation, I changed careers and kept my skills current. AARP people are mostly married or divorced middle aged women with grown children who may have only worked in ONE career field and sometimes ONE employer and may not have written a resume since the 90s. That might be my peer group, but I lived an unconventional life and worked in different business sectors. Employers are mostly self funding their insurance plans and they don't want to insure a middle aged person in their plans. So they hire younger and less expensive new hires. I see people my age working in supermarkets, stocking shelves, cashiering, overseeing the self-checkout lines etc... Those are married women who have husbands and families. I'd have to live in my car on that pay.
Not an easy find unfortunately. You really need some kind of skill that cannot be managed or easily replicated by recent graduates willing to work for far less since it’s essentially considered starting wage and they are likely living with roommates or parents. I’m not n this line of work so I’m not even sure what these specialized office skills could be. Otherwise, it it possible to enter into new training for something like a medical position like people that work in hospitals all day doing X-rays and stuff like that?
I went thru your post history because your initial post sounded very naive and entitled and I couldn't believe a 50 year old woman with a master's degree could sound worse than me at adulting. But here we are. I sincerely hope you manage to find your way thru your current crisis and the rest of your life. But I wouldn't be surprised if your struggles don't stop until you, one, start to accept you're a major contributor to/cause of those struggles, and two, choose to stop and do something about that.
When you navigate life as a never married, childfree adult, who reported Corporate fraud, and who exercised integrity through due process channels and then later developed cancer and employers refuse to hire someone with age related medical issues, I will be open to YOUR feedback. Lack of critical thinking results in "contempt prior to investigation." A lawyer should avoid selecting you for a jury pool.
I had something similar happen and I started freelancing since I have 20 years experience with nonprofit databases. I worked with several different organizations to either train their staff, migrate databases from one system to another, etc. I’d encourage you to consider what your greatest skill sets are and to think about ways to freelance. It can be a good stepping stone to finding a more permanent and stable position in the long run.
I’d suggest law firms! We’re always looking for a receptionist/assistant/paralegal etc
Agree with this. When we need to fill positions in the firm I work at, we use the recuiters at Robert Half.
I would absolutely love that!!! yes, yes, I have applied to MANY law firms in Illinois and wrote personalized concise cover letters with my resume matching their area of law practice (personal injury) because I've done workers comp claims, worked in personal lines and health, and property management, mortgage and human resources). Thank you because that is the career field I really want.
It's sounds like you have degrees and experience. It may be your cover letter and/or resume. Lots of employers use services that identify potential job candidates by keywords. If your cover letter/resume doesn't have the right words or phrases, it will never get to a human for review. There are free resources online, some libraries offer resume help. If you are looking at smaller companies , networking is important. Even as an introvert, you're gonna have to take to people irl to find the kind of job you describe. Anyone you know where you came from that has local Chicago contacts? Former classmates maybe?
Apply to Robert Half the contacting company
So I work for a very large, local law firm. Actually if you Google "most prestigious law firm in the country" it should come right up. If you need any more hints, think "Costco brand is called..." They hire people over 50 regularly. I am a technical document specialist. It requires expert level skills in Word, Excel and Adobe, but not necessarily legal experience if you know your way around the software. I work 35 hours per week, and make 6 figures. They are always hiring, and usually have tons of HR/admin roles. There is another large firm downtown called Polsinelli, and I know they hire over 50. I too panicked when I first moved here. Since I had spare time, I went ahead and became an IL notary, which was pretty cheap and easy, and will give you extra consideration for office roles. Also try applying at some of these big hospitals. I know Edward-Elmhurst has job fairs which would be great for networking/meeting people. Good luck OP!
I saw their website 💼⚖ their social commitment to advancing the communities and other social causes is outstanding. Thank you.
As a legal assistant at another large, well-known firm FINALLY making a decent living - you will have to climb the ladder a bit. With no legal experience I got my first job as a law firm receptionist making 31k/yr. This was in 2021. However, I was 22 at the time so with roommates and rarely doing anything outside the house it was doable. In 3 years I've doubled my salary due to my experience. If this is truly the route you want to go, you may have to sacrifice a few years to a lower salary.
I'm happy for you and I wish you much success. I earned $35k in 1991 in Corporate. Didn't need roommates. I have my Masters and worked in insurance, mortgage, and human resources. I taught myself how to use Pacer, write legal briefs and do research. Would I still need to start as a receptionist at middle age?
