Changing jobs at 62 :-O

byWallerdog

706 followers

4 days ago

Sometimes things just don't go as planned and you've got to adapt, overcome, and move forward.

I was planning on quitting my job in July of 2024, moving back to the states, buying a house and retiring so I could work full time on my affiliate marketing business. Well, some things just don't work out as planned.

I let my boss know well in advance of my desire to quit mid-July and that would allow us to do our Mediterranean cruise while still getting paid and come back and pack up the apartment to head for the states.

I think that ended up making it easier for the government to decide one of the positions they no longer wanted to support and while on vacation in Scotland I got an email saying its nice that you want to quit in July, but we're laying you off as of 31 May because your position is going away. Thankfully, I did not see that email until after we returned from the UK.

We still did our Med cruise as it was already paid for but not while getting a paycheck. We also had to move up our household goods move because we would no longer be getting housing money after 31 May. I'm thinking in a way its okay because now I'm retired, lol.

We arrive in Colorado on July 4th because air fare was lowest on that day. I've had several moves occur on that day as well as some big events (Mel will understand).

We start our house hunting and really get to understand the housing market where we want to settle down. We also find out that even with investments the banks want you to have current income in order to qualify you for a loan. I cannot draw social security because I've earned too much in 2024 already so all I've got is military retirement which is barely enough to make ends meet every month now that I'm unemployed.

So, the right thing to do is start looking for work. I'm pretty confident as I've got Bachelor's in Computer Science, an MBA and plenty of upper end IT certs (CISSP, CCNP, PMP) and years of experience (been in IT since 2000).

What I didn't realize was that the competition was really tough and a lot of people were trying to get those same positions. Even having a government security clearance didn't even help.

Fast forward to November and my confidence about getting the job at the salary I want is long gone. I'm interviewing for a lead position and everything looks good, but the work they were talking about didn't seem right. Come to find out they had filled the lead position and were interviewing me for a position of doing data center installs. Needless to say the pay they were offering was less than what I wanted. However, less than a day after the interview they asked what my offer for pay would be and well the rest as they say is history.

My forte is Cisco networking, routers and switches hence the CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional). Their installs are with Juniper devices, a competitor to Cisco. So, the language of the devices is different; however the routing protocols are still the same. Therefore, my Cisco cert was good enough to be hired and do the job.

That being said, it wasn't good enough for me. I want to prove my worth when I get on the job and show that I am of value to the team and the company. I started work on 16 December (won't see my first pay check until end of 1st week in January) and started studying the Juniper systems.

Friday evening I took and passed the entry level Juniper exam, the JNCIA. So, at 63 I've changed jobs, learned how to use new equipment and passed another certification test.

Don't be afraid of change and learning new things. Take the opportunity to learn and grow and do something different. Retirement is still in sight but first we need to find and buy a house and having a job now will make that part easier.

So, that's what my 2024 was like, how was yours?

Les (Wallerdog/WorkoutwithGrandpa/LesWaller)