The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, signed by President Obama in April 2009, establishes federal encore fellowships for Americans age 55 and older. The new law marks the first time federal legislation has recognized encore careers and the need for pathways that get people from one stage to the next.

This excellent online resource from the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides extensive information about hundreds of careers and types of work, including details on: training and education required, earnings, expected job prospects, job specifics, and working conditions.

Working for Uncle Sam is suddenly sexy. Throngs of applicants crowded a public sector job fair held this month in Washington, D.C. – three times as many as last year.

It was sponsored by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service (PPS), whose president, Max Stier, forecasts a need for 600,000 more federal workers over the next four years. While the job fair was targeted at young people, PPS also recognizes the need to find millions of highly skilled and experienced older workers who are approaching retirement age, or are already retired, from all sectors of the economy and is recruiting them via its FedExperience initative.

Encore Fellowships are a central feature of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009. The act is designed to help catalyze new solutions to major social challenges by calling Americans of all ages to serve their country and their communities.

A growing number of boomers are choosing encore careers with the Peace Corps. The 50+ Volunteers section of its Web site answers frequently asked questions and includes an online application.

For more information, check out the Encore.org blog post about the Peace Corps.

The Partnership for Public Service’s FedExperience is an initiative to enhance government’s recruitment of experienced workers and enlist potential partners to fuel interest in federal service. IBM signed on for the pilot program.

The Partnership for Public Service released a report that lays out the case for connecting baby boomers with federal job opportunities, as well as some of the obstacles to such matches.

As part of American Association of Community College’s national Plus 50 Initiative, Western Dakota Technical Institute offers courses for boomers who want to become seasonal rangers and interpretative guides at national parks.

The Washington, D.C., think tank Center for American Progress is calling for the expansion of Experience Corps and other national service programs that help struggling students and schools.

Building an Experience Dividend: State Governments Lead Call to Engage Boomers, a policy paper from Civic Ventures, identifies states that are developing policies and programs to make the best use of boomer experience. Arizona, California, Maryland, New York and Massachusetts are taking the lead in creating new and innovative programs that put boomers to work for the greater good.