When does ageism begin?

It is funny that most people associate ageism with the 50-70 year old demographic, but I read a recent article that mentioned that this malfeasant 'ism' is now extending to a younger age group, namely the 40-50 year-old bracket---my group! It is hard to accept this, really. I just turned 40 a couple of months, ago and I am good health, I feel young, I have a strong positive outlook on life and I am very competent at the work I do. I even "get along very well with people," which is the catch phrase running rampant on cover letters, resumes and company letterheads. But it is still a shock to even contemplate that I might be a victim of ageism. Until recently, that is.

I have been unemployed for far longer than I would like to admit, but for the most part I have been very positive about it. Recently, I learned that a position I had applied for --Assistant Director of Study Abroad--at a college in Massachusetts, was offered to a young 28-ish year-old woman who has never in her life worked in the field. She is in the process of writing her doctoral thesis (which is another issue, but I will not go into that here) and that may have been one of the factors that led to her hiring. However, I think her youth played a significant role. The committee clearly thought that it would be more financially feasible to hire a 'newbie' who can learn on the job, instead of paying a higher salary to a more established and experienced candidate. Yikes! I did not think this would happen to me, but now I am beginning to take a much harder look at ageism and see that, like racism, it does not discriminate against one particular section of the population. That really is disturbing. What to do now? Make sure my curriculum vitae does not tip off my age. I am good at adapting to something new, if nothing else, and I am ready for this challenge.