This paper contributes to the symposium’s two research questions with findings from UK-based research projects that explore the shifting attitudes and experiences of older workers engaging in career decisions. The two projects focus on a lengthy transition period (as much as two decades for some people) from career commitment to full retirement, and with reference to other studies argue that individuals have better health and social outcomes in later life if they are able to manage retirement as a process over time rather than experience it as a single event. The research ranges from the underlying needs and changing values of older people themselves, to the skills, attitudes and capabilities required of staff offering career guidance support including practical and technical aspects of providing it (through ICT media, for example). The paper stresses that diversity in situation and personal concerns overrides any homogeneity suggested by the ‘accident’ of age.  Despite this there appear to be general shifts in the value systems that underpin job-seeking and employment. Older people wish to exercise personal choice and be respected for their experience; conversely they need help in conveying their skills and experience in a way that demonstrates its applicability to a modern workplace.