I’ve decided I want a job, just a little job, not many hours, nothing too stressful! Over the last few months of being semi-retired I’ve come to this conclusion for a whole bunch of reasons:
- I need a purpose and I feel I have something to offer. OK, I’m 60, which I know would put off some prospective employers, but truth is I have as much drive and energy now as I did 40 years ago plus loads more knowledge and experience.
- I want to do something new – there are so many different types of jobs which never existed last time I looked working for some exciting sounding organisations.
- I want to test myself to see if I can hack it in the real world working for someone else after 30 years of being my own boss.
- I want to earn some money, not for money’s sake but for the validation it will bring, plus some extra cash coming in will give me a little more security and options.
I’m being picky but the job I want needs to enable me to carry on running my own business plus I don’t want it to get in the way of my travel plans. So, in short, I’m looking for part-time work that can be done remotely.
Trouble is I don’t know what job I want, should it be something like my current work – writing, marketing, digital – or something completely different. Both options appeal in different ways.
To help me focus I completed a skills assessment on the Government’s National Careers Service website. I found the agree/disagree tick-box questionnaire really useful, it made me think and was fun to fill in. The site also has information about different careers and courses which I might well revisit.
My questionnaire came back with this summary, not all of which I agree with:
- you are a creative person and enjoy coming up with new ways of doing things
- you are motivated, set yourself personal goals and are comfortable competing with other people
- you like to lead other people and are good at taking control of situations
- you are sociable and find it easy to understand people
The site then points you in the direction of potential careers of interest where you then complete a few more questions before it suggests particular job roles.
It came up with one area that I’d not thought about – social enterprise – that really did appeal. That, in itself, made the effort of completing the questionnaire worthwhile.
Since carrying out the assessment I’ve spent a few hours messing around with my new CV – how do you shoehorn 40 years of experience into just three pages of A4?
I’ve also signed up for two weekly job alerts via The Guardian newspaper and the Indeed jobs site.
I’ve found the whole process stimulating and motivating and will look forward to the opportunities when they hit my inbox each week. I’ve already discovered one job that ticks a number of my boxes.
Checking out the opportunities – perhaps registering with more jobs’ sites – applying, getting interviewed – will now form part of my retirement routine for the next few months until I hopefully find what I’m looking for.
Good luck!