Councils Can Help Job Seekers

Age is often a barrier to finding a job, although age discrimination in employment is prohibited by federal law. These are reasons why eight older-worker regional coordinating councils have developed.

Such councils currently serve Arkansas, Michigan, Vermont, southeastern Nebraska, Boston, Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles County. Their goal is to increase employment opportunities for older job seekers.

Unemployed for more than a year, Paul Siragusa, a former motion-picture costumer, called the Los Angeles council’s Older Worker Hotline. He was referred to the Job Club, a local placement agency. With that organization’s help, Siragusa was hired as a driver for Smith-Kline Bio Science Labs.

Fishing Masters Oil Tool Co. of Santa Fe Springs also called the Los Angeles council. Through the employer hot line, the company posted a job for an experienced accountant. The council transmitted the listing to Placement Service for Older Workers in Downey, which sent Charles Szymanski for an interview. Szymanski, a retired accountant, was hired at more than $12 an hour.

In 1987, the councils coordinated more than 200 older-worker agencies, which in turn served more than 100,000 older job seekers, according to Morgan Lyons of the California Research center. Additionally, more than 19,000 jobs were listed with the councils.

Contact your senior center or check the yellow pages under “employment” for addresses of the regional council or other employment services in your area. The California Research Center, 1052 W. 6th St., Suite 714, Los Angeles 90017, can also refer you to a regional center.

Question: My employer for the past 30 years has offered me a great opportunity for early retirement. I want to take it, but also want to find another job. Everyone tells me that networking is the name of the game, but no one can tell me what it is. Can you help?

Answer: Career counselors divide a job search into two approaches: formal and informal. The formal approach includes responding to want ads or applying directly to a personnel department, employment agency or recruiter. Though these methods quickly come to mind when one thinks of job hunting, only about 25% of job seekers use them. By contrast, 75% follow the informal approach, networking.

Networking means informing people you know that you are looking for work so they can refer you to others who might employ you. By networking you may discover openings that already exist as well as some that are pending or have not yet been advertised. You may also find opportunities to create a position that matches your skills. The majority of professional, managerial and technical jobs are filled through networking.

To start networking, personnel consultant Fred Merrill suggests this strategy: List the people you know. Consider business and professional contacts, relatives and friends.

Contact these individuals for brief, informational interviews. Stress that you are not asking for a job but would like their reaction to your resume and job-search strategy, including possible referrals. Your goal is to find out what types of positions are available and where they might be found.

With referrals you do not yet know, send a letter requesting an appointment and follow-up with a phone call. After each interview send a thank-you note.

For more job-search strategies, consider purchasing “Job Search Manual for Mature Workers,” available for $15 from the Los Angeles Council on Careers for Older Americans, 5225 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 204, Los Angeles 90036 (California residents include 98 cents sales tax).