The Retirement Bubble

If you are in serious trouble as a result of the financial crisis and in desperate need of funds, the ideas here are unlikely to be of great use. You have to do whatever it is you have to in order to deal with the reality facing you. However, let’s say you are still headed toward retirement. Either for the sake of stimulation or the need for some extra income, you want to find something to do that earns some money. Perhaps the idea of a Life Sabbatical is attractive, especially finding something new and different that you enjoy doing, but you just do not know where to begin. Let me propose a crazy idea for your consideration.

For very good reasons of career, family and so forth, it is common for people to turn their profession into a “box”. They focus their attention on what they are doing and experiment with radically different things rarely, if ever. They live in that box for years until they finally retire, delighted to be free of the box and independent at last! A couple years after retirement, it is not unusual for these people to wake up and realize they have left one box for another box, labeled “retirement”, every bit as confining and more so because they are treating retirement as the last stage of their lives before death, so they have not been thinking in terms of starting any new career.

The very, very common response to this situation is to go right back to the old box. Sometimes, they return to the firm they once worked for. Sometimes, they go to a similar firm. Why? Because, in their minds, their skills are specific to that business. That is where it makes the most “sense” to look.

For some people, this works beautifully, but my experience has taught me that this is not always the case, not at all. There are at least two problems for many people.

First, they are bored. Here they are, doing what bored them before retirement, but doing it for less money, and with less responsibility and less authority. They are bored and boring. They typically do a below-average job because they are not “being paid enough” to do a good one. They may not come out and say that, but everyone else picks up on it. No one really wants them around.

Second, they can become a real problem in an office. Having spent 30 years in the business, Harry comes back to do part-time work. Within a few days, Harry is not just bored, he is critical. He did a better job when he held that other guy’s position. He knows better ways to get things done. If he hears someone talking about a problem, he jumps in and tells them how he dealt with it years ago, and so on. It is not too awful at first. It can even be modestly helpful, but it eventually becomes aggravating, even angering, to other staff. God forbid Harry was a former supervisor! Then he might actually start talking like one! He is not! He is a part-timer and that is that. But he just finds it tough to break old habits. He will insist he is not being an annoying pain in the butt. Sometimes, you want to video tape him for a day and force him to sit and watch and listen to himself. Harry’s future in this position is questionable. But even if he keeps the job, is this the role model you are looking for? I hope not.

Here’s the crazy idea, if you’re looking for part-time work in a new field. We all have developed simple skills over the years. We all have learned to learn new simple skills quickly when required. We have done all sorts of things that we do not see as “professional” – getting files in order, answering the phone for someone else, doing research that others just do not have the time to do, taking over the “front desk” for awhile, the list is endless.

So here I am. I have no idea what I want to do at this point in my life, but I want it to be fun and different. I want to get up with something to do that day, at least once in a while during the week. I can support myself, but I could use some extra income too. Above all, I do not want to return to the old business again. That ceased to be “fun” a long time ago. I would like to try out a number of different jobs to get an idea of where I can focus my attention in the future. What can I do?

I put together a very simple resume. The jobs listed are more to show that I have been a successful worker in the past and held responsible positions, but the details are not important. I include a few references to back this up.

I swim, but rarely. I have never set foot on a surfboard in my life and would surely fall off the instant I did! But there is a surf shop near me and it looks like fun. So I go in, hand over my very simple (probably one page) resume and tell them that I am available for an hour here or there when they need someone to help with simple tasks. So many businesses are short-staffed because they cannot afford to hire another full-timer, so simple, non-critical “things” that need to be done do not get done or are done very poorly.

I am a mature, intelligent adult with a good work background who would like to earn a little extra and help a business get things done that they need done, but do not have the time or staff to do. I am not asking for a full-time job. I am not asking for a guaranteed 10 or 20 hours a week. I am not asking for anything! I am simply letting that business know that I am available. And I am not looking for the “plum” jobs, I am willing to do the “grunt work” that no one really enjoys doing full-time. How much money do I want? I will set my hourly wage as low as I can (for now), the lower, the better.

I make this as easy as possible for the surf shop owner. I am totally flexible and will do anything simple he needs done, when he needs it (assuming it fits my schedule, but I don’t have to say that), and cheaply. I am relaxed because I am not asking for anything, just informing the owner.

Running a business is always stressful. Running a business in the middle of a recession is even more stressful. Owners are confronted with people who are stressed out, looking for jobs and as much income as possible, and the owner is sympathetic, but it just adds to his or her stress. I do not cause any stress. I’m just informing businesses of another resource that is available when they decide they need it, not me.

When I am finished at the surf shop (probably ten minutes later), I stop at the restaurant, the hotel, the law firm, the book store, the mechanic’s shop, and so on. I will walk up one side of the block and then down the other, stopping at each store or business, dropping off my information with a smile and a kind word at each place. A couple hours and I have covered a lot of ground.

If I hear nothing, I pass by every one of these businesses again a week later to greet them and remind them. Hey, I am not the most important person in their lives. I need to remind them that I am around and available. Do not forget that smile and kind word. Above all, be relaxed, if not this store, another, so there is no good reason to get uptight about this one.

Let me tell you something I have seen elsewhere and felt myself. A relaxed, unstressed, friendly job applicant who offers to help only when needed and cheaply is so much more interesting than someone who must have a full-time job, looks and sounds like they are desperate, and shares their stress with me when I have plenty of my own to deal with. The difference is truly “night and day”.

Do this and there is a really high probability that someone will call you one day to tell you that one of the staff has called in sick and could you possibly given them a couple hours today to help? When that happens, say yes if at all possible. When you get there, act delighted with whatever simple task they have to give you. Give them 2 dollars (or euros or whatever) of work for every dollar they pay you. Be cheerful, but serious with your job. Thank them when it is over and tell them you would be happy to help again, should the need arise (unless you really hate the place, there are limits!).

So what is in it for you? Not much money, huh? There is a lot in it for you, if you take it seriously.

You have been around the work world for decades. In hours, you can often get a real feel for whether a particular business is really interesting to you or not, and you are gaining this intelligence inside the business, not outside on the street or looking at a website. You are in control. If you really do not want to work for one of them again, you just politely decline if they call.

If you really like it and they like you (they call you back), the ball is now in your court. You begin to really focus on this business and how you might fit in at a higher level of responsibility, whether at that particular business or another similar business. You will learn the “language” of that business and the roles that different people play. You will meet some of the clients and get a sense of whether they are the type of folks you would enjoy working with. In a nutshell, you will know whether you enjoy this business or not, and you have not spent a penny to pay for education or formal training. At that point, the crazy idea stops and you move to the next stage of your Life Sabbatical. You stop walking the block, sticking your head in any door. You focus.

We have a saying in English for this. We call it, “getting my foot in the door”. This crazy idea during this crazy period in human history is “getting my foot in the door when times are tough and jobs are rare”. This is one way to get your foot in several doors with as little stress to all concerned as possible.

Those of you who have read this blog in the early weeks can see the influence of Rose and Charles. Those who do not know what I am talking about should look to the right-hand side of this page, under “The Job Search”. You will find Rose and Charles’ stories there. Their stories are for people seeking full-time jobs. This is for those seeking part-time work…and a little adventure.
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