unemployed and over fifty

Best jobs in 2012

2012-01-22T05:25:00.000-08:00

This time of the year you will probably find quite a few articles on the best jobs of the year. Despite the bad economy 2012 will be no different although many of the jobs will sound familiar such as health care and technology. Besides best jobs there are also the stressful jobs and the top jobs for women. They are definitely worth checking out.

From AOL: Best bets for jobs in 2012. The list starts out with biomedical engineering that should reach job growth rates of over 72 percent between 2008 and 2012. Engineering is always a good bet for job growth. Two of the top ten are in technology while the other positions are filled with retail, customer service and three entries with the health care industry. Retail comes in at number 10.
Forbes has a list of the most stressful jobs in 2012. Not surprisingly the top spot enlisted military soldier followed by firefighter and airline pilot. The rest of the list is Military general, police officer, event coordinator, public relations executive, C EO, photojournalist and taxi driver. I thought that a taxi driver would have been a little higher up on the list.
Monster.com has a best job list for 2012 as well. The first listed is an actuary, who helps determine insurance rates. It pays very well at 137,000 although I can imagine that it would probably take a while to get to that level. A security consultant Is next on the list followed by a physician’s assistant. It seems that you see more and more physician’s assistants in doctor’s offices which is probably why it is on the list. The last three are marketing consultant, biomedical engineer, and financial planner. (there was only six on the list)
Forbes also has a list for the top jobs of 2012 for women. The top position goes to secondary education which should have a 15% growth rate in the coming years. Anthropologist is the second on the list which is surprising because I ever remember it ever being on any top job list that I have seen. But I imagine that it would be very rewarding but the number of openings wouldn’t be that great. The rest of the list also has some interesting choices as well such as oceanographer, clergy and geoscientists.
CareerBuilder.com also has a list that is pretty much the same as the one from AOL

Older workers competing for jobs

2012-01-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

No one has to tell you that the competition for available jobs is fierce. Employers that are hiring find that they have plenty of folks vying to work for them. Just having the experience and the education wouldn’t really guarantee anything unless you are in a field that seems to always have job openings like the health industry or some technology fields. And if you are older and competing for jobs than you might think that your experience will win out over younger job seekers, of course that isn’t always the case.

What advantages does the older worker have?

Experience is probably the biggest advantage that older workers have and that isn’t just pertaining to work it also includes life experience that is gained by being in the workforce for so many years. they are seen a lot over the years and that makes them a valuable asset to any company.

Reliability is another feather in the hat of older workers. They see the whole picture and understand how important it is to be considered as someone who can be relied on. They know and appreciate that work is important.

A common misconception is that older workers are too set in their ways to learn anything new. That’s nonsense just because they have become a little older that doesn’t mean that they can’t learn anymore. There are lots of older folks that are going back to school today.

Just remember that you have a lot to offer any employer no matter what age you are.

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Fresh start to your job search

2012-01-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Another year ends and hopefully the one that just ended was a great one. You accomplished what you wanted and you were satisfied. You found that job that you wanted too. That doesn’t sound like last year does it? Well the New Year is upon us and as always the first thing that you need to do is stay positive because you have to believe that 2012 is your year of accomplishments! This is the year that you will find that job that you are looking for.

Forget 2011?

Well you don’t want to completely forget last year you need to remember enough to learn from it. You might have found some things that didn’t work very well and other things that were beneficial during the year. The key is not to dwell on the bad things or mistakes that occurred.

Start 2012 with a plan

You probably already have a job search plan but now is the time to reevaluate it. Are you spending too much time in one area and not enough in another? Maybe this year you can concentrate a little more networking and leaving your comfort zone. Or even a little creativity in your resume might also help.

You should also reexamine what type of work that you want to do. Are you heading in the right direction or is it time to change your course?

The New Year is a wonderful time to restart your job search with vigor and optimism.

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Worker shortages

2012-01-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

It’s hard to believe that there some companies that have a hard time filling positions in this economy. Unemployment has been high for several years and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon so you wouldn’t think that finding workers would be that much of a problem. And the problem isn’t just in the United States it’s all over the world. Every year Manpower conducts a global survey to determine the degree of talent shortage. This year was quite surprising.

Why are there worker shortages?

