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I am thinking of conducting an experiment about my post on older workers.   In my earlier post I mentioned several technologies older people could get into.

I have specialized in project management and business analysis the past some years.   It has kept me employed for a long time even though I would have been considered old/unemployable 30 years ago.  Right now I am 3 months into a likely 2-year gig so there is no time like now to reinvent myself.

I am going to pick something to get back into the technical area.   Data sciences using R comes to mind at the moment although I might pick one of the others I mentioned.   I might shoot for something which has some remote work possibilities.

It will likely take 3 months or so to get into condition to start applying for jobs in whatever I pick.   I am going to take a shot at this just to prove older people can still be marketable.  I will keep the board here or wherever it is posted on progress and results periodically.

I have no doubt some older people can be marketable.  My 70-something next door neighbor is an enterprise Java software engineer. My 67 year old college buddy is happily modifying messages for some sort of DoD project.

But what you want to do is going to be interesting, to say the least.  If you are coming from a management consulting background and can get a data sciences gig using R (is that bioinformatics-oriented?) I'm going to be HIGHLY IMPRESSED.  You could write a book about it.

But what you want to do is going to be interesting, to say the least.  If you are coming from a management consulting background and can get a data sciences gig using R (is that bioinformatics-oriented?) I'm going to be HIGHLY IMPRESSED.  You could write a book about it.

I think Pxsant may have an interest in that subject, but my opinion informed by own experience is that you'd better pick something that you know you personally can actually sell effectively.

And that's the rub, the deeper problem with pre-selecting a technical domain and going after it. You're just guessing about a ton of things:

- Whether it will be in demand at jobs you can plausibly apply for after you are tooled up.
- Whether your own experience mix plus "R" or whatever will be accepted by any employers.
- In summary whether you can effectively sell the new tech skill for new work consistently.

That's exactly why I stopped marketing my "software copywriting" services. It's a bag of shit. I'm a competent writer. But it turns out that everyone WANTS the service but NONE of the cheap bastards running tech businesses wants to actually pay for the skill.

The billable work I could find was astoundingly low quality - pennies per hour, pretty much. Yet you'll run into tons of blog articles and Youtube videos about how copywriting is a gold rush.

That is a key instance of possessing a skill in a supposed marketable area and you still can't find acceptable work in it.

For instance, I received this a few weeks ago through my copywriting website:

Message Body:
Hi,
My name is Yury, and I am the marketing director for VironIT company.  I found your profile via google.
We would like to create an article "How to hire app developer?"
Here is the example we like. https://thinkmobiles.com/blog/how-much-cost-to-hire-app-developer/
Could you create a similar article but with some improvement? (unique pictures, video etc.)
Could you please provide me with the price for 1000 words?

Doesn't he fucking KNOW what he's willing to pay? YES, but it's a game and he won't say because he's fishing.

G***damned games. These places are all alike. He probably has a budget like $150 which would be rock bottom pay scale, but he's fishing to see if he can get it done for $75, I bet. Because that's been exactly the pattern with every one of these requests.

I just replied with one word: "No". I was tempted to write "f*ck off."

It just gets into your head.

And that's the larger challenge with the "Pxsant method" of retooling: staying motivated and sticking with the plan. Because, trust me, it will be EXTREMELY hard to get any respect when you start out on such a path.

I D, if you want to get back to work, you should really be working your local contacts. You have 100x the potential I do to mine existing contacts and you're in a huge metro area.

While I look forward to pxsant's test of his approach, I honestly don't think it's the best option for you. I see his approach as a long shot for someone who doesn't have any recent ( < 5 years) marketable technical skills and who has absolutely no network or any other options.

You worked in a cleared government contract job. That's a distinct business niche. It seems like perhaps your last employer's treatment of you got into your head but it doesn't reflect the market. You're most likely highly marketable with the right resume spin in exactly the same stuff in your immediate area.

I hate to say but DeeCee has the best job market in the country right now. It's not "just" a huge metro area but a bubble isolated from reality.

It's blatantly obvious, actually.  If you're an engineer and you can't find work in DC in the defense sector and you have recent defense contractor experience, you honestly can't find work.

Well, there's finding work and finding work in an environment where you want to work and doing something you want to do.

I am not sure this is the right approach.

Do you mean Pxsant's crash course/immersion tactic that you are not sure about?

Myself, for his technique, I'm sitting on the fence. He promises to test it out. I want Pxsant to do so with a scrubbed resume that doesn't reflect his current or recent billable work.

In other words, simulate someone going out with e-course knowledge to find work.

Well, that depends.  If I go for Linux Admin I have quite a few years of experience in Linux including VPS's.   I would create a resume to emphasize that experience.

If I go for SQL, again I have years of experience there.   Last year I wrote more than 400 SQL queries for a banking client to test data quality.  Again, I would do a resume to emphasize experience in that area.

If I went for Python, there I would be a rookie so I would not be able to show specific experience there.

I had the impression that your advice and also your idea of testing the concept was meant for your retooling tactics.

Getting the same kind of gigs that you're already well qualified for doesn't prove anything. I mean it's great and all that you are staying billable but it doesn't help anyone trying to assess whether they should do the immersion training + bludgeon their way through interviews.