How can a 52 year old ex navy vet that spent his life traveling the country working in the software business get back to work when it is apparent that the lack of a college degree and age are preventing them from even getting interviewed?

Posted by TVCHelpdesk on February 15, 2010

Reviewed by JohnUSA on February 21, 2010.

Bob Dubek has posted on ChangeCorp before. You might consider making contact. He had to "reinvent" himself, and he is now part of an organization to help other Vets do the same thing.

copy and paste this URL into your browser:

www.personalbusinessadvisors.com/veterans.html

Reviewed by JohnUSA on February 18, 2010.

Also, here are a couple of more thoughts to paste into your browser:

Trading careers for gigs:
elance.com/p/blog/2010/02/trading_careers_for_gigs.html?rid=1P4A0

Think about what you're passionate about...and how you might leverage into something:
elance.com/p/blog/2010/02/8_rules_to_turn_11588_to_100_million.html?rid=1P4A0

Reviewed by JohnUSA on February 16, 2010.

Army vet, no degree, and age -- DITTO! I finally decided to start doing what brings satisfaction to me. This meant 1) I had to get out of the RAT RACE where I had given oh so many years to making other people lots of money, as well as enduring everything else that comes with the RAT RACE territory, and 2) start my own business.

If you're totally comfortable in the rat race and want to stay, it has been my experience that you should still be able to find employment. The larger, eclipsing issue affecting your job seeking efforts right now is the state of the economy. If your software background is substantial (which it sounds like it could be) then suggestion: focus on the banking and financial services industry. I know for a fact that many "captive" insurance companies are looking for fresh talent and interest. Specifically they are aggressively seeking individuals who have an entrepreneurial bent, who can tolerate risk, can tolerate bureaucracy, and probably have at least some cash savings to live from for the first year. Farmers and State Farm to name two that I personally know about. No experience required. The State Farm opportunity has lots of upsides which I am familiar with -- but I cannot stress enough that you must not be allergic to bureaucracy.

Also, health care services are perpetually expanding and will be for the next 30+ years as 72 million Boomers need care services (that's just in the USA alone). If you are interested in retraining, there are countless niches you can get into.

Conversely, if you can think of a service to sell to 72 million Boomers, drawing from your software background, your answer may be closer to you than you may have first thought.

Reviewed by James.Mingey on February 15, 2010.

Since your age,credit and resources are holding you back right now , you might want to explore partnering with a local non-profit to seek a job creation grant for your business. You could also use your software skills to teach individuals under the skills portion of a grant application, e.g. sell yourself as a value added to a job creation grant application. Call TVC if you want to explore the strategy further.