The economic downturn of 2008 put many retirees and soon-to-be retirees in financial trouble. Some lost all their retirement, while others even lost their jobs and homes, and now need to make ends meet. I’m going to show you several types of job training for retirees, and where you will find training for side jobs while you are on Social Security, or while you are getting ready to retire.
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On-the-Job Training
Lately, at least in my area, the low unemployment rate is helping seniors and soon-to-be seniors to get jobs that ordinarily would not be available. The hiring pool is very small these days, which affords older workers more opportunity than ever. Employers are more willing to work with older people, and will let you be creative with your work schedule.
These employers are more willing to train people on the job, because those who have the skills already have jobs!
Seniors are great candidates for on-the-job training because they have already established a work ethic and a reliability factor. They have had their careers already, and are usually willing to do simpler tasks for less money than younger workers.
Part-time work is available in a variety of industries. The hospitality business is perhaps the biggest, with jobs in restaurants and hotels, where they need good, reliable people. Administration jobs for small business tend to be part-time, such as receptionists, administrative assistants, accounting clerks, etc. All of these jobs can be done with very little on-the-job training,
Seasonal jobs are an excellent way for retirees to earn extra money. Look for jobs at amusement parks, state and national parks, landscaping businesses, tax preparation, and other jobs that work only part of the year All of these provide on-the-job training
Training Programs for Seniors
“It is becoming more common for seniors to remain in the workplace much longer than in decades past, so the demand for senior citizen vocational training is increasing.” From LoveToKnow
In just a few minutes of searching, I have found several training programs geared toward senior citizen job training and education:
In my state of Colorado, the state universities have the following programs: “Students age 55 and older may attend class on a space-available basis at Colorado State University. There is no tuition fee, but visitors don’t get credit for attending class. At the University of Colorado Denver, persons aged 60 and above may enroll on a no-credit basis to attend classes as auditors when space is available. Courses with a lab component are excluded, along with computer courses.” This is according to The Penny Hoarder, which gives a state-by state breakdown of training programs available to seniors.
“The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) provides training and part-time work to help older adults aged 55+ get back on the path to financial stability.” From the National Counsel on Aging
“Helping Older Adults Compete With Confidence for Full-Time Jobs: BACK TO WORK 50+ provides the training and tools older adults need to compete with confidence for today’s in-demand jobs. Trusted local partners that specialize in working with older job candidates offer job search coaching, help build computer skills and match each candidate with local employer needs.” From AARP (I am a member of AARP. Please see my review of AARP by clicking here. They have some really great programs and resources for seniors in a variety of different subjects, and they are worth looking into.)
Work-from-Home
There are thousands of work-from-home opportunities for mature workers. Most require computer skills. Here are a few avenues to pursue work-from-home jobs:
Upwork: Upwork is a platform for freelancers in a huge variety of jobs. One opportunity you will find on Upwork, is the virtual assistant. A VA does everything an in-office assistant does, only from his or her own home.
Upwork has bunches of VA jobs, plus a ton of others such as writing, researching, phone reception, email administrating, graphic artistry, and a myriad other positions that are short term, part-time, opportunities. Upwork has a free membership, and also a paid membership that gives you a lot more perks.
FlexJobs: FlexJobs is much like Upwork, but they charge you a fee upfront to use their tools, therefore, I never used them.
Free Online Training for MS Office and IT
Many jobs nowadays require excellent computer skills. You can make yourself infinitely more marketable by getting good training in Microsoft Office. This includes Word and Excel. If you know these two programs, you will likely be able to at least figure out many other office applications.
There is a lot of free online Office and Windows training. Probably the best tutorials are presented by Microsoft and are located at their Office Training Center.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate Marketing is a system where you promote products on your website or blog, and you get paid a commission when a person buys the product through your site. This is a great job for retirees and soon-to-be retirees, because it is flexible, can be done at any level, and the sky is the limit on how much you can earn.
I’m an advocate for learning affiliate marketing, and of the training you get from Wealthy Affiliate. This is a great place to start a part-time or even full time job that will eventually earn you passive income, which you can apply to your retirement. Please see my review and other articles I’ve written about Wealthy Affiliate below.
Common Wealthy Affiliate Complaints
Wealthy Affiliate Testimonials
More Info on Wealthy Affiliate
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Perhaps the best affiliate marketing training I have seen is through Wealthy Affiliate. They have a free training program that you can try out before you buy it. Wealthy Affiliate members take you by the hand and lead you through the complete process of getting a website up and running, and they show you how to make money with it. You won’t find better education for the price. And the price! Premium Membership is only $49 per month, and that includes all your hosting, training, and website tools. And Wealthy Affiliate provides a positive, pay-it-forward community that will help you every step of the way.
I’m not going to sugar coat it. Affiliate Marketing is hard work. It’s exacting and tedious. And it’s not for everyone. Work includes creating a working website, researching markets, researching affiliates, and most of all, writing content, which you should be willing to do most of all.
But if you are willing to put in the work, Affiliate Marketing is the way to go, and Wealthy Affiliate will help you get there.
