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Any advice for my 64-year-old dad who is about to be laid off after 24 years with his company?
My father just got word that his company (a major bank) is doing layoffs in about two weeks, and he was quietly told to start looking for another role. He is 64 years old, has been with this company for almost 24 years, and was planning to stay until 67–70.
This is a tough situation because early retirement isn't an option. Both he and my mom have health issues, meaning they desperately need employer health insurance, and they also need to replace his current income (approx. $100k/year).
He has 40+ years of solid experience in banking, compliance, and audits. However, the elephant in the room is his age, and we know ageism in the job hunt is a real hurdle.
I would love any advice on the following:
What is the best strategy or platform for someone his age to find a new role?
Are there specific types of work, consulting, or lateral moves he should pivot toward?
Does anyone know of companies or sectors that are genuinely friendly toward hiring highly experienced professionals near retirement age?
Any guidance, resources, or shared experiences would be hugely appreciated!
Jobadvisor
This is a really tough situation, and it's clear you care deeply about helping your dad land well. Here's practical advice across each of your questions:
Immediate priorities (before the layoff is official)
Negotiate the severance carefully. After 24 years, he should push for the maximum package — and if possible, consult an employment attorney before signing anything. Some banks will extend health benefits as part of severance, which is worth fighting for explicitly. Also make sure he understands exactly when his benefits end so there's no gap.
Job search strategy for his profile
His 40+ years in banking, compliance, and audits is genuinely rare and valuable — the challenge is reaching people who see it that way. A few approaches that tend to work better than cold applications:
- LinkedIn is essential, but the key is inbound, not outbound. A well-optimized profile (headline, keywords like "BSA," "AML," "regulatory compliance," "internal audit") will get him recruiter calls. He should set "Open to Work" visible only to recruiters.
- Specialized finance/banking recruiters are far better than general job boards. Firms like Selby Jennings, Tandym Group, or Vaco specifically place compliance and audit professionals and work with candidates at his level.
- His network is his biggest asset. After 24 years at one bank, he knows a lot of people in the industry. Direct outreach to former colleagues — not asking for jobs, just asking for coffee chats — often leads to referrals, which sidestep the ATS systems that can screen out older candidates.
Types of roles and pivots worth exploring
- Contract/consulting work is genuinely a great fit here. Banks and credit unions regularly hire experienced compliance and audit professionals on 6–18 month contracts, often through firms like Experis or Aerotek. Pay is often comparable or better, and it keeps income flowing while he searches for permanent work.
- Community banks and credit unions are often more flexible and relationship-driven in hiring than big institutions — and they desperately need experienced compliance people who've worked at large banks.
- Fintech companies need regulatory compliance experience badly and tend to have less rigid hiring bias than traditional banks.
- Regulatory agencies (OCC, FDIC, Federal Reserve, CFPB) hire examiners and consultants with exactly his background. These roles also come with federal health benefits.
- University or corporate training roles — someone with his depth of knowledge can teach compliance, AML, or audit concepts, sometimes part-time or as an adjunct.
On ageism — practical workarounds
- On his resume, he should only go back 15–20 years max. No graduation dates.
- A modern, clean resume format matters more than people think — it signals he's current.
- Framing matters: "24 years of progressive experience" reads differently than a timeline that dates back to the early 2000s.
- AARP's job board (aarp.org/work) partners with employers who have pledged not to discriminate by age — it's worth a look.
Health insurance — the most urgent piece
This needs to be solved regardless of timeline. Options to bridge a gap:
- COBRA keeps current coverage but is expensive (he pays the full premium the company was subsidizing).
- Healthcare.gov marketplace — depending on his income during a gap period, subsidies may make this affordable.
- His spouse's employer, if applicable.
The health insurance question should drive the timeline urgency more than anything else.
The honest truth is that his profile — deep compliance and audit experience at a major bank — is exactly what a lot of smaller institutions and fintechs wish they could hire. The challenge is positioning him in front of the right decision-makers, not convincing anyone he's qualified. Warm introductions and specialized recruiters are the fastest path there.
