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Working
COnTInuED fROm PAGE 3
and maintenance get underway
after a hard winter. Wareham,
Plymouth and Hyannis stores are all
looking for help.
For those still on the job hunt,
Tory Johnson of Women For Hire in
New York makes a couple of suggestions
for making yourself attractive
to prospective employers.
First, she suggests gaining a
comfort level with technology – if
you haven’t already – to beat the
stereotype that older workers aren’t
tech savvy. “Include links to your
digital profiles on your resume,”
she says. “And be visible online so
employers can search for you and
find plenty of great information that
supports your candidacy.
“Or, if you’ve been out of work
for an extended period of time,
start something to show you’re
active and hungry,” Johnson says.
She suggests throwing a fundraiser,
forming a running group or anything
to show you’re engaged and
active.
She also suggests that you look
the part. “Freshen up, appear current.
This is true for any age, but
it’s especially true in a youth-obsessed
culture,” she says.
If you need more help on brushing
up on your skills or techniques,
Elder Services of Cape Cod and the
Islands offers a Mature Workers
Program. Betty Pease, the project
director, says that the program has
been active since the mid-1970s.
“The official government name is
the Senior Community Service Employment
Program, and basically we
offer internships for income-eligible
people 55 and over, who get paid
minimum wage while they work in
nonprofits and local governmental
offices,” she says. The interns also
receive training to update their
skills.
“One of the great advantages of
this program is that mature workers
are able to say that they are currently
working and keeping up their
PRIMETIMECAPECOD.com 7
Quickhits
WebLinks
Elder Services of Cape Cod
and the Islands
508-394-4630
www.escci.org
The Home Depot
Apply at in-store kiosks (help is
available) or online at:
http://careers.homedepot.com.
edgesuite.net/?
Hyannis: 65 Independence Drive
Wareham: 2994 Cranberry Highway
Plymouth: 39 Long Pond Road
The Sloan Center on Aging and
Work at Boston College
http://www.bc.edu/research/
agingandwork/
skills. This makes them much more
attractive to prospective employers,”
Pease says.
The training also includes a
program called Job Clubs. During
these six-week sessions, members
meet once a week to hone their
job-searching skills. Intensive job
searches, resume polishing and
practice interviewing are some of
the topics covered. Some members
choose to receive extra training in
computer software and medical record
billing. Their internships take
them into nonprofits and other offices
and workplaces where they can
put their new-found skills to use.
Pease says that she gets a lot of
great feedback from those employers
who hire from her program.
“They are for the most part delighted
with them,” she says.
“One of the things that we teach
people in our program is not to
think about age so much,” she says.
“Very often, they are going to have
supervisors who are younger than
they are. We stress that they focus
on the persons’ position, rather
than their age. The mature worker
knows how to be respectful and
respond to bosses’ requests, even if
that boss is much, much younger.”