What do you picture yourself doing after retirement? Sitting somewhere on a beach soaking your toes in the sand? Sitting at home tinkering around with small projects?
What about taking on a second career? Maybe it’s a long-forgotten childhood passion, or maybe there’s a skill you always wanted to learn but never had the time for. Whatever it is, 60% of workers who are over 60 planned to take a new job after retiring, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey. surveyed said they would look for a new job after retiring from their current company, up from 57 percent last year.
If you’re an older worker who wants a new job, you know there’s ageism in the workplace. Approximately 64% of older worker report facing some level of age discrimation — even though the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 explicitly prohibits such discrimination.
So you know what you’re up against but don’t let that diminish your dream! Here are some tips to help you land a new job when it’s time for an encore career.
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Set up a LinkedIn profile
LinkedIn has become all the rage for finding a job these days. There are tons of recruiters looking for you on LinkedIn, but you should be careful about adding them as connections if you are trying to be discreet about your job search. When your boss and coworkers see you suddenly added five recruiters as connections they are going to know exactly what you are up to.
Don’t overlook the power of face-to-face networking
Nobody likes to be asked for a job, but everybody loves to give advice. So identify some key people in the industry you want to move to and see if you can set a face-to-face meeting with them. Interview them for their career advice. Also, don’t overlook the possibilities of doing internships or job shadowing.
The beauty of networking is that most jobs are filled by hirers who are likely to bring in someone they know or know of for an interview. A friend of a friend, a colleague of a colleague. People think that networking is passé. No way! It will get you in the door. Sometimes that’s all you need to shine.
Find cheap ways to invest in re-education
Udacity has a solution to the skills gap that is leaving millions of high-paying jobs unfilled: They’ll guarantee you a job or your money back. They offer hot tech degrees like app developer, web developer and others. The Nanodegree Plus coursework they offer has been designed in conjunction with major employers like Google, Facebook, AT&T, Amazon and many others based on the needs they’re anticipating among new hires in the coming years.
The entire program through Udacity costs $299 per month and typically takes six to nine months to complete. So the total bill is around $2,700. But here’s the amazing thing: If you complete the degree, you get 50% of your tuition back, according to USA TODAY. Furthermore, if you can’t find a job in your field within six months, the entire $2,700 is refunded to you!
Read more: Get a tech degree that lands you a job — or your money back!
Consider an internship
What’s old is new again with the world of apprenticeships. The basic idea behind apprenticeships is that students/apprentices learn a trade or skill by doing. While apprenticeships used to be a very common way for people to train for a wide variety of professions, the apprenticeship model fell out of fashion as higher education became ubiquitous.
But now apprenticeships are back with a vengeance. If you are interested in the trades, you can start by tracking down the relevant trade organization or union’s website for more information on apprenticeships offered or endorsed by that organization. Additionally, the Department of Labor website has a searchable database powered by Glassdoor that is searchable by geographic region. Because the DOL coordinates with state apprenticeship agencies, your state government website may have a similar tool.
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