Some have to consider retirement employment as a financial necessity. Others see it as a way of staying active and alert. Or as a way of saving for that vacation of a lifetime.

Whatever your status or motivation, the news is very good!

According to AARP, the mature work force is one of our greatest national assets. Two important trends are making a big difference in today's work force.

1. More and more people are expressing a desire to continue working later in life well past the normal retirement age.

2. Boomers are starting to turn 60 this year. Many of them are taking advantage of early retirement or looking to make other shifts in their careers. As a result, some industry sectors are experiencing labor shortages. Retiring workers often take with them irreplaceable institutional knowledge and experience.

Increasingly, companies are viewing retiring or retired employees as a solution to their workforce needs. Many are developing an effective retirement jobs strategy for appealing to older workers.

This coincides with the major reasons for working in retirement (according to research by AARP):

--need the money (61%)

--desire to stay mentally active (54%)

--need the health benefits (52%)

--desire to stay physically active (49%)

--desire to remain productive or useful (47%)

Older workers offer a potentially attractive solution to both short- and long-term staffing challenges. Making use of this growing pool of talent, of the collective experience and knowledge of retiring workers, is sound business--a plus for employers and employees alike.

So, what should you do if you're at the point where you're entertaining retirement jobs? Here are 4 important preliminary steps:

1. Take the time to explore all your options. This is the time in your life to think outside the box.

2. Identify a variety of desirable employment opportunities. Don't think only in terms of your resume.

3. Get introduced to decision-makers to discover firsthand what's going on. Those non-interview, informal discussions can lead to job offers.

4. Establish and follow a success plan. Look, things have changed a lot since the last time you were in the job market. More than ever you have to understand and master the ins and outs of today's fast-paced marketplace.

The problem is that, even though you're retiring with loads of experience, you're up against some very tough (and younger) competition. So you need a job search system that can walk you through the job process step-by-step. That way you can turn your job search into the career adventure of a lifetime!