Career Changes for
Baby Boomers: Ability, Not Age, Matters
Baby boomers. They're the generation born between
1946 and 1964. They came of age in the early 70s and
early 80s. They're the generation that made changes
and waves, worked harder and longer, put off
marriage and children, did things differently than
previous generations.
Whether because of financial necessity or because
they have something to offer, baby boomers are
staying in the workforce longer. The U.S. Bureau of
Labor Statistics data and projections indicate that
by 2010 there should be 18.5 million boomers ages 45
to 49 in the labor force, as compared to 14.7 in
1995, and 16.8 million versus 10.6 million in the
50- to 54-years-old range.
They're still making changes. They're retiring
later, or not at all. If not downsized or laid off,
boomers often continue to work. When they don't
choose to continue in the same career, it doesn't
mean they're ready to stop contributing, and
sometimes they're making transitions to new careers.
"On average there are three to five career changes
in a person's lifetime and that's pretty common,"
says Kevin Gaw, Director of Career Development,
University of Nevada, Reno. "It's pretty common that
a layoff ends up being a great opportunity for
someone to find something that's more suited to
them, too."
But it can be challenging to a baby boomer to be
suddenly confronted with a career change. They were
raised in a world where you got your education, then
got your job, and while you may not have stayed with
the job until you retired, you would probably stay
in the same profession. "It can be jarring to
realize you have to transfer your skill set to
another area," says Gaw.
In 2004, Gaw's office worked with 208 alumni. Nearly
7.5 percent were going through a career change,
three percent because of a forced situation such as
layoff or company closure or relocation. The rest of
them just wanted to do something different. When
you?re faced with an important career shift, there
are things you can to do make it easier on yourself
and achieve a more enjoyable, productive career
change.
• Look at your skills. Determine which are
transferable to other jobs.
• Find your passion. What do you love to do? "It's
not about the money," Gaw says. "The money isn't
what makes us happy. What makes us happy is doing
something that's meaningful to us."
• Look at reality. If you want to be an astronaut
but can't do math, Gaw says, the reality is it's
unlikely. People need to work through that
disappointment and maybe change that passion to a
hobby rather than a vocation.
• Determine whether you want to make a radical
career change? say from legal secretary to Web
designer? or stay within the same profession.
• If you like the company you're with but feel the
need for change, see if they can retain and retrain
you. If it comes down to a complete career change,
there are also some things you can do to help create
a whole new career for yourself.
• Promote yourself rather than your age. Once you
get into a position and can show off your skills,
you'll be known for those skills rather than your
years.
• Start slow. Before investing heavily in education,
determine if it's the right career path for you.
• Network. Many non-entry level positions are found
by references. Join professional organizations in
the field you want to enter.
• Consider working for yourself. A job market survey
conducted in 2005 by global outplacement firm
Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., quoted on
thematuremarket.com, indicated that of 3000 job
seekers, 13 percent chose to work for themselves,
and 86.6 percent of them were over 40.
Another option is to leverage your experience and
teach or train. Moving into training and coaching
people just entering the profession you're leaving
is a fairly informal move. Teaching requires state
licensing, and there are programs helping place
retiring workers into teaching positions. The
University of Nevada Department of Curriculum,
Teaching and Learning takes executives through a
first-time licensing program and puts them in the
schools in just a couple semesters, often teaching
in high-needs areas like math, science and
languages. Likewise, IBM unveiled their Transition
to Teaching program in September, reimbursing them
for tuition and providing stipends while they
student teach. Many of their executives are highly
trained in math and computer sciences.
Whether making a career change to a new profession
or a new position, Gaw says such changes are a
normal life pattern. "It's a good thing to be open
to change. The challenge is recognizing skill sets
and knowing how to capitalize on them and present
them to the new opportunities."
Author
Bio
Kelli Smith is the editor for Edu411.org, a
career education directory for finding colleges
and universities, training schools, and technical
institutes.
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