How to Know When You Should Change Careers Over 50

When that niggle of unhappiness strikes your career, what should you do? No career is perfect, it’s normal to have moments of stress and dissatisfaction. But when the occasional flash of discontent gives way to the persistent feeling that something’s not right, it’s worth considering changing careers.

Realising you’re not entirely happy in your job is pretty terrifying. Particularly in midlife or as an older adult, a career change into a new field, new industry, or a new job might seem like an unnecessary risk.

A new job search is a big challenge: you need to go job hunting – research the job market, browse job searches, write your cover letter, read up on interview tips, go through job interviews, update your LinkedIn profile. You may need upskilling such as through online courses or careers advice to land the right job for you.

But while it’s probably safer to stay where you’re comfortable (even if you know you’re unhappy there), it’s not necessary. You likely have transferable skills to switch into your dream job at any age.

The first step is figuring out if your current career path is suiting you. There are key factors to consider when determining whether your unhappiness and stress needs to be acknowledged and acted on. Are you putting up with any of these red flags?

Burnout

Burnout is the exhaustion that results from long-lasting stress. It can be caused by:

• A workload that’s too heavy. Where there’s more to do than what you can reasonably get done in the amount of time you have.
• Doing too many mundane and unfulfilling tasks rather than using your skill set.
• Being responsible for too many things, and not being able to ask for advice.
• Not being rewarded or acknowledged for your contributions. It can be especially stressful when you’re watching other people getting unfairly rewarded for less-than-spectacular performance.
• Feeling isolated from other people in your workplace.
• Working in a position that’s at odds with your personal values.

Signs of Burnout

Here are some signs that your stress levels have exceeded what’s acceptable, and that your burnout may be bad enough to consider leaving:

• If the working conditions causing you to be burnt out have been ongoing

  (And don’t seem likely to improve). For instance, maybe you’ve tried delegating tasks, or clarifying responsibilities, and have just been met with resistance.

• How things go after you’ve taken a break

  Sometimes all we need is a refreshing few days off. When you come back from your break though, if you find that you’re quickly feeling burned out again after only a few days or weeks, chances are the work environment is a big contributor to your burn out.

• If your employer doesn’t value sustainable work/life balance

  Or healthy work hours.

• If your employer or job doesn’t align with your values

  Sometimes conflicts in values are easy to predict: a vegetarian might not feel comfortable working for a slaughterhouse, for example.

  But sometimes you can only discover your employer’s values over time: Do they respect workers? Are they proactive about receiving and implementing feedback? Are they looking for workers to be honest, or to pretend problems don’t exist?

  As you get to understand the workplace values, you can assess whether they feel healthy to you.

• Consider how bad your burnout is

  If it’s disrupting your life, health, and relationships, you may need to break free.

Poor Work/Life Balance

A good work/life balance allows you to feel energised and focused at work and to enjoy family and leisure time, and get in a good night’s sleep. It’s essential for a healthy life. It’s also essential for a sustainable full-time career: when you have the opportunity to enjoy yourself and rest, you’re more likely to be productive in your job.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development considers working hours in excess of 50 per week as “very long”, which affects about 13% of workers in Australia. The impact is not being able to have enough time to enjoy elements of your life aside from work such as family and other relationships, hobbies, and leisure time. In the long run, it can lead to burn out.

Some people like longer work hours, but if you’re finding that you’re getting less time for things that are important to you, that’s a problem. It’s worth seeing if your current job could allow flexible working arrangements such as working from home, reducing to part-time hours, job sharing, or clarifying work/life boundaries.

If the workplace refuses though, it may be time to explore other career options.

Ageism in the Workplace

Age discrimination is unlawful, but unfortunately, older people encounter it in workplaces in Australia.

The Human Rights Commission study found that stereotypes persist about older people. Generally, organisations assess older workers as less energetic, creative, ambitious, adaptable to change, physically capable, and as having fewer technology skills than younger people.

While older workers were generally seen as having strengths compared to young people too – in qualities such as loyalty, reliability, and the ability to focus effectively and cope with stress – these stereotypes are still confronting in the workplace.

The impact of ageism is feeling disrespected, and underappreciated, which can lead to burnout. It’s also a huge loss to the workplace if they don’t see the value in your experience.

Some signs of ageism in the workplace include:

• Opportunities – like training, promotions, and networking events – being given to younger workers but not older ones.
• If you’re disproportionately given tasks that are relatively mundane and not on par with your current skills and experience.
• Being isolated from other workers, left out of meetings or events, or not being in the loop for company news and activities.
• Being on the receiving end of age-related snarky comments or stereotypes.
• You’ve had a successful career but your progression has stalled.

Fighting this ageism is difficult, but you have rights as a worker. Be confident in your existing knowledge and experience, your capacity to build new skills, and find workplaces that see your value too.

Lack of Fulfilment

According to the Marmot Review, a landmark study into public health, “good work” involves having a sense of autonomy, participating in decision-making, having responsibilities commensurate with your abilities, offers opportunities for career development and promotion, and brings a sense of meaning and belonging.

If your workplace doesn’t fulfill these fundamental needs, you’re at increased risk of anxiety and depression, and stress-related illnesses.

Everybody has times at work where they feel like they aren’t getting anything important done. But here are some signs that your lack of fulfillment is more than just a few bad days, and it might be time for new challenges:

• Months are passing by and each day feels the same.
• Your work feels persistently joyless or boring.
• You aren’t connecting with your colleagues or the people your organisation is meant to serve.
• You completely know how to do your role and there’s no pathway for future promotions or development.
• You don’t feel like an active participant in your workplace – you’re just told what to do and aren’t trusted to use your judgement or initiative.
• You don’t feel what you do has any purpose.