Several sources of advice for changing careers in midlife
Q. Frequent job changes are a thing of the present. I was a lawyer, changed in my 50s to a less stressful job, and now I'd like to do something else. What kind of services are available for people my age, given that there are so many of us and not all of us are going to retire at the regular age?
A. You are joining the swelling ranks of baby boomers who are redefining retirement. In record numbers, individuals in their 50s and 60s are staying in the workforce, in some capacity. According to a Lou Harris poll, more than 80 percent of boomers indicated they expect to work for pay well past the traditional retirement age of 65. For some individuals, continuing to work past the traditional retirement age is a financial necessity. Some workers remain in their same professions while seeking more flexible work schedules; others, like you, view midlife as a time for a career or job change.
"Over the past eight years, I have seen an increasing number of professionals decide to redefine themselves and their definitions of success and create a new life chapter focused on meaning, passion, and interests," said Dan Shepard, senior associate at Keystone Associates.
A cottage industry of services and service providers geared to helping individuals in what has become known as "The Third Age" or "The Bonus Decades" has also proliferated.
I will name just a few of these services and resources to get you started. This is by no means an exhaustive list. I know you will find many more resources and services as you continue your research.
A job site devoted exclusively to seniors is the Senior Job Bank, at the website SeniorJobBank.org. Another website experienceworks.org compiles training and employment opportunities for low-income seniors nationwide. Some of the free online community building and reference websites include: Eons.com , developed by Monster.com founder Jeff Taylor, has a wide variety of topics of interest for individuals over 50; Mapping Midlife, squidoo.com/mappingmidlife , geared toward women, includes a useful list of seven key decision areas for anyone in transition to consider; and www.boomersandbeyond@yahoogroup.com is a no-fee special interest group that holds virtual bimonthly support group meetings.
AARP publishes several e-newsletters in addition to its print magazine and bulletin; the e-newsletters are free to nonmembers as well as members (see aarp.com).
The website lifeplanningnetwork.org is one of the best resources for individuals over 50 that I have found. In addition to excellent reference materials and a bibliography, it features a practitioner referral service. Through this referral service, individuals can locate member coaches with different areas of expertise.
A few of the many books devoted to this topic include: "Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America" by Marc Freeman; "Don't Retire, Rewire" by Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners; and "My Time: Make the Most of the Bonus Decades after 50" by Abigail Trafford.
This summer, through its Life Transition series, the Boston Center for Adult Education is offering single session courses such as: Midlife Renaissance Workshop, Age and Experience as Assets in the Workplace, and What Comes Next: A Holistic Approach to Career and Life Planning for Baby Boomers. For more information or to register for any of these classes, call 617-267-4430 or go to the Boston Center for Adult Education website at bcae.org.
Keep resumes on hand for a year, or maybe not
Q. I work for a consulting company in the Boston area and I would like to know how long we are required to keep resumes that are e-mailed to us on file. We can receive anywhere from 10 to 50 resumes a day. I have asked several acquaintances this question, but receive a different answer from each.
A. I, too, received two different answers when I consulted two different experts in the employment field on this question. The discrepancy in their answers centers on how they define your daily influx of resumes: are they unsolicited resumes or are they de facto "walk-in applications?"
Robert W. Murphy, president of Human Resource Partners Inc., a consulting firm, differentiates between unsolicited resumes and resumes that are received in response to an advertised job vacancy.
"Resumes that you have requested via an ad or regular job site listing must be kept for one year if you don't hire the candidate. If you have not solicited resumes -- that is, when people just send them in -- then you don't need to keep them for any length of time," he said.
Marc Greenbaum, professor at Suffolk Law School with a specialty in employment law, voiced a more conservative view: "Consider unsolicited resumes like you would any walk-in application. You would then keep them on file for a year."
Legally you are required to keep resumes that are received in response to a job vacancy for a year. You seem to have a choice how you want to view the 10 to 50 resumes you receive daily.
You can choose to view them as unsolicited resumes, and delete them immediately; or you can consider them as you would any resumes received in response to job vacancies and then hold on to them for a year. The Society for Human Resource Management spells out guidelines for its membership to follow concerning personnel records.
Their guidelines specify that all hiring records should be kept for a year. These include job applications, resumes, records relating to the refusal to hire, advertisements about openings, promotions, or training opportunities. Federal contractors need to keep these records for at least two years. All equal employment opportunity data is maintained separately.
Whatever system you choose for saving, deleting, maintaining, or retrieving resumes, you may want to consider including an automatic response system, which would extend even to those whose resumes you delete. It's a cold cruel job search world, especially in cyberspace, and any acknowledgement will be appreciated by the job seeker.
When going part time, show boss your value
Q. I would like to work part time at my company while I am taking a class that would let me work two days a week. How would I go about writing a letter stating I would like to go from full time to part time and quit thereafter? How would I state my salary/hourly rate? And if my company does not let me work part time, how do I phrase that in the letter?
A. Whoa -- slow down. Let's take this one step at a time.
First, remember that you need only to inform your employer of your career plans on a need-to-know basis. At this point, all you need to share with your employer is your interest in changing your hours, not your future plans to resign.
Although you appear to be certain that you will not return to work after you complete this course, you do not want to burn any work bridges.
When it does come time to resign, you would write a letter of resignation, giving the employer two weeks notice, unless your company has a different policy regarding notice. To request a change in your work hours, I suggest that you schedule a face-to-face meeting with your supervisor and possibly also your human resources representative. This will allow a give-and-take between you and your supervisor, so that you can discuss your workload and the reassignment of your job duties.
At this meeting, demonstrate some flexibility and a willingness to compromise whenever possible with your employer. This will go a long way toward encouraging your employer to meet your demands as well. Perhaps you and your supervisor can both try thinking creatively: Can some of your work be done remotely from home? On the week ends?
How your employer responds to your request will depend on a variety of factors. Some of these factors pertain to the work that you do, how busy the department is, the other staff members' expertise, and budgetary considerations.
Before you meet with your supervisor, give some thought to how the rest of your work might be handled in your absence. Will they hire another part-time person or will they divide various parts of your job among other members of your team.
The more leadership you take, the easier it will be for your supervisor to imagine you continuing to work part time. How your supervisor responds to your request will also depend in part on factors related directly to your performance in the job: how long you've been with the company, how well you've done your job, your rapport with your boss, and how willing he or she is to take on the extra work of reassigning your responsibilities and/or rehiring another part-time employee.
When you and your supervisor agree on a new schedule, then you will want to meet with human resources. Human resources will set your new hourly rate and other benefits changes that you will incur as you move from full- to part-time status. These changes should be confirmed in writing so that you, your supervisor, and human resources agree about your new status, including your new hourly salary and start date of your part-time status.
If you have to leave your job because you cannot work out an alternative schedule, you may be able to find employment through the school where you are enrolled. Talk with human resources to find out if there are any opportunities for part-time work at the school. Also, check with the career office about part-time jobs you can pursue while you are studying.
Roni F. Noland is a career counselor/coach in private practice. She can be reached at rfnoland@comcast.net. E-mail questions to jobdoc@globe.com or mail to Job Doc, Boston Globe, Box 55819, Boston, 02205-5819. 
