Retired? Not for long.
Retirees have various reasons for reentering the workforce. But finding the right job presents challenges.
from the November 5, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Some retirees turn to consulting. Bob Kenworthy, who spent nearly 30 years with DuPont, now works part time as a consultant at the nonprofit Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia.
"For me, it is a desire to be significant," he says. "Is what I'm doing meaningful, of benefit to society? The driving force is much more about significance than making money."
Mr. Kenworthy works 150 days a year, spending two days a week in the office. "That's typical of what postretirement workers do," he says. "We integrate our personal lives with our work schedules in a more thorough fashion than we were ever able to do when we worked full time."
Some retired job seekers turn to special sites on the Internet. Tim Driver, CEO of RetirementJobs.com, finds more women than men visiting his website, which he calls the largest career site in the country for people over 50.
"They're either searching for themselves or for their husbands," he says. "A lot are saying they think it's a good idea for their husband to get back in the workforce. This is at first blush comical, but it makes sense for either spouse to have some kind of engagement outside the home in their retirement years. The 'retired husband syndrome' is a very real phenomenon."
For both men and women, age bias remains a very real obstacle, employment specialists say. As one way of countering that, Mr. Driver compares companies' policies and actions to determine which ones are age-friendly. His list runs the gamut from nonprofits – the Red Cross, the Peace Corps – to financial institutions such as Wells Fargo and Citizens Bank. It also includes retailers such as Borders.
One way to overcome age bias, Driver says, is by facing it head-on. "Make sure you take the attitude that you are appropriate for the job because of your competencies and because of the skills you have. Show how those skills are going to meet the needs of the employer you are speaking with."
Jobs in manufacturing, government, and utilities can be "very difficult to transition into and out of," Cirillo says. Less age discrimination is found in nonprofit organizations, education, and healthcare, according to Howard Seidel, a partner in Essex Partners, a career management firm in Boston.
Betty Brown, who retired in 2001 as director of a social services agency in Chicago, now works part time as a hospital social worker. "I'm learning a lot," she says. "They are very glad to have me, which feels awfully nice. And they are very flexible with my work hours. If I want to travel, they say, 'Fine, go, have fun.' The intellectual stimulation is important. And the money helps a lot."
Ms. Brown found her job through a group called Retired Social Workers, which is part of the Illinois chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. "It's aimed at attracting employers to the value of this untapped resource of people who are recently retired," says Joel Rubin, executive director. He hopes other state chapters will establish similar groups.
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