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I'm 63 years old, lost my last permanent employment three and a half years ago, can almost always find at least part-time work, though a lot of it has been very dull -- amusement parks, call centers, and the like.
For the past year and a half, I've been employed in a distibution warehouse -- officially "part-time", but usually I get a full week. The hourly pay rate is the best I've seen in some time.
The shop advertises itself as a "fast pace" environment, and posts production standards which, being older than about 98 per cent of the work force, I seldom meet. The "unofficial" word is that they're looking the other way because I do get along well with "the kids" and having a few mature people around is good for the public image.
I'm grateful for that, of course, but I do have a good deal of experience in this line of work, and I get put off by the monotony and lack of challenge in the "Keep things simple but speed up the pace" policy which predominates here.
At present, it looks as if I can count on work through the Holiday season, and after that I have been offered a job as a tax preparer, which would set me up for Unemployment come April 15. But what I really want is a job with some degree of autonomy -- less micro-management and some flexibility in scheduling, if possible.
Resentment toward authority, and the phoniness and regimentation that goes with it, has always been the weakness I've had the most trouble overcoming. If I decide to wear a necktie to an interview, one of my real concerns is that I might have to wear the verdammt foible on a regular basis, and have to waste half the time clucking over Pictures of the Grandchildren.
So I'd appreciate any suggestions or comments; I'm not really that much of a grouch -- the public likes curmudgeons if they can come up with a smile now and then, But on more than one occasion in the past, a successful interview has led to a path down which I really didn't want to go not long after.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 08-17-2012 at 06:04 AM..
Consider starting your own business. It sounds like that given your age, experience level, and disdain for tedium and desire for autonomy, it seems like your best bet.
O K ... I need some sound advice.
I'm 63 years old, lost my last permanent employment three and a half years ago, can almost always find at least part-time work, though a lot of it has been very dull -- amusement parks, call centers, and the like.For the past year and a half, I've been employed in a distibution warehouse officially "part-time", but usually I get a full week. The hpurly pay rate is the best I've seen in some time.The shop advertises itself as a "fast pace" environment, and posts production standards which, being older than about 98 per cent of the work force, I seldom meet. The "unofficial" word is that they're looking the other way because I do get along well with "the kids" and having a few mature people around is good for the public image.I'm grateful for that, of course, but I do have a good deal of experience in this line of work, and I get put off by the monotony and lack of challenge in the "Keep things simple but speed up the pace" policy which predominates here.At present, it looks as if I can count on work through the Holiday season, and after that I have been offered a job as a tax preparer, which would set me up for Unemployment come April 15. But what I really want is a job with some degree of autonomy -- less micro-management and some flexibility in scheduling, if possible.Resentment toward authority, and the phoniness and regimentation that goes with it, has always been the weakness I've had the most trouble overcoming. If I decide to wear a necktie to an interview, one of my real concerns is that I might have to wear the verdammt foible on a regular basis, and have to waste half the time clucking over Pictures of the Grandchildren.So I'd appreciate any suggestions or commennts; I'm not really that much of a grouch -- the public likes curmudgeons if they can come up with a smile now and then, But on more than one occasion in the past, a successful interview has led to a path down which I really didn't want to go not long after.
If you are good working alongside young people what is wrong with the warehouse "management" team that they can't see you would make a great supervisor? Pushing you to "pick up the pace" is merely a ploy by management to get you to leave. I would toss out the suggestion to them that they keep you to manage a "team" of workers where you already are now.
If you are 63, I also believe you can file for your Social Security and continue to work up to 32 hours a week with minimal deductions in your Social Security. I applied for my Social Security early and was able to not work at all because my husband works..my reasons for drawing early? I had a huge medical event and was afraid after that happened to me that I wouldn't be able to draw it when I hit 65. I took a deduction but it wasn't alot.
Be prepared when you go out to look for work that if you do have a strong "office type background" and it is financial, that they are going to want you to work doing taxes type things..goes with the territory.
My advice? Try to stay where you are, work with the kids and keep law and order there. Go home at night without your head spinning full of numbers from doing taxes. Find a job that brings a smile to your face throughout the day with no headaches to take home with you. Better yet..look into RETIREMENT. It is pretty awesome!!
Consider starting your own business. It sounds like that given your age, experience level, and disdain for tedium and desire for autonomy, it seems like your best bet.
For the record, I started a sideline tax-prep business in my home town some thirty years ago .... and within a few years, was running myself ragged every spring. We even tried combining the tax agency with the local bus agency (another field with which I was familiar) but it was always a case of too many hours of work, too concentrated within one season, for too little cash.
