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If you have the spare time and no one will hire you can start a business or make your own job whichever way you see it. You can offer Legal and Identity Theft plans to individuals or businesses. When no one will hire you at some point you have to take matters into your own hands.
As per board rules I don't even know if this post is ok but people are asking about making income and options. So if anyone is interested I can give any information you may want per pm and get you up and running real quick.
I can guarantee at least from myself and the company your age won't be an issue. The only limitations will be those you put on yourself. You want a chance, will here it is.
The government is going to concussion summit's for the NFL to discuss helmets and yet we have people who are 50 yrs old being targeted by employers. It's a disgrace.
Employers will start serving up bad reviews each time they have a review until they have enough to fire them so they can hire in the new grads and save money.
Where is the goverment? Where are the Unions?
Well, if you're reading CD's prolific posters who express nothing but hatred for both government AND unions then you'd see where the public's sentiment lies. This anti union, anti government stance comes from propaganda being carried out by those with the most to gain from the failure of unions and government, that would be big corporations , and they would love to return to the days of human slavery and total control over the government. Both government and unions ultimately the creation of federal labor laws and the rights of workers to join unions.
When I was laid off at age 50, I struggled for three years to get a decent paying full time permanent job. My competition was much younger than I. So I returned to school and got whatever part time jobs I could find to exist. My school got me one that lasted a year. Agism is real and there is a huge difference between being laid off and still having to work in order to survive and working just to supplement retirement income for extras or to keep busy. I think some people here are not appreciating the difference.
Many retirees were forced out before they could afford to quite working. They have to work. They find themselves in a job market in competition with younger people who more than likely will be chosen first for the job. That's just the way it is. I was fortunate to finally find an employer who valued age and experience over youth.
Another factor in the situation is where one lives. In some cities the competition for jobs is much greater than others. Young people compete fiercely with one another for the few available jobs. Often they are the fast food or retail jobs that others are vying for just to supplement incomes. But often they jobs people have to take just to survive. Older people entering this arena have a much more difficult battle.
Everyone is competing for work these days. I think age plays a role in that competition. So does the profession one is in, the location, skills and education. But by and large, I would say that of all these things, employers are far more quick to let older people go than they are to hire them.
Most people over 60 (especially those over 65) are not going to pass for under-50. Unless perhaps they have the money to invest in botox and/or facelifts as well as the Miss Clairol or Grecian Formula. Employers are not quite that stupid, lol.
I agree wholeheartedly with those who say that if you are over 60, your chances of finding a job are essentially zero unless you (a) have at least a 4-year college degree, preferably something relevant and/or (b) have not been unemployed for longer than 6 mos to 1 year. And often not even then.
I've been told by a number of employment counselers that I am essentially unemployable: mid-60s, only a 2-year college degree in liberal arts, and have been out of work for about 4 years. Two of those years were taken up fighting cancer, which left me with side effects that prevent me from doing any of the type of work that I have experience in. Can't sit in a chair for extended periods, can't be on my feet for extended periods either. The best I can ever hope for (ha) would be a part-time job a couple of days a week that is neither all-standing (such as retail) or all-sitting (such as at a desk) at minimum wage which in NY is $7.25/hr. Good luck finding anything like that, lol. And with gasoline currently at $4+/gallon, such a job would likely only pay for my cost to drive there and back!
I can't do any job that requires normal hearing (such as driving a school bus) because I'm 80% deaf in one ear (which a hearing aid would not help) and have tinnitus in both ears which prevents the use of a headset or earpiece.
Completely agree! Even when I could afford it (and I certainly can't now) I never had any desire to masquerade as being younger than I am. WYSIWYG! :-D
Same experience here, even before the cancer/aftermath wiped out my ability to do "normal" work. I once went on an interview for a job at a local florist for a part-time front-desk job. Despite my having decades of horticultural experience, both as a gardener, writer and editor, you know who they ended up hiring? Some empty-headed twentysomething who wouldn't know a protea from a petunia, but she had long eyelashes and a short skirt, lol
Sounds like YOU made yourself unemployable. While I'm sorry you are in the situation, your defeatist attitude, unwillingness to adapt and lack of commitment to education have contributed to your situation. You have an excuse for every opportunity and lots of reasons why you CAN'T, with few or no reasons why you CAN. The good news is that these events happen to everyone so you are in the company of lots of younger people who have similar answers for every offered idea.
Sorry, but I don't see this happening in my area. We have lots of retired folks working part time jobs around here. However, I am sure this varies with location. Texas is a growing area. That makes a big difference.
Try Craigslist. Or create your own business/job/service.
One other hint I've often given to job seekers: Look for the jobs most people don't want. Odd hours/ late shift/weekends. Or jobs that are messy and dirty. Jobs that have inconvenient or irregular hours. Good luck.
These facts are going to change the face of Texas and most other states along the the Mexican border. We are going to feel it here up north because DC is the mother teat and all come hungry.
