亲爱的安妮：我阅读了您最近关于弥合工作场所年龄差距的专栏。这触到了我的伤心处，因为坦率地讲，如果我能够找到一份工作，就算老板比我年轻，我也乐意。我今年53岁，去年下岗了，之前我曾是一家银行的高级营销管理人员。幸运的是，虽然我一时半会儿还找不到工作，但我的积蓄短期内还足够维持我的生活。

    最近的一次求职，一切都进展顺利，但在面试的时候却出了问题。面试官是一位30岁出头的招聘经理或人力官。他一见面就对我说：“哎呀！抱歉，我们已经招到了合适的员工，但还是谢谢你来参加面试。”我宁愿相信这不是因为我与大多数50多岁的人一样，头发已经花白，眼角也有了鱼尾纹；但是我很难想出还有什么其他的原因。您和您的读者有什么好的建议吗？——不服老的人

    亲爱的N.D.Y.：虽然看来这种安慰起不到任何作用，但是现在求职时间长是再正常不过的现象，特别是那些希望获得高级管理职位的求职者。ExecuNet总裁马克•安德森指出，“上一份工作职位越高，获得新工作需要的时间就越长。” ExecuNet是美国的全国性职业网络，为薪酬在10万美元及以上的经理人提供就业指导。

    ExecuNet的研究表明，与41至45岁的副总裁相比，50岁以上的副总裁求职时间要多出20%。但年龄只是一部分原因。管理职位求职者需要的平均时间最少是10个月，安德森表示，造成这种现象的主要原因是，“公司招聘的持续时间延长。招聘管理岗位员工的许多公司并没有填补职位空缺的紧迫感。”

    安德森指出，ExecuNet最近的一份调查显示，只有16%的公司计划在未来的半年内招聘高管人员，与今年初30%的比例相比，呈现出大幅下降之势。职业指导人塔克•梅斯和鲍勃•斯隆表示，如果50岁以上的高管在此前的职业生涯中一直平步青云，好工作不断，一旦失业，他们的求职之路将会异常困难，因为他们几乎没有推销自己的经验。

    斯隆和梅斯是总部位于康涅狄格州达里安市的培训公司OptiMarket的创始人兼负责人。该公司主要业务是帮助年长的高管迅速找到工作。此外，他们还是《50岁下岗：如何克服高管求职中的最大挑战》（Fired at 50: How to Overcome the Greatest Executive Job Search Challenge）一书的作者。他们提出四点小窍门，确保你的求职之路不会 “永远看不到终点”（虽然表面看来确实如此）：

    1. 主动挑明年龄问题。“如果你的年龄在50岁以上，那么这将是一个显而易见的问题。你是试图隐瞒，甚至不希望提及年龄，还是一直等到问题浮出水面时再解决呢？”斯隆问道。答案是：二者都不可取。“所有优秀的销售人员都清楚地知道，应对意料之中的反对意见，最好的办法是主动出击。”

    Dear Annie: I read your recent column on bridging the generation gap in the workplace between young bosses and older employees. It struck a nerve with me, because, frankly, I'd be delighted to work for a young boss if I could just get one to hire me. I'm 53 and I was laid off last year from a senior marketing management position at a bank. Luckily, I have enough savings to live on for a while, since my job hunt seems to be taking forever.

    All goes well until I show up for an interview with a 30-something hiring manager or HR person, and then I hear, "Oops! Sorry, the position has been filled, but thanks for coming in." I'd like to think this isn't because, like most people in their fifties, I have a few gray hairs and laugh lines, but it's hard to draw any other conclusion. Do you and your readers have any suggestions for me? — Not Dead Yet

    Dear N.D.Y.: Cold comfort though it may be, a long job hunt is perfectly normal these days, especially for anyone seeking a senior management job. "The higher your rank in your last position, the longer it takes to find a new one," says Mark Anderson, president of ExecuNet, a national career network for $100,000-a-year-plus senior managers.

    ExecuNet's research shows, for example, that a vice president over age 50 takes 20% longer to get hired than a 41-to-45-year-old job seeker at the same level. But age is only part of the story. The main reason it now takes the average management job candidate at least 10 months to get hired is that "companies are taking longer to fill positions," Anderson notes. "Many companies who have management openings are not aggressively looking to fill them."

    He points to a new ExecuNet survey that says that only 16% of employers plan to hire executives over the next six months, a big decrease from about 30% earlier this year.

    Job interviews can be especially difficult for executives over 50 who have spent their careers moving up through the ranks, or being recruited for better jobs, and thus have had little or no practice at selling themselves while unemployed, say executive coaches Tucker Mays and Bob Sloane.

    Sloane and Mays are the founders and principals of OptiMarket, a Darien, Conn., coaching firm that specializes in helping older executives find jobs quickly. They also wrote a book, Fired at 50: How to Overcome the Greatest Executive Job Search Challenge. They offer four tips on making sure your job hunt does not, in fact, last "forever" (even if it seems that way):

    1. Preempt the age issue. "If you're over 50, your age is the elephant in the room. Should you try to sweep it under the rug and hope it doesn't come up, or wait until it does and address it then?" asks Sloane. The answer: Neither. "All effective salespeople know that the best way to counter an anticipated objection is to address it first."