Career change at 56 and outta work- suggestions?

What I do is mindful, exacting, OCD to fit and finish of whatever the job entails- in general, a conscientious employee.

Employee is, might come natural to you, but I would think along the lines of being your own boss.

How artistic are you, attention to detail is a very good quality.
A very easy business to start is a in home service (On Site) since you can work out of your home as your business address. I'm a furniture finisher and have been working for my self for most of my life with 38 years in the trade. Now furniture needs to have a shop to work on it, architectural wood work not so much.

But there is also work in just touching up furniture and architectural wood work in people homes on what they already own. Have kit will travel fixing little nick and dings in nice homes and cleaning up the built-in wood work. People with nice large homes have a maintenance cost that a lot of don't think about. They want their stuff to always look nice since they spent a lot on it.

I get a lot of calls just to touch-up kitchen, most of the time the bulk of the work and what looks bad is just a need of a good washing. That gets me 85% there, then take care of any touch-ups that need to be done, I alway tell them just my cleaning is worth my cost.

I work by the hour when I do this, so while I have my foot in the door you can get more work from them. Point out that you can make other appointments and run though their house taking care of needs on the furniture. You can also point out that a good cleaning and care of the built in wood work will make it last a lot longer, saving cost and disruption of remodeling. The next thing you know your there three times a year taking care of things. This is building a clientele and word of mouth starts to play in as they tell a friend.

Another job along these lines, hooking up with contractors building new and remodeling homes. The last people in these homes doing work is cleaning business, the painter touching up and me touching -up wood work. We are there fixing protection damage from tape and other things, construction dirt and basically paying attention to detailing out the house so the contractor can get paid.
I have thought about a business like this when I don't want to do all the heavy work any more. Instead of the contractor needing a cleaning business that can also do damage to the wood work, and a wood touch-up person. Combine these two steps that can work together hand in hand going though the whole house. The cleaning crew can be instructed as to the needs of the wood finisher saving damage and shortening the time the skilled labor is needed.

Some of this stuff might work out good for you and your wife and you all could be a team to start with. Starting a small business like this doesn't cost a lot and tax write offs at the end of the year can be a lot less than you ever paid in your life.
 
Project manager

That's actually what I did for 5 years out of school at printing/marketing companies before becoming a teacher. Lots of similarities and skills that cross over.

Another vote for Project Manager. With a degree in Business I spent quite a few years as a procurement professional. Due to organizational changes, mergers and acquisitions, my work group dissolved and I needed to find employment, within or outside of my current employer, fairly quickly.

PM work is aligned pretty well with almost any degree but I do have one question for you....

Would you want to start over or would you rather leverage your education to work, scientifically, as a physicist?
 
My sister is a retired math teacher and she is making very good money as a tutor. She is very happy doing it.
This would generate some funds and a good start to independence.


If you work for yourself, you can do more than one type of work to generate funds. Nothing is stopping you but to explore more option than just working for someone else and a fixed income. If you took on some independent work like tutoring and also another type of work, one might start to grow more than the other and you focus would change to what's doing better.
 
He's 56 years old, while not dead yet:D we don't want to be crawling under a house fixing sewer pipe, climbing scaffolding installing lights and welding is very heavy work.


Good point. While I'm early 50s and very fit I'm sure it won't last.
 
Perhaps find something where you can use your knowledge and experience to help companies or a company become safer and more efficient.

I started my own gig in 2009 but in the same industry that I have been in for over 30 years which is coatings, application and finishing.

I show companies how to save millions of dollars with the least amount of investment or many times simply by utilizing assets that they already have.

You can also do this by being a product or project manager as others have mentioned, especially with your great education and background.

You have a teachers heart which is also a big plus because teaching and training is a key element to showing others how to become better.

Problem solving is at the top of the list.
I usually get called in when most others can't solve unusual or tough problems and people skills that require teaching is also very important for success.

One of the best rewards is watching people listen and apply knowledge that gives a measurable and positive result.
 
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Good point. While I'm early 50s and very fit I'm sure it won't last.
I live in an area where the crawl space under the house is about 3 feet high, dirt and rocks is not fun crawling around on.
I do work from simple home touch-up to on site finishing of huge rooms and can be crawling on the floor and up 18 feet. It's hard work doing big jobs like that and rewarding at the same time, but as we get older I'd rather do some in home touch-up.