It basically comes down to skills and experience for the right employment fields. Unfortunately the folks who are unemployed usually don’t have the right skills or experience to fill the vacant jobs of some employers. Certainly education and training can help but getting experience, as most folks know, is tricky since most employers wouldn’t hire someone that doesn’t have any experience, they want someone to fit in immediately into a job position. It is an old dilemma for job seekers.

What jobs need workers?

According to manpower the number one employment shortage is finding technicians which has lead the list for the past four years, followed by sales representative and skilled workers. South and North America are the leading regions of needed employees.

How to fix all this?

If there was an easy fix to this problem it would have be done years ago. Everyone knows that some jobs are difficult to fill and they probably also know that education and training would greatly reduce the talent shortage. The problem of lack of experience is probably the biggest problem and the hardest to deal with especially if companies don’t hire people right out of school.

Hopefully in the near future education will be directed to fill employment gaps and employers will give inexperienced workers a shot.

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North Dakota Boom Town

2011-12-25T08:09:00.000-08:00

Are you adventurous and wanting to take a chance for a high paying job, then you need to head toward North Dakota! Like the gold rush days of California, job seekers are moving north to hopefully find employment and a big paycheck. And like the gold rush days, there will be challenges to overcome before you discover the mother lode of big money.

Not everyone can just up and move to find a job. If you have a family with ties to a community through schools or relatives then it might be terribly difficult to sever that connection. But if you are young and without obligations then moving might be for you, of course if you are older without obligations it would work for you as well.

In the western part of North Dakota oil, two billion gallons in reserve, creates thousands of jobs not only in the oil fields but in the non-oil producing economy. While large numbers of folks have raced to North Dakota to find work they also have found that it is very hard to find a place to live because they small town there are equipped for the number of folks moving in. While there is a housing shortage there is also the problem of overcrowding which leads to a strain on public utilities and traffic jams.

How long will the good times last in North Dakota? No one really knows for sure but it should be around for quite a while but the jobs will probably be filled up a lot faster.

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The reality of retirement jobs

2011-12-18T05:00:00.000-08:00

In case you haven’t heard the economy is not doing too well and although there are signs that things are getting a little better a full recovery could take quite a while. And even after that “recovery” things wouldn’t be like they used to. A good many types of jobs that existed 20 or 30 years ago will probably vanish due to either outsourcing or technology changes of course that’s not to say that there wouldn’t be new jobs being created. But with those new jobs comes new skills that need to be learned. If you are retirement age you have also realized that the money that you have saved up probably wouldn’t be enough to live the life that you want to live. So what do you do? Get a retirement job.

When folks talk about retirement jobs that are referring to employment fields that they weren’t in prior to their official retirement, you know jobs where you make a little money without the stress. Retirement jobs don’t have to be full time, in fact if you are on social security you can only work so many hours.

When you consider a retirement job think about what type of job you would like to do. Is it something where you are helping out folks? Maybe a caregiver job would be ideal to make a few extra dollars and you would be helping someone else out at the same time. Or are you interested in meeting new people, working part time in a store whether it is small or large is a great way to meet folks.

You can also try temp services where you wouldn’t be doing the same thing over and over again. The temp services also allow you to work whenever you want.

Another option is to volunteer, although you wouldn’t get paid you will certainly have the benefit of helping others out.

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Things beyond your control and the unemployment rate

2011-12-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

Last week the latest unemployment rate came out and surprised quite a few people. At 8.6 percent it is the lowest that it has been in quite a while. Of course this isn’t cause for celebration because 8.6 percent is still way too high and the number of jobs being filled each month is relatively low.

This recession has been particularly brutal in not only how long it has been going on but also the general feeling of despair that seems to be everywhere in the country. Even though things are getting slightly better nobody is sure that the economy won’t slip back into a recession anytime soon. You have to keep in mind that there are things going on in other parts of the world that having a negative effect on our economy, things that are beyond our control.

Even though you may be working hard to find a job, doing all the right things like networking, researching and studying the job market, you probably will still find it difficult in finding employment. As stated earlier there are things out there such as the financial problems in Europe and business uncertainty over here that have an effect on how long it will take to find a job. It is important to realize these things because you don’t want to think that you are doing something wrong in your job search. Just keep it in mind when you see the unemployment rate going down in the future.

