Career Change â In The Fast Lane at 46
At the age of 46, after years of hard work, making my way up the ladder in the banking world I was forced into making a career change.
I received the news that the bank was making redundancies. Branches were being merged and, guess what; my position could possibly be one of them. Wow, the news was crushing. I can remember thinking what on earth am I going to do! I had a mortgage, an investment property loan, a car loan and credit card loans, all based on the fact that I had this secure 9-5 job and had had for the last 30 years!
Emotionally, I felt fear, panic and anger. I was 45! I only knew how to exist in the banking world. What skills did I possess for a career change?
And then, you know what â I got a grip of myself and sat down with pen and paper.
My debts were manageable within my redundancy payout â I was not going to be penniless, at least, not for the next 12 months so I felt I had time to calmly reassess where I was going from here.
The funny thing is, is that the more possibilities and options I put down on my piece of paper the more exciting everything appeared. The panic subsided â I was still feeling anxiety at the prospect of trying something new but the butterflies loose in my stomach were excitement jitters not nausea jitters and my mind suddenly started working overtime with thee possibilities of making a complete career change!
I was being told by my employer that, apparently after 30 yearâs service, my continued career with them was to be decided upon by answering six questions the next day at 10am. I donât think so!!
I decided to take control of my own future. I went in the next day and held my hand up. I advised them that I was not going to demean myself by answering their questions and felt it was better that the other person be given the position.
RASH you may feel. Allowing emotions of anger, denial, pride even to colour my judgement? Oh no! You see, overnight I had decided I was a valuable person who had many skills to offer. Among other lists on my table top was a list of what I thought was one of the most satisfying past times that my present salary provided and that was travel. I then knew exactly what I wanted to do but knew that to achieve this career change properly extra training would be required. I contacted the local college and was pleasantly surprised to find that my present skills would be taken into account and decrease course training time required. The excitement was building!!!
Twelve months later I had a Diploma of Tourism which opened the options for my longed for career change. I started my own holiday villa rental business - couldnât be further from the banking environment. The world is a big exciting place â give yourself a chance.
Career Change 40 – Not Such A Big Hurdle!
Beat back the fears and anxieties and forge ahead. There are lots of people today looking for a career change 40 and over. Why - you might ask yourself. Maybe it is because we are no longer willing to accept an unhappy or unfulfilling working life. Life is too short! So, to achieve a career change 40 successfully, read on..
Take a good look at where you are at the moment:
When we are young and just leaving school or college most of us have some plan in our heads to work towards the future goals we want to achieve. Now you are over the 40 age group mark, think about the many skills and the work experience you already have to offer. Also, when taking your age into account you will have general life skills learnt along the way and together these will form the basis for you new career.
Think about and consider the working location and environment:
Location often has a big bearing on career choice because although you may have found the perfect career, time and money should be accounted for. How long is it going to take you to travel, are the costs reasonable and what about the cost of relocation. Do you have children of school age and are the local school appropriate for their needs. What are the long term career prospects for the position you are considering? Will future relocation be a factor to take into account? It may be that a move away from the locality where you are now would be beneficial and exciting to have a fresh start but if there are other family members to consider, take into account that change may be daunting to some especially if it involves changes to schools, friends, sports and social clubs and there will undoubtedly be financial matters to take into account.
Have some firm ideas with regard to what you are going to do:
Just allot some time in order to produce a description of your ideal job, which you think is realistic and achievable, considering all the experiences that you have gathered in the last 40 years. Investigate what adult courses your local colleges have to offer. Many adult evening classes are run specifically to hep anyone considering career changes over 40. If you feel you will need new skills in your chosen career option it may be a good idea to search out someone who is already achieving in the same field as they will be able to offer advice.
Research:
Irrespective of age, a successful plan to move into a career change 40 phase is to make sure your research is thorough. We can all get carried away with the exciting prospect of a new career but as mentioned previously, all goals should be achievable and realistic and if that means work studying or updating skill levels then make sure you are prepared to put in the extra work required to reach the target.
Career Change – You Are Never Too Old To Change Direction
How many of you actually thoroughly enjoy your job, day in day out? How many of you have sat daydreaming about something you would really rather be doing to earn a living; other careers or lost opportunities? Well now you may have been pushed to make a career change through redundancy news or intolerable working conditions and from a personal point of view, although the prospect terrified me, I was also very excited about moving on.
You may be thinking that when you’re young, you have a myriad of choices ahead of you, and seriously, you do at any age. It doesn’t matter how young or old you are, you can still make a career change choice that will enhance your life even if it appears to be a huge step!
The first reaction from most of us is to start looking for another similar job because of our comfort zones. Think positively – Why not look at the bigger picture and use this as an opportunity to try something different (age has no barrier to starting something new apart from your own negativity).
You may be thinking, where do you even begin to find something that you will be good at doing and really enjoy? The truth is plenty of people have made career changes later on in life. Many professional athletes HAVE to make career choices once they are no longer able to play sports at a competitive level. You may feel that is easy as they have the money, the notability and guidance to help them along the way and you may be right. But, what about the Moms who are now able to return to and achieve goals outside of the home environment? Many of these multi-tasking Moms stay on top of their careers by undertaking further home study and many have challenged their boundaries and learnt something entirely new!
Deal with immediate practicalities. Make a list of your monthly expenses and present income, if any. Have you got credit cards or loans that could be paid off in order to immediately reduce monthly outgoings? Everyone in the family may have to experience a little discomfort and pull their belt in. Consider how long your redundancy money or savings will last if you use it to pay off monthly bills? What unemployment benefits are claimable? These are things that you need to know if you are going to really control your situation, rather than letting it control you. You need to be master of your own destiny. Sit down and make a list of things you could actively be doing to bring in extra money while you are waiting to get that interview. It's even possible that an idea for a short term way of making money could turn into a new full time business!
So, perhaps now is the time to start that new business you have always dreamed about? Perhaps you can write that book you always wanted to write. The advice is to take some time out and smell the roses. The career change of your dreams could be right around the corner and it’s time for you to take action and go for it!