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Newsday.com
August 31, 2007

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After retiring, seeking the next chapter in working life

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BY PETER KING

Labor Day was created to give workers a brief breather from their jobs. And for more and more Americans, even retirement has become just another brief respite from work. After turning the page on a longtime job, many begin looking ahead to the next chapter in their working lives.

"Think about it as a career after your career," says Marc Freedman, author of "Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life." Freedman, chief executive of Civic Ventures, a San Francisco-based think tank focused on issues relating to aging in America, says this new career may last longer than you would think. "We're really talking about a 10- or 15-year phase in their working life."

For many boomers and seniors, the concept of retirement as "endless leisure" is becoming as unattainable, and unwanted, as the youthful daydream of endless summer. Some return to the workforce because they need the money. Some miss the satisfaction that comes from the daily routine of a job well done. And others take jobs in the nonprofit sector because they believe they can use their lifetime of experience to help others.

One sector that embraces older workers is retail. And while some malign this work as low-paying and unchallenging, Freedman does not.

"It's easy to make fun of those jobs because they don't draw on the full complement of people's skills, but that sector deserves to be congratulated for recognizing the talent and ability and numbers," Freedman says. For many retirees, he says, a retail job is a perfect fit. It provides a paycheck and a place to go, plus most retailers will accommodate the flexible schedule an older worker craves.

For people who want to work at jobs other than in retail, there are some employers who need them now and there will be a lot more in the near future. Among the hot sectors for older workers are education, health care, nonprofit, the government and industries that cater to older people.

So where can you find these jobs? Here are some tips from Freedman: If you're interested in the nonprofit sector, the NonProfit Times has advice and job listings. For some ideas on companies and industries that serve older people, check out 101+ Careers in Aging on the Exploring Careers in Aging site (exploringcareersinaging.com). For government jobs, a good site is USA Jobs (usajobs.opm.gov). For a general site with lots of jobs aimed exclusively at older people, visit Jobs 4.0 (www.jobs4point0.com). Two more bits of advice from Freedman: When looking for a job, don't fear your years -- your experience and your reliability are your best assets. And don't begin that new job right after you retire from your old job. "Take a few months off," he says. "It can be hard to forge ahead into the next chapter without catching your breath."

newsday.com/business/ny-bznext0901,0,2007247.story

Forbes.com
December 19, 2006

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Out of Work and Over the Hill

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By Tara Weiss

In his time as a recruiter, Steven Greenberg saw his share of discrimination against workers of a certain, ahem, maturity. One case, though, really got his 46-year-old blood boiling. He was working with a public company that made a challenging request: Find a CPA familiar with overseas manufacturing experience and an obscure accounting system. He found an ideal candidate whom the company wanted to bring in immediately.

That is until they took a look at the applicant’s résumé. While it would have been illegal to ask his age, the company realized from the candidate's work history that he was in his early 50s. Greenberg received an e-mail back from the company’s HR contact, who wrote, “I don’t want to see him. This person is too senior.”

Translation: He's too old, will want too much money and is probably just biding his time until retirement. "That was the last straw for me," says Greenberg.

So he took matters into his own hands and started www.jobs4point0.com. It's a job bank that caters to job seekers age 40 and older. Coca-Cola (nyse: KO - news - people ), UBS (nyse: UBS - news - people ), Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ), Marriott (nyse: MAR - news - people ) and the other companies that list positions on the site say they are very interested in hiring older employees, particularly because they have more experience.

It's tough to measure the site's success since it's only about 2 months old, but Greenberg has tapped a sensitive issue. Many companies prefer hiring younger employees. The reason? They view older workers as having less energy, along with high health and life insurance costs, higher salary expectations and an unwillingness to learn new technology, according to a study released last week by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

That's just plain wrong, says Greenberg. "All the studies I've read show that older workers require one-third less job training and stay in their jobs longer because they're not interested in ladder climbing," he says. "The idea that when you're 42 or 52 you're looking into retirement is completely outdated. People are no longer running to the golf courses at 50. You can't spend 25 years on a golf course."

