Pete writes:
Help! I’m a 40-year-old professional male stuck in an employment rut! Which way do I turn?
The Career Doctor responds:
First realize that the situation you are facing is becoming more and more common, so you are certainly not alone in how you are feeling. People of all ages are facing the discovery of being in a job they no longer value or enjoy, but folks and their 40s and 50s are probably the most prevalent.
The key analysis you must make before doing anything else is whether you are sick of your specific job or whether you are sick of your career. For example, you may love accounting, but over the years as you have been promoted away from the day-to-day accounting and into management, taking you away from the numbers. In this case, you still love accounting, so you probably want to find a way to move back toward your accounting roots. On the other hand, if you have been doing accounting for 20 years and are simply tired of doing the numbers, then perhaps a change of careers is best.
So, take some time to decide whether you are going to simply make a job change or a career change. A job change is much easier, of course. You already have the skills, accomplishments, experience, and network to make a change within your profession. Start researching jobs that will challenge you and put you back in touch with the part of your profession that you love working on.
If you decide a change of careers is necessary, the first step should be deciding the career field. Take a weekend (or longer) and conduct self-assessment exercises and capture the activities that fuel your passion and energy. The next step is then researching careers that use those skills and activities. The final step is developing a plan to break into that new career field — and may include obtaining more education, getting new work experience (though temping, volunteering, consulting), and developing/expanding your network.
To help in your decision, you could also take this quiz: Time to Change Jobs…or Careers? A Quintessential Careers Quiz.
