Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
GOBankingRates
8 Jobs for Retirees That Don’t Require Much Experience
By Dawn Allcot,
2024-07-26
Multiple studies show that staying active later in life can improve your longevity and quality of life. One study, as reported by Harvard Health Publishing , found that people who worked past the age of 65, even in a post-retirement job or second career, were three times more likely to report being in good health. They were also half as likely to have serious health problems.
Whether you are working to earn money to increase your retirement income or simply to keep busy and stay healthy, today’s job market offers plenty of opportunities for seniors. These eight jobs make great part-time jobs, with little to no experience and even opportunities to work from home.
Keep in mind, as FlexJobs pointed out , “no experience” doesn’t mean you don’t bring anything to the table. It means you may not be familiar with a given field but have the soft skills and willingness to learn. Seniors with decades of job experience behind them — including management, communications and leadership skills — might just be a perfect fit .
Administrative or Virtual Assistant ($21-$34/hour)
If organizational skills have always been your forte, consider working as an administrative assistant. The median wage for executive secretary or executive administrative assistant is $33.80 an hour, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). On the lower end of the scale, which might be more realistic for beginners, non-executive and non-legal nor medical secretaries and administrative assistants earn a median of $21.29 per hour.
An executive assistant works in an office setting, typically handling tasks such as scheduling meetings and calls, writing, booking travel, etc. If you’d rather work from home, consider becoming a virtual assistant. You might perform similar tasks, but from the comfort of your home office for a remote team.
If you have great people skills (and a bit of patience), working as a customer service representative could be a good choice.
The median hourly pay is $19.08 per hour. You can work from an office or at home, fielding customer inquiries about order status and complaints about orders. You may have to do some troubleshooting or answer general questions.
Data Entry Clerk ($16.10/hour)
If you’re looking for a job you can do from home, with minimal involvement from other people, data entry might fit the bill. In addition to entering data, you might verify information or prepare materials for printing, according to the BLS.
Sales Representative ($35/hour)
If you’re looking for a job with virtually limitless profit potential, consider a new position in sales. The exact pay varies greatly depending on factors like industry and commission structure, but to give you a rough idea, consider that the median hourly pay for wholesale and manufacturing sales reps is $35.13, according to the BLS.
If these fields don’t interest you right off the bat, think about companies and products you enjoy and see if they use a network of sales representatives.
Online Teaching ($27/hour)
Retired teachers and other professionals can bolster their savings through online teaching gigs, with an average hourly pay of $27, according to ZipRecruiter. You can teach English as a second language to adults, tutor school-age children online, or even provide and sell courses related to your prior professional experience.
The sky’s the limit on how much you can earn, especially if you price and sell your own classes on a site like Udemy.com. You can also work for companies like Tutor.com or Kaplan. Certified teachers may command higher pay, but plenty of tutoring jobs are always available for those without a teaching degree.
Rideshare Driver ($19/hour)
If you’re craving human companionship after leaving the workforce and you’re looking to get out of the house, it might make sense to work a few shifts a week as a rideshare driver for a company like Uber or Lyft.
Uber and Lyft drivers make an average of $19 per hour, according to Salary.com. But pay can vary significantly based on factors like where you live or when you drive, and your net profit depends on factors like your car’s fuel efficiency.
Pet Sitter/Dog Walker/House Sitter ($13-$18/hour)
Active seniors who love animals can make extra cash walking dogs or caring for pets while the owners are on vacation or at work. You can also couple this lucrative side gig with house sitting, where you stay in someone’s home, care for their pets, and watch over their belongings and property while they are away.
Pay varies substantially based on factors like your location and the situation. In general, though, average pay is roughly $13-$18 per hour for this type of work, based on data from Salary.com and Care.com. You can get started at websites like Rover.com.
Real Estate Agent ($22/hou r )
Are you looking for a second career in retirement that could, ultimately, prove quite lucrative? Once you pass the local licensing exam, you can become a real estate agent.
Real estate agents can work full- or part-time, and your income will be based on commissions from sales. That means the more you work and more effective you are at sales, the more you can earn. On average, the median pay works out to $22 per hour, according to Salary.com, but there’s essentially no limit to how much successful agents can make.
Whether you’re looking for a part-time gig to keep busy or you’re ready to embark on a second career after retirement, you’ll find plenty of options. What you bring to the table as a retired adult with a lifetime of experience can set you apart in a crowded sea of candidates once you understand how to present your skills to showcase yourself as an asset to any company.
Jake Safane contributed to the reporting for this article.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0