This, put simply, is likely a marketing and sales problem. Someone can have all the skills in the world and suffer unemployment if they don't know how to package and sell them. Conversely, there are some poor developers who always have a job, because they perform well in interviews, may be popular, and know how to write a résumé.
You have to tailor your message to your audience to some degree. To be frank, some of the problems are likely related to ageism, and there are several ways to minimize the possibility of ageism without lying. We aren't required to list every job in our career, nor are we required to list graduation dates. If they want to confirm a degree they will do it after having met you.
Job search for older engineers becomes challenging on several levels. Topics like energy and effort are a non-issue for most of the industry. Mentioning on a résumé that you were able to live off investments for a period will lead people to think that you might not "want" or need to work, which will also raise eyebrows.
For these engineers, it is all about demonstrating that they can solve your problems. If you can show that, most of the other worries will go away.
OldCoder, I just emailed you to offer some advice on the marketing side of things. I'm a recruiter (in NY, no clients out west) and writer on job search topics. I can't get you a job, but I think I can help improve the packaging if you're interested.
You have to tailor your message to your audience to some degree. To be frank, some of the problems are likely related to ageism, and there are several ways to minimize the possibility of ageism without lying. We aren't required to list every job in our career, nor are we required to list graduation dates. If they want to confirm a degree they will do it after having met you.
Job search for older engineers becomes challenging on several levels. Topics like energy and effort are a non-issue for most of the industry. Mentioning on a résumé that you were able to live off investments for a period will lead people to think that you might not "want" or need to work, which will also raise eyebrows.
For these engineers, it is all about demonstrating that they can solve your problems. If you can show that, most of the other worries will go away.
OldCoder, I just emailed you to offer some advice on the marketing side of things. I'm a recruiter (in NY, no clients out west) and writer on job search topics. I can't get you a job, but I think I can help improve the packaging if you're interested.