Changing careers in later life

In both good times and challenging times, such as the current time of uncertainty, those of us in our prime are looking for new jobs. Sometimes this is foisted upon us due to redundancy, for others we just don’t want to spend another day in a job we can’t stand so we may think about a change of career. If that’s you then this article will be of help.

Talk with friends and family and they can think we’re being unrealistic; they just don't understand why anyone would want to change jobs. ‘Play it safe’ is the motto of many, why look for change when the current situation is ok. But is ok good enough for you? Do you really want to continue to settle for what you have rather than what you really want?

When we’re unhappy at work every day is like a slog, and the way it makes us feel affects us not only at work but also at home with a negative impact on our relationships with others and little energy to do the things we really want to do.

If you are wondering whether to change career, let’s look at some of the factors to consider in making the move or not.?In the words of Joe Strummer, do I stay or do I go?

If we listen to others and stay put it might be the safe option, but this could be for 10, 15 years or even more – do we want to reach the age of 70, look back at our life and have regrets?

When we’re working in a job that doesn’t excite us it’s hard to show any enthusiasm and who really wants to be working with someone who counts away the hours till home time.?So here are 7 things we can do to help us make a choice.

1. Know our skills: If we think about changing jobs, we may wonder what we could do. We should not feel constrained by our CV, but unpick it and see all the underlying skills, and not just those gained from work, what about the ones gained from home, hobbies and other interests??These are probably not on our CV so we need to take time to review our life and pick out what might be important for a change of career.
2. Understand what is important: Possibly with the mortgage nearly paid off, and the children left home, we could manage on less money. Making career decisions based on salary may not be the priority, it’s much more about doing something that we really want to do – living a life in line with our values.?We need to take some time to clarify what our key values are.
3. Putting ourself first: For many people, our children have been our priority, but now they are working and will be responsible for their own lives. This gives us more time and energy to do more of what is right for us. We can now make decisions on the basis of what we want not what others want. Also, when our children and friends see us take bold decisions, it might encourage them to do so as well.
4. Being mature is a plus: So much in the media worships the cult of youth, but as we get older, we have much more experience, and can often stay calm when dealing with problems and can draw on our knowledge. This means that we are less likely to be affected by set backs, we know we have come through these before and will be able to do so again.
5. Using our friends and contacts: over the years we will have got to know many people, some we will class as friends, others are more like business associates, but these people know people and can help give us the contact we need to both find out more about new careers and also to help us get an introduction to that important contact.
6. Let’s not forget that you may face some challenges but these can be overcome! We may be interviewed by someone who really is young enough to be our son or daughter, and they may find it difficult both recruiting and also managing someone more mature, so we need to make it clear that we are certainly young in outlook and give examples of ‘embracing change’. We need to let them know that it’s not a problem for us, but we also need to be careful not to be too assertive in our views on how things can be done, we can always learn from others.??
7. Once we decide to move into a new area, we are likely to get through the learning curve quicker as we can use our transferable skills and knowledge that will help us to solve many problems and deal with challenges. If we’ve done our research, we will also be much clearer on why we’ve applied for work in this new area, be keen to make a success and thus focus our energy there.?

p.s I wrote this in August 2009! Lightly edited and still relevant today.

Dr Denise Taylor is a Chartered Psychologist and Vision Quest Guide, specialising in retirement transitions and elderhood. Regularly featured in the media, she is the author of 8 books including Find Work at 50+ and Now You've Been Shortlisted.

My next book – Rethink Retirement will be published later this year

• Award winning retirement coach with Amazing People
• Working with people at 50+ - The 50 Plus Coach
• Finding meaning and nature based retreats – see Denise Taylor website