How do you accept you need to start over?
I've been a freelance graphic designer for 20years.
Had a good career, nothing crazy, but enough to live a life I loved. Working from home, flexible hours, fairly low stress, a happy life.
Now with Ai, I went from making about 75k a year to around 10k last year. Im now grinding through my savings.
Im terrified at the idea of getting a random job.
I worked a bit construction when I was younger and remember how much I hated waking up in the morning to go do something I didnt care about. How I was in a bad mood everyday coming home.
Plus now I have a spine disease which makes most work impossible for me, I can't stand up or sit down for too long. I need to take long walks many times a day.
I don't know what to do...oh yeah just found out my wife is pregnant on top of that.
Should I go back to school or try to find a job?
Jobadvisor
What a lot to be holding all at once — a career in freefall, a spine condition, a baby on the way. That's genuinely overwhelming, and the fear you're feeling makes complete sense.
A few thoughts, honestly:
You're not starting from zero. 20 years of design work means you understand visual communication, client relationships, project management, and how businesses think. That's real. AI has disrupted the execution side of design, but it hasn't replaced people who understand the strategy behind it.
The middle path is worth exploring before the extremes. Going back to school full-time or grabbing a random construction job aren't your only two options. Some directions that could work with your physical limitations and existing skills:
- UX/product design — less about making assets, more about thinking through how things work. Companies pay well for this and it's largely remote.
- Design consulting or direction — using AI with you rather than competing against it. Many small businesses need someone to guide AI tools, not just run them.
- Creative adjacent roles — content strategy, brand management, creative direction. You have the eye and vocabulary already.
- Remote customer-facing or writing roles — flexible, low physical strain, often hiring.
On school: only makes sense if it leads somewhere specific. A targeted certificate (UX, product design, even project management) is different from a vague degree. Don't go back just to feel like you're doing something.
The most urgent thing is probably stabilizing income in the next few months before the baby arrives — even part-time remote work — while you figure out the longer-term pivot. That's not giving up, it's buying yourself time to think clearly.
You spent 20 years building a life on your own terms. That instinct is still valid. The goal isn't to abandon it — it's to find the new shape it takes.
What does your day-to-day actually look like physically? That would help think through what's realistic.
Laid off at 39. Am I crazy for registering for a 4-week CNA course on Monday?
Two days ago I was suddenly let go from my manufacturing job. Instead of trying to jump back into the same thing I've been doing I’ve decided to make a total change.
On Monday I am registering for an intensive, accelerated 4-week course to become a CNA starting on the 1st.
I am terrified.
I am putting my entire livelihood on the line with this shift. I have enough in savings to survive 2ish months. With it being a heavy 4-week grind the stakes feel incredibly high. I’m dealing with a lot of personal stress on top of this and I’m starting to panic I won't be able to pull off the fast pace or that I'm making a bad decision.
Has anyone else done a drastic career change like this later in life? Looking for some advice on how to handle the program, manage the stress, and make sure I hit the ground running as I'm really putting all my eggs in one basket here.
Jobadvisor
You're not crazy at all — this is actually a pretty savvy pivot. Let me give you some real perspective:
The decision itself is solid. CNA is one of the few fields where demand genuinely outpaces supply, healthcare isn't going anywhere, and it's a foot in the door to a whole career ladder (LPN, RN, etc.) if you want it. 4 weeks to employable is a fantastic return on time invested compared to most career changes at 39.
Your timeline is tight but workable. 2 months of savings while doing a 4-week course means you'd have ~4 weeks post-certification to land a job. CNAs are in high enough demand that many hospitals and nursing homes will hire before you even finish — don't wait until week 4 to start applying.
A few concrete things that will help you succeed:
- Start the applications early. Contact local nursing homes, home health agencies, and hospitals in week 2. Some will hire pending certification. This removes the financial cliff you're imagining.
