A job search doesn't have to hurt! Older Workers Like Work.
Gee whiz! I never thought I would have to look for a jobagain, but I
do. Funny that no one taught or told me that savings don't last
forever. I'm in that "pickle!" Besides savings running out, I feel
better working! That idea goes again the grain of American culture.
People of a certain age are encouraged to find fun things to do and not
work at a job! Work is an American dirty word! But I want to feel
productive, make money, be around younger folks and have some fun times
at WORK.
Heck, I don't have time to think about the culture I live in. I'm older and I need a job!
What can I do to find a job to do? Before I get started in looking for
a job, I'm just plain scared that no one will hire me. I've heard lots
of stories about age discriminationand I don't want to look for a job
where someone will tell me that I'm over-qualified, just to get rid of
me because I'm old.
I know it only takes one employer to hire me, not half a dozen at once,
but I may have to see more than I thinkis my share of talking to
employers to find something! How can I do this?
I think I'd better not think of how hard this is going tobe and
concentrate on finding employers who will want to hire me. It only
takes one If I let fear take over in the job search because I have grey
hair, then I will make my search that much harder & make myself
feel useless.
I think I need to talk to someone about my plans to find a job. I can
talk to Bob, my nephew; Carol, my cousin about what I want to do to
find a job. They have always been kind and helpful to me in the past.
I'll let them know soon. They also make me feel proud of who I am and
of my age.
Talking it over is good, but I need direction too about what to do
next. Where can I talk to others aboutmy situation? I'll just look n
the phone book first.
I've found some employment agencies. I know their hours by asking for
information on the phone. I'll go to one or two to sign up.
I did get to the two employment agencies. They recommended that I take
some computer classes,which they offer for a fee. I can't do that asI'm
already scared about spending more of my savings.The people at these
places didn't seem to have other ways of helping me.
The phone book didn't help me much with people or places that might
help me find a job. I thinkI'll look in the help wanted columns of my
local newspaper to find a job. There must be some jobs that I can do
listed in the paper.
I'm so confused about reading these ads. Nothing seems to fit me. I've
never had much of a work history, just being in & out of seasonal
farm work.I never thought it was ecessary to have a CAREER. I barely
got out of high school when I had to work. My family just worked at
anything that came along. So did I.
One of my neighbors mentioned that I should go to WorkSource. I had never heard of this place.
I finally went there to find out about what I coulddo to find a job.
When I got omeone to help me from there, I was put into a job club for
older workers. There were about 12 of us in the jobclub room. Some were
older than I & some were younger.
The instructor in this job club was one of the employees of this
agency. It was sure an eye opener to be in there. I looked at some of
the others who were there& compared myself with those who looked
older, those who looked younger; those who had a give-up attitude &
those who might find something to do. I wanted tobe one of those
finding a real job. I decided then & there to get a new haircut,
get outmy best clothes to wear & try to lose some weight.That might
help in making me look younger than the people in this group. If I can
manage to feel betterthen I might have more of a chance to get a job.
The instructor in this job club wanted to know whywe were there.
Everyone had to tell their story.I couldn't see how that was going to
help me at all. I did enjoy listening to some of the others talk about
their backgrounds. One was an ex-teacher who thought she knew
everything, but still didn'thave a job.
The instructor also gave us a packet of material about who else in the
community might help me & others find a job. I see now that I can
call some others for help.
Sure, calling on others for help is good, but I need a job. I didn't
think a job search was going to be thishard. I had to muster up the
courage to talk to the instructor about how to find a job.
She asked me about what my skills are & whatwas I looking for. No
one had alked to me aboutskills, I just worked at whatever was out
there.
She did give me a test to take to find out more about what I wanted to
do. It turned out that this test said I would do best in an
agriculturalsetting. I had to laugh as I had done farm &cannery
work all of my life.
She did ask me if I knew what my skills are. After this test I had to
take, I was still unsure about what I could do best. So, I decided that
since I had done all of this gricultural work, I might do well in a
nursery selling plants or some such. I had never had any selling
experience but I thought that something might just turn up as a job
selling plants was still related to what I'd done in the past. I talked
to the instructor again about how I could find a job selling plants in
a nursery, just as a hunch again about what I could do. She told me to
compose a resume first. A resume would tell an employer some things
abut who I was & what I could do. I told her I needed help in
making up a resume. I had never needed one. I could understand that a
good one might get me a job somewhere or at least get me in to an
interview.
We did do a resume. I was surprised that after all this time, a resume
is just a piece of paper that tells an employer what a worker can do. I
like this exercise & it made me feel like a I could do a lot of
things. I'm still a little unsure about what my real skills are
although I'm good with my hands, I can sort through materials to find
the bad stuff and keep up with a cannery line of products on an always
moving belt.
The next step for me in this job club was to contact an employer. I had
ever had to do this much as seasonal work was always there &
employers just sent out a call for laborers I was called back year
after year until I gave it up. Now with government help and a small
pension I can just get by. The savings are being spent, fast. Well, I
looked in the phone book again. This time I was looking for places that
sold or cultivated plantsfor sale. I didn't care much if I had to learn
to sell plants or if I had to care for them.
With the help of the others in the job club and my instructor I made
some phone calls. I didn't ask for a job on the phone. I made an
appointment with the owner or manager to talk about what they did. Even
though I was scared to do this, after a few calls, I felt better about
calling strangers. I did make two appointments to talk to the
day-to-day manager of a wholesale nursery nearby. When I went to the
nursery, I was dressed in casual clothing, not anything fancy. I did
wear a jacket, though, as I thought that made me look more business
like.
When I got to this place, I felt awkward until the manager & I
started talking about the planting & cultivating of strawberries. I
did know about growing strawberries from our own home garden. To my
surprise when I was getting ready to leave, the plant manager asked me
if I was looking for work. I told him that I was truly interested in
seeing firsthand about this strawberry farm, really, not a nursery.
Finally, I had the presence of mind to tell him that I was looking for
work at some date. He & I made an appointment to have me come in
& talk to him & the owner. I was confused then but agreed to
come back anyway.
After this experience I made up my mind that I wanted to work &
working there with my background seemed to be a good fit. I was
determined to go back & ask for a job, even though that was not
what I thought had happened when I was there.
To sum up what I have learned from all of this it is:
1. I have skills I didn't recognize.
2. Potential employers are not "meanies" who are rude.
3. I now know what a resume is and how one can help or hinder me in the job search.
4. Job hunting is not always a hard or hurtful experience.
5. I feel better about myself in knowing that employers do hire older workers. I think I just found one.
