There is age discrimination in the workplace. But an astonishing one-third to one-quarter of all people go back to work at least for some time after they have formally retired. Most of them take jobs in their previous fields. But some find fulfillment in a completely new occupation or in one they may have been trained for but have hardly worked in at all.

Not all companies practice age discrimination; some even give preference to older workers or retirees. At a recent job fair for older people sponsored by the New York City Department for the Aging, this was evident. The seventy-five exhibitors-banks, retail stores, publishers, and practically every service industry – were spending time and money to seek out people over sixty. Some of our nation’s largest, most highly respected corporations have the reputation of looking favorably on hiring older people – Atlantic Richfield, IBM, AT&T, American Express, Burger King, McDonald’s, General Electric, Polaroid, and every major insurance company.

This is not to say that finding a satisfying paying job after retirement is easy. It can take a good deal of searching, and it may mean making compromises. Decide which compromises are tolerable and which are unacceptable. Luckily, at this time of life you may have less rigid requirements for a job than you had at twenty-five.

If, like many retirees who want to return to work, you would prefer a part-time job, the first place to consider is your former company. Ask if you can return as a consultant or work during the busy season when your firm needs extra hands. Being a known quantity, you are likely to have an edge in being hired. Your employer will not have the headache of training you, and you will not have the trauma of adjusting to a new place. (This advice applies only if you were happy there!)

Or consider going into your former field on a smaller scale. If you had an antique shop, could you sell antiques out of a room in your home? Perhaps you could rent part of a warehouse to store your products. If you were an executive secretary, could you free-lance? Call some small neighborhood businesses and tell them you are available to do typing at home. Argue your virtues with their pocketbook in mind: ‘ ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful to hire someone with years of experience who could also save your company money by working out of her home?”

If neither returning to your old company nor becoming self-employed is feasible, you must muster the courage to tackle a job search. Job specialists at the New York City Department for the Aging advise concentrating your efforts on these two fronts: combing the want ads and telling everyone you are looking for work. In their experience, these avenues are more productive than visiting employment agencies. Another approach they find surprisingly effective is to call places “cold.” If you want a job as a legal secretary, look up lawyers in the Yellow Pages. Start with Aardvark and Jones and work your way down. Try to bypass personnel departments – ask for Mr. Aardvark himself. (The worst that can happen is they tell you he died in 1945.) Expect rebuffs, and forge ahead. Spend time. “Finding a job is a job itself” applies doubly today.

Use a schedule to organize yourself. Consider yourself self-employed in the occupation “job searcher.” Schedule your day in the same way you would if you were genuinely self-employed: “From 9:00 to 11:00 A.M. each day, I’ll look through the want ads and call prospects. I must visit five agencies within the next three weeks.” “There are four people I think may be helpful. My deadline for calling them is April 1.”

Use a similar strategy when you “network,” or ask people you know for help. Instead of saying, “Do me a favor – I need work desperately,” and then waiting by the phone, give the person a deadline: “I would appreciate your telling Mr. Jones about me. I’ll call you back on Friday to find out what he says.” If people know you will be calling them again by a certain date, they are more likely to follow through.

Search intelligently, taking your “maturity” into account. Concentrate on industries and companies that are age friendly. Your state labor department may have a “mature worker,” unit with these listings. Or find out if your area has a private agency that specializes in placing older employees. Your local office for the aging may operate an employment service, offering workshops in job-finding skills as well as training and placement services. (Unfortunately, these services are often restricted to low-income elderly.) Your local library, churches, or YMCA may also offer job counseling. Community colleges are another good source. Their career counseling centers are sometimes open to anyone in the community, not just students.

If you have sought out an employer who is looking for a ”mature worker,” the age issue is not there. Generally, however, you will not be interviewing for a position that is preselected in this way.

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Courses in painting or writing or drama are easy to find. However, here too distinct advantages arise from searching out a program specifically for older people. By aligning yourself with an older artists’ group, you become a valued commodity. What your group does may be more in demand than if you joined an age-integrated group. If you want to translate what you learn into a second vocation – to exhibit, publish, or perform your work – unexpected doors can open when you capitalize on your creativity and your age.

For instance, at the Jewish Association for Services for the Aged, a philanthropic organization serving older people in the New York area, drama specialists Howard Phlanzer and Susan Miller formed an older adults’ theater ensemble by recruiting members from the organization’s network of affiliated senior citizens’ groups. Some members who passed the audition were in their late eighties. Many had had to abandon a lifelong interest in drama during their working careers. With the help of a historian from Columbia University, the group members wrote a theater piece about their personal experiences – what it was like to be children of immigrants growing up in New York at the turn of the century. Their play aroused the interest of people at the Jewish Museum of the City of New York, and they staged it there to high praise.

Some of the people in this group had attended drama classes at area universities but found they did not offer enough chance to meet people or to perform. Being labeled older gives this group and the many other artistic groups specifically for people over sixty, special opportunities for public access.

Programs to help, encourage and train older artists dot the country. To find out what is offered in your community, call or write the state arts council in your state. State arts councils have information about all arts activities including those specifically for people over sixty. And that marvelous general resource – your local office for the aging – should be able to offer you information in this area too.

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