Posted on 6 November, 2011
Career and job change after age 50: some tips to consider. Changing a career at any age has its own challenges. Making a career change after age 50 presents a series of tests, which if done right, could bring significant rewards. Throughout your working career, and by age 50, you may have changed careers several times so this time you want to do it right. There are a number of questions you have to ask yourself in order to get on the right track. Are you looking to change careers because of physical problems? Maybe the stress of the current career and job are getting you down. Looking for something that is closer to your area of interest or in a more relaxed atmosphere? First, list your interests and skills. What situations or challenges were you faced with? What actions did you take? What sort of results did you achieve? Be as specific as possible in writing out your achievements. Now what skills were required to achieve these results? Working with a team, managing and supervising others, setting and managing a budget, completing a project are all activities that could be on your list. In any career change after age 50 you will be bringing a variety of skills to your new career. After researching the new career you will find overlap in a number of areas when you compare both careers. Be sure to highlight this overlap in drafting your resume. If at first look you do not think you have the required skills for the new career, it would be productive to find someone currently working in the new career field and call them for a short interview. Either on the phone or in person you can inquire about the necessary skills to do the new job, challenges presented or how your work experience fits the new career. You may find that some training is required to qualify for the new career. Training can take many forms. Starting with self-study, to formal classroom to the internet all are valuable sources of training to help you jump-start your entry into this new career area. Many employers view maturity in an applicant as a positive factor in hiring. An applicant over 50 can provide them with a dependable worker with a lifetime of practical experience. Work experience that can be a valuable asset to a likely employer. Even in a new career field, bringing many transferable skills, a high degree of motivation and enthusiasm all translate into a successful career change after age 50. The key is to demonstrate that even after age 50 that you have the skills and abilities to be productive for many years to come. |
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