CAREER OPTIONS FOR RETIRED GOVERMENT EMPLOYEES

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

Government employees are individuals who are employed by the government company but not by the government. It generally includes post office employees, railway employees, local body’s employees and at times statutory corporation employees like RBI. In a Nutshell, generally employees working in the government department are government employees. Age of retirement is around 58-62 years

STATISTICS AS OF 2001 CENSUS

• 38.76 lakhs are in central government alone according to 2001 census.
• 50 lakhs are in PSU's (central and state combined) alone.
• Add to this state govt. and autonomous bodies (including central universities).
• It will be around two crore employees (maybe more), i.e. around two percent of total population.

CAREER OPTIONS

There are vast variety of career options which one can choose based on an individual’s past working experiences, their hobbies and their interest. There is vast range of careers available and all of them cannot be summarized below, however some of the career options after retirement are suggested below and are classified into different categories; however some of the careers would be overlapping in one or more categories:

A)     Education: This classification would highlight on opportunities available in the education sector. A retired employee could get into training, teaching, counselling based on his education background and his first hand experience. Some of the career options in the education field are as follows:

• Teaching: An employee could take up teaching either as a lectureship, a visiting faculty, or an online overseas teacher based on his subject knowledge and his past experience.
• Career guidance institute: Based on practical job experience and the academic excellence along with interest in welfare of future generation one could guide students to develop their career
• Launching an e website: Based on an individual’s knowledge in the field of academics, religion, sports, languages an individual could launch a website and highlight the common mass on the topic and keep them updated on current happenings in the particular field
• Freelance writing:  An individual can carry out writing activities on a free lancing basis and get paid for each article written to be published on websites, magazines, news papers etc.
• Online projects: There are vast varieties of online projects available which one can do from the comfort of their home and get paid for the same.
• Maintaining a library: If an individual has a very good and vast collection of books, one can start his own library services, provide books on rent and make an income out of it.
• Language learner: A person with knowledge of variety of languages can easily find a job as a translator or as a professor for teaching a particular language.
• Coaching institute or an education institute or a nursery for small kids could be started. 

 B)      Administration & Hospitality:  Careers in this section would include looking over the daily working of a task, an activity or work so as to enable smooth functioning of those activities. It would also include managing and collaborating with people and various other departments for smooth functioning. Individuals with an in-depth knowledge and hands on experience in the field of requirement are appointed for administrative process.  Careers in this field would involve:

• Administration of safety procedures and task: Private firms employ government officials who have knowledge and experience in their fields so as to take care of safety issues, adhering to the guidelines and norms of the government etc.
• Maintaining a nursery: An individual with an interest and knowledge in botany and nature are kept for administration of plants, huge vegetations etc.
• Collaborating with an NGO and looking over their projects: An individual could also work with an NGO, create a charitable trust, and administer and run the trust so as make the trust and its members capable of generating their own source of income.
• Starting a social gathering community: An individual with flair for meeting people and organizing and coordinating of activities can start a social community and conduct gathering, outing and make it a source of earning.

 C)      H R & PR: Human Resource and Public Resource services are another interesting field to look into as a career option.

• RPO services: Recruitment Process Outsourcing is a career option which a government employee can look into since getting a government job is a tough one and involves lots of processes and formalities. An ex government employ can effectively carry out the process of recruiting for a particular government organization since the employee has an experience of the same.
• Start a contracting firm: An ex employees can get some of the government work outsourced on a contractual basis, it is easier to do so since he is aware of the working, processes and the organization well.
• PR firm /Communication specialist: an ex government personnel who has dealt all his life with media agencies and other public experiences can act as a communication specialist teaching others to excel in the same and or start his own PR firm.

  D)     Finance: Careers in finance include dealing with financial services and products. A basic knowledge is easier to obtain but excelling in the same is difficult. A person with a flair and expertise in finance could get into one of the following careers:

• MF & insurance: A person with a previous knowledge and experience in mutual funds and insurance products could act as a distributor for the same. A person who is good at convincing and communications and has decent knowledge on the products could also involve into these activities.
• Financial planner: An individual can act as a financial planner to successfully plan their colleague’s retirement investments and diversification of funds. They can also act as a full time financial planner for others.
• Angel investor: A retired employee with a skill of analyzing and handling business can act as an angel investor to other business if he has surplus funds and risk appetite to earn a handsome return on it.

 E)      Consulting: Consulting requires knowledge, skill, expertise in a particular field and government employees working in the same or similar vertical will have all of them. So this is one of the best options with no extra skill up gradation required for choosing this as a career. Various types of consultancy work can be started off such as:

• Management Consultant
• Professional Consultant: How to develop a corporate image or how to develop skills for a particular job profile, preparing an individual for an interview.
• Resume Consultant: How to write an effective resume, how to file applications, etc.

 F)      Other Careers: Careers can also be developed from an individual’s hobby which could become a full time money fetching career. Some of the offbeat careers are as mentioned below:

•  Free lance photographer
• Singing
• Script Writing
• Book Writing
• Documentary film making

  G)     However there are other part time jobs available which an individual could opt for. A retired employee can also join a private firm since private firms welcome experienced personnel on their board.

POINTS TO REMEMBER

·         Start planning your future at least 12 months before retirement

·         Identify your interest

·         Develop your skills if required

There is no definite guideline or a fixed career prospect, careers develop from one’s interest, the only requirement is any eagle’s eye to search and create a career for oneself.