Relocation for Mid-Life Career Change? Don’t call the moving van yet!

Mid-life career changers frequently consider relocation as part of their career planning. Sometimes they want to move to be closer to family and they wonder if they can find jobs in a new location. Or they’re experiencing layoffs, industry changes or just general boredom and they want to move to a new place.

Moving can give your career a boost if you plan ahead. In fact, if you are considering a major career change, moving makes a lot of sense. Often it’s easier to reinvent yourself when nobody remembers you, especially if you are making a major shift. For instance, friends who remember you as a buttoned-up corporate executive may have trouble viewing you as a laid-back life coach.

Unfortunately, many people decide to move before they are ready. They get out a map, choose a destination that sounds good on the Internet, and take off. Often they anticipate the biggest expense will be the moving van. In fact, your greatest expense will involve relocating or even moving back if you realize you’ve made a big mistake.

Learn more by downloading this ebook at http://www.RelocaitonStrategy.com

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Career planning begins with a news fast

Career planning during a tough economy calls for logical thinking. Yet it’s easy to get caught up in a swirl of emotions. You have to deal with rumors, fears and uncertainty. In my experience, the best course of action will not seem immediately obvious. But here’s what I recommend, based on years of living through economic cycles.

Begin by turning off the news. Stop buying newspapers that display scary headlines about jobs and sales forecasts. Be especially wary of news networks and programs. They have to come up with stories every day and they like to evoke strong emotion.

Journalists are wonderful people but they need startling headlines. They work on a case basis, highlighting extreme experiences. What’s happening “out there” may not make any difference to you. I talk to people every day who are changing jobs, getting raises and moving up with promotions.

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Mid-Life Career Change Is Not A Straight Line

Mid-life career change surprises many workers, especially executives and professionals who have achieved past success by careful planning. They are often accustomed to moving cautiously. “Should I plan to leave my job after a year?” they ask. “Can you give me a test that tells me where I belong in the world of work?”

Often they ask their career consultants, “How many interviews should I conduct this week? I want to explore one option at a time.”

But real career change doesn’t work that way.

When researchers began studying real career change (instead of rehashing what “everybody” knows) they discovered most career change happens by accident. You research a career in project management. Then you run into a classmate who just finished a degree in information science and realize you really want to work in a library. Or your part-time job – the one you took in desperation – turns out to be so much fun you embark on a whole new trajectory.

Career advisors have two functions. They keep you moving so serendipity is more likely to happen. You won’t bump into your dream career if you are standing still. And secondarily, they help you recognize signposts in your environment. They encourage you to investigate a new path because you don’t know what will be a pointless dead end and what will become an expressway to your dream.

A longer version of this article is available here.

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Career Choices: Forget the fantasies of career downsizing

Advertising executive Prioleau Alexander was fed up. His job was all about office politics and ungrateful clients.

So he embarked on a series of minimum wage jobs: fast food cashier, pizza delivery driver, medical tech, and more.

And he wrote a book: You Want Fries With That: A White-Collar Burnout Experiences Life at Minimum Wage.

For anyone who’s wanted to leave a high-powered executive job, hoping for less stress, this book will be a wake-up call. Research has shown that higher level executives live healthier, less stressful lives than lower-ranking employees.

Alexander, an ex-Marine, chooses to report his experience with humor. His approach contrasts sharply with the moralistic approach of Barbara Ehrenreich and the idealism of Michael Gates Gill in How Starbucks Saved My Life.

My only quibble is the misleading title. Alexander never really lived a minimum-wage lifestyle. He had already secured a publishing contract and advance for this book. He commuted from his own home.

No problem. I just wish he had revised his approach to emphasize that he was, in a sense, an outside reporter.

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Mid-Life Boomers Going Back to School

This morning ABC’s Good Morning America featured a brief segment on boomers going back to school. Some of their advice was OK: consider community colleges for flexibility, then distance learning for maximum flexibility.

I have taught in several distance learning programs. Please, please investigate carefully! Many promise flexibility, but you need to understand what that means.

Usually you get flexibility because you don’t have to attend classes. So you can work on your assignments at 5 AM or 5 PM.

Sometimes you get to defer deadlines for projects. But don’t count on it. Some universities will not allow you to submit late papers for any reason. Nearly all have time limits.

I would ask 2 questions:

(1) What’s the grade distribution? If most people get A’s, your university may be accredited but you won’t be taken seriously.

(2) What have the program’s graduates done? Have they remained in their current jobs? Changed careers? Gotten licensed, if applicable? Wish they’d gone somewhere else?

If you can’t get access to alumni, put away your credit card.

More: Back to School for a Mid-Life Career Change

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