I Need to Un-Retire

I retired after a long career as an executive in operations five years ago. I am going crazy not having anything to do! We have recently learned that we will be raising our grandchildren, which of course is going to be costing us much more on a monthly basis than we had anticipated when I retired. Please help me get out of the house and make some money!

Well, for starters I think it is wonderful that you are taking care of your grandchildren, as they say, it takes a village. I think that you should go about your job search with the same plan as anyone else…crafting a solid resume, and then check out ExecuNet for roles that appeal to you. On ExecuNet you can also add your resume to their database, and you can set up alerts to be notified when jobs that may be of interest to you pop up. Reach out to former colleagues, and see if anyone has a need for someone with your background. Become familiar with LinkedIn, and start to follow companies that are of interest to you, as well as their management team. Don’t ignore the second part. You want to study the players too. You also want to reach out to recruiters that focus on operations roles or the industry that you gained the bulk of your experience in, and send them your resume and ask to be alerted to any potential matches. Reach out to your former colleagues and let them know you’re looking to work again.

I also encourage you to consider volunteering for something while you are actively searching for something. So many people discount volunteer opportunities, but in truth they can be a terrific avenue into a new job. We have seen many people over the years actually gain a transferable skill while doing a volunteer role. This time of year this is especially easy to do.

I used to volunteer at a food bank, and we had a wonderful gentleman who had a long career in operations. He was able to make some incredible suggestions in how we got the food from the restaurants and grocery stores to the homeless shelters that had dramatic results. And in turn, he learned about a new software tracking system that was not in place when he was fully employed. By becoming familiar with that operations software, he upped his skills while doing something wonderful for people in need. Volunteer opportunities are a terrific way to become connected with people, who just may know someone that needs someone with your skill set. Every time you meet someone and they have a positive interaction with you, you have essentially added another avenue to hear about a new job.

Good luck with the grand kids and the search!