What do you do when the reality of your dream is not what you expected?
Retirement. The day we pine for when the kids are safely established in their own lives, our pension kicks in and we can leave our jobs and head for an idyllic lifestyle. But a lot can go awry after the goodbye party is over, your co-workers are back at their desks and the confetti has settled to the floor.
Life changes explode in front of you - a partner's passing, a health setback, divorce, financial worries. Or you simply do not like the hours of time stretching in front of you like an empty highway. Hobbies are nice. Coffee gatherings are fun. Travel is broadening. But there's just something missing. A challenge? A paycheck?
Let's think about some of the ways seniors are launching second or even third careers well into their 60s and sometimes beyond. You can be an entrepreneur and turn your hobby into something bigger. If you love to sew, create fashion accessories and market them at Ebay or at craft fairs. Create your own Web site. If you can't stay out of your work shop, come up with an irresistible product, make it better than anyone else does and sell it through classified ads.
You can become a consultant, using skills you acquired in your former career or polish your expertise in another area, like parenting. Think outside the box and market your services to young parents who find that children aren't born with operators' manuals.
Many older adults have found success selling their consulting services back to the company they retired from. Like this - you were a computer guru at work, now you can go back, get hired as a contractor at a higher pay rate and work part-time teaching others to do what you did.
The key ingredient to thriving when you're self-employed, no matter what scale your operation is, is getting your product or service to the marketplace. In long ago times, there were village markets in every community where vendors gathered to meet with consumers. Everyone was on an equal footing - you set up your wagon, yelled out the name of your product, and anyone interested would come to you, money in hand.
Now, you have to find your "niche," figure out who would be a good user of your product, create interest and excitement, do a fantastic job, and charge reasonable prices. A tall order, but not impossible.
There are dozens of excellent books on small business selling and marketing skills. You can take entrepreneurial courses in almost every community college. Experts and consultants are available to mentor you. Still, you must have the desire to sell or market yourself, and the ability (a learned talent, I might add - one anyone can learn).
If the thought of providing goods or services to consumers tickles you, but the thought of spending more than 50% of your work time marketing leaves you panic stricken - you might think about hiring someone to do the selling. Or you might consider working for someone else.
There are dozens of companies who not only welcome older workers, they actively seek us out. Why? Well, someone once observed that the baby boomers are the tender generation. That is, we tender show up. We tender do a good job. We tender have meaningful experience.
According to a Wall Street Journal report by Kristi Essick, called Help Wanted, some good resources for elders seeking jobs include:
Your Encore. They connect major employers like Proctor and Gambel with people "ready to apply years of experience and talent from a lifetime of creative problem solving".
Senior Job Bank. For the U.S. and Canada. This might be the granddaddy of senior job resources. It's been around for about eight years and posts hundreds of thousands of job openings.
Seniors 4 Hire. It's a nationwide online site for U.S. job seekers 50+ to find jobs with businesses that value diversity and recruit older workers.
Dinosaur Exchange. You gotta love the name, eh? A quirky site, based in England. It can sometimes take a while to connect to it. Give it a try.
Here's one more - Travel Jobs.
No matter your direction, research before you leap. You have a lot to offer in the marketplace. You deserve respect, excellent compensation, and lots of recognition. In your parents' day, people fretted that getting a job once you hit, say, 45 years-old was tough. No one wanted a has-been. In today' market place, sheer numbers of baby boomers have changed the environment. Age and experience are sought after, prized. If an organization you approach seems unaware of that, move on and don't look back. It's their loss.
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