US News and World Report list some examples of occupations for older people who are looking to stay busy.  Here is their advice followed by my thoughts (in blue):

Sales. Particularly items bought by older customers, such as senior housing, architectural services, and long-term-care insurance.

Fulfillment service for eBay sellers. Many people peddling goods on eBay say their biggest hassle is packing and shipping the stuff. Want to help them? You might be able to solicit clients simply by E-mailing eBay sellers located in your geographic area. If you’re not in great physical shape, pick sellers of lightweight items.

Conference administrator. Conventions and other professional meetings require at least one person to handle logistics: mailings, registration, selecting and monitoring on-site services, etc.

Ghostwriter for executives. Many are willing to pay just to see a book about themselves. Variation: Contact celebrities who are just over the hill and afraid of losing their celebrity. Offer to ghostwrite their biography.

Support staff in a cosmetic-surgery clinic. Most clinics hire people to answer questions before and after surgery and do various administrative tasks.

Teacher of English as a second language. Corporations often look for people to teach English to new hires from other countries.

Tutor. The best tutors are not naturally good at the subject—the naturals don’t learn the same way as the strugglers. The best tutors struggled themselves but managed to learn the material anyway.

Consultant. You can thrive even if your former work wasn’t at a senior level. For example, a former administrative assistant might hire out as a trainer of administrators.

Fashion model. While millions of teens salivate at the thought of modeling, fewer boomers do, yet many ads picture older people.

Fix-it person. Handyman, locksmith, repairer of small items such as hard drives, iPods, and Palms and other PDAs.

Wedding planner. Weddings are more complicated than ever. Variations: reunion or silver and golden anniversary planner.

Piano tuner. There’s little stress, and work environments are usually pleasant.

Indexer. More than 100,000 books are published each year. Most need an index.

Abstractor. Research publications often require articles to be abstracted. For a person who enjoys reading, learning new things, and synthesizing, this can be fun.

Image consultant or personal shopper. One good specialty: older people.

Copywriter. The job market is generally best for annual reports, trade publications, and, to a lesser extent, print and online catalogs.

Driver. Chauffeur, school-bus driver, cab driver, courier service.

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BusinessWeek has an article in this week’s issue that details 18 new places to retire.  Here four surprises:

• Glenwood Springs/Breckenridge, Colo.
• Plymouth County, Mass.
• Northwest Arkansas/Branson, Mo.
• Northern Arizona

Click here to read the entire article.

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Kiplinger’s has a list of the top jobs that don’t require a four-year degree. Here is their list:

1. Home health aide, $8.12 per hour
2. Medical assistant, $24,610 per year
3. Physical therapist assistant, $37,890 per year
4. Dental hygienist, $28.05 per hour
5. Dental assistant, $13.62 per hour

The moral of the story is that if you don’t have a four year degree, you should look into healthcare.  It is something that people will always need.

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In investigating your career options, resist the inclination to get into a search rut. If you’re browsing at jobs, for instance, widen your search into new areas. Oftentimes, if you shift your focus even slightly, you can expect to earn more money, flexibility, or opportunity for advancement. Consider positions across the whole spectrum of companies, from small to very large, spanning all sectors, including nonprofit, government, and private. Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities you might not expect.

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I am here to remind you that you are never stuck and that you always have options in your career. Do not resign yourself to a job that does not fulfill you. Demand for talent is high, and you can make great things happen for yourself. If you’re in a rut, here are some solutions:

Change your present circumstances. Maybe you once loved your job but have grown uninspired with it. If this is the case, try to rediscover your passion in this work. What drew you to it in the first place? Talk to your boss about shifting projects and duties. Are there projects that need attention that you would like to be working on? Do you have ideas for improvements that you could suggest and devote some of your energy to? If you truly are dissatisfied with your job, can you transfer to another department? Many companies offer their employees high-quality training classes for free. Look around and discover the possibilities in your immediate area.

Find new opportunities. There’s no end to the number of employers looking for top talent. Why settle for work that doesn’t mean anything to you, that doesn’t reward you, when you could be working for a company that values your contributions and facilitates your career development? If your job is not worth your while, look elsewhere.

Go back to school. If you want to study a new field or get your master’s degree, go for it. Plenty of support is available for students these days. Even if you don’t actually go back to college, you can take classes in your field of interest and gain experience through coursework and volunteering. For those who are willing to educate themselves and persist, opportunities abound.

