Land on Your Feet After a Downsizing

From Kiplinger, January 5, 2009...

Richard Phillips worked for Hewlett-Packard for 17 years before he lost his job as a marketing manager in May 2007 during a corporate reorganization. Phillips, who is 64 and lives in Atlanta, wanted to continue working in the information-technology field.

As part of Phillips's separation package, HP sent him to an outplacement service. "When I went on job interviews, I expected but did not face age discrimination," he says. "One 28-year-old interviewer asked me whether I had the stamina to keep up with the job."

The outplacement service, he says, had "briefed me on ways to reply to that type of question. Instead I talked about what skills I could bring to the table." It took Phillips six months to land a new job, as a corporate marketer in Atlanta for Sage Software, a subsidiary of a British company.

Layoffs and voluntary buyouts are more likely during turbulent economic times. And if you're 55-plus, losing a job can be especially traumatic. Despite equal opportunity laws, companies often don't want to hire someone with a few gray hairs.

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