Another thing to remember is that the unemployment rate is an estimate (or guess) of how many folks are actually out of work. So you should take the number with a grain of salt.

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What are your career options?

2011-12-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

If you are unemployed or even if you are employed but looking for a new job take the time to research what exactly you want to do. Whether you think so or not you do have career options. You first need to develop a methodical plan that starts with you assessing your skills and your desires and eventually plotting a detailed plan on how to get that job.

What are the marketable skills that you possess is something that folks at times overlook. Whether you know it or not you probably have more skills than you think you do and it isn’t just technical skills. People and communication skills are sometimes just as important as anything else that you can do. Write down the list and don’t leave anything out.

Finding out exactly what you want to do in the way of a job and career can be frustrating and if you are an older worker than it probably is worse because you may think that you are too old to start in a different direction. Of course that’s false; it is never too late no matter what you age is to enter a new field. You probably have a few ideas of things that interest you. Now is the time to research those ideas and come up with a few more things that you might want to try.

One of the best places for information on careers is the government website careerinfonet.org. Click on the occupation that you are interested in and then click on occupation profile. After that you will choose the state that you want to live in. the occupational profile will cover everything from training to salaries. It will also offer quite a few links where you can find additional information.

Before making any determination on what you want to pursue, think about how long it takes to become trained and also what is the job market of this career in the near future. But probably the most important thing to think about is whether you want to do this type of job full time.

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Change of job hunting plans

2011-11-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

You may be doing all the right things that go with finding a job, such as networking, researching companies, keeping your resume up to date and other things that every seems to do when they are facing unemployment, but with all that you still don’t have a job. It’s understandable what with the economy the way it is, and if you over fifty and unemployed it probably is even worse. Do you keep the faith and continue down the path you are on or do you veer off into unknown territory and take a chance. The answer isn’t as easy as you think.

If something doesn’t work why continue to do it. If you were on a diet for 6 months and haven’t lost a pound than you would certainly change your diet (unless you sneaking food on the side!). But with job hunting things aren’t that cut and dry. Your search or your hunt for work is for one thing and that is a job. Unlike dieting and exercise you wouldn’t see a gradual improvement in your employment situation, you either have a job or you don’t. There are things especially in this economy that you have no control over such as high unemployment. It could be that what you are doing is the best approach to finding something. Of course that isn’t to say that you shouldn’t consider changing things around a bit, because no system is perfect.

Good luck and keep trying.

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Older workers challenges

2011-11-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

The unemployment numbers that came out a few weeks ago were pretty dismal. Unemployment is still over 9 % and the number of people who were hired is still rather low. While there have been a few months where it looked like things were turning around, the very next month’s report was less than encouraging. If you break down the numbers per age group you will find that the folks in the 55-64 age range actually have a better unemployment number than younger folks. I know I have a real hard time believing that too! But what may not surprise you is that same group is unemployed a lot longer than the age group, in other words it takes them much longer to find a job. This is just another of many older workers challenges.

One of the biggest challenges of older workers is age discrimination which at times can be rather subtle. No one is going to come out and say that you are too old for the job, but they will find many reasons why you aren’t a good fit for their company. Remember that age discrimination is illegal and there place to report it.

Another challenge is one of our own making and that is the negative feelings that we have about our chances of getting a good job. Not having a good attitude will definitely set you back when it comes to finding a job. The same negative script about how you aren’t qualified or that you will never find any job that you like plays over and over again in your head. If you don’t have faith in yourself, why should anyone else?

Are you stubborn? It is great to have strong beliefs in some things but you should also be flexible enough to make changes where changes are needed. The technology of work is ever changing which means you must be ever changing also. You must not only keep up your skill set but you must continue to learn new skills. Don’t fight it! Education is a lifetime concern.

Stay positive and keep learning and in time you will find your job.

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Solitude and job hunting

2011-11-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

Businesses today make it a point to foster and encourage team work among their employees, whether it is in an office or a manufacturing plant. Of course that makes quite a bit of sense because productivity is always at the highest level when folks work together. It also builds a camaraderie among the employees that boosts morale and makes work feel like a team effort. Certainly this doesn’t happen in all cases but for the most part it is a great plan. However if you are looking for a job and you are an older worker then you know that there will be a good deal of solitude in your job search.

