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Dear Savvy Senior: What resources can you recommend to help older job seekers? I’m 60 and have been out of work for nearly a year now. — Seeking Employment
Dear Seeking: While the U.S. job market has improved dramatically, challenges still persist. To help you find employment, there are job resource centers and online tools created for older job seekers.
Job centers
Depending on where you live, there are career service centers that can help you find a job. One of the best is the American Job Center that has around 2,500 centers nationwide. Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration, these centers are free and can help you explore your career options, search for jobs, find training, write a resume, prepare for an interview and much more. To find a center near you, call 877-872-5627 or go to CareerOneStop.org.
The Senior Community Service Employment Program — sponsored by the Department of Labor — helps place income-eligible workers over age 55 in part-time, temporary community service positions where they can learn job skills. To learn more or locate a program, visit DOLETA.gov/seniors or call 877-872-5627.
AARP’s Back To Work 50+ program currently offers workshops that provide career counseling, job coaching and skills development for 50-plus job seekers. Or, if you can’t attend their workshop, they offer an excellent guide called “7 Smart Strategies for 50+ Jobseekers.” To get a free copy, or see if there’s a workshop in your area call 855-850-2525.
Job search sites
Some good sites for 50 and older job seekers include:
>> WhatsNext.com: a job search site that also has online assessment tools, calculators, career guides and career coaches to help you
>> RetiredBrains.com: provides information on finding temporary jobs, as well as starting a business, working from home, writing your resume, finding full-time work and continuing your education
>> RetirementJobs.com: lets you post your resume and search for full-time or part-time jobs online
>> Workforce50.com: job search functions and a list of favorite age-friendly employers by industry. It also gives you the ability to sign up for job alerts.
Work at home
If you’re interested in working at home, there are opportunities depending on your skills, but be careful of work-at-home scams that offer big paydays without much effort.
Some popular work-at-home jobs include sales and marketing, customer service, teaching and tutoring, writing and editing, web development and design, consulting, interpreting and medical coding just to name a few. To find these types of jobs, a good place to start is FlexJobs.com, which filters out the job scams and lists thousands of legitimate work-at-home jobs in dozens of categories.
You can gain access to their listings for $15 for one month, $30 for three months or $50 for a year.
Jim Miller is a contributor to NBC-TV’s “Today” program and author of “The Savvy Senior.” Send your questions to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070; or visit savvysenior.org.
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