I’ve been applying for casual jobs for several libraries in the area. In fact, I have alerts set up to receive notifications when these are in the job sites.

Casual jobs in the library mean serving customers, seeking out books for them, checking out books, returning books to shelves. I’d love a job like this for a few days a week and willing to work evenings and weekends too.

Unfortunately I got more rejections this week.

For the last application, for some reason I was asked to provide my birth date and also a photo. I thought it was weird because in the past, these things were never asked for nor should jobs discriminate on the basis of these. However I do wonder the impact of social media like LinkedIn and how jobs now can easily discriminate simply by looking at our job or other profiles. I don’t believe the job search industry is really selecting the best candidate if it’s looking at images of candidates or their age.

Yesterday on the radio I heard that there’s a study saying that in Australia, people are deliberately providing incorrect information such as changing names and ages to “fit in” work that is still preferring white Anglo people and backgrounds. Eg. Anglicising surnames. Also that the image of CEO in companies is a white older male. Similarly, someone told me that in America, undergoing operations to be taller for young male entrepreneur types because of the stereotyped image of leaders being tall.

All these aspects make me think that it’s pointless even to compete in the job market because employers are not looking at skills nor opportunity to develop or grow but what they can get out of you. How you look, how young you are (therefore they’ll pay you less) or maybe even your social media profile such as numbers of followers so they can use your channel to promote their products and services.

Of course, they’ll come back to you and say that if you’re really interested in getting a job, even as a temporary casual librarian helper, you need to have formal qualifications in I don’t need to go back and do a full degree and get myself into debt again at my age. $30000+ is simply not worth it to get a job that pays $30 or less an hour.

Motivation and interest as well as dedicated actions such as doing something unique in that field is considered an oddity because they simply don’t know how to compare candidates with differing skill sets against the job as they discount other factors such as learnability and motivation for the job.

I know that it’s going to be near impossible to get a casual job in a library as an assistant but I’ll keep trying. I have even changed my resume to “dumb it down” as I was advised to do by a librarian for another role I had gone for last year and who was nice enough to return my phone call asking for feedback on how I can get such a casual role.

All in all, for someone – and a woman – my age with grey hair to get a casual job in an industry related to books. They’ll invariably give it to someone who is younger or has qualifications in it. It’s the way things are. It’s just that it doesn’t really sit well with me.

After spending a working life building skills, networks and seeing my pay go backwards over the years, culminating in the lowest I’ve ever been paid in my last formal job, it’s a tad annoying to now get rejections for casual roles too that are just above or at minimum wage especially at a time when employers are asking for more people.

And yet, on the other hand there are people who need this work more than I do so I should stop whinging.

All is not lost as I count myself lucky to be in this position and I don’t want to be seen as complaining. I’ve already accepted that it’ll be near impossible to find work ever again – even if I did choose to go back to my field which I never want to do again. I wouldn’t mind a small job in the local area though that I can do some hours every week and have an opportunity to chat and socialise or somehow be part of society.

There’s a slow realisation that in society I’m seen as past my prime. What I did in the past through my work, in the grand scheme of things, is largely irrelevant and meaningless. Not to me of course, to others. At the same time, it’s quite exciting to be in this limbo land and to explore what this next phase of life holds.

So what if they knock you back for a casual role? Look for something else! Maybe a chat with the ladies working at yarn shops or in places that sell yarn and crafts is also an option. 🤔 Maybe I can just go back to answering phone calls in reception offices!

The irony is not lost on me that most maturer women usually end up working in similar roles they had as their first ever casual roles when they were younger. If anything, the way things are nowadays is that I’d happily bow out of a role if there’s someone who really needs it more than me

I started my first job working in a bakery selling bread and pastries. I may end up there again 40 years later. (Sure enough, I saw a retail assistant role at Bakers Delight yesterday and considered it).