The bus company eventually insisted on turning the operation over to a high school classmate of mine who ran a sub shop, and my business partner at the time helped me turn the tax work over to her mother, who srill runs it in retirement. Eventually, time and nature might impell us to take it back, (the partner deals in financial services via Primerica) but I know that affiliation with a blue-collar chain such as Jackson Hewitt would be one huge headache.
Admittedly, I'm too much of an introvert; once held, and was displaced from a very-much-enjoyed off-hours job as a railroad signalman -- conditions similar to those of the lighthouse-keeper stereotype. Internet retailing, information brokerage, or researching all sound interesting, and I believe my background would prove compatible, but solid leads on where to start are hard to come by.
If you're not people-oriented, then you'd better be technical. Sounds like you don't have any retirement, like me. Stock market can go to Hell.
At 59 I'm probably too old to be taken seriously as a tech, although I recently tested and got my CEH. But now I'm studying for my PMP (Project Management Professional), which is required for alot of high quality jobs around here. I guess my age would be an asset as a manager, although I'd better hone my people skills.
I have been out of work for 3 years at which time my last employer filed Chapter 7 and closed. I was 57 at that time and no one had any desire to hire me or part-time or full time. If you ask me your lucky that you have a partly full time job. I certainly wish I did and it's not for a lack of trying on my part.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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I got a job at the place I work now 3 years ago at age 57, and have since been promoted to manager. I have hired several since, one age 54 another 48. The average employee age is actually 49, so there are some worries about continuity but we continue to take the best, most qualified people and they tend to be older. The real question is whether you have experience and skills that are marketable. As important as they may be, neither railroad signalman nor tax preparer
is something many employers are looking for. What else have you done?
Consider starting your own business. It sounds like that given your age, experience level, and disdain for tedium and desire for autonomy, it seems like your best bet.
I was going to say something similiar. And, disdain for tedium and desire for autonomy, I don't consider bad things
I got a job at the place I work now 3 years ago at age 57, and have since been promoted to manager. I have hired several since, one age 54 another 48. The average employee age is actually 49, so there are some worries about continuity but we continue to take the best, most qualified people and they tend to be older. The real question is whether you have experience and skills that are marketable. As important as they may be, neither railroad signalman nor tax preparer
is something many employers are looking for. What else have you done?
Well, for starters, for two years I ran the finances of a struggling, franchised hotel on the fringes of a major military institution, for living quarters, plus a modest stipend and the opportunity to hustle some casual work on the side.
As is often the case, "the boss" was a recent immigrant (indian) who used the opportunity to get some of his family's wealth out of "the old country", but did not understand all the subtleties and nuances of the deteriorating portions of our economy. During those two years, I was an unwilling participant in three robberies (one at gunpoint), more dope busts than I care to remember, and a New Years Eve that ended with a gunfight in the parking lot - one dead, one wounded, and three on the way to the pen for up to 110 years. I got to know every cop ... and every creep ... in town.
When the hotel was sold and that opportunity played out, I packed the car and headed for the place viewed as most likely to use a displaced railroader -- Nebraska, I drove into Omaha on a Sunday morning, knowing absolutely no one, went temping the following Thursday, and was working as a road-service dispatcher within three weeks.
And when my trusty Ford Tempo bit the dust with 125000+ miles later, I paid a visit to the auto-dealer complex on 'L' Street, and emerged with a used Nissan covered-pickup, and a job as a courier -- 280 miles minimum to Norfolk and back every business day, plus the dispatching job on weekends. The Union Pacific never came up with anything, but I made ends meet until an opportunity developed back in the old neighborhood. And I can't put a value on the lessons learned in the process.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 08-25-2012 at 08:56 PM..
For the record, I started a sideline tax-prep business in my home town some thirty years ago .... and within a few years, was running myself ragged every spring. We even tried combining the tax agency with the local bus agency (another field with which I was familiar) but it was always a case of too many hours of work, too concentrated within one season, for too little cash.
The bus company eventually insisted on turning the operation over to a high school classmate of mine who ran a sub shop, and my business partner at the time helped me turn the tax work over to her mother, who srill runs it in retirement. Eventually, time and nature might impell us to take it back, (the partner deals in financial services via Primerica) but I know that affiliation with a blue-collar chain such as Jackson Hewitt would be one huge headache.
Admittedly, I'm too much of an introvert; once held, and was displaced from a very-much-enjoyed off-hours job as a railroad signalman -- conditions similar to those of the lighthouse-keeper stereotype. Internet retailing, information brokerage, or researching all sound interesting, and I believe my background would prove compatible, but solid leads on where to start are hard to come by.
I know a guy who makes a decent living selling stuff on ebay. Might be food for thought.
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