How to help your mom or dad find a job
Your dad lost his job. Or your mom wants to go back to work and doesn't know where to start. You're good with computers, so it lands on you.
Here is what helps, in order.
1. Don't start with job listings
It's tempting to open Indeed and start sending links. Most of what you send won't fit, and a pile of links makes the search feel bigger.
Start with what they've done.
2. Ask these five questions and write down the answers
- What was your last job, and what did a normal day look like?
- How many people, customers or dollars were you responsible for?
- What did people come to you for?
- What's something that went wrong that you fixed?
- What do you want now: full-time, part-time, close to home, from home?
Use your phone to record it if they're okay with that. Twenty minutes of this is worth more than their old resume.
3. Get the resume rewritten, not just updated
If the last resume is from 2009, adding one job to the top won't do it. The words employers use have changed. See resume for older workers.
Don't write it for them from scratch on your own. You don't know their work well enough, and they need to be able to talk about every line on the phone.
4. Pick ten real jobs, not a hundred
Look for jobs like their last one, plus one step down if they want less stress. Apply on the employer's own website, not through a "quick apply" button.
"Easy jobs for my mom" and "remote jobs for my mom": be careful. Listings that promise easy work from home with high pay are where most job scams live. Read is this job a scam before they apply to anything like that.
5. Use the free help
- American Job Center: free resume reviews and workshops. Find one at careeronestop.org.
- The public library: many run job-seeker groups for people over 50.
- AARP Foundation BACK TO WORK 50+: free coaching.
6. Mind how it feels
Losing a job at 60 hurts in a way it doesn't at 30. Many people would rather say they retired than say they were let go. Ask what they want before you fix anything.
Or hand us the first step
Send them a link. Your parent talks through their work on their phone, and the resume writes itself on screen as they go. Nobody has to type. They see it before anyone pays.