Not all job hunting is done in solitude, there is networking where you receive help and assistance from folks that know of job openings or potential job openings. It is also a good idea to network with people that are in the same boat that you are, unemployed, older and looking for a job. Social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook are a great help in that area.

But networking is only part of your job search journey, there are lots of times when it will be just up to you to continue to search out new leads or make changes to your resume or even your approach to finding work. And this can be frustrating especially if you have had been looking for a long time and haven’t found anything yet and then add on the fact that you are older which can be more of a burden. Dealing with a continual disappointment can be discouraging and even more so when you are on your own.

If the disappointment and the loneliness of job hunting becomes too much too handle, you need to get support from either your family or health professionals. It is certainly understandable because finding a job in any economy especially a bad one is a daunting task.

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Flexible work and older workers

2011-11-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

Years ago work schedules were pretty much set in stone. If you worked the day shift it might be eight-thirty in the morning till five in the afternoon gave or take a half-hour. Or maybe you worked the afternoon shift at a plant and got off around midnight and if you were a real night owl the overnight shift would end in the morning. While there are lots of companies that still sticks to these schedules there are added factors today that forces scheduling to be more flexible. Companies find that working with employees with their schedules makes a lot of sense. This type of setup can also be attractive to older workers who are trying to get back to work.

Why would workers want or need to change their schedules?

In the larger metro areas one of the most obvious reasons is the traffic. If you have to be at work in the middle of rush hour then a good deal of your time will be spent in traffic, which will tire you out, waste your gas and probably making you rather unhappy at work. Staggered shifts have been popular because of this.

Now a lot of older workers find that they don’t really want to completely give up work at retirement age. So a part time schedule that is flexible is a great idea for them. And a lot of companies would probably be accommodating to this because they will continue to have an experienced worker which is always valuable to any company.

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The new conventional employment

2011-10-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up in the sixties and seventies it wasn’t strange to see someone working at the same job for years, in fact that was pretty much the norm. Whether it was at a manufacturing job, teaching, government jobs or anything really, sticking around till retirement was the way to go and you probably got a pretty good pension when it was all over. Of course that is a thing of the past for the majority of careers except for maybe teaching and government work and even that isn’t as stable as it once was. Folks go from one job to another in a relatively short period of time. Why?

This nomadic career movement has a lot to do with the global economy once a upon a time the rest of the world weren’t able to compete with the US in manufacturing and in most fields. That has all changed and companies in this country have had to become competitive by cutting costs (jobs) or outsourcing. So long to the idea of staying with one company for 30 years!

So folks that are just getting out of college right now know that finding a job will be very tough and keeping a job will be even tougher. But the same goes for workers who are older they also have to be flexible and realize that keeping up to date on skills is something that they will have to do as long as they are in the work force. Being comfortable at a job and thinking about easing into retirement are notions that no longer exist.

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Get a bartending job

2011-10-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

One thing is for sure, people will continue to drink in bars and pubs whether the economy is good or bad (probably a lot more right now!) So the need for workers to pour those drinks will also be needed. You don’t have to worry about outsourcing and they haven’t created robots to do the job (yet) while it isn’t for everybody some folks would certainly like the interaction that occurs at a pub or bar. If you are one of those folks you should get a bartending job.

One of the first things that people look into when searching for a job is the employment outlook for that particular field. In this case bartending is ranked 38th in the 50 occupations with the most opening from careerinfonet.org. As a matter of fact the outlook is excellent for most food service jobs. A high turnover rate increases the chances of finding a job in bartending. As for the salary like servers in the food industry the bartender makes a good deal of their earning from tips. This can be rather rewarding if you work at an upscale establishment.

Training on the job is another advantage of bartending although there are many places that you can go for training in this field. A quality of a successful bartender is good communications skills between coworkers and customers also.

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Retirees returning to work

2011-10-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Your plans all along were to retire early. At a certain age you would stop working and start enjoying your golden years. However things happen and you find that you probably should have continued to work at least a little longer. So now you need to go back to work and you aren’t quite sure how to do it. You are not alone retirees returning to work happens all the time.

What is making you go back to work?