How many of you are happy to be retired but would love a great part time job for a little extra income cut have not got anywhere getting one?[/QUOTE]
This is the last line in the original post. It's what many of us are addressing.
Keeping busy, getting out of the house, keeping your mental and social skills sharp, and making enough money to make it worth while to you are some of the reasons people choose to work after they retire.
That is certainly different from needing to work in order to provide oneself with a living.
The original post addresses both of these issues. I don't think anyone means to make light of the difficulty in finding or maintaining a career as we get older.
Sorry, but I don't see this happening in my area. We have lots of retired folks working part time jobs around here. However, I am sure this varies with location. Texas is a growing area. That makes a big difference.
Try Craigslist. Or create your own business/job/service.
One other hint I've often given to job seekers: Look for the jobs most people don't want. Odd hours/ late shift/weekends. Or jobs that are messy and dirty. Jobs that have inconvenient or irregular hours. Good luck.
Yes it does vary with location. Where I am living now, that is for the next few days after which I will be relocating, these jobs are those most sought after by young people relocating here in droves. Older folks don't have a chance at them. As an example, a local Kroger store in my area that has one stop shopping, traditionally hired an older person as a greeter. For the past five years or so, a young person now has this job.
It was never unusual to find a person who appeared to be of retirement age or even someone in their forties to work at a fast food restaurant. Nowadays it's pretty rare. They are almost always young employees. Irregular or inconvenient hours? There is no such thing as long as it generates a paycheck.
I realize this isn't the situation in all cities but it is true of many like mine. Friends who are 50 and older are clinging to their jobs hoping those jobs will last until they can retire. I have a couple of friends who have been let go due to cutbacks, layoffs for whatever reasons probably their age and others who are being threatened with layoffs down fairly soon. No one is safe. The older you get, the more difficult it is to reestablish yourself.
I am not being gloom and doom just for the sake of being gloom and doom. I have been there. I worked hard to pull myself up out of it. I am not just sitting back and throwing out suggestions off the top of my head without personal experience.
If the OP thought the people at the over 60's job fair were depressing, at least they were at the fair and that meant they were trying to help themselves in their situation. So good for them.
As others have said, I'm sure the situation varies by location.
Since I intentionally picked a tourist area for retirement so that I'd have some work to do part of each year, I was happy to find that there are LOTS of seasonal jobs here. I was offered two jobs without even having to apply - I had just mentioned to anyone I met that I'd be willing to do something during tourist season, and I was directly approached by two different employers. I took one of the jobs, and found that my co-workers are all either fellow retirees or young people in college. The pay IS poor, though. And my feet hurt! I really would rather be fishing. Next tourist season I doubt if I'll take any job.
It doesn't make any sense to me to just "send resumes out" to find a job. Young people on CD write about doing that, and I just can't see that it's ever a good way to find work. Seems to me that it's the same whether you're young or old - you're more much likely to find a job by directly talking with people and spreading the word that you're willing to work than by any other method.
As others have said, I'm sure the situation varies by location.
Since I intentionally picked a tourist area for retirement so that I'd have some work to do part of each year, I was happy to find that there are LOTS of seasonal jobs here. I was offered two jobs without even having to apply - I had just mentioned to anyone I met that I'd be willing to do something during tourist season, and I was directly approached by two different employers. I took one of the jobs, and found that my co-workers are all either fellow retirees or young people in college. The pay IS poor, though. And my feet hurt! I really would rather be fishing. Next tourist season I doubt if I'll take any job.
It doesn't make any sense to me to just "send resumes out" to find a job. Young people on CD write about doing that, and I just can't see that it's ever a good way to find work. Seems to me that it's the same whether you're young or old - you're more much likely to find a job by directly talking with people and spreading the word that you're willing to work than by any other method.
Anyway, good luck, OP!
Very smart! You have the right idea for anyone looking for a job. These days the lines are blurred and I don't believe there is much difference between those who are looking for just a job to supplement retirement funds and those who are looking for a job with an entire paycheck to support them. People in need of work will take anything and often use several lower paying jobs when they can't get one that will give them enough to pay the bills. Young or old it doesn't matter except I think it's more difficult to get hired when one is over 50.
The best way for anyone to get a job is to network. I see that time and time again and that is how I have gotten just about all of my jobs. With my last one, I was turned down twice by HR but when a friend who worked at the company told her supervisor about me, I got an interview directly with the suprevisor and she immediately contacted HR and told them she wanted me.
Of course, there are other ways to get work. Sending out a resume in response to an ad is okay but sending out resumes blindly is a waste of time.
One suggestion I have that works is to sign up with a temporary employment agency. Often the temp job works into a permanent job. That's how people wound up being hired in my department at my former place of employment. We had all sorts of people coming in including retirees. These were entry level jobs that paid pretty well for lower level clerical work.
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