When Michael Ferry last looked for a job, the iPhone had yet to be released, and “uber” was just a German word.
The tech worker, who was recently laid off, is wading into a job market that’s far different from what it was in 2005, when he landed a role at a software company by applying on Monster.com.
Ferry, who’s in his mid-40s and lives near Philadelphia, said he had opportunities to leave over the years, but stayed because he loved what he did.
“I was comfortable, but not complacent,” he told Business Insider.
Ferry is also unlike many of his labor-market peers, who don’t tend to stick around as long. At the start of 2024, US workers had been with their employer an average of 3.9 years, the lowest number since 2002, according to Labor Department data from a biennial survey.
For workers like Ferry, who have spent many years tied to one company, reentering the job market can be jarring. There are video interviews, résumés parsed by algorithms, and a market crowded with younger competitors. Then there are the fears that longevity at an employer might signal parochial skillsets or a lack of gumption.
The age factor
Terry Armstrong, a graphic designer who lives near Sacramento, California, is looking for a job for the first time in nearly 20 years. She’s gone from applying to about three jobs a week to one because when she does put in her résumé, she doesn’t hear back. That has made her less excited to hit “apply.”
Armstrong, who’s a few months away from turning 65, suspects her age has something to do with employers’ lack of interest. The depth of her experience “makes employers aware of the fact that I’m reaching retirement age,” Armstrong told Business Insider.
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To supplement her unemployment checks, she’s been doing some freelance graphics work. That brings in about $1,500 a month, which covers her mortgage.
Armstrong has grown weary of looking for jobs, and so she’s considering applying to Home Depot or Starbucks — places she said she sees other older people working.
“It’s just gotten more discouraging as time has gone on,” Armstrong said.
Lifer doesn’t mean loafer
Some employers might look skeptically at people who have been at a job for many years, but it’s possible to recast long tenures as a plus, said Colleen Paulson, a career coach who mainly works with Gen X and boomers.
She told Business Insider that workers can “flip the script” by emphasizing their loyalty. Paulson, founder of Ageless Careers, said workplace veterans whose institutional memories might span decades are likely to have changed roles within an organization and still been exposed to different things.
That’s what Ferry said he experienced. He began with a software firm in 2005 that Oracle later acquired. After the deal closed, he stayed on. All told, Ferry was at the two companies for about 20 years.
While his most recent job title of senior application server administrator didn’t change over the last dozen years, the work did, he said. In the early days, the job revolved around on-premises data centers. Eventually, it would migrate to the cloud, he said. Ferry said he was always learning to keep up with technological advances and to improve workflows.
“I’m the type of person who always looks for, ‘How can I make this better?'” he said.
‘Grow and learn’
Paulson, the career coach, encourages job seekers who’d completed a long tour at a single employer to say, “I was able to grow and learn and thrive, and here’s how I can help your company in those same ways.”
She said those who have been somewhere for years can frame themselves as experts in their fields. They can name-drop clients, point to data that demonstrates success, and play up skills and experience relevant to the role they’re going after, Paulson said.
It’s possible, she said, that employers might look on long-tenured workers as overqualified or too pricey. Paulson has had clients who’ve been in leadership and want to drop back to individual contributor roles. So, they’re OK with earning less.
Even if employers don’t have concerns about paying experienced workers too much, Paulson said that they might still worry that such employees will leave if they get a better offer elsewhere.
“You really have to sell your interest to the company and explain why you want the job,” she said.
Ferry, the laid-off tech worker, wants to once again find work he loves so that he can stay for years, perhaps even until retirement, he said.
As he looks for a job for the first time in two decades, Ferry is spending more time on LinkedIn, which was only a few years old when he last searched for a role.
“I’ve been on it more in the past week than I have in the past five years,” Ferry said.
Do you have a story to share about your job search? Contact Tim Paradis at tparadis@businessinsider.com and Ana Altchek at aaltchek@businessinsider.com.