In today’s economy, employers have an advantage. They can hire the best people many times for the least money. However, in the insurance sales industry, an industry known for its long hours and commissions only model, choosing the right candidate is still a difficult proposition.

I was talking to my friend Samuel this weekend. Samuel is a head hunter for a major insurance company and he was discussing the difficulty of finding quality employees.

I asked him if he had ever considered hiring retirees. As expected like most people in his position, the thought never crossed his mind. Why? Samuel’s firm seeks out sharp young people with loads of energy who are expected to give it the good ol’ college try until they burn out 2 years later and quit. Aside from the obvious problem here, many of today’s picture perfect candidates have credit problems because of the sluggish economy. Poor credit means disqualification when it comes to various financial services licenses.

Additionally, limited cash flow, lack of contacts and entrepreneurial skills make the it even tougher for young people to pursue a career where in the first 2 years they can expect to earn a little more than beer money.

I proceeded to make my case that seniors, people over 55 were, were a better target market for the focus of his recruiting efforts.

Here are some reasons why seniors are awesome recruits for the insurance industry…

- People over 55 have years of contacts that trust them and would easily do business with them.
- They are loyal workers
- They are perceived to be wiser because of their age
- They often have a passive retirement income so going without a pay check for 2 years is not an issue
- They have years of work experience and are highly productive
- They like the flexibility of working for themselves but not by themselves.

I could go on but I think you get the idea. Bottom-line, seniors know how to get a job done.

In fact, many seniors are making big strides as social innovators. Each year Encore Careers, a campaign run by Civic Ventures, a national think tank on boomers, work and social purpose awards The Purpose Prize, a $100,000 award for social innovators in their encore careers.

Encore Careerist are ordinary people using a new stage of life to do extraordinary things. Some of the winners were:

* A former telecom executive who helped wire an Appalachian county and brought laid-off factory workers back to profitable farming;

* A professor who invented a way to transform toxic fly ash into green bricks;

* A psychiatrist who helps saves soldiers’ lives by offering free mental health treatment;

* A former NASA exec who works to treat alcoholism in Native American communities by reviving old customs and traditions; and

* A couple who honor their son, killed on 9/11, by helping to bring mental health services to countries ravaged by terrorism, violence and war.

These people – and five other $50,000 winners – are social entrepreneurs over 60 who are using their experience and passion to take on society’s biggest challenges. Now in its fourth year, the six-year, $17 million program is the nation’s only large-scale investment in social innovators in the second half of life. To learn more visit www.encore.org

Tags: Civic Ventures, Encore Careers, entrepreneurial skills, Seniors, Social Innovators