Find Out About Jobs and Employers
By: AARP.org | Source: AARP.org
AARP Programs
National Employer Team
These companies, formerly known as Featured Employers, joined with AARP in this program because they recognize that older workers make up a very important part of the workforce.
What are the hot jobs and industries in your area? Which employers are hiring, and do they welcome older workers? Where can you find salary information?
This list will help you zoom in on the most promising job openings. Do your research and you can match your job search to fields that demand your skills.
Learn About Labor Market Trends:
- Career Guide to Industries: A guide to the top 42 industries in the United States, compiled by the Department of Labor. This is very useful if you’re thinking of changing careers and want an overview of your prospective industry, job, and working conditions.
- Career InfoNet: This site is a prime source of information for the job seeker. It has many levels but is fairly easy to search. Here is a sampling of what you’ll find:
- Look up profiles of more than 800 occupations.
- Find the top occupations ranked by wages and job growth.
- Learn the top 50 fastest-growing industries (The top three in the United States: consulting firms, home-health services, and computer-software engineering.)
- Review the top 50 industries with declining employment (Manufacturing of different sorts dominates the list.)
- Industries with largest employment (They are now retail, nursing, and customer service.)
Find Out About Your State
Once again, Career InfoNet is a good bet. The State Information page provides a gateway to detailed information about your state.
- Look at your state’s profile. You’ll find demographic data, occupation rankings, the state’s largest employers, and more.
- From your state profile, search for occupations by the level of education required. For example, you can look up which occupations in Arizona have the most openings for people with bachelor’s degrees. (The top occupation listed is elementary-school teacher.)
- Go to the labor market information for a comprehensive list of job-related services in your state.
Tools to Help Your Search.
Career InfoNet offers a variety of tools to help you learn more about occupations, skills, and qualifications. Perhaps the most useful are the following:
- Career Videos give you visual snapshots of 550 jobs.
- Education and Training Finder points you to training programs in your area.
- Skills Profiler helps you assess your skills and match them to jobs.
Learn About Employers
Company Web sites: Once you identify employers you find appealing, go to their Web sites to get a sense of the companies’ workplace cultures and to scan available jobs. Look for the following kinds of information:
- Clear explanations of benefits
- Training and growth opportunities
- Images of workers of different ages
- Examples of corporate citizenship
The Riley Guide: This online guide for job seekers lists dozens of sources for researching employers and locations.
Career InfoNet offers an Employer Locator, which you can search by industry, sector, and state. Narrowing things even further, you can look by area within your state for a list of employers near you.
The AARP National Employer Team includes more than 30 large employers who welcome 50+ workers. Also, RetirementJobs.com offers an “Age-Friendly Certification” to employers with policies and practices that support older workers.
Find Out About Salaries in Your Field
- Independent Web sites such as Salary.com let you search by job title and location so that you can see comparable salaries in different regions.
- Career InfoNet compares wages by cccupation and local area. Choose your state and see how wages in your area compare to those in other localities, in your state overall, and nationally. Example: The median wage for a dental hygienist in Fresno, Calif., is $48,900 a year—compared to $62,800 for the United States as a whole.
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