Taking a career change in later life

For some people, the thought of a career change at any age fills them with dread and this is can be even more so if you have been in your chosen career for most of your working life but job satisfaction becomes more important as we get older so for some the prospect of having a career change is exciting.

The initial decisions to think about making will be whether you want to stay in a similar field or whether you want a complete change. For instance, if you are a nurse do you want to diversify into a different area of health care, or do you want to retrain to be an accountant or teacher? When thinking about this it is wise to write down the pros and cons of your current career choice so that you can compare more easily with other potential roles. If your job involves lots of desk work do you enjoy the routine of that, or would you prefer to spend more of your day outdoors?

Research will be an important element of your job search in terms of additional training you may need to undertake or qualifications that are either necessary or advisable. Distance learning is a good way of completing any training you may need whilst still working in your current job.

Interview techniques that increase your chances of landing that job

If you have been offered an interview for a job you have applied for you need to give yourself the best possible chance of being successful and with some preparation you can enhance the likelihood of a positive outcome.

Firstly, you need to do some research about the company and the role you are interviewing for. For example, how long has the company been in business for, what are their main products and services and what are the skills they are asking potential employees to hold.

Think carefully beforehand about your CV and how you can discuss the positive elements of this to convey your strengths. The STAR method is a useful strategy to use that is: Situation you had to deal with, Task you were given to do, Action you took and Result what happened as a result of the action you took and what you learned from the experience.

Asking a friend or relative to help you prepare by posing questions you may be required to answer can be invaluable as can practising presentations in front of them.

When it comes to the interview day ensure that you are punctual and smartly dressed as first impressions are vitally important.

Getting to the interview stage when job hunting

When you are looking for a new job there are two distinct issues to consider. Firstly, there is the application form stage and then there is the interview stage. Many people fall down on the first of these stages and never get the opportunity to impress their potential employers at interview. The reason for this may be because their application form leaves something to be desired.

It is advantageous to do some research on the company you are hoping to join to get an idea of their business ethos you can then tailor your application to reflect this.

As you begin to fill in the application form it is essential that all your spelling is correct especially the name of the company and the name of the person who is coordinating the application process. Many application forms are discarded at this early stage because of these simple errors.

Most companies expect applications to be word processed although some are happy to receive neatly handwritten applications and it is worth checking whether there is a preference when requesting an application pack.

Once you have completed the main sections of the form making sure that you are truthful about qualifications and experience, there is often a section about hobbies and interests. Try to think of skills or talents you have that could be useful in the role you are applying for if possible.

A career in publishing

Publishing is a very popular career choice at present and which much of the industry entering the digital development sector of publishing, it is fast moving with the times. Publishers quickly realised that in order to keep up with the current digital market, they needed to follow suit creating ebooks and apps ect. This allows them to still stay in the business by moving with the times and going digital.

Kindle played a huge part in the digital development market and saw many people whom previously did not have much of an interest in reading books, got back into it.

If you are considering a career in publishing, then there are certain skills that employers are looking out for. Companies have broadened out their view of what comprises a good candidate, to include digital literacy, an entrepreneurial mind-set, and an appreciation of changes across other media and throughout society.

Although you may see many publishing job opportunities asking for previous experience, entry into this industry is usually at the bottom, so you should still apply for these types of junior positions. As you progress up the payment ladder, you will often find the wage can be quite good.

Should you stay put in a job you don’t enjoy just for the money?

You may often hear people say that they go to work for money and that it doesn’t matter if they enjoy it as long as they can pay the bills. This is quite a sad situation for many people to be in as there are ways to earn a decent wage and still enjoy your job.

Far too many of us are in jobs that we simply do not enjoy. It may be that we had to accept a job that we didn’t really want due to financial commitments or maybe we were pushed in to a family run business that is not really what you wanted to be doing but felt you had to. Many of us enjoy our job initially but over time job roles and duties can changed or the way the company is run has changed, meaning that you no longer get the job satisfaction you used to.

Not only can staying in a job that you don’t enjoy be bad for your mental and sometimes physical health but it also often means you are less effective and so your employer is not getting the best of you either.

If you find that you are in this position then why not speak to a recruitment agency or the local job centre to see what other positions you would be qualified for or what training  / studies you would need to do to go in to something else.