Life starts at 60, goes the optimistic expression.


Some people, though, find themselves starting over in their late 50s or 60s, looking for a job but having no definite career path.


A few organizations here offer job-placement assistance for those seniors, many of whom have limited knowledge about how to look for a job, write a resume, or interview for a job, says Steve Reiter, project director of AARPs Spokane Community Senior Employment Program. Some of them havent ever had a job outside of the home, he says.


I wouldnt say they come to us grudgingly, but a lot of times, the clients are here because they have nowhere else to turn, Reiter says.


Both the AARP program and a similar one offered by Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern Washington place low-income people over 55 years of age in subsidized jobs at nonprofit organizations and government facilities, with the goal of helping them gain job experience that will allow them to garner permanent positions within the community.


The workers wages are paid with money from a federal program overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor.


The Spokane AARP program covers Washington state east of the Cascade Mountains and currently is assisting 135 people, 90 of whom are in the Spokane area, Reiter says. Kristine Glasgow, manager of Aging and Long Term Cares program, says that organization has 24 clients in a five-county area in Eastern Washington.


Reiter says about 75 percent of the AARP programs clients are women, many of whom have spent most of their adult lives in the home. Glasgow says many of those women are widowed and are seeking employment to support themselves.


Men who enter the program often had worked previously in some sort of seasonal employment, but are physically unable to perform the work they had once done.


Glasgow says some people, both men and women, have had lifelong struggles with alcohol or drug abuse, and consequently, have struggled to maintain employment. Others might have suffered an illness that took them out of the work force for an extended period.


Also, she says, I see a lot of people who have worked hard and think everything is going to be OK in retirement, and then it isnt.


Reiter says people in the program range in age from their mid-50s to their 80s. He says 15 of the firms clients are over 70 years old.


Jobs that senior workers fill at nonprofits and public agencies through these programs typically involve basic support fields: Clerical, custodial, maintenance, food service, and child care are common areas in which they start.


Places of employment include the House of Charity, Washington state Department of Corrections, and local operations of the Salvation Army and American Red Cross, among others. Through the Spokane AARP program, seniors worked a total of 125,000 hours for nonprofits and public agencies last year.


Both Glasgow and Reiter say it can take anywhere from a few days to a few years for a senior in the program to find unsubsidized employment. Glasgow says the informal goal at Aging and Long Term Care is for each senior in the program to find a job outside the program within two years.


With the Spokane AARP program, Reiter says that on average, it takes a client six to eight months to find a permanent position. He says the organization has a healthy turnover of seniors who participate in the program, with around eight clients finding work each month.


In some cases, workers get hired on for a permanent position at the place where they work their subsidized job. Among the private employers that have hired workers away from the program are Cardinal Health, Sears Marketing, and the Masonic Temple.


Generally speaking, Reiter says, seniors who come out of the program have better success gaining employment with small businesses, rather than large employers.


A small-business owner understands the value of hard work, no matter the age of the worker, he says.


He says that large businesses typically have a more formal interview process that can be difficult to navigate for a person whos inexperienced in job searching.


Many seniors come to the programs saying theyve been discriminated against on the basis of age, both Glasgow and Reiter say.


Theres a lot of age discrimination out there, Glasgow says.


Reiter says that while some people encounter age discrimination, he thinks most who have been unsuccessful in job searches have outdated job-search skills. Consequently, an element of the training that the job-placement programs perform is teaching seniors how to look for a job.


While seniors are working in a subsidized job, Reiter says they also receive training on some of those basics, such as how to write a resume, how to promote their skills during an interview, and what to wear to an interview.


You cant just walk up and say, I need a job, Reiter says. That might be how they got their last job, but that wont work with most employers now.