• Robin Peppers Daniel was laid off by Wells Fargo last April.
• She said finding work in her 60s has been a struggle, but she can't afford to retire yet.
• She turned to substitute teaching post-layoff and is now exploring full-time teaching opportunities.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Robin Peppers Daniel, a job seeker in her early 60s who lives in South Carolina. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Last April, I received a notification that I had 30 minutes before I would lose all of my work access — and that within an hour, I would receive some paperwork. Then my boss called me with the news: I, along with several colleagues, had been laid off.

I was working for Wells Fargo in a management role, and had some suspicion that a layoff was coming. This wasn't my first layoff. In 2018, I was laid off from Walmart, where I worked as an instructional design manager.

A little over a year later, I started working for Wells Fargo as an external regulatory reporting consultant and was later promoted to a lead control management officer role.

My last working day at Wells Fargo was in April, but I was technically still employed and received paychecks through mid-June, followed by a few months of severance. Nearly a year after being laid off, I'm still looking for a full-time role.

My search strategies haven't landed me a role so far

After some reorganization about a year earlier, there was redundancy in certain areas, and I felt like my workload started to dry up. My husband and I decided to start financially preparing, which proved to be beneficial.

I'd already been casually looking for work, partially because I'd felt for a while that the role wasn't a good fit for me. But it wasn't until I was laid off that I updated my LinkedIn profile, and not until around June that I began actively searching for roles. I was initially focused on banking and corporate trainer roles, but I've become open to any position where my skills are transferable.

In terms of my job search strategies, I adopted the "open to work" banner on LinkedIn and posted that I was seeking work, which helped me connect with people who said they'd be open to referring me for roles. I've also tried looking for job postings on company websites rather than only on LinkedIn, where I've found that some postings can be outdated.

Despite these strategies, I was still struggling to land a job. There was one opportunity last year that I thought might work out. I had a referral from a former coworker who said she'd spoken about me to the hiring manager. After three interviews, I waited several weeks and eventually heard they were going in another direction.

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I pick up substitute teaching shifts when I can, but I'm still unemployed

My husband and I have enough savings to be financially stable for roughly the next 18 months. In a perfect world, I would retire and get out of this work rat race, but right now, I unfortunately can't afford to.

Last August, I applied to be a substitute teacher in my area so I could have some form of income once my unemployment benefits ran out. I used to substitute teach when my daughter was preschool age, and I enjoyed it.

However, I had to be very strategic about taking on substitute work. I live in South Carolina, but I worked in North Carolina — and was therefore subject to that state's unemployment system. In North Carolina, you can earn a maximum of $350 a week in unemployment benefits for up to 12 weeks — $4,200 total. You can also earn up to $70 a week without impacting your unemployment check.

A full week of substitute teaching paid about $550, and depending on how many days I was needed, I had to make sure what I'd gain in income would offset what I'd lose that week in unemployment benefits.

I'm now considering teaching full-time

I'm pursuing an alternative teaching pathway in South Carolina that would eventually allow me to work as a full-time teacher after the initial testing is complete. The salary wouldn't be what I earned in banking, but it would allow me to do something that I enjoy.

I've also started exploring part-time options that could hopefully provide me with income and benefits, including a small web design business my husband and I have run for years and a small skincare products business.

I've realized this could be a really long-term unemployment spell

During much of my job search, I was fairly optimistic because I'd previously found full-time jobs through my network. Over time, I've realized that I could be unemployed for a while.

I think my age might be holding me back in my job search, and that some employers view me as overqualified, given my past work experience and education. As a result, I've been conscious of the way I present and talk about my experience level.

Nowadays, I'm only half-heartedly looking for full-time work. If a job posting has more than 100 applicants, I don't apply. I've resigned myself to semi-retirement.

If I have any advice for struggling job seekers, it's that tapping into my network and family has been the biggest help for me, even if it hasn't led to a job yet. I've had some former coworkers — more acquaintances than friends — reach out to tell me about jobs. I really believe that in this market — where AI might be the one reviewing your résumé — it's all about networking.