Priced Out

[SheilaT]

69. I was 60 when I moved here.

I was able to get work pretty easily, because I was always entry level and I have good basic office skills. Never had a career, had stayed home for 25 years while raising children. I did get a paralegal degree shortly before the divorce that triggered my move here. I got a job in that field, although it was more purely a legal secretary position, and I simply was not good at it, so I was fired. I was also let go after two days at an art gallery. Only times in my life that ever happened.

Then, at the suggestion of a cousin who is a nurse on the east coast, I looked at the one hospital here and was able to get a job doing outpatient registration: people who were there for blood work, x-rays, that sort of thing. For entry level work it paid decently, and the benefits were quite good. I then switched to working the information desk, which was part time: Monday through Friday 4-8pm. Again, with benefits. I left that job a year ago and no longer work.

There is a myth out there that no one over 60, or maybe 50, or possibly 40, ever gets hired. Nonsense. I do understand that if you were in IT for a long time and let go, your chance of getting another IT position is criminally low. That's probably true of other professions I know little about. But work is out there, even for the older worker. I occasionally think I ought to go back and do some temp work, because it's always nice to have a little extra money, but I have never liked a regular day shift job. My first hospital position was noon to 8:30, and then an even later start on the information desk. I could always see about a retail job, because many stores don't open very early, but at the moment I really enjoy not working. Plus I'm doing a lot of travelling, so a job just wouldn't be very convenient.

I can tell you that for several months in late 2008 and early 2009, the temp jobs almost totally dried up, except for accounting or bookkeeping ones. The agencies kept on telling me if I could do that I'd have work. I don't have those skills. It was in that period of no temp jobs that the cousin suggested the hospital.

I slightly wish I'd stayed with temping longer, or had tried harder to get another art gallery job, since this is such a huge art place. One thing that helps is that Santa Fe has a living wage ordinance, and the current minimum is $10.66/hour. As a consequence, a surprising number of people commute from Albuquerque to work here. I think they're nuts, but there's a commuter train, the RailRunner that makes it easier.

Also, this is the state capitol, so at least in theory state jobs are available. In reality, this is a very small city (population 60,00) and about three quarters of them are people whose ancestors came here in 1600 or so, and they are all related to each other, meaning certain jobs, especially in things like the state government, tend to go to a relative. The hospital, while there is some nepotism there, isn't quite as bad as other places.

The tourism aspect of this place colors a lot. Where the tourists are will be very expensive. Plus, we have a bunch of movie stars who live here, full or part time. Gene Hackman, Ali McGraw, and Shirley MacLaine are probably the most notable. A lot of movies are filmed at least partially here, and various TV shows, the most notable being Breaking Bad and Longmire. As a consequence there are jobs in that field, although I'm sure they're hard to get and of course it's on-again off-again work. But Santa Fe Community College has a program for TV/movies, and a lot of the course work is on the technical side, and I'm under the impression they do a good job of placing students and graduates in jobs.

Can't think of anything else at the moment. Hope this is helpful.

SheilaT