Let go. Most people who stay in unfulfilling situations do so because they fear losing some perceived benefit. This might be your solid insurance plan, retirement benefits, or steady paycheck. You can always do better. You can find meaningful work that provides solid benefits and fulfillment. You have to be willing to let go of the known, step out of your comfort zone, and embrace the new. Successful people never become complacent and stop looking for better opportunities. They never stop evaluating themselves, contributing value, and striving for greater success.

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For those of you who may feel stuck in careers that do not inspire you, let me remind you that there’s hope. You’re not stuck. Unless you choose to be, you’re never stuck. Your career options are as limitless as the daydreams that occupy your mind as you watch the arms of the clock drag along throughout your droning workday. Maybe you’re a school teacher who thinks he’d derive much more satisfaction and contribute more in the business world. Perhaps you’re a programmer who would rather be working directly with people in a leadership role. Whatever you want to do, there’s nothing stopping you from doing it. Here are a few guidelines on shifting to another career field entirely:

Try it out. The best and easiest way to try out a new career field is to volunteer. Not only do you get exposure to the work, you also gain experience and make contacts who naturally appreciate and think highly of you—since you’re doing the work for free.

Take some classes. If you have the desire and motivation to pursue a degree in your chosen field, that’s terrific. However, even if you only take a class or two, you can still learn crucial skills to help you land a great new job. If you choose the second option, I recommend taking full advantage of the resources available to you. Look for opportunities to practice your new skills beyond the borders of the class. Ask the instructor for leads or extra assignments to challenge you.

Network. Once you start volunteering or undertaking coursework, make the effort to get to know your peers and mentors. This is an excellent way to break into a new job field, and it’s quite natural to inquire about job leads and opportunities with these new contacts. Chances are very good that you will find an open door through one of these channels.

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Paul is a friend of mine who decided a couple of years back, at the age of 36, to change careers. He has been in computer programming and tech support since he started working, and though he enjoys the analytical aspects of his job and the generous pay and benefits, he says he is tired of sitting in a dark room in isolation for most of the day. He recently told me, “My job is stressful, and I am only noticed when things are broken. I don’t get a lot of positive feedback.”

A couple of years ago, Paul started taking night classes to get his real estate license. He had always been drawn to this area, and he decided to explore it in more detail and perhaps even try his hand at it. Several months before earning his license, Paul transferred to a part-time analyst position at his company and landed a training position at a real estate company, which he is enjoying tremendously. He loves working with people all day, visiting the city from end to end, and helping clients find their dream home or profit from their real estate investments. He is beginning to train coworkers to do his programming job, and he’s looking toward leaving the computer job behind and becoming a full-time realtor.

Paul is an excellent illustration of the feasibility and promise of mid-career change. A lot of people worry that if they switch career fields late in the game, they’ll lose all the experience and knowledge they have gained in the initial field and lag behind in the new area. For himself, Paul says he has not found this to be the case at all. The skills he learned in programming have come with him to his new work, and everybody loves having an IT guy around. Most importantly, he enjoys his work and looks forward to it each day.

Don’t be afraid of change. Change for the better is wonderful and liberating. In fact, the most successful people evolve and reinvent themselves all the time.

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David Maister explored the extinction of Apprenticeship on his blog at DavidMaister.com recently. (Not TV style apprenticeship either – real hands-on work experience).  This was a good model.  It gave ambitious newbies the first-hand training and experience.   Why has it disappeared?  Here are the reasons, according to Maister:

“Companies did a number of things to abandon the apprenticeship model:

a) Lengthened the time and odds of making it to “partner-level” positions

b) Started hiring experienced people at advanced levels, thereby ‘blocking’ the path for those who were coming up the old way

c) Established permanent non-partner positions, also ‘blocking the path’ and signaling that not everyone was expected to have career advancement

d) Made partners lives so stressful and unattractive that many junior people increasingly question whether the benefits of partnership are worth the efforts that an apprenticeship would require

e) Placed greater pressure on partners to generate work and serve clients, thereby reducing the amount of partner time available for mentoring, coaching and development of juniors

f) Shifted responsibility for developing people away from senior professionals and reassigned it to trainers and HR departments (!)

g) Started holding back crucial feedback on whether or not people were going to ‘make it’: ostensibly this was to avoid making misleading promises for future promotions, but increasingly gave the impression that the firm wanted people to hang around “one more year” without the firm having to give any reciprocal undertaking

h) Stopped viewing their employees as future partners, and started treating them like REAL employees - resources to be consumed, not assets to be grown”

If David Maister is not on your daily reading list, he should be.

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