That's partly because Americans can no longer depend solely on Social Security for retirement and have to keep working for financial reasons. But many baby boomers also want to work. Today's 70-year-olds are more comparable in health and mental function to 65-year-olds from 30 years ago, according to the Center for Retirement study. Says Greenberg, "Older employees are saying, 'Evaluate me on my experience, not on how many birthdays I've had.' "

That's something Tom Dubin, senior vice president at Alexion Pharmaceuticals (nasdaq: ALXN - news - people ), a Connecticut-based biotech firm, wants to do. There are certain industries that welcome years of experience.

"Certainly that's biotech," he says. Older employees have experience with Food and Drug Administration challenges and all the bureaucracy that comes with it. "Having navigated them in the past, it can only benefit the new employer," says Dubin. As for the allegation that older employees are just there to collect a paycheck, Dubin laughs and says there are people like that in every generation.

Tell that to Linda, a 41-year-old communications manager in Connecticut. (At her request, her actual name has been withheld.) She's got plenty of experience in both political and nonprofit communications--she even worked as a communications manager for a U.S. senator. She's been looking for a position at the vice president level on and off for the past year by networking and using online job sites like Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com.

She's repeatedly received the same response: You're hard to place. "I'm placed in a no-man's land," she says. "I think there is an element of discrimination here. Do companies want to invest in someone who is 41 years old?”

Maybe not, but it's exactly who they should invest in. There are 76 million Americans retiring in the next 10 years and 46 million coming into the workforce, according to the American Society for Training and Development. That means there are less young people to fill jobs than needed, not to mention how much training they will need. Add to that the confusion about whether workers will choose to retire around ages 62 or 63--the average age women and men retire at, respectively--and the topic of mature workers becomes extremely stressful.

"The whole separation process, which used to be very well organized because of mandatory retirement and pension requirement, isn't," says Steven Sass, associate director for research at Boston College's Center for Retirement. It could cause a brain drain or a lot of deadwood hanging on. You don't know." To avoid that stress, Sass suggests that older workers talk to their bosses and human resources departments about their desires. Chances are, they're just as interested in planning for the future.

In a recent study, Sass and his team asked employers what factors affect productivity in order to examine the impression that older workers are less productive. The two things that stood out were knowledge of procedures--experience--and the ability to interact with customers. "Older workers scored very high on both," says Sass. He recommends leveraging those attributes when applying for jobs.

He adds, "Older people have been around the block." And in this case, that's a good thing.

http://www.forbes.com/home/careers/2006/12/18/leadership-jobs-management-lead-careers-cx_tw_1218bizbasics.html

Westport News
October 18, 2006

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Jobs4.0: Finding Work After 40

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By Frances Moore

Let's say you're more than 40 years old. You've recently lost your job for one reason or another maybe you quit to pursue another line of work, maybe you were let go or maybe you're relocating to another area. Whatever the reason, you need a job. In this youth-driven society, it can be difficult for experienced workers to find new jobs. But you're far from retirement age. Just where and how do you fit in?

Westporter Steven Greenberg has been pondering that question for close to 10 years now. He's seen first-hand how hard it can be for people over 40 to get a job. It's no secret that age discrimination is prevalent in the workforce. He's seen job applicants take self-defeating measures, like eliminating the year of graduation or previous job experience from their resumes to appear younger on paper. Why should these qualified workers feel obligated to misrepresent themselves just to stay active in the workforce?

"Over 40 is no longer old," said Greenberg. Instead, these days people over 40 are working for another 20 or 30 years. But the workforce has been slow to pick up on to that. Three weeks ago, the Westporter, who at age 46 feels he is doing better work now than he has ever done, launched a Web site, www.jobs4point0.com(Jobs4.0), to specifically address this situation. The site is a place where mature workers can search for a wide array of job openings, or where employers who are looking for experienced workers can post job openings.

There is no fee for job seekers to use the site, nor is there a "finder's fee" if the applicant is then hired. Instead, the focus is on changing the common misconceptions employers have about hiring older workers.

For years, he said, employers have been choosing youth over wisdom and experience, but the reason is unclear. Experienced workers are less expensive to train because it takes less time. They tend to be more efficient and stable than younger workers, resulting in stronger retention rates. Older workers also tend to be less financially driven, looking instead at the multitude of other factors that might affect the job.

But even if those trends weren't convincing enough, Greenberg pointed out that in the next 10 years 76 million people will retire, while only 46 million will enter the workforce. In other words, the need for mature workers will only grow.

"The companies that will continue to be successful are the ones that recognize this early on," said Greenberg. But, he pointed out, "it's a challenge to get companies' attention paid to certain demographics."

