Retired, and She’d Rather Be Hired
To many people, Carol Bolter leads an idyllic life. Each morning for the last eight years, she’s risen, without the shrill prompt of an alarm clock, to enjoy leisurely days of cycling, hiking, Internet surfing, moviegoing and socializing with friends in her Palm Desert retirement community. When wanderlust strikes, Bolter and her husband, Kent, flee the States to explore exotic destinations.
To many, this lifestyle would be nirvana. But to Bolter, it’s frustrating. Her days have a monotonous sameness and lack challenge, she says. Bolter finds herself envying nine-to-fivers who spend their waking hours spurred by passion for their careers.
“I’m bored not working,” says Bolter, who is 59. “When people ask what I do for a living, I say, ‘I ride my bike.’ I’d like to achieve something, do something worthwhile.”
Bolter loved working as a senior secretary for Marin County before she retired. During her 11 years there, she helped book events for a local performing arts facility, and enjoyed her typing, dictation and personnel responsibilities.
But what can she do now that she’s landed in Palm Desert? For help un-retiring, Bolter sought the assistance of Barbara Frankel, a Long Island-based career counselor.
Frankel had Bolter list her favorite work and leisure activities. Bolter rattled off a few: meeting planning, transcription, physical exercise and travel. But when Frankel asked Bolter to consider these activities as potential career possibilities, Bolter had many questions. Who’d hire her after she’s been retired for eight years? Could she explore medical transcribing--a new interest--without having to spend two years at a in junior college? Would any travel employment opportunities be open to someone of her age?
Frankel encouraged Bolter to investigate all of these possibilities. Additionally, Frankel and other experts had these tips for Bolter:
* Develop an expertise in meetings and events planning. If Bolter decided to become a professional events planner, she could either set up her own company or seek employment with convention bureaus, corporations, associations or event planning companies. All hire planners to professionally stage events, publicize their activities and keep their programs within budget.
First, however, she’d have to gain experience at selecting sites and arranging a variety of client services, including catering, lodging, transportation, audiovisual setups, entertainment and publicity. She could do this by arranging events for her retirement community or by landing a planning job at a large local hotel. She also could familiarize herself with meeting management, budget and expense software, which will enable her to track all facets of her special events work.
When Bolter feels she’s mastered the intricacies of this detail-oriented profession, she can apply for certification as a special events professional from the International Special Events Society (https://www.ises.com). She also can increase her chances for employment by developing an expertise such as trade show organizing, association event planning or banquet staging, because the meetings and events industry is becoming more specialized, says Keri McIntosh, account manager of the Castle Group in Boston.
Meeting- and event-planning firms seek individuals who are service-oriented, creative and computer-literate team players, says Adrian Torkington, president of PRA Destination Management in San Diego, who has staged events for the Vatican, State Department and the Smithsonian Institution. Bolter should emphasize these attributes when applying for work in the field.
* Consider medical transcribing. If Bolter need not spend two years learning transcription at a local college, says Cheryl Wade, a Fillmore-based certified medical transcriptionist and author of the booklet “Medical Transcription: The Complete Guide to Getting Started.” She can learn transcribing skills through home study or Internet courses, some of which are listed at https://www.mtdaily.com/faq.html. But she should be wary of companies that make unrealistic promises that people can learn to do transcription in three weeks,” says Claudia Tessier, executive director of the American Assn. for Medical Transcription in Modesto. Good programs are comprehensive and require one to two years to complete.
Once Bolter feels relatively secure in her skills (which would include being able to decipher accents, mumblings, abbreviations, idioms and the unusual vocabularies of such specialties as ophthalmology, cardiology and orthopedics), she can take the AAMT’s national certification exam. Passing that would give her additional credibility when she applies for work. Hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, doctors’ groups and transcription services are potential employers.
* Explore many travel careers. If Bolter fantasizes about becoming a “European vacation property scout” who would evaluate rental properties before they would be leased to travelers. She wondered, does such a job exist? It does, say industry insiders, but to break into the business, Bolter would need to be persistent and creative.
Many owners of mom-and-pop agencies market on the basis of service, saying they personally inspect--and perhaps even stay at--every property they list.
According to Barbara Maher, owner of Italian Itineraries in Hunters Hill, Australia, such companies can assemble a listing of off-the-beaten-path properties with character, such as converted dairies, castles, churches and 60-foot canal boats, that other companies won’t have. Second, she said, they can avert problems such as renting a furnished villa to six adults only to have angry clients complain that one of the bedrooms was a Lilliputian-sized child’s room.
Bolter could enter this business by petitioning growing rental agencies, offering to inspect properties for them. More than a few owners of overseas vacation rental agencies are finding that Internet advertising is increasing their businesses so quickly that they are adding listings to their property rosters without inspecting them personally.
Bolter says she doesn’t need the companies to pay her travel expenses, so she might find a few willing employers who would pay her a fee or offer free accommodations.
Alternatively, Bolter may wish to start up her own overseas vacation rental agency. But, warns Scott Mills, co-founder of Great Trips Unltd., building up an initial collection of properties can be time-consuming and expensive. When launching his company two years ago, Mills says he drove a total of 6,200 miles during a six-week European trip to inspect rental sites, photograph potential inventory, meet owners and acquaint himself with the countryside. The printing of catalogs and design of a professional-quality Web site also cost thousands of dollars, Maher adds.
Should Bolter wish to lead trekking and hiking tours, either domestically or abroad, she could seek employment with an adventure-travel company or start her own firm if she’s willing to invest considerable initial capital, time and energy into the project, says Carol Rivendell, who bills herself as queen executive officer of Wild Women Adventures in Sebastopol, Calif. Advertising is important, says Rivendell, for it would most probably take years for Bolter to establish her company as a reputable, dependable travel firm.
Becoming an overseas trek guide is often difficult for Americans of any age, says Al Read, vice chairman of Geographic Expeditions, because they are competing for jobs with expatriates who live in destination countries and are familiar with the local terrain, customs, climate and languages. But, Read says, if a trekker such as Bolter can assemble a group for an overseas expedition, she may be able to find an adventure-travel company willing to sponsor her trip.
Desired attributes for budding trek leaders include congeniality, physical fitness, an ability to handle emergencies (“more than a basic knowledge of first aid”) and an expansive knowledge of a trek destination’s terrain, climate, and cultural mores, says Bruce Klepinger, 59, owner of Eugene, Ore.-based Ibex Expeditions, who says he’s led more than 300 treks throughout the world since 1972.
“I have to get off my butt and try all these things,” Bolter says.
“It’s about being proactive for yourself,” Frankel says. “Because when you initiate something, you make it come alive.”
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Time for a Change
* Name: Carol Bolter
* Occupation: Retired secretary
* Desired occupation: Uncertain
* Quote: “I’ve laid awake at 3 in the morning and wondered, ‘Is this it?’ And I’ve thought to myself, ‘I’ve got a lot to offer. I need to find something to achieve, something where I could help people.’ ”
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Counselor’s Recommendation
Explore meeting and events planning, medical transcription and travel careers.
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Meet the Coach
Barbara Frankel is a career counselor based in Long Island, N.Y., and senior vice president of Manchester Inc., a global management consulting firm.
