On Topic: The stuff dream jobs are made of

I don't believe it was the orange caftan that put me off. And while I didn't spot any cats per se, I could just sense heaps of them were skulking around her Chicago home-office somewhere, waiting to pounce.

It was, I recall, the frequent references during our conversation to how she'd helped numerous job seekers find their “passion.” (She made this declaration more than once and with arms outstretched, as if welcoming the morning sun.)

“But,” I asked, “what about the people who just want to find a job?”

The good news for me was eventually the offer came to move to Eastern Iowa and work at The Gazette. I no longer needed the services of a career counselor, with or without an abundance of cats. (She insisted on payment nonetheless, made out to “Cash.”)

The bad news for many who are still looking for work is that it's a tough slog. And for folk at the farther ends of the age spectrum, it's especially challenging.

According to a national survey of teenagers released last month by Junior Achievement, fewer than half the respondents - 43 percent - were “very confident” they'll someday land their “dream job.”

A much bigger number - 71 percent - admitted they'd give up that job they'd always desired for one that offered a higher salary.

I don't think this is about money. It's sign of insecurity, and who can blame them, given the job outlook for this year's graduates?

At the other end of the scale, baby boomers are getting whacked on the nose by harsh realities. Many have found that, like a game of musical chairs, there's a sizable chance they'll discover their chair has been taken away once the music stops.

Fewer chairs means it takes longer - sometimes a lot longer - to find a job, any job. That's one reason the national unemployment rate has dropped: Many people have stopped looking, so their names have fallen out of the system.

Indeed, a significant numbers of employers refuse to consider hiring someone who's been out of work for more than a short while.

Why? Because it seems some company officials think we get stupid as we get older.

That apparent widespread belief - that you can't learn anything new once you've passed a certain birthday - was voiced by venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, founding CEO of Sun Microsystems. when he said in a recent interview, “I find that people fundamentally stop trying new things after about age 30. After 45, people basically die …. They keep doing what they were doing before.”

Khosla, for the record, is 57 and, possibly, irony-impaired.

Sigh.

Look, the days of finding your “dream job,” “following your passion” or, in the words of one 1980s best-seller, “do what you love and the money will follow,” may be gone. Or at least, taking a fairly long nap.

But that doesn't mean hiring managers shouldn't exercise common sense, keep in mind these are unusual times and look for the best candidate - regardless of how young or old, and how big a gap might appear on a resume.

They learned new skills once, and they probably still can.

With or without cats.

They will thank you for it.