A big issue is health care or lack of it. While you were working you probably enjoyed good health benefits (of course you did have to pay quite a bit for it) and now that you are retired you don’t have that insurance. As you know government insurance such as Medicare doesn’t cover as much as your old insurance policy.

Another reason for heading back to work is money or lack of it. 401k and social security doesn’t pay as much as a salary and your cost of living hasn’t gone down dramatically since your retirement. A bad economy doesn’t help either.

Should you return to the same type of work that you did before?

If you really enjoyed your previous job then it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to return to something similar to it. But many folks who retire find that returning to work is a great opportunity to seek out a job doing something they always wanted to do. Of course it may not pay as much but you would be happier and that certainly counts for a lot. It will give you a reason not to sleep in.

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Get help finding a job

2011-10-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

It’s no secret that finding a job is a monumental task, one that is difficult to go at it alone, although it makes sense to seek and receive help lots of folks choice to make job hunting a solitary affair. But that type of thinking could only put a strain and a limit on the success of finding a job.

When you lose your job or decide to change jobs you probably understand that in order to be successful in getting another job is up to you. Creating resumes and cover letters, making contacts or networking is your responsibility which makes sense. However having help from other people also makes a lot of sense.

Some of the best job opportunities come from folks that you know or are your professional acquaintances. They probably know about openings that are coming up in the companies that they work at.

Everyone can benefit from input when they are trying to accomplish a task and finding a job is definitely a task! If you know of someone who has recently found a job or even someone who is just looking ask for their advice. Even if you don’t agree with their job hunting tactics it is always good to learn different techniques of searching for a job.

One of the most valuable things that a friend can do for you is to give your encouragement. While you should be keeping a positive attitude it doesn’t hurt to get a pep talk from a good friend.

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Online teaching opportunities

2011-10-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Local and state governments have been cutting costs wherever they can, including in education. Unfortunately that has led to less teaching opportunities for those who want to pursue a career in education. However the field of online education is growing and has become popular because of its convenience and the amount of time saved from attending traditional institutions. Career online training can be beneficial for students of any age making the need for online instructor positions vital now and in the future.

Adjunct positions

Many of the online teaching jobs are adjunct (not permanent) positions. Usually adjunct professors are part time educators who work in a specific field and teach in that same field. This shouldn’t be considered as a downside to teaching online because it gives you the freedom to continue with your current position and gain experience as an educator.

Qualifications

As you can imagine the qualifications for online teaching jobs are somewhat similar to traditional teachers and professors. If you are teaching at a college level then at a minimum you will need a master degree if not Doctor’s degree. Of course it goes without saying that you will be have to be very comfortable with the internet and teaching software.

Where are the jobs at?

Most universities and community colleges have some type of distance learning or online courses. There are also many technical schools that cater to folks who would rather take courses online.

For more information about distance learning, go to United States Distance learning association.

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Who are the best employers for older workers?

2011-09-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

Being known as a good employer to work for is something to be valued. Your present employees are happy and aren’t looking for a different job and you’ll always find plenty of good people who want to work for you. If you are an older worker, close to the end of your career being with a company that understands and welcomes the benefits of having older and experienced workers, you should feel fortunate because not everyone is so lucky. Some companies don’t view workers over fifty as important as younger employees and that is unfortunate. But there are plenty of companies that do according to aarp.com who came out with their annual list of best employers for workers over fifty.

To make it on the list you have to submit an application where the company will be asked several questions about hiring older workers (and keeping older workers), career training, and work accommodations. The benefits that a company has to offer its employees are also very important, as well as the benefits it has to offer retirees.

This whole concept of judging employers sounds beneficial for not only older workers but younger workers as well. It would be nice to see the results for all major corporations.

What is interesting is that the list is made up of health corporations and large universities. I guess it makes sense because health and education are so vital to the wellbeing and development of everyone. These companies understand the value of all their employees.

Something else that AARP pointed out was that great companies usually have great HR teams working for them. That is quite significant because employees don’t always know what their rights and benefits are, an HR team can communicate this information

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Finding jobs in your area

2011-09-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

When you are young and looking for a job, especially if you are right out of school, the thought of relocating for a job opportunity isn’t a bad idea or one that you would probably turned down. But if you are older and with a family to take care of it is usually a difficult choice because your spouse may already have a job that they don’t want to leave and your children probably don’t want to leave their friends and schools. So what is the next step? You are limited to finding jobs in your area.

