Everyone we know who has put real effort into a career transition has come back to report they feel proud and fulfilled. They have all felt better off than before the change, even if they earn less money in their new career. Yet the journey through gave them a new appreciation for and understanding of work and the workplace. They have been through the grass-is-greener delusion and now understand every job has its pluses and minuses.
Once you have journeyed through your, you will have a new appreciation for those people, near and dear, who helped you cope. Your life will be full and rewarding. What you once viewed as a sunset will now be seen as a sunrise. This new optimism will be the engine that drives you to success in your mid-career change.
By definition, as a mid-career changer you are looking for choices. How can you make an intelligent choice if you know nothing about the other options? There are two important factors that ever career changer has to think of:
- Insurance and Retirement Benefits
- Child Care.
Government. Federal, state, and most local governments participate in retirement programs that are coordinated with Social Security. The federal government is no longer outside the Social Security system. One of the major reasons for this change was to infuse more money into the system. Most retirement programs for public employees are excellent. The programs vary from offering early retirement options after twenty years at 50 percent of your last year's pay, to retirement at sixty-five with 50 percent or more of the average of your last five years' pay.
Medical insurance for public employees ranges from adequate to excellent. Usually, the larger the employer, the better the coverage. Most of the time there is a choice of insurers and programs so that each employee has some say in how much he pays for insurance. Dental and eye care coverage are common.
Private Sector. Very few companies offer retirement pro-grams equal to those offered during the 1960s by companies such as Sears, Roebuck and Company. Years ago Sears offered a matching-funds program of one dollar for every one dollar an employee put away into his retirement program.
Today, 401 (k) plans may offer some small matching funds, but we could not find a single company that matched the old Sears program. The spree of mergers and buyouts in the late seventies and in the eighties greatly affected retirement pro-grams. Many buyouts were initiated simply for the pool of cash sitting in employee retirement funds.
Medical insurance plans vary greatly from company to company. Some companies have little coverage with high deductibles, and others will include everything. The amount contributed by the employee also will vary. Do not assume anything when interviewing. The cost of medical insurance has become so great for employers that they are looking for ways to control or reduce it. You may find that you will have reduced initial coverage when you change jobs or careers. Before you accept a job, talk to the human resources person if necessary, and get a clear understanding of just what is covered by the medical plan and what you are expected to contribute toward it.
Child Care
Government. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women are now 44 percent of the work force. This, plus the fact that in 70 percent of all households both adults work, means child care has become a major concern for both employee and employer. Child care problems account for up to eight missed workdays per year for the responsible adult. Child care is ranked as the second most-wanted employee benefit, and many government employers have evolved effective solutions.
Child care varies from one agency to another in the federal government. Some agencies offer nothing, and some offer exceptional care facilities within the same building as the working parent. One of our interview respondents commented that she felt her agency's child care facility had an excellent staff. But what she appreciates most is the fact that the facility keeps the same working hours she does. She has friends working in the private sector who are not as fortunate. They have problems with their child care providers when they have to work late or come in early.
Though large typing pools are a thing of the past in government offices, it is mostly women who run the computers. A plurality of government employees are working women with children. As a result, government employers are aware of the problems of the working mother. If they do not offer a child care facility, they at least understand of the added burden created by being a working mother.
Private Sector. Private business is beginning to recognize the need to reduce the stress caused by child care problems. Child care is not just a women's issue. If child care is an important part of your mid-career change, do not hesitate to ask any prospective employer about the company program. Today it will not be a poor reflection upon you, nor should it cause an employer to wonder if you are going to be a problem employee. Instead, the employer should be aware of the need and should be answering it.
