The Job Search
With a six-figure settlement in my bank account, you’d think I’d be relaxing on a beach somewhere. Instead, I found myself hunched over my laptop every morning, scrolling through job listings like my life depended on it.
Turns out, having money didn’t fill the purpose-shaped hole in my days. I updated my resume, carefully listing my fifteen years of experience, my perfect attendance record, my knowledge of every insurance system known to mankind.
Then the rejections started rolling in. ‘We appreciate your interest, but we’re looking for someone who’s a better fit for our company culture.’ Translation: someone younger.
One company actually called me in for an interview, and I spent two hours ironing my blouse and practicing answers in the mirror.
The interviewer, a man easily twenty years my junior, glanced at my resume and asked with zero self-awareness, ‘Would you be comfortable with a younger manager?
‘ I wanted to say, ‘I trained three of them at Midwest Mutual, so yes, I’m quite used to it,’ but instead I smiled and nodded like the professional I am. He never called back.
After the tenth rejection email, I started wondering if my career had an expiration date I hadn’t been aware of.
Was I suddenly obsolete at 58? Had my skills evaporated overnight? I’d fought so hard for justice, only to discover that the corporate world had already decided I was past my prime.
What they didn’t realize was that their rejection was about to spark the best idea I’d ever had.