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Date: 3/7/2023
SHUTESBURY – Finding a new job is tough for older workers. One extra problem? Seniors are rusty when talking about their own successes and skills.
“If they’ve been laid off,” said job coach Debbi Hope, “if they’ve been out of work for a while, if they haven’t looked for a job because they’ve been successful for 25 years, now they have to turn around and talk to people about their skills? ‘What? I ran a global division for 20 years, I never had to explain myself’.”
The job search is difficult and frustrating for most everyone, regardless of age, but in the youth-oriented culture in the Bay State the difficulty is compounded. Ageism – discrimination against older workers – is one problem among many. In response, Hope offers assistance and coaching through the 50+ Job Seekers Group.
The program began at the Tewksbury Library and is now hosted through 62 libraries across the commonwealth. According to Hope, who counts over 100 success stories of people who found employment with the group’s support, finding a job is much different for those with salt and pepper in their hair. It’s a chance to refocus on what someone feels is most important.
Hope recommends having “a sense of adventure. What do I really want to do?...What was I really dreaming of, riding my bike around the neighborhood?” A second act career is often oriented toward values rather than a bank balance. “A lot of times people move from ambition – corporate ladder climbing – to mission…and focus on the mission versus the ambition.”
One participant in the group, Hope recalled, returned to the working world after being a caregiver during her parents’ final illnesses. She saw the serious lack of advocacy for the elderly and applied to law school to address the need. The dean of the school personally called her, to accept her into the program, and she received a scholarship for most of the costs.
“She’s over 60,” Hope said. “How cool is that?”
As the anecdote suggests, the news is not all bad. Seasoned workers are more aware of expectations and how to efficiently satisfy a demanding boss. Older workers may also come with emotional stability and a better work ethic.
Mary Anne Antonellis, library director in Shutesbury, offers the job seekers program through the M.N. Spear Library as a chance to help a population facing challenges in her community. She also acknowledged that seniors may bring more commitment to a position.
“They bring a certain kind of experience to jobs that the 25-year-olds don’t,” Antonellis said. “Whether that’s work experience or life experience, they might bring a certain kind of expectation to a work environment, that other people might not.”
Another challenge facing older workers is learning the tools available for the modern job search. Resumes need to be updated, sharpened and rewritten to zero in on the skills and experience that cross-pollinate to a new life mission. The internet also banished an old favorite, the Rolodex.
“LinkedIn is a huge piece of the job search tool kit,” Hope said. “In the old days I had a Rolodex and I knew my network. Today, you need to have your network know you.”
Some of those in the program who secured employment come back to talk about what worked for them. Taking stock of skills and strengths, thinking about what ignites joy, is still a primary way to figure out a way forward.
Oftentimes, an out of work 55-year-old will do a self assessment and learn they don’t want a job. One job seeker emailed Hope to say she has more to accomplish in her discipline and is hanging out her shingle as a contractor. Those over 50 often have sufficient skills to find lucrative work in the gig economy. Hope gets a kick out of that discovery too.
Older job seekers may learn they want to escape the harsh northern winters.
“The director of a blood lab, he and his wife decided to move to Nashville,” Hope said. “They both decided, we’re not really tied here so…”
Above all, the self-assessment helps career changers clarify what brings them satisfaction and joy. Older workers who may have chased the money often found it didn’t give them a sense of fulfillment.
“I really encourage people to find their passion, their why, what they love doing, because that’s really what’s going to support them, not the cash or the job or the title or the status,” Hope said. “I love helping people flourish in finding their passion…It’s exciting to see people have that ‘aha’ moment.”
The 50+ Job Seekers Group meets twice a month until the end of June. On the first and third Wednesdays of the month the group meets at 9:30 a.m. Second and fourth Wednesdays the group meets in the evening, from 6 to 8 p.m. More information can be found at mnspearmemoriallibrary/virtual-over-50-job-seekers-networking-group.