Looking for work

BY HELEN HARVEY

The recession has hit the older unemployed hard. Helen Harvey talks to a few people eager to find a job.

Michelle Quarterman, 49, is one organised woman. On her laptop, she has the dates and details of every job she has applied for since she was made redundant in May last year.

All 97 of them.

Two weeks ago, she applied for seven jobs in two days. Michelle has a strike rate of one in four as far as interviews go, which is apparently very good. But it doesn't pay her rent.

There is a lot of talk about youth unemployment, but there are also people out there who are heading towards the end of their working lives and are struggling to find jobs. They face a different set of problems.

Experience Express coordinator Marie Eagle supports job seekers aged 40 plus.

"But over the last few months, I've been getting a lot of people who are 55 to 65 who are looking for work."

And most people who are 60 to 65 can't afford to retire, she says.

"People who are out of work at the moment are living on money they have saved for their retirement. They are using their savings up now. And they are still looking for work."

The majority are out of work because of redundancy, but some have health issues. Labourers over the age of 55, after working hard all their lives, sometimes have problems with backs, knees and shoulders, Marie says. This can hurt their chances of getting work.

"The other factor is a lot of them have done one particular job for 30 years and they never needed qualifications and now you have got to have a qualification to do a basic entry- level job."

Then, of course, there is the financial situation. For people in this age group, there is often a stigma around going on the dole, she says.

"They don't want to go there. And that is understandable. I say, You've worked all your life, you've paid taxes. You are entitled to this help."

Their self-esteem gets kicked out the door and often they sit back and get depressed, she says.

"I see people go downhill very quickly. It's probably a real reality check. They suddenly realise they are getting older and start feeling they aren't really worth anything. It's very hard for them."

And their age makes it harder for them to get a job. Ms Eagle believes there is still age discrimination in New Zealand.

One healthy, fit, 58-year-old man she knows applied for a job and didn't put his age on his CV. He got an interview.

"He knew as soon as they saw how old he was, he didn't have the job."

In the past 18 months, it's got worse: there are more people looking for work, Marie says.

People who are cold-calling get doors slammed in their faces and each job vacancy has a large number of applicants. One admin job she heard of had 250 applicants and a reception job that required no qualifications had 160.

One job Michelle went for had 130 applicants. She got an interview, but didn't get the job. Quite often, in her field of office admin or reception, there are 80 or 90 others competing for the job. Michelle looks for work every day in newspapers, on Trade Me, Seek, Taranaki Jobs, Winz . . .

Bill, 61, who doesn't want to give his real name, does a lot of cold-calling. Since being made redundant last year, he has applied for the only two jobs that have come up in his field. He has been doing engineering work for 25 years, but never did a formal apprenticeship.

"I'm what is called a non- indentured fitter welder."

He makes cold calls "going round places, saying g'day".

He doesn't get past the woman on the front desk, he says. She gives him an application, he gives her his CV. But it's very quiet on the engineering front in Taranaki at the moment, he says.

"No one is hiring. There really isn't anything out there.

"I'm not the only one in this situation."

He admits it hasn't been a happy time.

"I'm reduced to a benefit and what that means, without getting the violin out, is that if you are using transport - in my case, a motorbike - you can only do that once a week."

The big challenge is keeping his spirits up, he says.

"When you get to my age, you develop certain resources to be able to go through these times. I'm a great reader, for instance. You develop some sort of inner life by the time you're in your 60s."

Brian, 61, says being out of work "knocks your self-esteem down".

"You struggle financially. I'm grateful for what I receive from the government and the good tools they give you. I go to all their [Winz] programmes."

Brian does computer training twice a week to get extra skills. It's not what he thought he would be doing as he reached this stage of his life, he says.

"I always envisioned looking forward to retirement."

After 30 years working at Tasman Pulp and Paper in Kawerau as a production worker, he was made redundant. He got another job, which he had for a few years, before the company downsized. This has given him a range of skills, but no formal qualifications.

"I'm not traded, but I am skilled in certain things. I've always worked. I've always been a reliable worker. I've had good reviews on all my jobs."

He found himself out of work last September when the business he was working for as a storeman closed. Since then, he has applied for about 25 jobs - one labouring job he went for had 50 applicants - and has had a number of interviews. He thinks his age may be against him.

"I went in and had an interview - they were nice, but it came across pretty quickly that age was an issue. There was heavy lifting involved."

Michelle thinks age is against her, too.

She is 49, but turns 50 in a couple of weeks.

"It'll be all over then," she jokes.

"I never thought that I would turn 50 and be in the situation I'm in."

The successful applicant for one job Michelle went for was in her early 20s and had no experience.

Michelle has worked in office administration, reception and customer service for years. At the last interview she went to, she was told she had excellent customer service skills - everything the employer needed. But she missed out on the job and doesn't know why. Employers aren't allowed to say it's because of age, she says.

"It is demoralising. I have my moments. I can have a day where I feel really, really low and sort of get really down. Then I think: Oh, well, I have to keep trying."

And she has supportive neighbours, she says, which helps.

Michelle has a job for a few hours on a Friday and for a while had another part-time job waitressing, where she had to get up at 4.30 in the morning. Both jobs were taxed as secondary jobs and Winz would dock her benefit, so working part time doesn't make her better off financially. But she wants to work.

"I like to do office work. That's what I'm good at, dealing with the public. I've tried the supermarket."

She has thought of doing an office course at Witt, but doesn't think it will make much difference at her age. And there are no guarantees she will get a job at the end of it. Then there is the expense she'd incur.

She applies for a lot of the jobs online, so that saves postage and paper costs. But they still add up. Michelle has just discovered Experience Express offers prepaid envelopes and will print her CV for her. So she has been doing that in the past couple of weeks, she says. She had never thought to ask before.

Michelle wasn't worried about being identified for this story and getting her name in the paper.

"I haven't done anything wrong. I have nothing to hide. And who knows? It might get me a job. I'll try anything."

- © Fairfax NZ News