These statistics indicate that changes in career and directions are inevitable and happen at any age. Now, the question is that why people prefer a change in job or career path at a later stage of life.
Reasons behind the change in career at a later stage of life
To Cut the Stress
After 40 human body starts its declining phase and physical stamina goes down gradually that becomes visible after 50. It also cut the stress-bearing capabilities and tolerance to physical as well as psychological stress. Therefore, despite high position, good pay scale, and a number of benefits like paid time off, medical care, and long vacations are proving worthless against the day-to-day stress they bear in a regular in-house job.
Learning Appetite
Everybody wants a reason to jump out of bed in the morning with excitement and new energy. Unfortunately, one and long career lost it after a long span, and monotony in life begins that proves boring. If a new career is challenging and provide opportunities to learn new things, skills, it brings excitement to daily life. It is a strong reason to leave the old one and adopts a new one immediately.
Respecting Passion
Many stick with a career to make money only even though they are not passionate about it. At a midlife stage, they have saved enough money to start a career that follows their passion and fulfilling life.
For a Shake of Changing Pace
Despite all excitement and lucrative career, many are tired of the frantic pace of working life and want to bring fresh air into it. Therefore, they decide to leave even a successful career behind and begin a new journey.
Checklist before a Switch Career
Whatever the reasons seem to trigger a change in your career at a later stage of life, you must consider following things before taking a jump as a precautionary measure.
Recognize Your Strength
We have seen that an employee held an average of 11.7 jobs in a career. It means most of the jobbers have multiple jobs in a career and each new job comes with some innovative and challenging experiences where skills and strength develop further. At a later stage of life, you have to recognize your strength and weakness well through analysis. It will help you identify how you will fit into a new career at a later stage of life and new types of job environments.
After recognition of your strength and skills, you can present yourself to the prospective recruiter with confidence, and they will consider your experience as a guarantee to meet your claims for delivery.
Passion for Learning New Skills
The job market is constantly evolving and coming with innovative roles/jobs that you have never imagined. New types of jobs require new types of skill sets too. For instance, intense digitalization has made computer skills compulsory for any employee working in any industry.
If you are not ready to learn new essential skills for your next career or role, you may hardly get succeed in your late career. Therefore, a passion for learning new skills constantly is a must.
Advantages of Experience
Some jobs and companies need highly experienced people in their organization for a certain post. However, a career switch with years of experience would provide you a good opportunity to grab those all at good perks and satisfaction.
Entrepreneurship
At a later stage of life, let’s say after 50 you have enough maturity, skills, experiences, and resources to start up a new adventure related to your niche expertise. Therefore, the highest rate of entrepreneurship is reported among the over-50 age group.
Recognize the Fastest Job Categories
Nurses and medical aids, teachers, and software engineer job categories are growing rapidly with stable demands. Similarly, some other job areas have big prospects, and you have to recognize those areas if aligned with your skills or passion and apply for it.
Overcome Myths
Despite enough thrill and enthusiasm regarding changing the job or career some prevailing job market myths may prevent you from taking instant decisions. Therefore, you must learn about those myths and overcome them all at once.
Myth 1 – Employer Refrain Hiring Aged Candidates
At a later stage, you may lose some physical and mental strengths to compete with young competitors for a post/job in some areas. However, you have intense experiences, strong confidence, and a rich set of skills as well as determination power to fulfill the promises or delivery claims. These all positive factors surpass your age-related issues and make it all minor in hiring considerations.
Therefore, don’t feel low or intimidated about any age-related issue.
Myth 2 – Unable to Compete Youngers’ Tech Prowess
We are experiencing constant waves of technologies and relevant innovations in the market. Computers, mobiles, and now wearable technologies are growing at a rapid pace, and penetration is almost 100% in all fields.
Therefore, you must be a tech-savvy candidate that can demonstrate adequate command and familiarity over the upcoming technologies. Learning new technologies, tools, and technique is not dominant of the young generation, you can learn all at any age and at any moment if you’re strongly determined it.
Myth 3 – Learning New Business
Many entrepreneurs want to start their own venture in new trades and trends, which were not existing before a decade or a half. They believe learning new businesses over-50 is daunting and challenging.
Unfortunately, that is not true at all. Today we have entrepreneur training courses, classes, and government/NGO organizations to support you in all respects. So, you have smooth sailing in starting a new business of your choice.
Myth 4 – Return in Employment
Some employees over-50 once lost their existing and prolonged jobs they feel extreme depression regarding re-employment. They lost the courage to return to their niche or other by rejuvenating their skills, strengths, and experiences. In fact, many companies looking for an experienced and stable workforce, and trends are increasing among the highly volatile job market where youngsters are frequently changing the job and have inadequate experiences to manage certain roles.
What you have to do is to recognize those areas and companies and make a strong presentation of your skills, experiences, and commitment to fulfill their expectations, you may have a good perk awaiting in your call letter!
Who Can Help You?
Present statics and surveys of the international job market reveal that switching careers at a later stage of life is becoming a common trend everywhere. In the United Kingdom and the USA like affluent countries, there are multiple reasons that people prefer switching careers or starting a new adventure, and they get significant success too.
Try to get in touch with your area’s Career advisers to help you to prepare resumes, face interviews, make effective presentations of your skills and experiences and most importantly provide mentoring services to boost morale to hit your goals. If you stay in Norwich, UK then our job portal Just Norfolk Jobs provides a strong platform to find the right jobs and assist you to switch careers at an advanced stage of life.
Author’s Bio ~ Manya Ray
Here at Positive Words Research, we are looking to share with our readers original content that hasn’t been published on other sites so if you are comfortable with Positive Words Research being your sole publisher, we are more than happy to share with our readers your inspiring and empowering story.
Positive Words Research – How To Find The Courage To Switch Career
