Dealing With a Mid-life Career Crisis
It’s Monday morning, after a lovely weekend with the family, now you need to deal with a significant problem, there are layoffs in your company and imagine who’s first in the line? As Philippe Gaud said in Forbes: ”Don’t ignore the signals. Has your career slowed down? Are your appraisals less positive, salary rises less common or less generous? Is your role moving slowly, but surely towards the sidelines? Don’t wait until things get negative before you act and a move is forced upon you.” Many people didn’t realize how to manage their careers once the crisis arose, especially persons that are static in their jobs or companies for years. The world is changing, and there are no more lifetime jobs, fewer people will reach the retirement age in the same company. Thus, how to address this issue and face north to get back on the right path? Remember that your career is moving thru cycles, and those must evolve towards your grit. These cycles need to be controlled; you shall be aware of personal and company signs that announce an imminent change. Personal signs includes career slowdown and lower productivity, imagine that you are not anymore in the first line for ascension, And, the abilities that make you a highly productive person in the past are no more required; or even worst, the long working hours, sleepless nights and weekends cannot be afforded now, your strength is not the same and the requirements for a senior person are different. The productivity that makes you a highly visible resource is running now against the future. Thinking out of the box, a career that is supported by the strength and outdated abilities are in danger across the time. Those early career dreams are in the past, the anxiety to grow is shaped by harsh reality, you might not be able to reach the summit dreams, at least not in the original trend line. No worries, it’s not the end of the world, and this shall not be a dramatic situation unless the control is completely lost and others are deciding the future for you. Reaching a limit is a process, while the time is evolving the lack of awareness creates a blind spot that becomes more significant every day. You must be able to retake the control, the difference between success and failure is when to jump out of the sinking boat. There are a lot of dependencies and points to consider, but are you ready to take a layoff check and cross the company door? I don’t think it’s a valid opinion unless the payment check is five or six digits, the problem is that money without income will disappear. Therefore, you must have a plan B, that allow you to move forward before a significant change is present, affecting your career and personal finances. Check what’s the industry situation, where your skill is valuable and required, valuable means unique and natural to onboard, while required shows a wider universe meaning you must have an additional effort to be onboard again. The required analysis must include a sincere and realistic view about your capacity to generate, maintain and increase the capital.
Denial is not the solution
When you spend more time hiding, the weekend is long, and the bed is your best friend, you deny the situation. The problem is about the time wasted before an action is taken. Most of the people do not realize that a crisis is coming once it’s present, no worries, this is not the end of the world, you still can contribute but probably not in the CEO position dreamed in the early twenties. One of the most valuable soft skills that will help you to move out is the self-awareness, therefore, check what is coming and how to sense your surroundings, don’t work like a mole: blind, heading front and isolated, these three facts are the most dangerous and career affecting across your life.
Be prepared
Make a list of skill assets and then classify those, check which ones are useful in the company and the market. Second, analyze if the current situation is related to one or some of these skills, this means you could be outdated or too narrow about market requirements. Then, prepare a plan to address these flaws, you might need additional training, practice and probably formal education, the main issue is that immediate results are required because the snowball is already moving. As a regular exercise, ask yourself “What happened with your career plan?” When persons are used to moving between companies, a significant change is not a risk. Instead, they see it as a new challenge to attack. It’s recommended that career cycles last between 3 to 5 years, and moving like spirals, with room to grow and then prepare the next step. Thus it’s less likely that a career crisis happens to them, Usually, adverse situations occur to people that need their job to pay their bills and depends only on these to survive. Also, a negative sign is a disorder in their finances, the lack of personal business intelligence is closely related to a career performance. Once the future is bright, and the people are doing the things they like despite the financial rewards, it’s less likely that they are going to be bored or concerned about the future.
Notes: This and precedent articles will be discussed deeply in my next book.
About the Author: Cayo Betancourt is a Colombian independent researcher, writer, and speaker, also a frequent contributor to LinkedIn. After attending the MBA program at the University of Liverpool (UK), he became interested in the human behavior interaction and how this impact the people’s career development, and now working part-time as pro-bono basis researching the subject. He is also the author of a novel and is working on new literary projects.
If you are interested in conferences or further discussions about the topic, please contact me.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the current employer.