- CAREERSWORKER5OVER 50
Interview
"Training an older worker is a
good return on investment"
BarbaraJaworskiisc..EQofthe
WorkplaceInstitute,whIchhas
officesinTorontoandOttawa
(www.workplaceinstitute.org).
Theorganizationhelpsolder
workersandemployerstomake
useofthetalentsofpeopleover
50.TheWorkplaceInstituteor-
ganizesyearlylistsefthetopemployersforworkersover 50
anda yearlyconferenceonthe~workforce.Hastherecessionaffectedthewaypeopleaver 50 areplan-
ningtheircareers?
I thinkpeoplearealittlebewildered.A numberofpeople
havebeenaffectedintermsofIheirsavingsforretirement.
Thosearethepeoplewhodon'thave.d..e..li.!:lmbenefitplans.
Butwe'vealsogota significantportionofpeoplewhocan
retlre3tanytimebutwhohavestayedin thelrJObsfornew.
Peoplearegenerailytalkingaboulstayingintheworkforce
anotherfiveyearsorso.Theotherthingthatpeopleare
startingtothinkaboutis Ihiltmaybetheyaren'tgoingtore-
lire.Maybetheyaregeing 10 werkona part-timebasis,ei-
therwiththeircurrentemployererdeingsomethingelse.Aretheyhappyaboutthisorisilbecausetheydon'thavea
chokefinancially?
Statlsticsareshowingthatpeoplearenotinterestedinre·
tiringthesamewayastheywerewhenourparentswere
planningtheirretirement.Peoplearethmkingaboutstaying
intheworkforcemuchlongerand,infact, 70 percentof
peoplearesayingtheyarenotgoingtoretireatall.They
plantoworkonsomekindofbaSISaftertheageof65.
Theymayenjoyworking,ortheymaybeorofessionalswant·
ingtocontinue 10 contribute.Theymayaisowanttocon-
tinueworkingbecausetheyliveina single-personhouse·
holdandit'sawayofgettingoutandsocializing.People
aren'tnecessarilyinterestedinmoreresponsibiJity,butthey
areinterestedin continuingtobeinvolved.Whatdoolderworkershavetoofferemployers?
Ofcourse,therearetileyearsofexperience.Oneofthe
thingsthat)heartimeandagainis that,whenanolderper·
sonretires,itoftentakestwotothreeyoungerpeopletore-
placethem.That'sbecausethey'velearnedhowtobevery
efficientandproductlveintheirJobs.Theyarealsomud
morelikelytostaywithanemployerlongerlhana younger
person.Inthepast.we'veseenyoungerpeoplestayingin54 BusinessSpltligtlt
jobsa coupleofyearsandmovingon 10 thenex!experi·
ence,whereas,ityouhireanolderworkeroryouhavean
olderworkeronstaff,theyaremuchmorelikelytostaywith
yourorganization.Soanykindofinvestmentyoumakein
traininggivesyoua reallygoodrelurnoninvestment.Employershavecertainstereotypesaboutolderworkers.
Howwouldyoudealwiththatifyouwerelookingfora new
jobovertheageof50?
I thinkitis importanlforworkerstotakeagoodhardlook
atthemselvesandmakesurethaithelrfirstimpressmnisa
positiveODe.So,thatmeansthingsIikemakingsurethat
they'rewearinganUD-tadatesuit,andnotsamethingthat
they'vewornforthelas.t 20 years.Dependingonthejob,
theyshouldmakesurethey'reindicating 10 theemployer
1ha.tthey'reenergeticandthatthey'refamiliarwilhtechnol·
ogy.Forexample,theymaycarrya pieceoftechnologyioto
theinterviewandturnitoffinfronloftheemployer.They
s.houldtalktotheemployeraboutthelrexperience,butnot
dwellonit.Peopledon'tnecessarilywanttohearallofthe
thingsthata potentialemployeehasdoneintheirpast.
Theywanttoknowhowtheyaregoingtocontribuleinthe
futuretobenehttheorganization.Researchteilsusthat
olderworkersaremuchmoremterestedin seeingtheorgan-
izationsucceed.Theyaremuchmorefocusedonthose
kindsofgoalsthanyoungerpeople.ls startingyourownbusinessagoodoption?
!t'sagoodoptionifyou'repreparedto~yourselfand
yourproductandbea salesperson.It'sverydifficulttoslart
yourownbusinesswithouthavingarealinterestinmarket·
ingand~yourself.ltmaybethatyouhaveskillsin
someotherarea.Uolessyoucancombinethatwithbeing
abletoseiltootherpeople,itmaybedifficultfaryouto
starta business.Dayouhaveonepieceofadvkeforworkersover50?
Myadvice 10 peoplewhoareSOlS 10 see!hemselvesas
workingforanother 30 years.Peoplearebeginnmgtothink
aboutwhatthismeansforthem.Doesthatmeantheyare
goingtostayin whattheyaredoingnow?Doesitmeanthey
arelookingatstartingIheirownbUSiness?It'sarealoppor-
tunitytoexploresamethingthatyou'vewantedtodaand
there'sstillplentyoftimetodoit.Peoplecangobackto
school,forexample.Youcancompletelyrejpventvourself.
l1'snotreaUya wjndmgdown,aswe'veoitenthoughlinthe
past.l1'sreallyanexcitingtime.5/2009