I see a lot of you in here grinding through job applications. Tailoring resumes. Writing cover letters. Following up on interviews that go nowhere. And I get it. I've been there. Hell, I'm still there sometimes. But here's what I've been thinking about lately. What if we're asking the wrong question? We keep asking "How do I get hired?" when maybe we should be asking "How do I stop needing to get hired?" Nobody wants to hire people over 40. We all know this. The algorithms filter us out. The hiring managers see our experience as "overqualified." The salary expectations don't match their budgets. We can keep banging our heads against that wall. Or we can build our own door. I'm not talking about some massive startup with investors and employees. I'm talking about something that's yours. Freelancing. Consulting. Coaching. A service business. A digital product. Something you control. Because here's what I've learned after months of building my own thing while freelancing on the side: The traditional path is broken. But there are other paths. The data actually supports this. People are starting businesses in record numbers right now. Over 5 million new business applications in 2024. That's 50% more than in 2019. And here's the kicker: 64% of entrepreneurs in the US are over 40. We're not too old for this. We're actually in the sweet spot.Most entrepreneurs don't even launch their businesses until they're 42. But I'm not going to lie to you. It's scary as hell. I've failed at business before. Multiple times. And starting again at 57, broke, with decades of failure behind me? That takes everything I've got. But I've never been this far along. I've never had this much momentum. I've never felt this certain that I'm onto something. Here's what's different this time. I'm not choosing between a job and a business. I'm doing both. I'm taking freelance work to keep money coming in. And I'm building my own platforms, my own products, my own audience at the same time.

If you're here, you're probably over 40 and fighting the same fight I am. Sending out resumes that disappear into the void. Getting ghosted by recruiters. Watching younger people get hired for jobs you're overqualified for. Wondering if you're unemployable or if the entire system just broke while you weren't looking. You're not imagining it. The job market is brutal right now. Especially for us. I'm 57. I've been freelancing for over 20 years. I have a degree. I use AI tools every day. I'm faster and better at my work than I've ever been. And I still can't get hired. Not because I'm not good enough. Because companies don't want to invest in people like us anymore. We're too expensive. Too experienced. Too likely to know our worth and not accept garbage wages. This group exists because we're all dealing with the same thing. And most of us are doing it alone. Scrolling LinkedIn at 2am wondering what we're doing wrong. Applying to jobs we're overqualified for and still not getting callbacks. Trying to figure out how to rebuild a career in a market that decided we're disposable. You're not alone. That's why we're here. Drop a comment and introduce yourself. Where are you? What kind of work are you looking for? What's your biggest struggle right now? Let's actually talk about this. Let's help each other. Let's stop pretending this is normal and start figuring out how to survive it together. Welcome. I'm glad you're here.

I took the liberty of taking one of Jason's recent articles and make a NotebookLM movie of it, then posted it to LinkedIn. You can check out the post here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/natepacyga_i-wanted-to-be-a-lifer-at-a-great-software-ugcPost-7401657611244511233-a3up

All of us are trying to learn and apply AI in some way. How can I help? I am no expert, but together, we can get you where you need to be. What do you want to learn next?

Let's stop pretending. If you're over 40 and looking for work, you already know the truth. The interviews dry up. The rejection emails pile up. Or worse, you just never hear back at all. You've got decades of experience. You know your shit. You can run circles around half the people already working there. And none of it matters. Because the system isn't built for you anymore. Here's the question nobody wants to ask. Why are you still waiting for someone to hire you? I'm serious. After months of applications going nowhere. After being passed over for people half your age with half your skills. After realizing that HR algorithms are filtering you out before a human even sees your resume. Why are you still playing a game that's rigged against you? I'm not saying this to be cruel. I'm saying it because I've been there. I've sent out hundreds of applications. I've tailored resumes. I've networked. I've done everything you're supposed to do. And I finally realized something. The traditional job market doesn't give a damn about people like us. So we have to stop depending on it. What if you stopped looking for a job and started building something instead? Not some massive empire. Not some Silicon Valley fantasy. Just something that's yours. Freelancing. Consulting. Coaching. A small service business. Hell, even a side hustle that could grow into something real. Something where your age is an asset, not a liability. Where your experience actually matters. Where you control your income instead of waiting for some 28-year-old hiring manager to decide you're "not a culture fit." I know what you're thinking. "But I need steady income." "But I don't know how to start a business." "But what if I fail?" I get it. Those fears are real. But here's the thing. You're already failing at the traditional job search. You're already not getting steady income from all those applications. So what do you actually have to lose? The people who make it after 40 aren't the ones who keep doing the same thing and hoping for different results.