I never thought I would say this at 57: I am starting over.
Not reinventing. Not pivoting. Starting over. The kind where the savings account is shrinking, the job market has changed beyond recognition, and you are competing against systems that were built to filter you out before a human ever sees your name.
I recorded a video this week because I needed to say it out loud. Not just for you — for me. Because saying “I’m beginning again” at 57 is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.
The Job Market Is Not What You Remember
The last time I was in this position was 2013. I remember what that felt like. But at least back then, a hiring manager might actually read your cover letter. You could walk into a building, shake a hand, make an impression.
That world is gone.
Today, before any human being ever glances at your application, it passes through an Applicant Tracking System — an ATS. Companies like Workday, Taleo, and Greenhouse run the gate. These systems scan your CV, your cover letter, your formatting, your keywords. They score you. And if you do not score high enough, you are invisible.
Here is what shook me when I started digging into how these systems actually work.
They Can Tell How Old You Are — Even If You Never Say It
I am not talking about listing your graduation year. Most of us have learned to remove that by now. I am talking about things you would never think of.
Double-spacing after a period. That is a formatting convention taught in typing classes before the 1990s. If you still do it — and if you learned to type on a typewriter, you almost certainly do — an ATS can flag it. Not as a formatting error. As a signal of age.
Think about that. A habit you have had for 40 years, something so automatic you do not even notice it, is being used to estimate when you learned to type. And by extension, how old you are.
Then there are the other markers. Listing a Yahoo or AOL email address. Using older date formats. Referencing job titles that no longer exist. Describing software that has been deprecated for a decade. Each one, on its own, seems like nothing. Together, they build a profile.
This Is Not a Conspiracy Theory
ATS platforms are not designed to discriminate. They are designed to filter efficiently. But when the filtering criteria correlate with age — formatting habits, technology references, employment gaps during certain economic periods — the result is the same. You get screened out. Quietly. With no explanation. No rejection email. Just silence.
If you have applied for jobs in the past year and heard nothing back, this might be why. It is not that you are unqualified. It is that the system never let anyone see your qualifications.
So What Do You Do About It?
You use the same technology that is being used against you.
AI is not just the problem here. It is also the solution. I have been using AI tools to reverse-engineer what ATS systems look for, and then rebuilding my applications to pass through them. Formatting, keyword density, phrasing, structure — every element can be optimised so that the system works for you instead of against you.
I am not talking about gaming the system or being dishonest. I am talking about presenting your real experience in the language these systems understand. The same skills. The same career. Just translated into a format that does not get thrown out before anyone reads it.
This is something I want to share openly. The tools, the processes, the prompts I am using — I am going to put them somewhere on the website where anyone in this community can access them. Because this should not be a secret. If the system is rigged against us, the least we can do is share the playbook.
Why I Am Sharing Everything
When I lost my job, I did what most people do. I went quiet. I felt the shame. I tried to figure it out alone.
That was a mistake. The isolation made everything harder — the job search, the finances, the mental weight of it.
So with this channel, this blog, and the community we are building, I am doing the opposite. I am sharing every step. The wins. The failures. The tools that work and the ones that do not. What the money looks like. What the mornings feel like.
If you are in the same place — or somewhere close to it — you are not alone. And you do not have to figure this out by yourself.
What Comes Next
Tomorrow’s podcast episode goes deeper into the full plan: what I am building, how I am approaching the job search differently this time, and what I have learned about using AI as an over-50 job seeker. The video gives you the overview. The podcast gives you the full picture.
And if you want to follow along in real time, the Empower Over 50 community is where the conversation continues. No sales pitch. No subscription. Just people in the same boat, sharing what they know.
I am 57 years old and I am beginning again. That is the truth. But I am not doing it quietly this time.