Changing Careers in Mid Life: Perhaps it’s time to follow what you heart is saying. But then don’t just make it a hasty decision.
Here are useful suggestions on how to do it the right way.
“Forgive yourself for the wrong choices that you’ve made in the past. They are not evidence of who you are, they are evidence of who you were.” – Unknown.
Chasing Opportunities
Okay, so we all know that times have changed, with a job for life increasingly becoming rare.
A full-time job with a reputable business, where you could work from the age of 22 to the age of 55-60 is a thing of the past.
It is now common for individuals to change jobs many times during their lifetime. Again, this may not yet be true for certain jobs / locations.
For instance, in Japan, people would still stick to a job for several years (part of their culture).
In certain developing countries, people would stick to a govt. job for years (gives them power & earn tons of money through bribes)
However, the point is that people have started chasing opportunities and are not willing to wait for years before opportunity knocks at their doorstep.
Why Changing Career
And it’s not that people are only after new jobs, there are an increasing number of people who are after new careers as well.
But why would anybody choose a new career after working for some many years?
It’s because the way you think at midlife is very different from the way you would think when you are in your twenties or even in your early thirties.
Success, money, status, meeting the expectations of others, is something which probably nobody can ignore or forego. But as you grow older, the importance of those things does diminish, and you start placing less importance on those aspects.
The recognition of our mortality also plays an important factor in the way you think at midlife!
You know that you may not get another chance and hence you want the second half of your life to be more meaningful.
There could be other reasons as well:
- Perhaps you have accomplished everything in your given career
- Your career is not going anywhere and you want to start fresh
- You are bored and want a new challenge, want to try something new
- Perhaps you were never meant to be in your current job in the first place
And that is why many go in for a career transition, something which they had always wanted to pursue, but could NOT for several reasons.
The good thing, however, is that there are many who are not only happy after switching to a new career, but are also doing well financially; and this has got nothing to do with how they fared in their earlier career.
How to Approach It?
At this age, you would know well your responsibilities, your assets & liabilities. Taking decision in haste or impulse is never recommended, and it would be best if you can plan you career transition and even start working on it, keeping your current job in hand.
Reduce the liabilities as much as you can & keep some savings aside. Find some positive aspect of your current job to keep your motivation until you can get a decent income from your new career.
Here are more things you should keep in mind when contemplating a mid-life career change:
Know Own Talents / Use Tools or Take Tests
Before embarking on a new career, it is important to have a firm understanding of your own talents & abilities.
After years of experience, you would probably know how to assess yourself, your skills, strengths and weaknesses.
For instance, if you’re uncomfortable dealing with strangers, a career that involves sales is probably not for you. Same applies to other skills, but in certain cases you can always hire someone to do that job or outsource it.
Again, you need to be realistic about what you want to achieve. It’s less likely that you can be a concert pianist if you start learning the piano at the age of 45, even though you may have taken lessons as a child.
There are other ways to know what your true talents & skills are.
Most career coaches and counselors often use tests or comprehensive questionnaires to assess a client’s skills, interests, values and personality traits. You can do the same yourself using the several self-assessment tests that are available online.
Another effective technique is to ask other people, including friends and family. You’ll be surprised at just how much insight other people can provide you about your abilities & skills.
The more information you have, the better prepared you’ll be to meet the challenges of the new career.
Find Out Where the Opportunities Are
It’s usually seen that most midlife adults perform the best when they experience something personally rather than just take tests or approach something analytically.
You learn the best and get the maximum confidence, only when you test the waters and try new things. It also gives you the best quality feedback as to what works and not.
So, even though it’s advisable to do some research and find about the opportunities in your prospective field, at some stage you have to start doing it.
But what if there are no opportunities in the line of work that you have chosen?
So what?
- Does it make you happy?
- Do you think you can make a difference?
- Do you think you can change someone’s life?
- And what if you hit a great idea and end up creating something new/big in that space?
Remember, you may not get a second chance!
Develop Contacts through Training / Workshops
Make it a point to attend all workshops and also undergo some training courses that are related to the new career that you intend to take up.
These are an excellent way of getting in touch with like-minded people, who are already part of the new industry where you wish to move.
You can make some friends and probably find a mentor as well.
Whether to take additional training will also depend on things such as:
- How serious you are about the new career
- How much you are willing to spend
- Whether you have the time & the energy at this stage of his life to pursue additional training
Just Do It!
Depending on the personality and responsibilities, its normal for people in this age group to take a few months to even a couple of years to decide. The ideas and suggestions listed here is intended to help you make the decision faster, and also to let you know that there are many who are pursuing their dreams
Detailed planning does help, as in all probability you may take a financial hit. However, at some stage, you just have to “Do It” and go ahead with that career change.
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