By Nancy J. Peterson February 13th, 2009
The most recent poll taken on Workforce50.com yielded some interesting responses. When asked about the most important component of a job, our 50+ audience is pretty evenly split between pay and benefits and the work being interesting and challenging. Actually, the work being interesting and challenging is ever-so-slightly ahead in the polls but statistically not enough to distinguish percentage points. Both received just about 30% of the vote. So what does that say? It seems to indicate that older workers are keenly interested in the quality of their work and their need for rewarding and stimulating work. We can certainly interpret this to say that older workers do not enjoy working day to day just for a pay check. What they are actually doing and accomplishing during their hours of work is extremely important.
On the other end of the spectrum, it was somewhat surprising that only 2% of our respondents were interested in good opportunities for advancement. Done with the rat race, are they? Satisfied with letting the younger folks play “Who can rise to the corner office?”, are they? Does advancement come laden with responsibilities that are ultimately not satisfying to the older worker? Could it be that as we age we gain clarity about what is actually satisfying to the soul? And we have gained the wisdom and humility to say “enough is enough”?
Additional fodder for discussion: only about 18% of our poll takers declared that either coworkers and people or the ability to help people were their top choice for most important component of a job. Actually our respondents were much more interested in the location and proximity of their job to their home than to the people they work with or help. Hmm.
I’ve suggested only plausible interpretations of some of these poll responses. We would love to get feedback from our readers about their own interpretations.
Tags: Polls
Posted in Surveys | No Comments »
By Nancy J. Peterson January 22nd, 2009
I’m thrilled to be able to share this real story about job transition with our readers. Paul’s story is an inspiration to us all, particularly in a time of great uncertainty. In relaying his experiences about job transition, he touches upon a range of common issues: past experience, career direction, education, networking, persistance and fortitude, patience and handling rejection. And this is yet another great story that shatters those old myths about being too old to learn, not to mention demonstrating a real aptitude, and excitement, for computer technology. Kudos to Paul!
I was in the wholesale produce business from a youngster (family business) till age 59. Part of that career as an owner and part as an employee, so I experienced the whole gamut of business responsibilities. Throughout my career I was always interested in and took a hands on approach to anything related to Information Technology. Gradually, the middleman was being forced out of the wholesale produce arena, so by age 59 I was looking for a position related to but not actually in produce. Sales and management in particular. Although I had a plethora of business acumen, no positions appeared on the horizon that really held my interest.
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Tags: What we heard
Posted in Job Transition | 1 Comment »
By Gene Burnard September 30th, 2008
Last week was the annual National Employ Older Workers Week. Numerous newspaper and blog articles were written on the topic. Many local organizations conducted older worker career fairs.
I wonder just how effective these are in the current economy. But maybe, just maybe, this economy can be an opportunity for older workers.
A story I’ve told often. It was 1991 and my son Bryant graduated from Tufts University with an engineering degree. In the slow economy of that time, there were few jobs for new engineers. And he had none.
One day, shortly thereafter, he called me while standing in line at a job fair in Boston. His complaint to me was “I’ll never get a job here - most of the other job seekers in line were my (that’s me) age”. Needless to say it took me awhile to get my laughter under control. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Working Older
Posted in In the News | No Comments »
By Gene Burnard September 15th, 2008
It is on many peoples minds as they start moving towards retirement age, “Should I continue work?” I’m often asked by reporters doing articles on older workers “Do you see workers deferring retirement due to the current economic conditions?” My answer is consistently yes. Not only are workers continuing to work but many are returning to work after retirement. Besides economic there are many other reasons to continue or return to working.
Carleen Mackay has offered her version of 14 good reasons to return to work. First a little about Carleen. She has many credentials to her name. A few I’ll mention here. Carleen ’s web site is www.AgelessInAmerica.com She also publishes a bi -monthly newsletter “For the Mature Workforce”. She and Brad Taft are the co-publishers of the book, Boom or Bust, and their new book, Return of The Boomers, is now at the printers. Carleen is a sought after speaker and writer on issues of the mature work force from both the job seeker and employer views. The real good news is that Carleen has volunteered to be a guest writer on this blog. I’m excited to welcome Carleen to the team.
Following is the list of reasons to continue work:
1. You are programmed to live longer, much longer, than your parents lived.
In 1935 when Social Security benefits began, American men lived until 59 and women until 61. As you can see, few collected! Today’s numbers are 79 and 81. A difference of 20 years is a very long time to sit on your duff.
2. You are likely to suffer from nasty withdrawal if you abruptly leave the world of work.
A sudden change from full-time, demanding work to no work of any sort just may be your very worst option.
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Tags: Working Older
Posted in Job Seekers | 4 Comments »
By Nancy J. Peterson July 28th, 2008
I read a good number of the comments and inquiries that come into our customer service box from our older Job Seekers. There are definitely some themes and consistencies to what the over 50 job seekers are thinking about and dealing with.
This came in last week from a job seeker:
“I am frustrated that I cannot get a position that would capitalize on my marketing background,”… . “I am not doing what I am capable of doing and it is extremely fustrating.”
This is a very common frustration among older workers. Many have worked up through the ranks and their careers have either stalled or taken somewhat of a backward slide. They are capable of doing much more and they WANT to do much more. They WANT to work and work hard. There is no age limit on the desire to achieve.
My reaction is this. If you’re an employer, it would be silly not to recruit these experienced resources. Go forth and find an older overachiever! If you’re an older worker in a mid to upper level position, stay valuable, informed and up-to-date. Keep moving and let your commitment and achievements be known - constantly and subtly.
Tags: What we heard
Posted in Job Seekers | 1 Comment »
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