If you’re planning a career change, or thinking about working in your “retirement” years, here’s a list of resources to help you get going. I’ll update and tweak as time goes by, but figured this was a terrific time to give you some tools for your search.
Job-hunting sites for Older Boomers
〇. The AARP biennial list of Best Employers for Workers Over 50 is a good place to start. At the top of the most recent chart: Cornell University, First Horizon National Corp and National Institutes of Health. A new one is due out this year.
. AARP’s work site is filled with info on job hunting, working after retirement, self-employment and more. I write a monthly column called Great Jobs for Retirees for the site.
. Encore.org is a site is published by Civic Ventures, a nonprofit think tank on boomers, work and social purpose. It provides free, comprehensive information that helps people transition to jobs in the nonprofit world and the public sector.
. Enrge.us: The Employment Network for Retirement Government Experts helps retired government employees-federal, state and local– find new employment.
. ExecSearches Job board focuses on government, nonprofit, education and health openings.
. Execunet.com: Network of senior-level retired executives
. LinkedIn Jobs. Search for jobs and contacts at potential employers at this social networking spot.
. Prime CB –Careerbuilder’s section for experienced workers.
. RetiredBrains.com Art Koff, 75, a retired ad executive, is the dynamo behind this online job board that connects to thousands of jobs for for those over-50. It’s also a resource center on other retirement-related issues, from continuing education to healthcare to dealing with grief.
. Retirementjobs.com Site is geared toward 50+ job seekers.
Nonprofit websites
. Ashoka.org: Ashoka Fellows are provided with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than sixty countries.
. Boardnetusa.org: For individuals interested in board service. Might get your foot in the door.
. Bridgestar.org: Nonprofit job board listings and more
. Change.org: Search for jobs with nonprofit organizations; there’s a specific section for experienced workers called “Sector Switchers
. Experiencecorps: Experience Corps, an award-winning national program, engages people over 55 in meeting their communities’ greatest challenges. 2,000 Experience Corps members tutor and mentor in 20 cities across the country, providing literacy coaching, homework help, consistent role models and committed, caring attention.
. Idealist: This site, a project of Action Without Borders, lists job, internship and volunteer opportunities.
. PeaceCorps.gov: Volunteering at age 55 + spot overseas in areas such as education, health, business, and information and communication technology.
. Philanthropy.com/jobs: listing of jobs primarily in foundations
. Senior Service America Non-profit agency runs federally funded programs that put people 55+ into temporary or full-time jobs with local, state and federal government agencies
. The Nonprofit Times has a fast-growing job board for jobseekers.
General information
. Sloan Center on Aging and Work. Boston College-based think tank conducts original research and maintains an extensive library on age-related subjects.
. If you’re curious about the occupations Northeastern University predicts will have the most job openings for older workers in the coming decade, check out After the Recovery: Help Needed. Some of the top choices: Primary, secondary and special education teachers, registered nurses, home health aides, and clergy.
. Thetransitionnetwork.org. Resources for women over 50 in transition.
. What’snext.com. Focus on career coaches and mid-life job transition
. SBA.org: complete small-business resources from loans to franchising to tips on starting a small company, from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
. Score.org: a nonprofit association dedicated to educating entrepreneurs and the formation, growth, and success of small business nationwide
. StartupNation.com: a site dedicated to small-business groups
Books:
The Big Shift: Navigating The New Stage Beyond Mid-Life (Public Affairs) and Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life by Marc Freedman. Freedman is the founder and CEO of the think tank Civic Ventures and cofounder of Experience Corps, the nation’s largest nonprofit national service program for Americans over fifty-five. You can read some thoughts from Freedman in my Forbes 2011 Retirement Guide story, Writing New Chapters.
Composing a Further Life (Knopf) by Mary Catherine Bateson In her latest book, the famed anthropologist focuses on the newly emerging period of active engagement that falls roughly between 55 and 70. She calls this period Adulthood II. It’s when you “reflect that you have done much of what you hoped to in life but it is not too late to do something more or different,” she writes. “The doorway to this new stage of life is not filing for Social Security but thinking differently and continuing to learn. Here’s a conversation I had with Bateson for SecondAct.com.
Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (Broadway Books) Who doesn’t want to know how to make a successful change? Chip Heath and Dan Heath have hit on a universal quest in their latest book. We all want, or need, to change from time to time. Sometimes it’s minor tweaking. For others, it requires massive transformation. Here’s myUSA Today review.
The Hard Times Guide to Retirement Security: Practical Strategies for Money, Work, and Living by Mark Miller (Bloomberg Press/Wiley) Miller is an expert on aging and retirement, writes the syndicated weekly column, “Retire Smart,” and publishes RetirementRevised.com. Miller offers ways to build long-term retirement security and boost knowledge on a broad array of topics from money issues, such as 401 (k) plans and managing health care expenses to ways to navigate the 50-plus job market. Here’s my USA Today review.
Test-Drive Your Dream Job A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding and Creating the Work You Love by Brian Kurth (BusinessPlus) The founder of VocationVacations offers a guide to finding mentors and your own dream job. Kurth’s book is an offshoot of his everyday business. Based in Portland, Oregon, his company lets you get a taste of what it might be like to be a butcher, baker, or candlestick maker, and much more.
What’s Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job by Kerry Hannon (Chronicle Books) This is a collection of inspiring career switcher profiles. It’s an essential guide to anyone hoping to pull off a midlife reinvention or looking for a job that brings meaning to their lives and those whose lives they touch.
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