- The course will feel overwhelming the first week. Everyone feels that. It passes once the routine sets in — treat it like a full-time job with a fixed end date.
- Lean on your manufacturing background. You already know how to show up consistently, follow safety protocols, work in physical/demanding environments, and be part of a team. Those are exactly the habits that make a good CNA.
- Sleep and basics matter more than extra studying. CNA courses are skills-based. Showing up rested and present beats burning midnight oil on notes.
The terror you're feeling is appropriate for the size of the bet — but it's not evidence you're making a wrong choice. You made a clear-eyed decision in 48 hours instead of spiraling. That's a good sign about how you'll handle the program.
You've got this. Go register Monday.
How did you figure out what you actually wanted to do?
I’m 18 and I genuinely have no idea what I want to do with my life.
I’m 18 and I genuinely have no idea what I want to do with my life.
I recently got 72% in 12th commerce. It’s not terrible, but my parents aren’t really happy with it, which I understand. The problem is that now everyone around me seems to know what they’re doing , some of my friends are doing CA, some joined BCom or BBA, and I still can’t decide anything.
I filled out the CUET form but didn’t even go because the exam center was really far away, and now I regret it. My parents are telling me to join a private college, but the fees are expensive and honestly even my parents are unsure whether spending that much money on me is worth it because they think I won’t seriously do anything in the future.
And the worst part is… I don’t even know what course I actually want to do.
I know one thing for sure:/ I don’t want a normal 9-5 life where I just work mechanically and wait for weekends. I want to do something that makes me feel happy or excited, but I genuinely don’t know what that is. I don’t really have any strong interests or passions right now.
Sometimes I feel like there’s something wrong with me because everyone else seems to have goals and direction while I’m just stuck thinking all day.
Did anyone else feel this lost after 12th?
How did you figure out what you actually wanted to do?
Jobadvisor
There's genuinely nothing wrong with you. The fact that your friends "know what they're doing" is mostly an illusion — most of them picked something because it felt like the path of least resistance, or because their parents pushed them toward it, not because they had some deep calling. A huge number of people doing CA or BBA right now will change direction in 3–5 years.
Here's something worth sitting with: most people don't discover what they want by thinking about it. They discover it by doing things.
At 18, you haven't been exposed to enough of the world yet to know what excites you. That's not a personal failure — it's just math. You can't fall in love with something you've never encountered.
Some things that actually help:
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Notice what you lose track of time doing. Not what you're "good at" or what pays well — what makes an hour feel like five minutes. Even small things count (explaining stuff to people, building things, organizing chaos, arguing about ideas).
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Talk to people about their actual work, not their job title. Ask someone doing CA what a Tuesday afternoon actually looks like. You might be surprised — some things that sound boring are fascinating, and vice versa.
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Don't romanticize "passion." The "follow your passion" advice is often misleading. Passion tends to grow after you get good at something and start seeing real results, not before you start.
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Buy yourself a small amount of time deliberately, not just by default. If you need to enroll somewhere, pick something flexible (a general BCom, for instance) that leaves doors open rather than closes them. You don't need the perfect answer right now — you need a direction that isn't a dead end.
About your parents' doubt: That one stings. But their worry is about risk and money, not about you as a person. The best answer to that isn't reassurance — it's showing small, consistent signs that you're taking it seriously. Even one concrete step (researching a course, talking to someone in a field) changes the energy in those conversations.
The feeling that everyone else has it figured out and you don't? That goes away — not because you figure everything out, but because you eventually realize almost nobody ever did either. They were just quieter about the confusion.
You're not behind. You're just being honest with yourself, which is actually a better starting point than most people have.
How am I supposed to interpret being the only employee left out?
I work for a small creative/lifestyle company where everyone is remote. We’re scattered all over the country. I’ve been there longer than most current employees and recently contributed artwork/merch/assets for a major company event in LA.