Job seekers won't find just any employer listing on the Web site. The companies that are listed are heavily screened by the Jobs4.0 staff, and there are no listings from staffing or temp agencies. The reason for this, Greenberg said, is that they want job applicants to know that they are applying for specific jobs and that their resumes are being seen by the actual companies, rather than being evaluated by a third party.

In just three weeks, Jobs4.0 has built a database of more than 1,100 postings nationwide. People can even send in their cover letters and resumes to the Jobs4.0 staff to get feedback or tips.

There is also editorial content on the site designed to inspire and encourage mature job-seekers, like the story of Ely Callaway who at 65 started a small golf club manufacturing company which went on to be one of the biggest golf club companies in the world. As the site says, "He was not at the end of his career at that point, he was merely at the end of the beginning of his career."

While he may not be revolutionizing the golf market any time soon, Greenberg is working to revolutionize the job market in his new occupation.

"If we can push this trend along to open up employers' minds, I'll really feel like we've accomplished something," he said. "It's very satisfying for me personally. We're helping a whole group of older workers."

For more information on Jobs4.0, visit www.jobs4point0.com or call 454-5440. Greenberg offered a few tips to those looking for employment:

Spend some time on the site to utilize all its features and don't limit yourself to specific job categories.

Job applicants should not be intimidated by an employer's list of job requirements. That's really just their "wish list," Greenberg said, so consider applying even if you fit only a few of those requirements.

Submit strong cover letters. "If people can do that, they're better than 80 percent of the world," he said. "You have to be a salesperson. Sell yourself to that company."

http://www.westport-news.com/ci_4511490

Stamford Advocate, Greenwich Times, Norwalk Advocate
October 7, 2006

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Web site helps over-40 crowd look for jobs

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By Julie Fishman-Lapin
Staff Writer

A common tactic used by older job seekers is to remove their college graduation year and first few jobs from their resumes.

Many over-40 job candidates have learned the hard way that exhibiting too much experience on a resume actually hinders rather than helps them, said Steven Greenberg, founder of Westport-based Jobs4.0.

"It's where employers judge people on their experience, not on how many birthdays they've had," said Greenberg, a former attorney turned recruiter turned entrepreneur.

The timing is right for a niche job site geared to this demographic, he said. Employers have shifted their thinking about hiring older workers, which they've traditionally veered away from in favor of hiring younger workers who accept lower salaries, he said.

The change in labor demographics has been enormous over the past 30 years, Greenberg said. During the next decade some 76 million baby boomers will retire, but only 46 million younger workers are in line to replace them.

"It's a huge gap. Companies are just starting to wake up to this now," said Greenberg, adding that businesses will have no choice but to look toward older workers to fill work force needs.

The good news for employers is that people today are healthier and want to work longer, he said. Older workers tend to be more stable, value their job more and need less training.

"They want a job that they can call home for the next 10 or 20 years," he said.

And how many people at 42 don't feel they are better at what they do than when they were 22, he asked.

Greenberg doesn't feel he has too much convincing to do.

"We are talking to great companies," he said, adding that Fortune 500 firms, universities and large financial institutions are posting or thinking about posting open jobs on the site.

Employers in Connecticut that already have listings include Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Penton Media and Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Job candidates are able to search by geographic location, category and company name. Job categories include accounting, biotechnology, finance, manufacturing, health care and publishing.

Location is broken down by state, then by markets within each state. For example, Connecticut job seekers can search specific areas such as Bridgeport, Danbury, Hartford, New Haven, New London and Stamford/Norwalk/Westport.

Jobs4point0.com is one of several niche sites that focuses on the baby boomer generation, said Peter Weddle, a Stamford-based guru on Internet career resources who also writes a biweekly newsletter for job seekers and people contemplating career transitions.

"There are a whole host of them out there trying to bridge the gap between folks that have been around the track a couple of times and employers," said Weddle, adding that well-known sites include retirementjobs.com, retiredbrains.com and seniors4hire.org.

But age discrimination is still taking place, Weddle said. In fact, the research shows that the bias starts as early as 35 years old.

The employers who post on Greenberg's site likely believe people over 40 bring a certain wisdom and experience to the job, he said.

"Maybe a site like this will raise the consciousness of the employer," Weddle said.

Copyright (c) 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

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