| How to decide
whether to change careers at 55
By Amy Lindgren, Knight Ridder Newspapers A recurring question from job seekers concerns the possibility of changing careers at midlife or later. "I'm 55," the letter often begins, "do you think it's too late to change careers?" You get an A-plus if your first response is: "What does age have to do with it?" For the record, your age should not be a primary factor in making a career change. And I don't mean, "should not" as in, "In a perfect world, age wouldn't matter." I mean, "should not" as in, "Age is the incorrect basis for making this decision." Think about it. What attributes do we attach to age that make us believe it plays a major part in career decisions? Here are a few of the things that come to mind. Health. We may assume that a 55-year-old needs to choose something that is easier on the body than a 25-year-old would choose. Fair enough -- but that is not about being 55. Any person, of any age, needs to consider the state of his or her own physical health when choosing work. An older person is wise to plan for a potential decline in physical abilities, but the assumption that every 55-year-old will become a frail 75-year-old is ridiculous. Investment of time. At 55, or 65, a worker might wonder if a career change will pay off. This is not a home refinancing. This is your life. If you want to switch from being an office worker to being a hairdresser but know that the costs of making the switchover will take 10 years to "earn back" compared to an office worker's wages -- so what? If you know that you will be much happier as a hairdresser and you can still pay your bills, what does it matter? Permission. Many letters end like this: "But when I get done with the training, I'll be 58, and who will want to hire a 58-year-old (fill in the blank)?" Ironically, these are the same people who aren't getting hired in their current professions, at their current, younger age. Even more ironically, my same mailbag may bring a letter from a 30-year-old who can't find a job in the field the older worker is considering. I won't say age bias doesn't exist, but I believe too many job seekers give too much weight to it when considering a career change. I am an employer, too, and I would far prefer to hire an enthusiastic, 58-year-old newbie than a jaded 30-year-old. Lifespan. I'll grant that a 55-year-old most likely has fewer years to live than a 30-year-old. Statistically speaking, that's true. But you aren't a statistic. I will not grant -- without darn good genetic evidence -- that you personally are going to kick off in 10 or 20 years. I don't know that, and neither do you. What I do know is that if you go another 20 years in a career you don't like, then retire and spend yet another 20 years looking back in regret, you will have misspent 40 years. Forty years! And you wonder if it's worth it to change careers at age 55. Personally, I will change careers at 75 if I see something that interests me more than whatever I'm doing at the time.
If you are in your 50s or 60s or even 70s, and wonder if a career change is
right for you, the next step is to stop wondering and find out. The questions
you need to ask are the same ones a younger person needs to ask: |