Does the age of "too old" for a new job go down ?

I think it depends on the job and the industry.  In the UK, it is now illegal to ask for an applicant age and applicants are not meant to include it on an application, but when you get to an interview, it is often obvious.

In a generation where psychological contracts are no longer as important, some employers do still prefer to recruit from the older generation who still believe in loyalty to the employer and will not change jobs every year just to make more money.

I also think the attitude of an applicant has a huge effect.  If a 46 year old goes to a job interview, convinced the employer will think they are too old, then they will not come over as a confident suitable candidate.  I also believe that in some cases a woman will not get a job if she is convinced they are looking for a man.  You need to behave like you are the ideal candidate for the job and no matter what they think they are looking for, you will make them stop and reconsider.

I will be interested to know if there are actual statistics that show this trend to be true.

A person is as old as he looks, keeps moving on ,can drive a car with good record, can get a man or woman and dance all night. The problem with employers they do not know good workers when they see one. If they do they try to work the person to death, so they can get the big bucks. Employers stink.

In my country there is a lot of talk about this subject.  For many professions the age goes down more dramatically than others, and thirty is already considered old for many things.  It has been said that changing careers after forty is suicide.

    There are many examples on both sides of the argument, with many people training for new careers in their fifties as they accept buy outs in my area.  You can watch it unfold in real time and see some people fail and some people succeed.

    Personally, I think that it would be a good thing if people became their own bosses.  If a person works for themselves, there is no question of getting hired or fired.  By the time a person is mature, they should have picked up at least a skill or two that they can turn to their financial advantage, and not be dependent upon an employer for their financial security.

    Of course, some people can't work for themselves for many reasons and must seek out an employer.  There are quite a few corporations that like to hire older workers.  By the time an employee is fifty or so, they usually have gotten into the practice of showing up for work (and on time).  Over the age of  sixty-five workers are usually happy to work part time without benefits, which younger workers with children can not.

    Every age has its good and bad points.  Many types of work are done better at certain ages.  Construction is for young men, their foremen/supervisors and employers are usually mature.  Skills increase as physical strength decreases.  As long as the mind is stronger than brute force, an old person can work forever.

    A person who at 46 or older is worried about employment has already made too many mistakes or developed too many flaws.  The older we get, the more valuable we become.  If you don't, you are doing something seriously wrong.  It is true we may not have the stamina we had in our youth, but our mind should be working four or five times as well as it did in our youth.  We should by then have accumulated a body of knowledge that is unique unto ourselves that can be translated into some type of income.

It's 27 Celsius, 36% humidity, winds 5kph.   It is hard not to enjoy a weekend with this kind of weather.  As soon as I finish my correspondence, I'm leaving my desk for the rest of the day and spending it outside and visiting friends.