Oct 9, 2008 11:06 am US/Pacific
AARP: Job Hunting When You're 50+
FROM AARP:
Fired? Retired? Looking to be rehired? If it's been a while since you looked for a job, you may want to add a new tool to your search: websites that focus on jobs, careers and information for older workers.
Some 20 websites now cater to older job seekers-double the number in 2006-and comprise a growing subset of about 50,000 sites that offer career databases or job listings.
Among the leaders are:
RetirementJobs.com
SeniorJobBank.org
RetiredBrains.com
Strategies for Job Searching Online "The aging workforce is huge, so the potential market for these services is equally large," says Peter Weddle, publisher of the Weddle directory of career websites and founder of the International Association of Employment Web Sites (IAEWS), the trade association for the global online employment services industry.
Internet job search sites that cater to mature workers vary in quality, size and customer-friendly features. Some have only a tiny number of job listings while a few, such as PrimeCB, a spinoff of mega-site CareerBuilder.com, have more than a million.
Though most sites don't charge a fee, some do, and several try to entice you to sign up for extra fee-based services like resumé writing. A few sites screen employers and connect you with real jobs, while others will accept any advertiser and inundate you with spam or work-from-home offers.
RetirementJobs.com is among those sites that certify employers as age-friendly and identify them on its website.
Jobs4point0.com has researched and compiled a small but growing list of the best employers for people over 40.
AARP's career site (www.aarp.org/money/careers ) lists its National Employer Team of 39 companies interested in hiring older workers. These sites target people like Jeff Hennesay, 50, an Army veteran who has run a trucking business, restaurant and two grocery stores. Hennesay, of Gresham, Ore., says the features of many of the websites he uses in his current job search are similar. But, he says, he almost never hears back from employers after applying for jobs listed on the mega-career sites but has had the most responses from RetirementJobs.com.
Another job seeker, Warren Cannon, 57, of Loganville, Ga., was downsized in February from his management position at a global technology firm. The last time he had to look for a job was in 1972, when he graduated from college. Cannon says he uses websites like RetiredBrains.com and RetirementJobs.com because they represent "businesses that may be interested in older candidates and understand their advantages." But he doesn't stop there. He looks at sites like USAJobs.gov for federal government listings and TheLadders.com, a site for jobs paying $100,000 and up. He checks company sites for IBM, AT&T, American Express and Emory University Hospital. And he goes to job fairs, networks with his contacts and signs up for e-mail newsletters. Cannon's mantra: "If you're interested in getting another job, you've got to work on it."
Vickie Elmer writes about business and careers for publications including The Washington Post, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Newsday, Detroit Free Press and Parents magazine.
