Midlife Career Change

Time For a Midlife Career Change

Statisticians tell us that we can expect to have three careers in our lifetime. The days of starting a career and sticking with it for 45 years are gone. We now realize that there are many different ways to earn a living – and we often switch careers when we hit our 40s or 50s.

The reasons for a career change are different for everyone:

• To try something different
• To start your own business
• To retire after 25 years
• To start to slow down pre-retirement
• To expand volunteerism
• To get more flexibility
• The kids are gone – you can downsize your finances
• Health problems
• To go back to school

Planning Increases Your Success

Making career changes at midlife is very different than making career decisions in your 20s. You probably have more financial responsibilities like a mortgage and kids in college. You might be at the peak of your earning potential. You have more to lose – and you have a lot to gain.

Planning your next move starts with a little introspection. Take a little time now to evaluate your special skills and needs before you decide on your next career move.

Testing

This is a great time to sit back and take some time to discover your aptitudes, assess your personality traits and investigate new career directions. Many tests are available free online or you can take personality and career attribute tests at a local college or from a career or life counseling service.

A test can't guarantee that you'll like a specific career, but it can tell you whether you have the same interests and personality traits of individuals who have been successful in the field.

Discover Your Strengths and Needs

Testing is a great start in discovering your strengths. You can also find out a lot about yourself by making lists:

• What are your skills? What can you do, what can't you do?
• What fields would you like to work in? Identify broad areas like finance or teaching not job-specific titles like accountant or high school teacher.
• What lifestyle do you want to have? Do you want to work from home? Do you want to travel as part of your career? Do you want to work in a structured setting like an office? Would you rather work for yourself?
• What salary fits your needs? How much money do you need to live now, and when you retire? Can you take a pay cut? If so, how much of a pay cut would you be willing to take?

Consider Your Options

You should concentrate on choosing a career you can enjoy, not just a new way to make money. Data from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) shows that 70% of baby boomers plan to continue to work well into their retirement. Your midlife career might remain your focus well into your retirement. It's worth the time to consider all your options:

• Go back to school. A few courses, when added to your current experience, might be all you need to step into a new career. Or, this might be the time for you to go for the degree or certification you always wanted but were too busy in your prior career to work towards.
• Start your own business. Consider consulting within the industry where you had your first career or launch a new business incorporating your skills and interests.
• Begin teaching others. Perhaps you are tired of "doing the job" but you love the career area. Consider teaching. Nurses become great nursing and health educators. Sales people become excellent trainers – either as corporate employees, working for training companies or as training freelancers.

Get the Job!

Having a well-thought-out resume is your key to making your next career step. You will need to summarize your strengths and experience on a resume whether you are looking for a new job or writing a business plan to apply for a bank loan for your new business. Don't rely on a resume writer to capture your strengths on paper. Only you can really know which parts of your experience are the most relevant to your new career goals. If you need help, look to one of the excellent resume-writing books available at your local bookstore or public library.

Once you have your resume ready to go, this is the time to get your network going to find the perfect opportunity for you. You've accumulated a lot of friends and coworkers over the past 20 or so years. This is the time to contact them, explain your new career goals and solicit their opinion and help.

There are many online job posting boards and search engines. Be sure to look for services that have special features for midlife career changes such as Simply Hired.

The interview is your chance to show your future employer why you should be hired and to ask any questions you may have. Don't wait for prospective employers to call you for an interview. Consider setting up informational interviews with companies with which you would like to work or with individuals who are doing what you would like to do. This "informational" approach gives you the chance to lead the questioning. But don't be lulled into thinking that an "informational" interview requires any less attention on your part. You still need to be able to project your skills, needs and personality.

For More Information

This is the time to soak up all the information you can about the process of career changing as well as information about the career into which you are considering changing:

• Resumes for Dummies
• Life's a Bitch and Then You Change Careers
• I Don't Know What I Want But I Know It's Not This
• Just Around the Corner: The Baby Boomer's Guide to a Career or Job Change
• Now What Do I Do?: The Woman's Guide to a New Career