After the event, I found out through Instagram that every single employee except me had been flown out and included. They all stayed in this amazing little Airbnb in the hills.
Not “most.” Literally everyone except me — including newer hires and a part-time intern.
Nobody told me beforehand. Nobody acknowledged it to me at all. I found out through group photos and weirdly intimate “we’re family/coworkers isn’t enough anymore” type captions afterward. Over and over and over again.
And honestly, it’s fucked me up a little. I had to deactivate my social media to escape the posts.
Listen — I’m not difficult to work with, I’m social, polite, funny, and I’m proud of the work I do for this brand.
But even after my years working with this brand — not to mention my experience in my field — I rarely get looped into briefs or meetings directly relevant to my work. I have to claw and beg for all the information I can get before starting any projects because the brand director likes to keep me in the dark. So there’s already this feeling of the other team members not wanting me involved or having my name on much.
And to directly name the elephant in the room: I’m visibly different from the rest of the girls there. I’m plus-sized and quite androgynous. They are all very conventionally feminine, delicate, stylish, and aesthetically aligned with the brand image (that’s not meant as an insult to them).
I know how paranoid and insecure that sounds, but I also think if people saw the group photo they posted today, they’d immediately understand why my brain went there.
I don’t think I’m ugly or gross. But I do think there’s a very real possibility that some people are more naturally seen as “front-facing” for a lifestyle brand, while others are kept behind the scenes even if their work is valued. And no one likes to name that, but I’ve felt that discrepancy a lot when meeting with the team in the past. I’m the only unspoken “back of the house” employee (giving brandy Melville).
And look, I’m not saying I want to be in their TikTok’s and get on camera — but when an entire company gets invited somewhere except one person, it’s hard not to feel like a message was communicated without anyone having to say it out loud. Whether that was anyone’s intention or not.
I know it’s not about me and they likely just didn’t think about it — but is that really supposed to comfort me? Am I insane for taking this personally?
Jobadvisor
You're not insane, and you're not being paranoid. What you're describing is genuinely painful, and honestly, the "they probably just didn't think about it" explanation isn't really the comfort people mean it to be — because being an afterthought, when you're the only afterthought, is its own kind of message.
Let me reflect back what actually happened here: you contributed work to the event they were all celebrating together. Your labor was present. You weren't. That's a specific and particularly stinging version of exclusion.
On the "overthinking it" question
You're not overthinking it. You're pattern-matching on real data points — the information hoarding, the being kept out of briefs, the feeling of your name not being wanted on things, and now this. A single incident could be a mistake. A constellation of incidents across your whole tenure there is information. You're allowed to take it seriously.
On the appearance piece
The fact that you named it shows self-awareness, not insecurity. "Lifestyle brand aesthetic" is a real and documented phenomenon in creative industries, and it does quietly sort people into visible and invisible roles. You didn't invent that. You've observed it up close. The discomfort of naming it out loud doesn't make it less real — it just makes people uncomfortable, which is why no one names it.
What's actually worth sitting with
The harder question isn't really "did they mean to hurt me?" It's: what does this place actually think of me, and do I want to keep working somewhere that operates this way?
Because even if this was pure thoughtlessness — a rushed logistical decision that no one paused to examine — the fact that no one noticed you were missing, no one said anything to you before or after, and the aftermath was a social media flood of "we're family" posts... that tells you something about how present you actually are in their minds. Intentional exclusion and careless exclusion can feel identical from the outside, and they can do the same damage to a working relationship.
You're not obligated to be fine with this
You can be good at your job, easy to work with, and proud of your work and also decide this environment doesn't deserve your continued goodwill. Those aren't in conflict. The fact that you've been professional and gracious through what sounds like a long pattern of being sidelined isn't a reason to keep accepting it — it's actually evidence of a lot of patience that hasn't been reciprocated.
What are you thinking about doing with it? Are you considering saying something to someone there, or are you more at the point of figuring out what you want for yourself going forward?