Any DU'ers out there, 55+ looking for a job?

[Snarkoleptic]

65. Linked in is a great way to see who is within a few of spheres of influence.

It's kind of like 3 degrees of Kevin Bacon (but you're the hub).

Glassdoor.com will allow you to get the skinny on prospective employers. Are employees happy, treated well, is the compensation OK, etc.

I have also used indeed.com, which is nice because it aggregates results from several other sites (you may need to use many exclusionary words to narrow the results) and you set income, location, and lots of other parameters.

If you use Monster or Careerbuilder, do a minor update to your resume one a week to keep your profile near the top of the heap. (no fancy updating is required, just add or delete a word).

Most importantly, shut down your pc and go see some people. In my job search 3 years ago, I applied for around 150 jobs online and barely received so much as a "thanks for applying". I wound up calling one of my former employees to ask if he knew anyone who was hiring and he gave me a decent gig with a company car. Kinda weird that my former employee is my boss, but it's worked out OK and kept my family afloat and insured.

Side note- my wife had a little touch of cancer in 2002, so I've been fucked around by health insurance companies requiring I prove we've never had so much as a day without coverage (else they'd not cover the preexisting condition). I've grown the hate the term "letter of creditable coverage". This gig has provided some measure of stability and sanity.

Summary- power down and beat the streets as resume "spray and pray" may not be effective in some fields.

Good luck and hang in there!