Does you encore career await? She has advice
Carol Ventresca ’81 MA, ’87 PhD worked for years at Ohio State before switching careers to help later-stage job seekers find their own next path.
Carol Ventresca, in the midst of an encore career after retiring from Ohio State, speaks with participants in a Flourish Franklin County event. (Photo by Jo McCulty ’84, ’94 MA)
Carol Ventresca ’81 MA, ’87 PhD has made it her business to connect others with meaningful work.
After 30 years in the public sector, most of it as an administrator at Ohio State, Ventresca accepted the role of executive director at Employment For Seniors, a private nonprofit that provides free assistance to job seekers 50 and older and the employers interested in hiring them.
Ventresca considers this her encore career, aka a vocation in the second half of life. Rather than retiring, her clients are looking for ways to stay engaged, find meaningful work and earn a paycheck.
“The thing about baby boomers is that we have always given back to the community.”
“The original notion was that all these boomers were going to retire and would want to give back to their communities,” Ventresca says. “The thing about baby boomers is that we have always given back to the community. Doing volunteer work is one thing, but many still want to work and be paid for it.”
Ventresca’s encore career may appear a departure from her previous work, but there’s a common thread that runs the length of her working life. From an early job placing students in internships to a role with the former Ohio Bureau of Employment Services to working in career services at Ohio State, she’s always had a passion for helping people find fulfilling roles. Employment For Seniors provides interview training, résumé assistance and hiring fairs.
How to launch your encore career
Carol Ventresca answers some common questions clients ask when considering not retiring.
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What’s the first step for someone interested in pursuing an encore career?
Sit down and do some critical thinking about what you’ve done in the past, what you’ve enjoyed doing and what transferable skills you can bring to a new role. Then start networking and researching opportunities.
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Is there a common mistake people make?
A lot of people don’t take advantage of their network. More than 50 percent of jobs are not posted. You find out about them by networking.
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What resource might not occur to people?
Consider informational interviewing to learn more about the career you’re interested in. Everybody loves to talk about their job, and they don’t feel threatened if they realize you’re not going to ask them to hire you. Use your network, find the right person and message them on LinkedIn. Ask for 15 to 30 minutes over a cup of coffee, and have your questions ready.
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Any tips on résumé writing?
Your résumé needs to be clear and concise; be sure to have others review it. Research shows that hiring managers spend as little as seven seconds on each résumé in their initial pass. The top third of your first page needs to convey to the employer that you are the best candidate and can do this job on day one.
Need advice?
The Office of Alumni Career Management can help.
Staff of the Bill and Susan Lhota Office of Alumni Career Management welcome your questions. Email osuaa@osu.edu, with “career guidance” in the subject line. Find more resources at go.osu.edu/alumnicareers and follow them @OSUAACareers.
