Art Koff, founder of RetiredBrains.com and author of the reference guide Invent Your Retirement Resources for the Good Life

• Register with temp firms in your local area as they don’t care about age, but are more interested in your skills and experience. Also, if you get work through a temp firm, it helps build your resume for future work assignments.

• Try to get an interview with an employer you are not interested in working for to practice your interviewing skills. You don’t want to go to your first interview in a long time with the employer you are really interested in working for and make easily correctable mistakes.

• Consider having your resume re-written or updated by an expert as the resume you used years ago is no longer appropriate.

• Search for a job in areas that connect older workers with employers seeking to hire them. Click here and chose your state in the “location” area and your job category in the “job type” area. Then enter your city location in the “keyword” box as well as other modifying criteria to narrow your job search. Consider putting the word temporary after some of these criteria so the system will return job postings often more appropriate for older workers as employers are more likely to hire older workers on a temporary basis than their younger counterparts.

• Look for temporary or project assignments as they are much more available than full-time jobs.

• When applying for a job tell the employer you are willing to start working as a consultant or on a project basis; this often gives you a leg up on younger workers or are often unable to accept this kind of employment. Temporary employment or working on a consultative basis can often lead to full-time work.

• Get information on the perspective employer prior to your interview. For example, contact someone who works for this employer who attended the same school you went to saying. “Hi. You and I went to the same school but graduated at different times. I’m interviewing for a position in your firm later this week and, before I meet with the hiring manager, I would like to test out a couple questions I have about the  firm on you and see what you think the answers might be.” (Later, ask if you can use their name as an employee referral.)

• Volunteer with a charity or non-profit. Although in most cases there is little or no monetary compensation, it is often excellent experience and can possibly lead to employment with a firm that is seeking that particular experience or appreciates your work ethic. It is also easier to find employment while you are working as you have a better mind set. Looking for a job on a full-time basis is not a very rewarding experience.

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Arthur Koff graduated from Dartmouth College in 1957 and did his postgraduate work at the University of Chicago Executive Program. He started his career with the Chicago Sun Times after which he spent 35 years in recruitment communications with both national and international advertising agencies. He helped build a suite of over 1000 discipline specific and geographic specific niche job sites focused on recruiting and has assisted employers develop cost effective recruiting strategies utilizing the Internet to reach seniors and retirees.

Art has made presentations at local, national, and international association meetings and at conventions and trade shows. He has appeared on NBC TV several times and been quoted as an authority on new developments that effect older Americans in major newspapers, national publications and on Web sites.

In 2003 Art founded RetiredBrains.com a suite of sites that are destinations for older boomers, seniors and retirees which include a free job board designed to assist employers connect with experienced “retired brains” who are not interested in being fully retired. He has written his first book Invent Your Retirement Resources for the Good Life, published by Oakhill Press. The book is a complete reference guide for boomers and seniors planning their retirement, retirees and people who have responsibility for parents and grandparents who are retiring or retired.