Sunday, December 25, 2011

Navigate the choppy waters of mid-life career change


Firmly anchored to your Office Chair in a career where he feels under-appreciated and a-fulfilled, you start to daydream about what could be if they just had the courage to follow your dream of becoming a captain of a cruise ship 20 years ago. It would be rather breathing the air salty and carving white foamy ripples across the Pacific Blue just like Captain Merrill Stubing your Idol, who confidently at the helm "Love Boat" through the mists of cheese every Saturday evening storms comic. Instead, here are over 40 and galla water settled for work ... instead of the career of glamour that you really wanted to.

We get older and more pigeon holed from our previous experience, our window of opportunity of career change can get smaller. One of the biggest benefits of being young is having the luxury of time. Abundant time allows for wild explorations, idealism and mistakes by time that may arise. When you change careers more than 40 years of age, careful movement and maximize your reward to risk ratio of career becomes even more critical. Those of us over forty are often burdened by personal liability which can not be blocked when we finally press the button "reset" career. Before deciding on a career change to middle age, there are several questions you must ask before you and your "dream career":

1. is the career field of application?

In today's job market, the pressures of the new automation technologies, reduced spending, and competition from an increasingly globalised workforce have greatly reduced the demand for many professional fields. Before embarking on a path to your dream career, it is important to remove the emotion from the decision-making process and analyze before potential rewards to attempt a change realistically and objectively career.

2. the path of career change is practical?

Depending on how closely related to your previous job responsibilities are to those of the new one, the path of career change might not even seem to be a seamless transition, or you could end up feeling like you did in your early twenties: stuck in no experience/can't get hired because you do not have any paradox of experience.

3. What are the sacrifices required investments?

Over the age of forty years, I'm probably swamped with different social and financial responsibilities cannot easily take a back seat when it comes time to start a career change the path. Before beginning, make a budget type and amount of personal sacrifices that may be required during the path of career change. Free time, money, sleep and even some reports, may include such sacrifices.

4. What are the expectations earning?

Doing what you love and get paid for it is generally considered the scenario of perfect career. However, if the initial salary of your dream career does not cover completely the short-term financial obligations of middle age, you may need to consider downgrading your lifestyle for a while. If it is not an option, the risk-return ratio may prove too high to justify a full-time career.

5. the change will enable me to meet my financial goals?

Just like the short-term financial obligations must be taken into account when deciding on a career change, middle-aged, so should long-term goals. The cost of financing a college education (not only for children but possibly yours as well), mortgages and retirement goals must be weighed against the amount of income that you hope to build in your new career. If you do not contribute towards the achievement of your future financial goals, sticking with your new career could end up setting you back to the long term.

6. I don't really talent, passion to succeed in your field?

Persistent career dreams are often a source of hope and inspiration that can put a positive spin on the harsh reality of having to actually earn a living. As you get older, however, our physical and emotional capacity to struggle while pursuing dreams born during our youth energetic can make them seem even more difficult to obtain than before. Before beginning, you should really consider if you have tools to succeed in both the journey and after reaching the destination. Instead of over-glamorizing us your dream profession, consider whether you have the right amount of talent, energy, temperament and passion to succeed should help you to set a realistic price on your dream career.

Successfully completed the path to a new career may depend on the ability to examine current trends, adjust and manage the disappointment in the short term. In mid-life career change however, bad decisions or poor timing can risk ruin your finances and transform a potential dream into a nightmare. On the other hand, the advantage of Midlife change is that even if the career change fails, at least you will still have marketable skills from years of experience in your previous profession to fall back. For some, pass or fail: just make the effort to achieve their dreams would be quite satisfactory. Then, with a questions-answered go, you can not hear no longer that you are stuck in port, drifting aimlessly. You then can free themselves to consider other options for practical and satisfactory career while smooth-sailing towards the horizon of your golden years.

Midlife Career change tips:

Provide a cover letter with your resume explaining briefly why you are seeking a career change and as your personal abilities and previous experiences would benefit your new employer.

To counter the lack of experience in the target field, consider a part-time internship in order to gain experience before making the switch.

Estimate costs and financing of education from current income, not from new career salary expectations.

Stay current and informed of your new career choice by reviewing business publications.

Take advantage of Noticeboards and ask questions to learn what others are saying about your career sector.




Michael Viola is an entrepreneur and a webmaster with a Masters in urban planning from the University of Southern California. If you found the article interesting, you'll find more by Michael Viola to his new LGBT discussion gaytorium.comforum site.

Webmaster and other article editors can republish this article only in its entirety, with author information published and all links intact. Copyright 2010 by Michael Viola.




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