age discrimination exists, especially for those seeking a new career. Getting a job in which you possess the hard skills required is not as difficult as entering a new field in which your hard skill are not transferable. Soft skills and the attributes of maturity -- reliability, the interpersonal know-how and general wherewithal that experience provides, stability - - are not as important as one is told. Less euphemistically, the attributes of a age are specious, a fictional story told to those over 50 to give them hope, to make them feel good, to alleviate the pain of frequent rejection with promise that is non-existent.