OPPORTUNITY OF A LIFETIME: WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?
You've got an open sea in front of you. You can swim slowly and steadily and search for a similar job, or you can ride the waves and play it dangerously by taking chances you've always dreamed about.
You can do anything you want. Chances are your kids are grown up and out of the house. Now that's something to celebrate. What better time to try for something that will truly make you happy? So don't even attempt to come to a quick decision. Instead, carefully consider your options.
I NEVER KNEW I HAD SO MANY CHOICES
Start by putting your options down on paper so you can absorb them. Things take on a whole new reality when you see them in writing. The best part is once you start writing, thoughts and ideas will pop into your head that you never considered before.
Following are some paths that 50-plus job searchers have taken.
1. Pick up where you left off.
If you loved your prior job, there is no harm in searching for the same kind of position. If you worked for a large company, for example, consider looking at a similar position in smaller companies that might better appreciate your talents.
2. Change organizations.
If you've worked for profit-making companies all your life, consider pursuing nonprofit or government organizations. Each has its own culture and rules, worlds apart from the typical corporation.
3. Relocate.
After living in one place most of your life, you may be struck with wanderlust and hanker to test a new location. Welcome to the mobile society, in which millions of workers relocate for new opportunities every year. Some cities offer better job opportunities for 50-plus workers. A handful of mid-western cities, for instance, boast practically no unemployment. Better yet, the demand for workers exceeds the supply. Sounds like Utopia. That means job searchers practically call the shots. The unemployment rate in Sioux Falls, SD, is 1.9 percent-the lowest in the nation. But other cities boast equally impressive unemployment rates.
4. Play the field.
Maybe you're restless and bored and need to test the water before settling into a serious job. After all, you've spent most of your career at one or two jobs. After being loyal to a fault, you may want to sample different work settings. It's only natural. By all means, do so by checking out the part-time and temporary markets.
THE NEW CONTINGENT WORK FORCE
A volatile job market has created a new employment category called the contingent worker? A fancy term for part-time, just-in-time, temporary, and self-employed staff. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the contingent work force has grown 57 percent since 1980. That's three times faster than the labor force as a whole. The contingent worker is sort of an educated, better-paid version of the classic migrant worker.
In Silicon Valley, California's high-tech nerve center, many dis placed executives are doing well taking short-term assignments ranging from 6 months to a couple of years. Actually, they're renting themselves out to companies on the way up or on the way out or to start-up and established companies with critical short-term needs. The modern business world's equivalent of hired guns, they're taking their hard-earned talents and selling them to the highest bidder.
Most of these corporate refugees are in their early to mid-fifties. It's no surprise that State of the Art Computing Inc., a San Diego firm created to manage such rented technical managers, is doing a brisk business. If a company has a new product and needs a dynamite product development team to get it off the ground, State of the Art Computing will round up the cream of the crop. The downside is you'll have to contend with a lot of stress, and there are no benefits. But if it's well-paid, brief bursts of excitement you crave, this arrangement could make you very happy. Companies like State of the Art Computing are popping up all over the country.
Nose around and you'll find them.
That's only for starters. When we explore the new world of temping, later on, you'll discover work options that never existed a decade ago.
If none of the above appeals to you, maybe you're revving up for a career change. Career changing became a big trend in the 1980s. Yet in the 1990s sociologists predict career changers' ranks will skyrocket. Once again, we can thank the turbulent corporate battlefield for making it happen, plus the quest for improving the quality of our lives. The search for the meaning of life continues. No wonder an idealistic minority is turning its back on the almighty buck in search of true career satisfaction. One surefire way to achieve this goal is through a career change.
