One of my long time friends posted this on his Facebook, “Sitting here watching TED talks about creativity and education and wondering at what point in my life I went from being a truly creative person to just being a good test taker and hoop-jump-through-er.”
He’s in his mid-40s and actually works in a creative field, but he’s run into the bureaucracy that tends to squash creativity. Like many of us, he thinks about changing something, but is it too late to change careers?
The answer is maybe.
For some people, it’s too late to change careers after you’re 22. Others? They can change careers up until death.
Here’s what you need to know about career changes.
To keep reading, click here: Old Dog, New Tricks: Is It Too Late for a Career Change?
Thirty years heading HR at two successful Silicon Valley biopharmas, I did lots of career-change counseling, and never tried to keep anybody at the company when it was clearly against their best interests. I came up with a one-barrier / two-barrier model. If you want someone to give you a chance for different work, go to someone in your company who knows your work, and manages a different department. That person only has to decide that you can learn their content–they’re already convinced of your work ethic, problem-solving, etc. If you want to change jobs and companies at the same time, that’s a two-barrier problem. The person interviewing you has to decide that you can 1) learn new job content, 2) learn their company and systems, and 3) do that better than all the other applicants, including those with directly applicable experience. It’s a tough sell, not the way to bet unless some special facts apply.
If you change careers from Sector A to Sector B after age 30 or 35, expect age discrimination while in Sector B.
You’re competing with prettier, younger people. They are often looking for someone with the experience of a 35 year old at the pay scale of a 20 year old.. and you are just starting in the new field.
The idea of transferable skills does not exist in the minds of HR bots and ATS systems. It’s all about keywords, and exact job titles with exactly the amount of experience cooked up in the dreamy wish list.. I mean,, job description.