u/Successful-War-9278

I'm 63 years old, and I lost my job as an administrative manager about a year ago. I was making a little over $100,000, and I had worked there for so long that I thought my experience would be valuable.
I take care of myself, and most people think I'm younger than I am, but after eight months, around 190 applications, and a series of interviews that went nowhere, I accepted a job with much lower pay. They also saddled me with responsibilities that were never mentioned when I was hired. I don't like the job, but leaving isn't an option.
A few weeks ago, a company I'd been keeping an eye on finally posted an opening that matched my experience. I have a friend who works there, so I applied, and they contacted me the next morning. I didn't get that particular role, but the people who interviewed me said another position would be opening soon and that they thought I would be a better fit for it.
They spoke to my friend afterward and got an excellent reference from him, and apparently told him they intended to offer me the new role. They told me to wait until it was posted online and then apply through HR instead of sending everything directly to the office. That's exactly what I did.
Then the communication stopped. When I followed up a few days later, they told me they were still working out the details, even though the listing had already been public for more than a week. The following week, I received a brief email saying they had decided to go in a different direction.
I can't prove that my age was the reason, but nothing else had changed. They liked me in the interview, my experience was a good fit, and they had already told someone inside the company that an offer was coming. As soon as HR had all my information, the whole thing suddenly ended.
So I'm still stuck in a job I can't stand, applying elsewhere without much confidence. People may say age discrimination isn't a major problem in hiring, but after what I've seen over the past year, I no longer believe that.