Resume's After Fifty

You may find this picture amusing, at least I hope you do, as you envision me at the Unemployment Center (now called the Reemployment Work Center) attending a resume workshop.  I didn't know I needed a class on writing a resume after all these years, but apparently joining retail sales put me out of the loop regarding Applicant Tracking Software.  This seemingly innocent sounding software is not really tracking YOU....it's looking for a reason to NOT track you, or kick you out of the system before a human being even looks at your resume, which in essence makes you invisible.  Yes, as those in the know call it; ATS doesn't want to bother humans with a bunch of rambling resumes that do not contain the correct font, format, and keywords.     What??!!??
It's okay, I'm here at this overcrowded workshop with only a few people that look 40 or younger. Everything is going to be A- OK! Momma Mia (psuedo name used to protect the innocent) sat in front  of me to my left.  She spoke with a broken Italian accent.  She reminded me of my husband's Grandmother, and said she
 "lov-a to talk~!"  I wondered what in the world this woman was doing here.  Was she really going to get this ATS thing right?  Did it even matter at her age??  What kind of job was she needing a resume for?  I squirmed a bit wondering the same thing about myself.
We received a workbook:
"Resume Workbook"
 It All Begins With A Winning Resume
The next 3 hours were hilarious!  No, sorry, wrong place.   The next 3 hours we read aloud through the workbook... I wanted a gold star as it put me back a few years to second grade.  We learned all about soft skills, hard skills (mostly the ones we didn't have... those ones are always hard), business skills, and technical skills.
All these things needed to be in a winning resume or you would get the boot from Mr. ATS.  A woman behind me stated she was 61 and worked as a security guard before they laid her off.  She expressed that she did not only feel her age was a factor, but her sex was also.  Someone had told her "they" want men to security guards.  In either case she was right there with the the rest of us, some others chiming in and telling similar stories.
What does all this mean?  It means when I left there I wanted to cry and then hang myself, or hang myself and then.....  I was depressed.  The Instructor gently acknowledged that "Yes, it is harder for an older person to get hired because a potential employer will look at you and wonder how long you will be with the company before you retire?"  Or die, or become a liability is what I was thinking quietly.  I did receive my certificate for taking the class!  Now, it's back to figuring it all out on my own.  The only fun about getting older, is your not so scared of living anymore.  I don't feel like I have to walk this fine line.  I am not 20, or 30, or 40.   My full time career was being a mother to four children.  Once I had a chance to escape to the adult world, I guess I pretty much was behind in skill sets, or lingo, or whatever the heck that a "career woman" is supposed to have achieved.
There is hope!  I'm not giving up, and neither should you!  I've been making some awesome contacts since that class.   Stay tuned world, here I come!