Ask HN: Laid-off readers over 50, have you left the tech workforce?
I lost my last permanent job in London at the end of 2008, at the beginning of the financial crisis in the UK.I applied for about two thousand roles in 2009 alone, and from 2008-2013, about 3,500 roles in total... In about 6-8 countries in multiple disciplines.I averaged 30+ applications _per day_ at first... and 1 interview per year.From 2009 to 2013 I got 2 months of paying work in total.Reason? I think it's because I was 41 when I started.I used to mainly work in support, from 1st/2nd/3rd line to sysadmin, systems design and spec, network architect, everything. I do Windows, Linux, Mac OS, networking, comms, some programming knowledge, training, all sorts. But I'm too old to get work as a techie.I eventually moved to the Czech Republic. I'm in my 3rd position in 4 years, having nearly doubled my salary from its lowest point since I moved here. Mainly because I'm a native English speaker and we're in big demand here.I can _turn down_ work I don't want over here. But I did have to move to a new country, where I don't speak the language, and accept an initial pay cut to about one quarter of what I hoped for in London.