How To Find a Job When You’re Over Sixty

Finding a job over sixty can be rough. Even finding a job or switching careers over fifty is often a challenge and for those looking to start a new career after retirement, it can start to feel like a practical impossibility.

Fortunately, there is help and support available. We’ll be discussing some of the most popular jobs for people over sixty, how to prevent employers from dismissing you just because of your age, and why we believe that retired people make some of the best mentors.

Contract Work & Agencies

The sad, blunt truth is that companies are always reluctant to employ someone who might leave after less than two years. If you’re nearing retirement age or else you’re coming back from retirement, they’re likely to assume that’s the case.

This is less of a problem with contract work. If you’re in a field where contract work is a possibility, then we strongly encourage it.

For one thing, the money can often be better than permanent jobs. For another, companies hiring contract workers want someone with serious skills who they’re confident will be able to do the exact job they’re hired for. If you’ve got years or even decades of experience and you’re being hired for a specific job, then you have a strong chance of being the best candidate for the role.

While we’re on the subject of temporary work, it’s well worth considering agencies. If you have any job agencies in your area, then they can be a very stable and reliable source of income, particularly if you don’t mind roles with some level of manual labour. The work is often minimum wage but the stress is fairly low – perfect for those waiting out those last couple of years before retirement.

While careers for sixty year olds may be in a bad place, if you have the skills and knowledge, then temporary work is a great route to go.

The Nonprofit Sector

Nonprofit organisations are one of the biggest employers for those over sixty. The culture of nonprofit organisations tends to be far more open to hiring based on experience and far more willing to promote based on seniority.

Furthermore, those working in nonprofits often do so out of a real commitment to the cause and therefore stick around for many years. The end result is that many of your employers will be in the same boat as you and are far less likely to undervalue you based on age.

Nonprofit organisations may not pay as well as for profit companies, but the income is nonetheless consistent and it’s a job many get real satisfaction from.

CV Tips

One important note about finding employment after sixty is to be very careful with your CV and cover letter. It’s a sad fact that, at a certain point, a long employment history becomes more of a con than it is a pro. Therefore, if possible, try to only show your more recent roles. This way they can’t automatically dismiss you from the get go.

It’s far from perfect but at very least this will get you through the door of far more interviews at which point you’ll have the chance to show off your expertise.

Combating Age Discrimination

One last thing we’d like to mention about this topic is that, here at Career Navig8r, we strongly feel that age discrimination is a serious issue in the workplace. Not only is it morally wrong but it’s bad for everyone – employees and companies.

In a job market where good mentorship is increasingly going by the wayside and many companies fail to properly understand the value of experience, the fact that so many people are being pushed out of work simply because of their age is accelerating an existing problem.

Put simply, workplace mentorship is in crisis and the solution is to bring on those who know their roles inside and out.

Of course, if companies refuse to do that, then it’s time for the rest of us to step up. That’s why, at Career Navig8r, we encourage people to start their new careers after retirement.

Mentoring is a low-stress, high reward job that you can do from the comfort of your own home. All you need is a computer, a microphone, a webcam, and an internet connection and you can start teaching the next generation the valuable skills they’ll need throughout their careers.

Start your career encore today with Career Navig8r!