The first thing to deal with is Geographic’s, as in how far will you be able to commute back and forth to a potential employer. For some folks this isn’t a tough decision but you have to weigh in the time wasted by being on the road. An hour coming and going each day eats up a lot of personal time you could be doing other things, of course if the job is what you want that might not be a big sacrifice. Another aspect of commuting is the cost of gas and the wear and tear on your car. These are costs that add up very quickly and it is something to consider.

Local job search

After you have determined how far you will drive to a new job you need to do an internet job search for your particular area. As with any job search today the world wide web is your best friend but not your only resource for finding employment especially with a local job search. Networking is extremely valuable when you are limited to local job openings. Make contact with everyone you know in your vicinity about any possible jobs or any beneficial leads. You’ll never find out about these things in less you ask.

Something else to consider is stay at home jobs or online jobs. It should definitely be something that you should consider or at least do a little research on. There are plenty of stay at home job sites on the web just be careful because some of them are scams.

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Internet Job tools for the older unemployed worker

2011-09-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

Finding employment is a struggle especially in this economy where the unemployment numbers never seem to go down. And to make it worse it doesn’t seem that things will ever get better. Of course (hopefully) they will eventually get better in the future but that doesn’t help much if you need a job right now. If you are an older unemployed worker then you know that your job search will be particularly difficult, as a matter of fact even in good times it can be challenging to find a job if you are over fifty. Age discrimination and other factors are still a barrier to many older folks looking for employment. So what do you do? Take advantage of the technology by using all of the internet job tools that are available.

The internet and finding employment

If you are comfortable with using a computer and the World Wide Web then you are off to a good start. As you probably already know the internet is the most powerful source of information in the world and that includes all things that are needed to look for work. The most important sites are job search engines like

1. Monster.com

2. Careerbuilder.com

3. Indeed.com

4. Yahoo.com

Not only do these sites have listings of jobs everywhere in the country they also have quite a bit of career advice for those looking for work.

Social media and finding jobs

Everyone has heard of Facebook and how wonderful it is to keep in touch with friends, families and people who share a common interest. It is also a great place to look for jobs and to hear from other folks who are in the same boat that you are. There is also a social media site that is dedicated to professional networking and that is LinkedIn, where you can put your professional information on display as a way to connect with other professionals and potential employers.

Don’t forget twitter.com

You also need to join twitter if you haven’t already. All of the major job search sites regularly tweet open jobs many times during the day.

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Can you take time off between jobs?

2011-09-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

You just got laid off from your current job and you were more than a little surprised. Certainly the economy is bad and maybe your employer isn’t doing that well but you didn’t think that you would become a layoff victim. But it happened to you like it has happened to many folks. The question is now what are you going to do. Start the job search tomorrow, make plans that night on how you are going to get back into the land of employment or are you going to take a break maybe rest a little while to get your head straight.

The decision whether to rest before you embark on a job search depends on quite a few things. Of course the main concern is how much money do you have saved for the occurrence of life changing event like losing your job. Most folks say that you should have at least 3 months of savings to live on at all times just in case you are laid off Probably in this economy should have more than 3 months. Another thing to consider is your debt such as house payments, credit card bills, tuition for kids and anything else that you are paying off. Without a lot of debt and adequate savings in the bank you definitely are better off than most.

What field are you in? If you are in a career that is in high demand you will have a better chance at finding a job and the idea of taking a break sounds feasible. And if you aren’t then you might want to start looking right away. This might also be a good time to consider entering a different field.

Even if you are in good financial shape and your job prospects look good, don’t take too long to start looking for a job. Don’t put off the inevitable.

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Related posts

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What is a passive job search?

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Interesting and rewarding jobs for older workers

2011-08-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

While most folks understand that finding a job, whatever type of job, is hard enough but finding one that makes you happy but be more of a challenge. And why shouldn’t you find a job that gives you fulfillment and makes you happy to get up in the morning? If you are an older worker and you have been recently laid off from a job that wasn’t interesting please consider finding something now that would be more than just a job to go to every morning.

The things that are holding you back?

