Career priorities shift depending on age, life stage and BIG events.
Priorities change in your 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. In the early years finding your niche, money, status, challenge and experimentation are important. In the later years, making a difference, doing something more purposeful, leaving a legacy or finding yourself once more could be your objective. Add in life stage transitions such as marriage, having kids, retirement, children leaving home and BIG events such as illness, divorce, a relative’s death or COVID-19 then you can see how your priorities might pivot over time.
2020 has been a huge year for change and pivoting of priorities. (Forced) remote working has become the norm, this has huge implications for how and where you work and also the employers you can work for. It’s time to explore the employment landscape.
Hitting fifty – and all the physical and emotional changes that go with it – is a time to completely take stock and decide how you want to work and live going forwards because “powering through as usual” is not an option anymore.
We want to get back into our career, but we don’t want to spend 40 or 50 hours a week doing it. We have other priorities such as self-care, volunteering, families, travel, sport, caring responsibilities or setting up a new business.
Q. There is only one of me, how can you fit it all in?
A. Flexible working
Women over 50 are the fastest growing sector of the UK workforce and there are over 4m of us. Employers want to engage this group. At fifty, we have wisdom and experience. We have strengths and talents and whether we have remained in a career or not, we have many transferable skills which are valued and rewarded in the workplace.
Your strengths and transferable skills are unique to you. No one has your exact mix of talents or your personality, no one has your story or ever will, you are one of a kind.
Sometimes you need others to help you see and evidence your strengths. You can do this by asking ex-colleagues, friends and partners where they have seen you make a real difference and your best work. They can give you language to articulate how you have added value and made a difference.
If you are a parent, you will have built the following transferable skills; CEO of the household, expert in negotiation and conflict management, managing relationships, communicating to young people, project management, social media, event organiser, great communicator, multi-tasker, creative genius, networker extraordinaire and many more.
In terms of landing a flexible role, you need to be very clear what you want in the first instance.
What does success look like to you?
What hours or schedule would you prefer to work?
What is your preferred role and where can you add real value?
Approach clients directly and contact your network and tell them you are pivoting on your career and would like some advice, let them know you are available, perhaps arrange to have a coffee and get them to look at your CV or LinkedIn profile to see if it hits the mark.
Do work on your terms. Life is too short and you are in the Second Act now #itsyourturnnow
If you are looking for your next flexible working opportunity and need some help to navigate the employment landscape, call Sarah on 0333 123 05 10 or email sarahtaylor@careervoyage.co.uk
Sarah started her career in fmcg marketing working as a brand manager on Clover and as an interim manager on Clover (twice) and Quorn. She founded a start-up interim management company in Gloucestershire and that business changed the percentage of women and diverse talent in senior marketing and HR roles. Sarah specialises in attracting, onboarding, developing, engaging and retaining diverse talent into forward thinking businesses to improve productivity, performance and profit. Flexible working and wellbeing play a large part. Since covid-19 wreaked havoc on the job landscape, Sarah has a created an innovative programme to get senior experienced professionals back into work or fine-tune their current role so that it makes happy.