“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.  If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were.  Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee…” 
(John Donne, Meditation 17, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions)

The English poet John Donne expressed this sentiment almost four hundred years ago.  Yet, it seems particularly appropriate today.  Bad economic news abounds across the globe.  And, since domestic business in every nation is dependent upon global markets for significant portions of their revenues, the American sub-prime mortgage crisis has spawned a worldwide economic meltdown of epic proportions.

Recently, in the U.S., CitiBank announced plans to lay off more than 50,000 employees nationwide while senior executives of the three major domestic automobile manufacturers pleaded their cases before Federal legislators, desperate to obtain funding that would enable their corporations to stay afloat.  Added to the unprecedented federal bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, and AIG, these more recent developments indicate that as the “bell tolls” signaling layoffs and unemployment for millions of Americans, it also “tolls” an alarm for the rest of us who are still employed.
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With age normally come a number of positive personal attributes, among them maturity, stability, life experience, and wisdom.  Yet, for the more seasoned job candidate (and I define more seasoned candidates as 40/50-something or older with 20 or more years of work experience), the process of finding a good job is not simply 2 or 3 times more difficult than for their more youthful, less experienced counterparts, but tens or even hundreds of times more exacting.

I often deal with candidates who have never had any particular difficulty in securing a top position relative to their background and level of experience, but nonetheless seem to hit an obstacle to their job-seeking success in their early to mid 40′s or 50′s.  Speaking with me, they express astonishment that their current search efforts are so far removed from their previous experiences.  They had heard and believed that age discrimination existed, but never considered that it would happen to them.
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Etiquette for Leaving Your Current Employer

If you have decided to accept another position and leave your current employer, you should consider the following:

Look before you leap

Before tendering your resignation with your present employer, be certain that the offer you have received for that great new job is solid; don’t make the same mistake as one of our clients.
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