Seniors: Considering a Return to the Workplace?
Things have changed.
Things have changed in the job market, and if you’ve been retired for any period of time, you need to catch up. The good news is that you don’t have to become a social networking expert, like your kids probably are. The bad news is that you’re going to have to pick up some tools that may be new to you, including LinkedIn.com.
Matt Scherer talks about the challenges of finding work when our skills may be rusty or even down right irrelevant on MySA.com: Mel Indyk: a man who could inspire other seniors to return to the work force. If you spend your day searching job boards and applying for work "through channels," you are going to experience a feeling of inadequacy. You’re going to let your age weigh on you. As a result, you are going to be a poor candidate.
But becoming a good job candidate doesn’t require retraining, plastic surgery or fudging your age. It requires you to look at the job search differently. You can do this. You can learn how to nurture a job search network using tools you are comfortable with such as e-mail.
A great place to start is this blog. The next step is to get a free copy of The Market for Me: Surviving Job Loss and Building Your Lifetime Career Network. This Emergency Edition is sponsored by CardboardResume.com.
What seniors do not realize is that they have the stuff that youngsters don’t- experience! Add to that a strong sense of self preservation that has kept them alive all these years, and the only thing you might be lacking is technology. Well, today’s technology, that is. I bet a good number of you can type, and there are still a few instances where a typwriter is needed. There are a lot of legacy systems out there- it doens’t matter what you fixed or sold; there will always be something out there that is so obsolete that still needs to work. The youngsters, I’ve watched them, they are lost. Where do I plug in my USB connector. Serial ports? Floppy disks? Please. For instance, I learned how to retrofit burglar alarm systems before everything went wireless. That was a talent that is largeley gone anymore, because the guys who know how to do it are all moved on. Find your niche- what was your racket- and find a way to make that work for you. These days there are a lot of the old publications posted on the internet because some other old coot like you used to work on them and didn’t want to worry about loosing them, or having them fall into peices even with gentle handling. Find that niche, and a kid who can take any new work you need to send them when the old stuff is so far gone it can’t work anymore. The kid may need to have whatever parts are left explained to him, as well as the wiring methods, or whatever is particular to your niche. Be prepared to hear the latest euphamism- “legacy” applied to you and what you propose to be the remaining expert in. maybe it’s computers, maybe it’s radios, maybe it’s an old filing system, or an old fire alarm panel. There’s plenty of it out there still, and the youngsters would love to just rip it out and start a new one. you know better, and that’s worth money.
Good luck in your searches!
What seniors do not realize is that they have the stuff that youngsters don’t- experience! Add to that a strong sense of self preservation that has kept them alive all these years, and the only thing you might be lacking is technology. Well, today’s technology, that is. I bet a good number of you can type, and there are still a few instances where a typwriter is needed. There are a lot of legacy systems out there- it doens’t matter what you fixed or sold; there will always be something out there that is so obsolete that still needs to work. The youngsters, I’ve watched them, they are lost. Where do I plug in my USB connector. Serial ports? Floppy disks? Please. For instance, I learned how to retrofit burglar alarm systems before everything went wireless. That was a talent that is largeley gone anymore, because the guys who know how to do it are all moved on. Find your niche- what was your racket- and find a way to make that work for you. These days there are a lot of the old publications posted on the internet because some other old coot like you used to work on them and didn’t want to worry about loosing them, or having them fall into peices even with gentle handling. Find that niche, and a kid who can take any new work you need to send them when the old stuff is so far gone it can’t work anymore. The kid may need to have whatever parts are left explained to him, as well as the wiring methods, or whatever is particular to your niche. Be prepared to hear the latest euphamism- “legacy” applied to you and what you propose to be the remaining expert in. maybe it’s computers, maybe it’s radios, maybe it’s an old filing system, or an old fire alarm panel. There’s plenty of it out there still, and the youngsters would love to just rip it out and start a new one. you know better, and that’s worth money.
Good luck in your searches!