Not a spring chicken? Welcome to the club!
Go to local churches or non-profits directly and see if they need someone to do their books. If you can't find any paid positions, volunteer, the work hours you accumulate volunteering are just as qualified as paid work hours. If you volunteer, however, explain what you are doing and get some kind of record as to how many hours you actually volunteered for them.
If you don't mind taxes, then working for one of the seasonal tax prep companies like HR Block is a good way to get time in. They don't limit hiring to spring chickens! If you do go to work for one of these out fits you will sing a not-to-compete agreement that will prevent you from working for other companies, though not other HR Block offices. If you do sing a not-to-compete, be certain you will get maximum hours out of that company or office. When I worked for Block years ago, I worked only a few weeks starting out in a corporate owned office, never enough to make a difference. The thought never hit me to check out other local Block offices to see if they needed help, but I never asked about it either.
You can join VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program that Uncle Sam has for veterans and other folks.
When you hear a success story from someone that is not a “fresh graduate”, it usually will center around the individual taking the bull by the horns. One can sit at their computer and send out resumes by the hundreds, and never get job offers. The avalanche of job offers that the Internet has created for employers has turned into a bit of a nightmare for them. Most of the time it is used as a “dike to hold the flood of resumes back”, and the company will search for candidates through via referrals from their own employees. If you know someone working for a company you would like to work for, ask if they are hiring.
In order to beat the rush of other people sending resumes, send resumes to the companies you would like to work for, whether or not they are hiring. You need to stick out from the crowd, and if you send a resume to company that is not advertising for new employees, there will be no crowd to stand out from! Sometimes the company will be looking for new hires but not advertise.
OK, one more tip and I'm done. Go to a local library that has access to Research USA. This is the non-profit library branch of InfoUSA, one of the two list compilers int he USA. You can use this service for free from libraries. You use it for looking for the types of companies you want to work for, and you can make a custom list of possible companies based on your preferences. What I have used it for in the past is to lookk for CPA and tax firms when looking for work.
Joyous, I don't know how old you are, I'm 59 and still have nowhere near the full year required for work certification. I'm going to be calling and knocking on doors later this year, however, in search for jobs and I know there has to be a couple of business owners that still has enough respect for older people to give me a chance!
Good luck to you. Any questions just post.
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