Qualifications are what you bring to the job marketplace: your experience, your interests and talents, your education, your training, etc. Personal Preferences are what you would like from a job: salary, hours, benefits, work environment, commute distance, etc. Let's look at each of these in more detail.
Qualifications
One way to increase your employment opportunities is to update your Qualifications. There are many short-term employment and training opportunities available. Some training programs are funded by the federal and/or state governments and many specifically target older unemployed people. Look in the white pages of your phone book for a Private Industry Council. Ask about vocational and on-the-job-training programs for older workers. Special funds often have been earmarked especially for this purpose. Also call the Senior Community Service Employment Program, the National Council on Aging, the National Council of Senior Citizens, the National Black Caucus on Aged, and the Office on Aging for back-to-work assistance.
If you don't qualify for federal assistance consider other training options: High schools offer short-term training through adult-education programs. Some temporary-help agencies will reimburse you for computer or word-processing training that will make you more marketable to their clients. Many community colleges have established reentry programs for both men and women and offer short-term certification programs in all sorts of interesting fields. The fees are minimal, the benefits are great. Employers look favorably on workers with current training. Not only does it reduce their training costs, but it shows them you're serious about reentering the workforce and understand that to be competitive, you must be well trained.
Personal Preferences
The last circle, Personal Preferences, has to do with everything you want from a job. You will have to decide which are the absolutes and which aren't. Obviously, the shorter your laundry list of preferences, the greater your opportunity to find employment.
Some older job-seekers have such a long list that there's no way they'll ever locate an "acceptable" job. I worked with one woman in her mid-50s who refused to even consider work that was more than five miles from her home. In addition, she refused to work evenings or weekends! I doubt she will ever find a perfect job - or any job, for that matter.
Your Qualifications would be 100 percent in demand in the marketplace, and your Personal Preferences would be met. It's only when your Qualifications are not in demand in a limited Job Marketplace and your Personal Preferences are unrealistic that problems occur.
Such was the case with Richard, a 57-year-old client of mine who had been personnel manager for a large railroad. When the railroad phased out its local operation he was released after 30 years with the organization. He couldn't collect his pension money and was too young for Social Security. Because of his experience it seemed logical, at first, for Richard to try for a personnel-management position with another firm. But he was unsuccessful, and for several reasons. Much of his worth came from his knowledge of the railroad industry. When that industry died, so did his qualifications and his future career path. Could his training and knowledge have been transferred to a new industry? Yes, but those who interviewed him didn't want to pay him the $50,000 he was accustomed to.
Was this a case of age discrimination? No. In fact, Richard was undoubtedly the preferred choice of every employer he approached. But why should they take him if they could hire someone 20 years younger with specific industry experience who could also do the job? Maybe not as well as Richard, but the difference wasn't worth an additional $25,000. Therefore, in terms of the Job-Search Duad, Richard's circles didn't overlap or connect at all. To get a job, he needed to alter his qualifications and/or his preferences. He rethought his preferences and considered working for $25,000 instead of $50,000, but decided he didn't want to do that. Instead, he chose to alter his qualifications and enter a brand-new career.
I met Richard at that stage, when he was ready to explore new career possibilities. Together we evaluated all his interests and skills in relation to the Job-Search Duad. He wanted a stimulating new career but not a stressful management position where he would have to prove himself every day. He reanalyzed his expense needs in more detail and determined he really did need only $20,000 to $25,000 to live on after all.
After studying his options and interests, we located a short-term training program in commissioned retail sales. The program lasted five weeks, and on the last day of class Richard interviewed with JCPenney. After his first interview he was offered a full-time position selling men's suits.
Today, after three years in sales, Richard is the number-one men’s wear salesperson in the district. And the money is fine. Best of all, when he goes home he is able to relax completely for the first time in years. No more stress. Within two months, Richard's life had turned totally around. What he did was enlarge his Qualifications with short-term training. By doing so, he discovered a satisfying second career. The same can happen to you.
You can also increase your employment opportunities if you expand your Job Marketplace beyond your immediate vicinity. It stands to reason that if your skills and interests aren't needed in your area, they may be in a different or wider region. It's not as far-fetched as you might think. One 75-year-old gentleman I trained enlarged his marketplace to the extreme: He's now setting up a distribution network for a personal computer manufacturer in Thailand. In Los Angeles his age had been a liability, but in the Far East, where the cultures respect age and wisdom, it became an asset.
Only after you expand your Job Marketplace, update your Qualifications, and reduce your list of Personal Preferences will you stand a good chance of finding a position suitable for you.
