Jobs for Seniors

Six Tips for Seniors Seeking Employment

How can you find jobs for seniors? Lots of different ways... try this tips and resources provided by RetiredBrains.com, a free service for retired workers seeking employment.

Six Tips for Seniors Seeking Employment from RetiredBrains:

1. Register with temp firms in your local area as they don't care about age but are more interested in your skills and experience. Also if you get work through a temp firm it helps build your resume for future work assignments.

2. Try to get an interview with an employer you are not interested in working for to practice your interviewing skills. 

You don't want to go to your first interview in a long time with the employer you are really interested in working for and make easily correctable mistakes.

3. Consider having your resume re-written or updated by an expert as the resume you used years ago is no longer appropriate.

4. Put your resume up on those job boards that connect older workers with employers seeking to hire them. The largest and most effective are RetiredBrains.com, www.seniors4hire.org, and www.retirementjobs.com.

5. Look for temporary or project assignments as they are much more available than full-time jobs.

6. When applying for a job tell the employer you are willing to work on a project or temporary basis. This often gives you a leg up on younger workers or are often unable to accept this kind of employment. Temporary employment can often lead to full-time work.

Jobs most often filled by seniors

  • Executives & managers (project assignments)
  • Consultants Pharmacists (part-time & temporary)
  • Nurses & health care professionals (part-time & temporary)
  • Accountants (for tax season)
  • Chemists Researchers Call center & help desk
  • Customer service Inside sales/telemarketing
  • Cashiers Retail sales clerks (during the holidays)
  • Hotel/hospitality jobs like front desk & concierge
  • Bookkeepers
  • School bus drivers
  • Guards/security
  • Fast food and restaurant help

Why retirees need to seek employment AND why employers are interested in hiring them!

As researched by RetiredBrains.com, a destination for older boomers, seniors and retirees that contains a free job board connecting older workers with employers interested in hiring them, Inflation has eroded retiree purchasing power.

Housing values are down as are portfolio values and the huge costs of health care, even after Medicare kicks in, has prompted large numbers of retirees to seek ways to supplement their income. A couple retiring in 2008 who are both 65, will spend out of pocket an average of $252,000 during the combined remainder of their lifetimes.

At least one in four older Americans are either postponing their retirement or seeking to return to the workforce while 4 in 10 employers have designed programs to encourage late-career workers to stay past their traditional retirement age.

It seems both older workers and employers are on the same page here. It also looks like the situation can only get worse for employers as there are not enough Gen Xers to fill the jobs of the boomers who decide to retire in the coming years.

Article Provided by Art Koff, a Chicago resident and senior in his 70’s, who founded RetiredBrains.com in 2003 as a destination for older boomers, seniors and retirees. His website contains a free job board connecting older workers with employers interested in hiring them.

Art Koff is also the author of the reference guide: Invent Your Retirement.