My Own Experience
My husband and I are both 56. 2008 left us with no retirement. I work a seasonal job, and the job-attached unemployment is great, however, we have a really tough time making it through the 4 months that I’m off every year. This year I decided I would try to get a work-from-home job to supplement our income. My goal was to get enough money for groceries each week. I tried several avenues to get income, including filling out surveys, doing closed captioning work, performing data entry, and becoming a virtual assistant. I started after Christmas, and all I made was about $50 total.
Near the end of January, I came across Wealthy Affiliate. I had learned about Affiliate Marketing in college, and had even tried it for a while. But with no direction, I didn’t do well, and stopped. However, once I started with Wealthy Affiliate’s free training program, I began to see that this was not just a side gig. I could do this for supplemental income, replace our retirement savings, and perhaps even retire early, if I did the program.
In Conclusion
There are dozens of venues out there where you can get some training to get a side gig for your retirement. Take a look at the ones I recommend, or do some searching on your own. Chances are, you will find something that will interest you, and will advance your skills, your interests, and even your well-being. So go forth and find some training to help you enjoy your retirement, as well as add money to your retirement savings.
Please put your comments below, and thank you so much for reading!
references:
https://seniors.lovetoknow.com/Senior_Citizen_Vocational_Training
https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/life/college/free-college-courses-for-senior-citizens/
https://www.ncoa.org/economic-security/matureworkers/
https://www.aarp.org/aarp-foundation/our-work/income/back-to-work-50-plus/
https://www.upwork.com/
https://www.flexjobs.com/
https://support.office.com/office-training-center
I love the post and the info given on Job Training for Retirees. But I’m very baffled and very paranoid when it comes to life after retirement, I see lot of retirees sitting at home doing absolutely nothing,this boredom leads to depression which finally ruin there health. I really appreciate the features highlighted and explained on how they can get busy and involved in some job. I am commend you for a great write up ,at 55 you are still much active in the online business. You are really amazing, thanks for the beautiful post.
Thank you so much for your comments. I worry too about losing my marbles after retirement, and hope I’m doing enough to challenge my brain, so that doesn’t happen. My sister retired last year, and she says she doesn’t sleep as well since she retired, that her brain doesn’t have to think as hard, so she’s not tired enough to sleep well. Yes, quite scary! Not gonna go there myself! Thanks for reading and thanks again for your comment! Rhonda
I think its a brilliant idea for retirees to work from home and still be earning stipends. Jobs at amusement parks, state and national parts, landscaping businesses, tax preparation, and other kinds of jobs where work is not done on a daily basis ( maybe few times a month) is very cool for retirees. Got a lots of retired folks all around me, and i think they would benefit a lot from this post of yours when they read it. I have bookmarked already and will share with them. Thanks so much for this educative post. Hope to read more from your posts in the nearest future.
CohenBeckett, thanks a lot for commenting on my post. And thanks for sharing it with your retired neighbors. I myself am working as an office manager for a paving company. We are off for 4 months out of the year. I get paid job attached unemployment, but it’s about half what I make while I’m working. Hence, my affiliate marketing job through wealthy affiliate, where I can make extra cash during the winter. Thank you again for commenting! Rhonda
Nice review. Those freelance platforms are all good. They suit some people’s needs but I still don’t think they can be compared to affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing pays more though is not a get rich quick something. I’m glad I am in wealthy affiliate already to get every training I need to succeed online.
Me too, also glad I’m with Wealthy Affiliate. Of all the things I tried, I find I love this work. That goes a long way to doing it long term. If you hate it, you’re not going to stick with it! So, yes, I agree that affiliate marketing is the best way to go for some of us, but it’s definitely not for everyone. Thanks, Precious, for your comment! Rhonda
Well said, the young retiree’s needs to get themselves something to do so that they will not become a financial handicap. They also need to keep working so that it won’t affect them mentally and psychologically.
This is a call for awareness that job owners need to offer job to these set of people. They must not be looked down on. Home based work is another great opportunity for them, though they might feel lonely over a long period of time but the results worth it
Thanks for the comment, and you make some great points, especially about getting lonely working from home. It can have that affect on people, however, for some like myself actually enjoy being home by oneself. Those who get lonely need to be aware of that fact, and do things as hobbies that interact with people. Thanks again for the comment! Rhonda
Awesome article and you gave me lots of information that I was not aware of. I am also into affiliate marketing at the age of 52 I recently found myself unemployed and with no retirement after years of work, thanks in part to the down turn in the economy. Now that I have started taking affiliate marketing seriously I can see first hand proof that this is not only a very legitamate way to earn a living or just a supplement if you want, it is also a growing business model that is becoming more and more respected each year. You mentioned flex jobs witch I had not heard of before so I will be checking that one out for sure.
Thanks for reading and commenting! Yes, I did a lot of things to try to earn money while I’m off my seasonal job. FlexJobs was one I looked into. Forgot to mention that I also did closed captioning for a company name I can’t remember. I sucked at it because I’m a slow typer, half deaf, and too much of a perfectionist. But I made 10 whole dollars at it! That was too hard, not enough time given to do a good job, and subjective as *heck*. So I would rather sink my “free” time into something I love doing, which is affiliate marketing! Thanks, Cathy, again for the comment! Rhonda