Baby Boomers – 5 Chief Principles To Ensure A Successful Mid-Life Career Change

Increasingly, people are being forced to change careers due to business closures and layoffs resulting from the economic downturn. Those few who have been proactive will have anticipated the challenges and obstacles associated with a mid-life change and stand a good chance of succeeding in this endeavor. For those of us who were bounced into it, the obstacles can be numerous and formidable. Age and knowledge are very often the biggest barriers to success, but the other side of the coin says that we are at the peak of our powers in our forties. This is a prime time to take control of the direction we want our career to take. If you apply these five chief principles to ensure a successful mid-life career change, you should be able to make very rewarding career moves.

Vision Statement

Your reasons for changing careers in mid-life must be compelling, and you will have a picture in your mind of what you want the outcome to be. If you want to change your reality from the one you have right now, you need a clear picture in your mind written on paper of what you want that reality to be. Your vision must come before your strategy. Put your vision in place, and your strategy will fall into place.

Financial Plan

Putting together a financial plan may not get your entrepreneurial juices flowing. If you are going to change careers, your flow of cash is likely to change, but your expenses may very well stay the same. You need to be very detailed in your preparation, making allowance for every possible demand on your cash. This will give you a good picture of where your money is coming from and where it is going to be while enabling you to plan to have enough at all times and not run short.

Presentation

By the time you reach this stage, you will want to be inspired so that your enthusiasm becomes infectious and carries the day. It is important to document your history and experience thoroughly, but your vision and passion for your project must come across, and it must be infectious and irresistible. Your presentation must be benefit-laden and put the spotlight on how your client or prospect will be better off as a result.

Communicate Strategically

Your enthusiasm for your career move will have got you thinking about who you’ll need to collaborate with, whose participation will be required, and how you plan to reach them. Will you use trade associations, business networks, or conventional digital marketing?

Take the Plunge

Commit to taking the plunge whether you set a date for handing in your resignation or a date by which you will be in your new place of work. Have a reward system for reaching milestones and letting others know how you are getting on. Keep your professional network informed of your progress.

Andrew G. Boyd is an article writer and affiliate of the Internet Marketing Mentoring and Coaching Centre (iMMACC) and works from home.