Long ago, I decided I had enough of working as a secretary and earned a Master's degree. Unfortunately, my old employer decided they didn't want ANY secretaries that had more education than a G.E.D. and forced several of us out of our jobs by eliminating our positions and rewriting the job descriptions to reflect a lower education. I was able to take an early retirement and grabbed the opportunity to keep my pension, even though it's a struggle to make ends meet.
Fast forward to today, I went to Voc. Rehab., trying to find employment where I can use my degrees and not deal with age discrimination and ableism. I was told by one Voc. Rehab. counselor that (a) I am WAY OVERQUALIFIED for everything in my geographic area because of my education and (b) Age Discrimination happens but you can't prove it. I was advised to try self-employment, which I'm still doing.
The last Voc. Rehab. counselor I spoke to has been pressuring me to give up self-employment and apply for a regular job and SENDS ME A JOB ANNOUNCEMENT FOR BECOMING A SECRETARY AGAIN!
WTF?!?!?!?!?!!?!?
Frustrating, Bones! I think a lot of problems stem from a tick box mentality; people don't really connect with you or take time to hear what you're saying, they just work their way through a checklist that they can file at the end of the day and then blame you for not accepting what they're offering 
When my son was younger I had to go to the job centre on a regular basis for a 'work focused interview' which is a requirement for receiving benefits. I didn't have a problem with that at all, but their assumption was that anyone that wasn't working lacked basic skills or qualifications and this lady was trying to get me to sign up to do basic classes in English and Maths. I'm an English teacher! Then she asked if I'd be interested in teaching the classes on a voluntary basis which I said I'd love to do but asked if they'd cover the cost of childcare for my son as I couldn't pay it (as I wasn't working) and the answer was no. This meant I couldn't teach the classes and she wrote up on my file that I was uncooperative and hostile to suggestions for help So I hear ya!! Hope something (or someone!) suitable comes along at some point xx
It's so AGGRAVATING!!!! You get accused for "not cooperating" because you could NOT do what she demanded! In my situation, my counselor also tried to force me to return to freelance interpreting for the Deaf IN SPITE of my REPEATED explanations that I QUIT doing that DECADES ago because I GOT TIRED of CONSTANTLY FIGHTING FOR A PAYCHECK! I've been approached TOO MANY TIMES by people DEMANDING that I VOLUNTEER ALL THE TIME! The Voc. Rehab. Counselor attempted to deny that still occurs! I told her that I got approached TWICE during the week BEFORE our meeting with DEMANDS that I VOLUNTEER INTERPRET! When I explained, AGAIN, to those DEMANDERS that I have bills to PAY ... they changed their minds and walked away! All I got in response, from the counselor, was a blank stare!
