Are you finding it difficult to digest the idea of staying idle after retirement?

The concept of retirement is a socio-economic paradigm, based on our collective understanding of when it is time to leave the corporate space altogether. However, many of us feel we have a lot to offer in a professional sense, perhaps in an alternate capacity. Energy levels and priorities may change but the yearning to be a part of the workforce still remains.

What if there was a way for you to enjoy your well-earned downtime whilst also keeping yourself occupied? What if there were engagements that aren’t as taxing and add meaning and fulfillment to your lives? There actually exists a plethora of roles specifically designed for retired individuals to leverage their skills and experience at a pace that suits them and their present needs.

Here’s just a brief look into what some of these roles are.

Business Consulting:

Consult with a young company, a division or function of an established company, or an organization that needs your subject matter expertise. You will be able to build decision-making and process set-ups because of your previous experiences and wisdom. This kind of role generally requires you to help organizations from a business and strategy perspective without interfering in any of the existing structures or having accountability to deliver on goals.

Advisory Roles:

Regardless of the industry and size of the organization, a lot of the decisions need to be made by the management around helping the people who work there be better at their roles. As an Advisor, you can leverage your lifetime of skills and professional wisdom to help the people of an organization make better decisions and sidestep avoidable mistakes. You, with experience in your corner, will be better able to guide others on how to be the best they can be.

Business Development:

Start-ups these days are often founded and made by younger people who haven’t yet had the time to make an extensive executive network in their field of interest. Often, making the right connection is all it takes to make a business grow. Sharing your network to help businesses make the most relevant connections is another opportunity for you to pursue.

Education:

If you enjoy mentoring, teaching, or helping out in a learning environment, giving back to education companies may just be for you. Teaching children, mentoring teachers, overseeing short-term projects for youngsters, and being a counselor is socially productive as well as personally rewarding.

Thought Leadership & Training:

As you are a person with decades of experience in dealing with the issues and challenges in your field, the wisdom of successes and failures will help young professionals. Strategies can be shared in a classroom, or through editorials, lectures, blogs, and other forms of presentations. Your leadership role in your domain will inspire the people, you mentor.

All of these roles exist in all kinds of organizations – big and small, new and old, for-profit and non-profit – across industries, and across the world.

While you may be interested in doing something you’ve never done before, finding ways to leverage your treasure chest of skills, experiences and wisdom will make it that much more meaningful. New industries and technology might look daunting at first, but it’s your experience that remains invaluable. Look for a role that is aligned with your skills, experience, interests, and the right level of day-to-day responsibilities that suit you – minimal, if that’s what you want, or all in, if that’s your pick!