Worry is probably the biggest thing that holds anyone back especially when it concerns goals and dreams and that is understandable but you shouldn’t let it get in your way.
Too old to start a new career is probably true if you are over 50 and trying out for a spot on a NBA team but not for other jobs. Don’t look the number of years that you have left before retirement and conclude that starting right now wouldn’t be enough time to get the most out of a new field, instead consider the quality of the years and how much you would enjoy your time.
Nobody can be picky in this economy. That’s right you do need to pay the bills but consider all your options when looking for a job, not just the jobs that pay the bills.

Where are the interesting and rewarding jobs?

Work for organizations that help other folks: caregiving, teaching, and working for charitable organizations are just a few that come to mind.
Train to be a therapist. While training may take some time think about how much satisfaction you would get in helping others.
The green industry will be a big part of the economy and saving the environment is definitely a worthy profession.
There must be something that you dreamed about doing while you were younger maybe now is the time to look into it.

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Jobs to consider

2011-08-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

I wrote a post at the beginning of the year called job trends for 2011. The way this year is going it is hard to believe there is any job trends at all. One of the areas that looked inviting at that time was the retail industry. As a matter of fact it is still a relatively stable industry. Maybe you should reconsider (if you haven’t already) searching for a job in retail.

Whenever someone mentions a job in retail the first thing that comes to mind is low pay and working weekends not to mention less than great benefits. You can’t argue with that but in these terrible economic times you can’t always be so dismissive. Also remember that there are promotions within the retail industry so you can advance into better jobs.

You are probably thinking right now, do I really want to work for Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart isn’t the only retail store that hires folks, although they hire the most people by far. There are still many specialty shops that need employees. Who knows you may find a job in an area that you have a deep interest in.

You don’t have any retail job experience? That isn’t a problem for the majority of stores because they can train you as you go.

About.com has a terrific page on retail industry. It also has a link to Fortune’s list of top retail companies to work for. Check it out.

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Over fifty and recovering from a job loss

2011-08-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

As someone who has lost more than one job I know how difficult the transition can be from employed to unemployed. One day your life is fairly stable with a full time job and paycheck and the next day you don’t have either. It can really be stressful time especially if you didn’t see it coming. Even if the economy is pretty good (which it isn’t right now by any stretch of the imagination) finding work and recovering from job loss will be difficult especially if you are over the age of fifty.

There are lots of things to do and think about after a losing your job. Were you the cause of it? What reason did they gave you? If you contributed to your own loss of employment (at least that was what the company told you) or even if you were just another victim of this terrible economic situation that we find ourselves in, don’t dwell on it. Of course if you really felt that you were unjustly let go and you believe that you have a case, then by all means seek assistance from your state unemployment office.

The added burden of being over 50 and losing a job is that your age could work against you in your job search. Age discrimination unfortunately still happens, but don’t let that get you down. Staying positive about your situation is the only way that you will be able to find a job. Other folks have found work and so can you.

Things to think about

Be creative while job searching
Dreaming should be a part of your job search
Seek help from the government in order to find a job
Don’t procrastinate while looking for work
Don’t let the unemployment numbers bum you out

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Unemployment and money problems

2011-08-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

Money problems seem to be one of the biggest deterrents to happiness that there is. As a matter of fact it is one of the top reasons that couples get divorced. The worry about how much money is coming in and how much is going out can keep you up at night whether you are married or not. What makes the matter worse is the current economic situation that we find ourselves in, rising unemployment with no sign of it getting better. While folks who have become unemployed are feeling the stress of paying their bills, people who are still working are also worrying about how long they will have their jobs. There are some things that you can do to ease your financial situation.

A few tips to prepare you for being unemployed

Make a budget and stick to it. This sounds easy but most folks don’t do it. The simple idea behind budgeting is spending less than you are taking in. another advantage to budgeting is finding areas to cut back thus saving money. It may be difficult at first but you will be glad you did later on.
Can you sell off anything that you don’t need? Another tough decision but look around your house and you will probably find something that you can get rid of. Yard sales are a great idea.
This may seem off subject but exercising and eating right is vital to your health and finances. If you keep yourself healthy you won’t have to go to the doctor and pay for office visits.
Limit the amount of times you use your credit card. Debt on your card can snow ball and make deeper in the hole.
Use coupons for groceries and other things. You will be amazed at how much you will save.

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