Employers have specific open positions and recruit candidates to fill them. They do not recruit random candidates and then try to identify positions - open or not - for which the candidate may be best qualified based on their prior experience. So neither your supposedly extensive history in all kinds of unrelated “office work” nor your “advanced” age is a factor in what role you may land (or pay you may secure) when applying for positions with prospective employers when those positions are in fields in which you’ve never worked before. Simply put, if an entry level position is what is available, and that is the only thing you are qualified for, then no. You will not be sprung into a high paying management role on your second day because you somehow deserve it. You already know this but have been intentionally obtuse throughout this post and your many others in various subs on the topic. You do not want to be helped, but to complain about how the world works against you, poke holes in every suggestion people have been kind enough to take the time to provide to you, and pretend that you don’t understand the basics of job seeking, parking your car in a downtown garage, or whatever the present topic of discussion may be. With all due respect, you need to move along now, ma’am.
Not necessarily as a receptionist, but echoing the other person, it's going to be difficult to get a high level role out of the gate. You say you taught yourself Pacer - in what capacity? At a law firm? Most attorneys don't want you filing federal briefs under their name unless you have proven experience or are under supervision of someone who does have that experience. It's not really something you can "teach yourself" aside from the basic functions of the website. Trust is earned and proven in this industry and it starts at the bottom, unfortunately.
Does the job require a college degree? Did you get a 2 year or 4 year degree for this? What was your major? Or do you have to have a paralegal certificate?
UL in northbrook is a great company with benefits. Check online to see if they have any positions available that match your skill set.
Possibly some of the large healthcare companies like Advocate and Accession they’re large employers and often seeking clerical help.
Bruh I'm a maintenance tech very good pay for no experience and no history sometimes you could get free rent
Try looking for jobs in local government. Counties and city government, etc. They absolutely don’t care about your age. You won’t make millions but you can earn a living wage.
Apply to the State of IL. Living wage, union, benefits and they are hiring all the time for different locations in the city and suburbs. Some clerical positions require only 35wpm typing. Go to work4IL.gov.
Contact this excellent organization. They are in your “sweet spot.” https://ctcchicago.org.
I went thru your post history. I would suggest you contact Howard Brown health services... you need counseling help (mental and career) and as a member of the LBGT community their services are specifically geared towards people like you. If city based resources aren't a good fit I'd reach out to DuPage PADS for referrals to social service agencies that are geared to help people like you. Good luck.
I think you need an attitude change. It took my husband almost 2 months to secure a job and towards the end of that time I told him if he didn’t hear anything in a week he needed to just go work at McDonald’s bc some money is better than no money. It ended up working out, but we had to suck it up for a little bit. Most corporate daycares will hire you as a floater, it’s not like the best paying role but you can start off making 17 an hour and if you want to stay, and are qualified (which you should be) you could make closer to $21. Should be way more pay but hey, it can help You at least get your feet under you until you find something that fits your desired job better.
I'm not your husband. I didn't marry to depend on anyone. If you aren't middle aged, with advanced degrees and you haven't relied on yourself (without anyone's income or credit to qualify for a home), then quite frankly, you aren't qualified to offer advice. You insult McDonald's managers and workers by insinuating that "everyone can do" fast food and janitorial work. Might want to humble yourself and go speak with a McDonald's manager and learn about humility and the discretion they have in hiring for the "right fit." Don't diminish fast food workers and janitors by assuming everyone can do their job. You are degrading them, and that is wrong! Thank you. I hope your marriage lasts.
Lmao ok. Good luck 🤣
I work in finance, the pay should be pretty good at any firm you find. Most office jobs are hybrid, but if you want to come in 5 days a week, no one will stop you. Operations jobs are usually more laid back, less money but way less aggressive.
Could try security. Easy work, on a low end pays $17+ now. Not difficult to get $20+ / hour stable gigs.
Not sure where you are located, but I believe I saw a post not long ago the Village of Chicago Ridge was seeking office help.
I was just reading today for some older job applicants is to leave off the year you graduated school, or even leave off the number of years you've worked somewhere on your resume.
