I’m Retired. How Do I Get Back to the Workforce?

If you are like me and so many others, your own thoughts derailed your job search before you began.  “They won’t hire me.  I’m too old” or “I know I’m overqualified for this” or “who wants to hire their gramma?”  The senior job search is a new art and before you begin your hunt there are a number of things to think about.

What kind of a job do you really want?

Do you want full time or part time?

What kind of income is acceptable?

Is there a certain time of day you want to work?

Are there things you need to learn or skills you need to develop?

What industry do you want to work in?

Are you ready for something brand new?

These may seem like simple questions but when you are starting over – again – you really do need to think about your new profile.

The first thought for many is immediately returning to the same career they left but I’m here to tell you that ship has probably sailed – if you wanted to stay on that boat the time to have considered this strategy was when you were working through your exit plan.  And by the way, if you were thinking about returning as a consultant, it’s mighty hard 2 or 3 years after the fact.  This is the ideal time to reinvent yourself and do something amazing!

Your vast experience, knowledge and wisdom are important and what I consider high-value assets.  Assets that could be deployed in a number of ways.  From work, volunteering, mentoring, board positions, or even entrepreneurship, it’s time to start looking at work in a whole new way through a new set of lenses. Wisdom workers are the hottest thing on the market today.  And I know this to be true as I act as an agent to broker their brilliance!

If finding work as an “elder” is more challenging than you thought, or if you would like to explore what’s possible,  you should consider becoming one of our Silver Seals and prepare yourself for the most exciting 20 years you could have imagined!