What jobs/skills can my mom or dad do, ages: late 50's/early 60's ?

[TopHatFox]

Working on replacing parent's second shitty car choice with a better one, but that one might a few months to have the cash to make the switch.

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MOM WANTS TO SWTICH JOB/GET A NEW SKILL

So...mom has never liked her job working at a big supermarket, so maybe I can help her get a better one closer to home. At the very least, one where she can sit. She has to stand 100% of the time in this one, and that's caused some health issues.

What job opportunities would be good for a person in her late 50's with a HS GED and near-fluent (but definitely not perfect) English? She has about a decade of xp in customer service type roles.

Short-Term

A better job than the one she has would be good, preferably really close to home so she can minimize car use/walk to work/reduce stress/keep more of her $.

Long-Term

And, my thinking is that as she's working that new gig, she can earn a 2-year degree or certification in an in-demand field online or at a nearby adult education center. Not sure in what though. I'd say her IQ is right around average, like 100, so that may be an indication. Ideally something that she can do in retirement would be good. The stories of people not working and getting depressed post-retirement are quite grim.

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DAD MAY WANT TO GET A NEW JOB/SKILL, BUT THERE ARE MORE OBSTACLES

As far as dad, he doesn't seem to want to do anything...and I don't really want to help someone that's not motivated. Mom is pretty motivated and wants change; she just needs some guidance.

Dad has mentioned selling/installing solar panels, but I don't know much about that. I mentioned that it'd be more conventional (and probably profitable) to complete a 2-year certification in plumbing, HVAC, electrical work, welding, or even a CDL (which he used to do). But he's not as motivated since he can almost collect SS. I say fair enough, but I actually know for certain that he gets depressed without work, so I'm not sure what to do for this one aside from nothing.

Is solar panel work profitable, or should he just stfu & study a conventional trade? His IQ is also around 100, he has never liked school (and doesn't have his GED), and his English fluency is whatever, so I don't think any other field is on the table here.

[Ego]

I know a dynamic young woman with a degree and ten years of sales experience at $80K+ a year who just took a graveyard job cleaning a grocery store because her sales gig was non-essential and unemployment couldn't account for a low base-rate plus commission structure.

Competition is tough right now.

[ertyu]

Mom: call center? Depends on how clear her English is. I have a friend in the states who works the e-mail equivalent of call center - she used to answer emails for princess cruises (quit right before they sent the entire office to work from home).

Dad: let him do solar panels if he wants to. Even if there's no profit in it, it seems like having satisfying work so he doesn't get depressed is more important than income which he can easily get from SS in a couple of years.

[Miss Lonelyhearts]

Call center for your mom was my first thought as well. Bilingual should be a plus. Slightly less corporate version: order taker / phone answerer at a local restaurant. Think pizza places, local
Mexican restaurants, take out joints, etc. It may take some networking to get the first gig, but if she’s able to learn the menu and the restaurant’s point of sale system, it’s a transferable skill. Downside risk is that online ordering is accelerating, but these positions do still exist, and if she can find a restaurant with a large Spanish-speaking customer base, again she has additional value to the business.

Good luck to both of them.

[Frita]

What is the job market like for older people where your parents live? Are they willing to move? Living somewhere with a marked preference for hiring young, inexperienced people and not minding (even encouraging?) employee churn, these are the questions I would ponder.

Also, I can tell that you care about your parents and want to see them happy through retirement. I am curious how this came up. Have your parents requested your help or would you be pushing your own agenda?

[BeyondtheWrap]

Call center is also what I was thinking for your mom, as it is customer service while sitting down.

You’re the only one here who knows what would be closer to home than her current job, so we can’t really give input on that.

At Aldi the cashiers sit down. Though, those stores are understaffed so I think the cashiers also have to do the more physical jobs around the store. Not sure, I have never worked there.

An internal transfer at her current job may be easiest. You say she hates her job, and the reason seems to be that she has to stand too much. I have worked at a large store, and there were definitely sit-down positions there. The ones that come to mind include personnel, cash office, and the receiving department’s “computer room.”

[ertyu]

shamelessly lifted from horsewoman's journal: a sewing machine for fiber crafts and repairs. not sure it can be a full time job, but it's a hustlable skill

long-term certification: could she do bookkeeping? that's sitting down in an office. or anything related to idk. being the person that greets people at a doctor's office and gets them their files and bills them or some such?