Got laid off... want to relocate, but where to?

I don’t want to hijack the OP’s thread. In the US ageism is rampant no matter what the field and as far as ID goes the US has a preconceived notion that only young people can generate fresh ideas.

Either that or your talent and skills are many light years ahead of the rest of us gifted folk.

I haven’t found this to be true personally. I’m in my 40s. Most of my friends are in their 40’s and early 50’s. A lot of us are still getting job offers. I think the common thread though is that all of us spent the last 20 years building our network and leveling up our value. It is an exponential investment. I’ll never forget having lunch with the vP of design at Nike when I was just starting there. I asked him to get lunch to get his advice on my career and he ended up turning my view of it completely upside down.

He said “you know Michael you have this all wrong, you think of your career as a series of choices that narrows your path down. If you do it right, the opposite is true. If you make each decision carefully it leads to more options, not less, so after 20 years your career path is totally divergent, not convergent”… I paraphrase, but something like that. And he was absolutely right, but like any design project, it has to be done with intent. And like every design project, it wasn’t a straight line. Sometimes I messed up. Sometimes I had to go back a little in order to go forward a lot. Not trying to be preachy here, though it might be coming off that way. In the end, there is no right way to do this.

You’ve inadvertently made my point. You are in your 40’s and seemingly never experienced ageism with 20 years of experience. Try 60 + with 40 years of experience and you’ll see things differently.

So i have to disagree, I was given very much the same information as Yo had been given early in my career. I am now close to 50 and (still 4 years but close enough) and my job opportunities are more then they where over the last 15 years. And i have the ability to move into different areas, with my creative thinking and ability to strategically look at innovative options and solutions. And this goes beyond developing physical products. By sixty i hope that i am retired and have gone back to consulting and sharing my knowledge of design and development at a high level to help companies speed up their leanings and reduce their mistakes. (or i could be in a retirement home)… I have also worked with some designers who are at 60 plus and they are at the top of their career and extremely respect by the companies that retain the them. In the end we all have different experiences and mental models which shape our perception.

Maybe your reality. I think the point everyone else is trying to make is that they are not encountering the same problems you are and I don’t think complaining about it here is helping you.

I remember your portfolio from when you started that thread. It was subpar. That is the only reason you don’t get any design employment. You could be 19 and wouldn’t get work with that portfolio (at least not in the traditional industrial design field). You should stop blaming the system and society and look at your skillset and analyse what is lacking.
Also don’t hold your breath for any “management”/“consultant” whatever position, because there are plenty of industry veterans and specialists standing in line for those jobs you can’t compete with.
Why can’t you even get a CAD-monkey job? I don’t know… if I had to guess: because of your “punk rock, fuck you all”- and “I am so smart but nobody gets me”-attitude, if you talk the same way in person as you write online. You know, nobody owes you a job.

A LOT of people figure out rather quickly that design isn’t an industry they can thrive in and switch shortly after graduation. I know tons of people who studied with me and ended up somewhere completely else. And that is totally ok. Most people go into design because they like the idea of it but figure out that the actual work is not quite as glamorous. Most people find that out within a few years after starting to work. If you would be half as smart as you think you are you would have forseen that this industrie isn’t your cup of tea. But you didn’t - probably told yourself how satisfied all your clients are and all that… and sat on your ass for the next 10-15 years. Now you are in a tight corner - but that is on you.

I would suggest to leave the industry entirely and start from scratch somewhere else. Far away from design. Open a sandwich shop, start repairing phone screens - whatever. There is plenty of stuff where you can be your own boss, make a living and thrive without anybody who asks for your age or wants to see your sketches. You just need to find the courage to finally do it instead of being miserable in an industry where apparently nobody wants you.

You crazy.

This is murka. We deserve to be snorting coke off of a hooker’s ass. Anything less is gubmint treading on me, taking away my freedumb. My way or the damn highway, I deserve my to have everything handed to me.

You Germans. Talking about personal responsibility, how dare you. We are free to whine and blame everyone else. MURKA!

OKay, thank you. that was a good chuckle!

As much as I love reading this drama, isn’t it about time we close this topic? I think all productive suggestions have been exhausted.

But then again MAURY… MAURY… MAURY!!!

[quote=“LeggoMyEggo”]As much as I love reading this drama, isn’t it about time we close this topic? I think all productive suggestions have been exhausted.

I would say you are correct, perhaps variant you will find something that works for you and be happy perhaps not, perhaps you will learn that you are a bigger problem to yourself then anyone else, perhaps not. but i do not think the forum can provide any greater insight then they have or communicate it in a way that you will hear with intellectual honesty.

…Okay variant you can insert your response here “…”

Please no.

I very much enjoy the self-flagellation and the obliviousness of 1+1=2.

Not to pile on but I think this is going too far. Are you posting drunk? My god, so bitter.
I am half German and referencing Germany’s fascist past just because you clearly are having trouble finding a job is not ok.

Don’t roll your eyes at me and tell me I don’t get “sarcasm”. Offending people just because you are down isn’t cool.
I want to believe you are better than the way your present yourself here.

I really hope so both for your personal and your professional future.

Im happy to hear nobody gives you a job if this is how you think. Sarcasm or not, this type of comment is not allowed on the Core77 boards.

Keep it up and in addition to a new job you can look for a new forum to rant on.

Respect for others. Personal attacks, antagonism, defamatory comments…Don’t do it. Offline or on, ad-hominem attacks degrade any discussion. Discuss the topic, don’t attack the person. Life is too short. If you can, why not be nice?

The Core77 Discussion Forums are a resource that is made great by its users. Please remember all users are people and most likely people like yourself. Keep discussions positive, professional and constructive and together we can share our love of Design.

R

As a point of reference: I’m 60+ with 40 years in the biz, a modicum of talent, and probably gifted some ‘good luck’ from time to time, but still pumping Rhino, Keyshot and Adobe Suite, as my income has been pretty consistently off the nice end of the pay-chart bell-curve.

On the downside, I’ve intermittently made a ass of myself, nuked marriages, and moved continents.

But hey- Life!

What’s wrong with moving continents?

Nothing at all! (Bad grammar, apologies)

I recommend it.

Thanks for chiming in. As I’m in my 40’s, it is great to hear and look up to someone who is still doing what they love (making an ass and nuking things aside… we all have bad days, aint nobody perfect).

I’ve been lucky enough to have some great mentors in your zone who have show me how to chase what I love and make money doing it. My goal was to be like FLW, in his 80’s, at the drafting table, he gets a stomach ache, goes to the hospital and that is it. and when you look at his career, some of his ver best work was between the ages of 60 and 80. as he said in an interview, he had been doing it so long he could shake design out of his sleeves.

Yo ! Great job leading this to one of the all time greats. FLW.

You seem to be on a well crafted way towards your long term goals. Keeps me inspired as I for one (at mid-40ies) recover from “nuking” my first marriage. But hey, only 1 in 25 years. :wink:

Earth is warm and kind. There is always a new dawn for a new day. Never forget how privileged every one of us really is.

mo-i

Guess Variant has gone on vacation, but as i was doing a search i did find this…

https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/manager-of-industrial-design-at-staffing-strong-479382883/

Along with a few others…