I finished a few rooms in this house and this was the bar room, which is about the size of my whole house.
This is not done yet

Here is the final look

IMG_1092.JPG IMG_1094.JPG IMG_1081.JPG

another room

IMG_1089.JPG IMG_1085.JPG
 
She makes $50 an hour.

Yeah I charge $125 for in home service.
So lets look at if they needed to move the furniture, a mover might cost $300 to move a dinning table to a shop for repair each way, then the shop cost might be $400 when done.

Replacement cost could be $10,000 or more for a given table.

So if I can go into someones home and fix a issue with that table for $300 in a couple of hours they are more than happy.

If the touch-up is more than an half hour away I charge port to port, so a half hour touch-up can cost them $300 anyway.
 
PV Solar is huge in most of the country now and they are hiring.
You could apply for Installation Project Manager and oversee the actual installers who do the grunt work.
Also commercial HVAC electronics techs command a decent salary and are in demand.
You would be surprised how many in the field can install but have no clue how to systematically troubleshoot.


Bob
 
It's not outside education, but a lot of community colleges are looking for people who can teach STEM stuff.
 
Project management or operational excellence/business ops in a 'tech' firm (e.g., biotech); alternative, training in a tech environment (e.g., biotech).
The former may require some nominal formal training (time and money spent) for various kinds of professional certifications to get one's foot in the door (e.g., "PMP" --- "project management professional"). The OP's current resume probably would already support the "alternative". These are reasonably secure and good-paying jobs in (e.g.) biotech hubs: DC metro (NIH-land), San Diego, San Francisco, Boston, (EDIT), NC "Research Triangle", too.
 
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Industry lab work.

I make emulsifiers (a dry food ingredient) for DowDupont. (Did ya'all know Dow and Dupont merged effective yesterday ?)

We have people on duty 24/7 that analyze our products for quality. They don't have chemical degrees, or even college degrees.

Look for a lab where the A/C works.

You could make over 50K at a sit down job, (some walking involved).
 
Any ideas?

Hit up the white collar temp agencies - Robert Half, Accountemps, that sort of thing.

We are heading into a very busy season for insurance, retail and financial institutions, and companies need to staff up projecct managers and quality control/assurance staff.
 
PV Solar is huge in most of the country now and they are hiring.
You could apply for Installation Project Manager and oversee the actual installers who do the grunt work.
Also commercial HVAC electronics techs command a decent salary and are in demand.
You would be surprised how many in the field can install but have no clue how to systematically troubleshoot.


Bob[/QUOTE

Having dealt with many of these people, i wouldn't be surprised at all:rflmao:
 
Kind of difficult for someone 56 years old to get hired. I recommend finding something that you like to do and going into business for yourself. Sounds like you have some experience as a project manager. Maybe do some consultant work? Teach someone else what you already know. I am 59 and have an incredible resume. And, I bet (if I was looking) that I would be lucky to get a job as a Wal-Mart greeter.
 
I quit the Tool & Die making trade and got a job with the United States Postal Service. The best job I ever had. Great bennies with a great retirement plan.
I became a 204B non certified supervisor until I retired. Great bunch of guys and lots of challenging work. My biggest accomplishment was taking care of nightly maint. on a new never before run sortation machine that had an all new linear induction system for carriage movement. It was installed by Allen Bradley and was state of the art. Nobody knew anything about it and I was learning as I went. Very different for the USPS. All old equipment had very large 50 hp motors and chain drives. Strictly out of the 20's.
It was a real challenge working on something the postal service technical folks knew nothing about.
 
After retirement, a friend of mine started promoting himself as a "legal specialist" and explaining that if it's legal he'll do it. He has a variety of clients with different needs that employ him. He shuttles cars for a local dealership, runs errands of all sorts for different people, and does simple handyman chores for others. He keeps accurate records for tax purposes and clears more than he did at his former job.
 
Technical companies look for educators/trainers to teach their sales people the technical aspects of their products. Your background would be perfect.
Scientific instrumentation companies
Flow technology companies
Valve companies
Pump companies
Electronic parts companies
Level products companies
Pressure/temperature companies
 
I am a former HS physics teacher- BS in physics and education, MA in STEM education.

Get on something like LinkedIn and start building your network. The parents of every student in your classes had jobs, and some of them must be hiring now. The freshmen you taught 8 years ago are likely out of college and working for somebody- maybe in a STEM field.
 
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