Our Time: Strategies for older workers to find jobs

Nell Kenyon was 78 when she learned her job was being eliminated at Santa Ana (Calif.) College.

For 12 years she had registered the developmentally disabled students, but now they were to be "blended" with the physically disabled. There was no room for her in the new department — or anywhere else in the school she had served for 28 years.

"It was easier to get rid of me," the Orange, Calif., resident said. "And, yes, I resent it."

She's not alone.

I get e-mails and phone calls from older job-seekers insisting they have been singled out because of age, bumped from lifetime career positions, left with no retirement income because of the market downturn.

While Kenyon might represent the elder end of the aging workforce, a new study from the MetLife Mature Market Institute confirms many Americans over 55 want to work at least until age 69. But few can find a job.

The research in "Buddy, Can You Spare a Job? The New Realities of the Job Market for Aging Baby Boomers" paints a sobering picture, said Sandra Timmermann, institute director.

The older the job seeker, the harder to find a job, she said. But she tells most older job-seekers to do more than blame the economy.

"Blame yourself and the way you approach the job search," she says.

Too many older workers assume they can continue to find similar work. Or they are not really up-to-date in computer skills.

"We're talking about five critical success strategies older workers need," Timmermann said.

They include:

Acknowledge the New Realities of the Job Market. Anger about age bias won't get you a job. To understand the market, older job seekers should identify industries and organizations in the area that are stable or growing; look for a workforce culture that respects all workers; look for opportunities in small- to medium-sized companies, which create the majority of new jobs.

"Self-employment, starting your own business, seems to be another solution," Timmermann says.

Reframe Your Experience to Demonstrate Future Value. Boomers must identify and articulate what value they bring while recognizing their underlying skill set must constantly evolve. For example, knowledge of Internet marketing was relatively new eight years ago. Today, it's a prerequisite for working in marketing. Clarify what you have to offer and develop the contacts you need to be taken seriously to compete today.

"You really have to acknowledge the realities of your job market," she adds.