Changing Career Direction Part 1

When you find yourself "north of fifty" or thereabouts, is it realistic to think about career reinvention? Is career change really possible?

In this post and the next ones in the series, we will take a look at this challenging career choice, the path of reinvention.

Changing careers when one is in their 50's certainly can seem scary. Even though you have an impressive resume and great skills, how can you make yourself seem credible to people in a new field?

The path of reinvention is a challenge indeed. But it can be done.

Many today are making the choice, in this rapidly shifting economy, to undertake such a change. To re-imagine, re-think and re-position themselves for a true career change.

Career blogger and entrepreneur Brian Kurth (author of Test Drive Your Dream Job) has addressed reinvention for Baby Boomers:

~ Reflect upon your dream jobs. What have you always dreamed of doing?

~ Take a "vocation vacation" to explore interesting fields. Pick one to start. Begin researching that field. Identify people in that field that you can speak with. Conduct informational interviews with them.

~ Find a mentor. Select someone who can give you a guided tour of a field that you are intrigued by.

How about an example. Say you always dreamed of owning your own bed and breakfast at the Jersey shore because you have long had a passion for running your own little business in a resort area.

The "vocation vacation" idea says, find a B&B that is close to what you have in mind, and go there. Stay awhile and go "behind the scenes" to find out the inner workings. Learn what it really takes to run such an operation. Seek out the owner for informal mentoring.

You'll come away with some rich data for making your decision about whether to move ahead, or move on to another possibility.

If you are seeking more tips on career reinvention, Kurth offers these:

1. Identify your strengths. - What transferable skills do you have that could translate into the new field?

2. Face your fears. - What could go wrong? Ask yourself, what is the worst that could happen?

3. Set a goal and a develop a plan to get there. - Use the SMART approach and list out the resources you will need to reach the objective.

4. Find a mentor. - The key capability to look for in the mentor is their network. Ask yourself, can he or she open doors for you?

5. Test-drive the career option. - If possible, take the career choice for a test drive. Just as in buying a car, there is nothing like getting behind the wheel to know whether it feels right to you.

6. Network. Network. Network.

Finally, Kurth recommends some soul-searching:

"What are your passions and interests? What activities give you a sense of purpose and satisfaction? The first step in any career transition is to explore, experiment and discover your “great job” and what you can do to pursue it."

What is your "great job?"

Updated from a blog post by Terrence Seamon, August 11, 2009