Midlife career change

There are many reasons why people in middle age need to change careers. However, these days it is increasingly because people are having to return to work or continue to work as pension funds have failed or they have been affected by the rise in the age at which state pension can be claimed. Another reason can be that they were in receipt of welfare disability benefits which they have now lost due to welfare reform and have no choice but to try to do whatever work they might be able to manage.

This is my situation as I am only 57 but am partially sighted with a heart condition and mobility issues and high blood pressure. It took me a very long time to get disability benefit and currently I receive nothing as I have moved into sheltered housing and have sold my previous home, but I still must find some work that I can do as the sale profits will not last forever. 

Midlife is often just as people think life will be quietening down, one of the greatest periods of change in our lives. The not knowing how things will turn out can have a huge effect on personal confidence, and this can make people not try things such as starting a home business, many people are going to start a business …next year but next year never comes.

Some people change jobs in midlife just because they fancy a change and after years of doing what pays the bills and suits family commitments such as childcare arrangements, they may decide to take if they get the chance and can afford to do so, that dream job. If you are making a midlife career change, it is good to take some time to identify why you are doing it and what you want to do with this next stage. However, we do have to accept that no matter how much we may want it, we cannot all be actors, pop stars or astronauts. 

Do a skill check and be sure that your image of what you fancy doing is realistic, being realistic there are some dream jobs that we are never destined to do. However, many people have made a successful midlife career change. It is certainly not always true that it is hard to learn new skills when you are older, often motivation and how much you want it is what makes all the difference and urges you on.

Maybe you always secretly wanted to have your own home business, or perhaps to be a writer? The advance of the internet has given people, especially older and or disabled people, mothers who want to work from home and indeed even young people who have no intention of ever working for someone else, chances to have a career from home that never would have been possible years ago.

Some points to weigh up ~

1  .)    You may be at the top of the tree in your current position and need to ask yourself if you can afford to, and even want to lose the benefits that come with that, such as a good regular salary. However, if you already have a good financial cushion behind you this does give you more freedom for your future choices.

2 .)    The need to be realistic about what kind of job you can do and get, ...being a dreamer and successfully going for it is one thing and often very possible but being a fool is another thing altogether. What will you do if the new venture does not work out, do you have a backup plan and resources to fall back on?

3 .)    Do you have any experience and /or training at all for the new career? Are you able to do some relevant voluntary work to get experience? Employers do not want the transferable skills so over rated by the job centre as they tell you that you are too sick to do the job you did have but you have transferable skills and must claim jobseekers allowance and get a job. Employers want people who can hit the ground running, and who come with the skills needed for the job.

4 .)    Have you made plans, depending on whether you are going to become self-employed and start a business, just work from home at the many opportunities there are or get a job, you will need a career plan, a financial plan, a business plan …and a backup plan.  Even early on in your career, you should always plan B, it never entered my head as a young nursery nurse that I would not be fit enough to carry on working in that field, years before I could retire, and I did not train for anything else as something to fall back on. When you make that midlife career change, be sure to be fully prepared and to have a backup plan but don’t be afraid to consider change.

Valerie Hedges