7 Offbeat Jobs That Can Make You a Buck After 60

by Wendy Edwardson at sixtyandme.com
 

2020 is winding down, and all I can say is good riddance! I cannot recall a bleaker year. Like me, your job may have either gone POOF! or you are sitting by your phone waiting for that come-on-back call. I may be over 60, but I still get a thrill when I cash a paycheque.

    Who was the genius who said when one window closes another opens?
 

Charlotte Japp, the 30-year-old founder of the uplifting CIRKEL community platform for intergenerational networking, drew inspiration for it from what happened to her parents.

    "Growing up, I saw both of my parents get aged out of their careers and pretty much get forced to pivot and start their own businesses," she recalls. "So, for me, it seemed normal that after you hit a certain age, you just worked for yourself in this age bubble, or silo, at home."

“The youth of today love luxury. They have bad manners, they disrespect their elders and they prefer chatter in place of exercise.” Who do you think said this?

    This quote is attributed to Socrates in approximately 432 BC. Yes, we have been complaining about the younger generations almost since the beginning of time. However, it’s different today.  So, unless you are ready to adapt to the younger generations who are in the workplace and soon to be entering the workplace, you could be in big trouble.

Let’s start with a brief review of the generations and some characteristics of each.
 

If you see a job opening you're interested in on LinkedIn, it can be tempting to hit the "Apply Now" button. That's the approach most job seekers take.

    However, the problem with this approach is you end up in the wait-and-see mode with absolutely no clue as to whether you'll get a response back or not. To avoid being buried in the mix of hundreds of other applicants, there's a more effective approach you can take.

    LinkedIn is a social networking site, so why not take advantage of the opportunity to network your way into a job! Here are four ways to accomplish this.
 

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No matter how you slice it or dice it, older job applicants major advantage in the search for a new job is their experience. When talking to older candidates, one recurring theme is to remind their audiences that, when comparing themselves to younger applicants, experience is their number one unassailable asset.

    The best argument in favor of older applicants when compared to young job seekers is “you can’t Google experience.” The meaning being that there is only one way to amass experience and that’s to work for it. You can’t get it in a classroom or a library, during a webinar or seminar; you can’t get it from a magazine article or a website. You have to live it.

    It’s an argument that can’t be refuted. But wait, you say, things are so different now. The Covid-culture is changing everything about business. People are losing their jobs by the millions. Companies are closing. Entire industries are shutting down. No one has ever experienced anything like this before.

    We say, “Bull!”

    As an older applicant, you have BCE which stands for Business Cycle Experience. Having been in the workforce for as long as you have, you’ve seen it all and weathered the turbulent storms of our economic past. You’ve experienced the growth of the 1980s and the dot.com boom of the 1990s. But you very well may also have experienced the double-dip recessions of 1979 and 1981. And, if you didn’t, there was the dot.com bust of 2000 and the financial meltdown of 2008.

    You’ve seen the rise of companies such as Microsoft, Google, Home Depot, Amazon and more. And you’ve also seen breakup of AT&T, the demise of PanAm and TWA as well as Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Saturn. You’ve also witnessed the withering of Sears and Roebuck, and the disappearance of Woolworth and Blockbuster.

    That’s a pretty wide range of boom and bust.

    You’ve seen it all and survived it all. And now you’re ready for your next challenge – regardless of the economic conditions.