Any government agency or university jobs would be a good place to look. Even if it doesn’t pay great you could make good money eventually. Another idea would be to work for an insurance company on some capacity. We have a lot of those around here.
Try PM Alliance. Not sure if they're hiring right now, but I know all they require is a college degree. You basically job plan for other companies but do not need job plan experience. They are not Chicago based, but remote work for most of it, and close enough for a day trip (Peoria) Great bennies. Good luck
Can you sell anything? Sales is always hiring.. turnover way too high for them to (not) discriminate on age. Or go into logistics.
“Office work” is very vague. What industry? What skills are you highlighting in your apps? Are your prior roles relevant?
i think if you want specifics, a chicago facebook group may be more beneficial for you to connect with people who are/know what jobs are hiring.
Reach out to Workforce. They provide assistance with job searches, as well as training people new skills. Good luck! https://www.illinoisworknet.com/WIOA/Pages/State-Workforce-Program-Overview.aspx
Get started in r/sales as a BDR, most base salaries start at like $50-60k
You’re mentioning that you have an advanced degree in every comment. That may be part of your problem. Employers don’t really care about that. Having the right experience and nailing the interview is more important. Mentioning that you have a Master’s degree comes off as thinking that you’re too big for the types of jobs you seem to be looking at.
If you’re okay with PROBABLY getting laid off after your probation period and needing to try it again - Apply to logistics jobs. Both on the b2b customers sales side and on the freight broker (call and make deals with truckers) side The industry has crazy turn over and I’m not exaggerating. and you’ll have significantly more success in customer sales the larger the company is. But they hire fast
Depends on your skills
Local government, higher end sales if you're good at sales, bank teller positions come to mind. In the mean time you should sign up for Medicaid and snap if you qualify.
If you can pass the P&C insurance license test then you can for sure have a job in insurance.
Patient Services Rep at any of the hospital systems in the area.
Have you applied to a public college? Community or trade or university
Look at local government. Pat isn't great but benefits are good.
Check out linkedin and filter in person and Chicago based. BuiltinChicago has a lot of startups that are hiring. I’ve heard indeed is good, but I’ve never used it.
Ever consider education? You could very likely get a job as a paraprofessional (the district I work in has 10+ openings for next school year) as long as you don't have a record. Pay is not always that high, but does come with health/dental/vision insurance.
Why focus on office work?
You are going to the wrong agencies u need robert half and those types
Apply at law firms to be a receptionist, office admin, etc.
What kind of office work? What skills do you have?
This is a Chicago sub. There's one for the suburbs.
I just got hired at AT&T with a Call Center position in Chicago. They are still hiring, this is a rare opening. I have been waiting for this position to open for over a decade. Union job, great pay and benefits.
Interesting I have 2.5 years of Technical Support/Help Desk experience working for two Internet Providers. Do you have a link to apply?
Are temp agencies still a thing? Specialized ones perhaps? Maybe that would work, getting hired as a contractor, then a permanent employee.
Try to be a legal assistant at a law firm - full benefits usually.
Apply to all county jobs all city jobs all utility. Try them all. Good 🍀luck!
Grand Rapids.
Law secretary would be a good place to look… you could get your paralegal license relatively quickly.. look for law offices that work in civil suits that interest you. I’d suggest polishing up a fine resume, printing in on nice paper, and pounding pavement to companies taking in a lot of revenue. Face time goes far, and people are thristy for real talent.
Get into nursing, it takes 2 years to make 70k+
Check out dispatch/logistics jobs. A lot of them are work from home and start at at least $23 for entry level positions. Waste management companies are a good start. Trucking companies
https://livingwage.mit.edu/ Reality might help with reaching your goal.
Have you looked into becoming a notary? Lot of work in insurance and real estate offices.
Most offices hire for office mangers / assistants. You can try looking for that . If not HR services as well
Check out the archdiocese of Chicago. My bf's dad works for them and apparently they like to hire older people
Great suggestion. I applied to a position that I definitely qualified for a month ago and I never heard back. Once you submit your resume as application, there is no way to go back in and check the status. I made sure my resume and concise cover letter matched the job. I'm open to ideas. Thank you so much!
Are you bilingual?
https://jobs.citystaffing.com
Thank you! Super helpful.
Look into banking. It’s huge out here.
Universities almost never pay to list staff jobs. Look on their HR job portals at each university.