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If you thought you would be hired full time to head a department, you will not, unless you are a licenced plumber or electrician, but that doesn't mean you can't wheedle your way in.
No I was only looking for PT and yes I do have a license in one of the building trades.
Their loss, I was just looking for a PT job so I could use my experience to help out do it yourselfers.
I've retired twice and went back both times. First time I was retired for about a year and a half and one day the phone rang, asking if I was interested in coming to work for that company........I did, and it lasted over a year till they closed that location.
Then I took 3 years off and got bored, so I applied for a part time job. That has now evolved into 42 hours a week, and I love it. I feel more alive and the extra money lets me play with my toys more.
My neighbor retired from Kaiser Permanente as a Social Worker (MSW), and was bored within two weeks. She went back to work at the same facility on a per diem basis.
My son's father in law was a retired electrician, and got a PT position at his local Home Depot. They were thrilled to have an experienced electrician working there.
As others have said, it comes down to the person's work experience matching the needs of employers.
I am nearly 63 and lost my job a few months ago due to a new boss who did not want a remote employee - even though I'd been doing the job on a telecommuting basis for 6 1/2 yrs with stellar reviews. AARP says that the non-profit sector is a great place for older workers. That's where most of my experience has been. Even though my resume doesn't have specific timelines for all of my prior positions, it's not hard to do the math. I've gotten very few interviews for jobs in my local area, most of which I have been well qualified for.... in the non-profit sector among others.
I finally got interviewed for the two most recent openings I applied for and am in the running for one. In the best of circumstances, it's hard when you are over 60. The best advice I've gotten and will pass on... be yourself and stay positive.
It appears that my father is likely to stay retired. Because most of the success stories are people who go onto temp or low wage part time work or have some type of contacts that call them and offer them a job without a formal interview, etc. Where the older worker struggles is applying online and being considered during a formal interview and being passed over by a younger worker.
You never said what he field of work or what he's rally looking for....
Interesting...I read the stories of people who got work as encouraging......you seem to have read them and just because those situations aren't EXACTLY like your dad's found them DIScouraging.
Why can't your dad go the temp route?
Why can't your dad network? Networking doesn't have to be with just his former work contacts. How about church/synagogue people, neighborhood contacts, social contacts, community center contacts?
How about volunteering to get in the floor some place?
How about working odd jobs, or just picking up piece meal work, or having private clients.
If, at 65 and more than a year since retirement -- he wants to go back to a corporate office, THAT is NOT likely. BUT that's not the same as FINDING WORK.
This is just a story, not meant as advice or "you could do this too." My father retired to Florida in 1973, into the terrible inflation of the 1970's. He had SS and a non-COLA'd pension which quickly shriveled, and he also had a wife and kid (me) to support. He had expected that SS, pension, and having a paid-for house and some savings would be enough...but ugly surprise, they weren't. At about age 66 (I don't remember exactly) he decided he had to get a job. He couldn't stand on his feet all day, so hardware stores etc. were off the table for him.
He got a full-time job that he kept until his mid-70's - night manager for a fancy apartment complex for wealthy Old people, mostly widows. All of them quite a bit older than my mother. Basically, he sat in an office from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., answering the phone and waiting for one of the widows to call him to fix something in her apartment - they were so spoiled, they couldn't even change their own light bulbs, let alone un-clog a toilet. Early in the shift, some of them would come down to the office and basically flirt with Dad. He told us funny stories about the Old ladies, how they never learned to drive and relied on taxis, and especially how much they drank...apparently some of them could really put away the alcohol! Mom and I went over there now and then to visit Dad at work. We met a few of the ladies and they seemed really nice.
I have no idea how much/little he was paid, but it was enough to keep us going, and he really seemed to like it. As he used to say, it was great for catching up on his reading. He had a little TV in the office, too.
Just a memory, and perhaps an idea, if these types of jobs still exist.
Another argument for getting a union trade. I've seen guys leave the business for ten years, come back as basically old men, and get sent out to work right away. Can they hack it? Not usually. But that's what young partners are for. I got saddled with one of these coots myself busting rivets in 2002. He supplied me with vicodin and stories and wisdom and I did the work.
I know several people in this situation. Although they are factory workers and in Tennessee where the economy remains a disaster, most never got back into the labor force in any decent respect.
Once you're out of the corporation (whichever corporation that is), it's not easy going back. It's not just age per se. It's also 'if he left once, he'll leave again'. Not an unreasonable assumption.
Some might assume that, but I know people in the 60+ range retire and then go back to work full time and stay for a number of years. These were people who had been in management, above the supervisory level, and they were excellent employees.
One man (private company) started a company of his own in the same specialized business as he had been in, and used to field phone calls while he was on the beach in the Hamptons. His old company or a competitor wanted him, so he went back to work full time (in his 60's) as VP, I think, with one caveat: he refused to ever wear a tie again, and he instituted a no-tie policy in the office. He really loved his career.
Sometimes people just need to take a break after 30+ years and then they go back refreshed and better than ever.
Last edited by SFBayBoomer; 07-11-2015 at 08:06 PM..
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