Back in the summer, my old job was replaced by software, and budget cuts did not allow my boss to keep me on.  I am 57 years old—nearly unemployable if you read the age-ist warnings on the internet, but I was hired by people decades younger than me. My immediate boss and the CEO are both young enough to be my children, if I had started as early as my mom did, and it’s interesting working for GenX people.

They are refreshing. They have new ideas. They are willing to work together and share both workload and credit for tasks accomplished. While there are always challenges and lots of work to be done, especially in a small office, there is respect and willingness to learn. There is a motivation to try out new ideas without the fear that something might not work. Some of my coworkers are even GenY, younger than my daughter. These people are professional, enthusiastic and focused—not like the often cynical and jaded Boomers I left behind.

As the new web designer. I am the only person on staff who has my level of knowledge and experience, and while I have several college degrees, the skills I use on the job are self-taught. I am using all my previous skills in web coding and photo-editing, and I am learning how to schedule in all the various mailings and postings needed to keep our name popping up in the search engines. I am learning how to work on a team, taking input from others, and compromising to get the best way to deliver a message to our current and potential students.

Every day I learn something new, especially about the social media sites such as facebook and twitter. My office mates and I share what we have learned, and even keep in touch with our tweets and our eco-gift facebook applications. We are modeling the social group that we wish to attract to our college as students—bright, connected people who want to be chiropractors.

I have experience to offer along with my skills, but the true gift I have been given is the change to learn new things, to see work in a different light, and to be part of the “girls” in the office. Though I feel like a grandmother when my boss and our VP talk about their toddlers, what a gift it is to remember those days and to know that they can be survived!

When I was faced with the non-renewal of my contract, I was terrified, but the transition has been just the next step I needed to take. I have seen over the years that even when I know it’s time to move on, I am too afraid to do it. But the Universe always gives me just the right kind of nudge, and when I listen, the outcome is always worth the risk.