By Jose Geraldine Garlit
Data and Analytics Head
Information Technology
Is 50 Too Old For
A Career Shift?
At 50 years old, you would have had at least three decades worth of work experience, and at least two decades worth of skills under your belt. And while 50 spells “mid-life”, it does not follow that your brain would have to stop learning new things, or that it is too late for change.
You might be happy with where you are now in your career, and it’s a good thing to rest on our laurels and celebrate your wins. But for a few, there’s an itch that needs to be scratched, a leaning towards change, a desire to make a positive difference that truly matters.
Is there a dream you've been putting off because life happened? In the busyness of work, it’s easy to let circumstances dictate your journey rather than the other way around. Believe that there is still time to learn new things and create opportunities that will bring us fulfillment. We become complacent in our comfort zone, and we fail to recognize that the magic zone is beyond our comfort.
But sitting it out in the corner of our office will not get us any closer to our dreams -- unless we put some muscle behind it.
Shifting careers in your 50s – this phrase alone triggers worry, self-doubt, and the fear of failure for many. But shifting careers in your 50s is more common and doable than you think.
When shifting careers:
Choose something that aligns with your area of giftedness.
Recognize your own strengths as well as your flaw-someness and work on improving them. Knowing what talents or skills you have will help you narrow down your options. For example, we augmented our Projects Eye and CrystalSkywith a Power BI Developer who is a graduate of BS Biology. Who would have thought that?
Prepare to tackle new challenges.
Just as with your first job, acquiring experience requires facing difficulties such as learning SQL, which might stump you especially when you hit Run and then get a syntax error after hours of putting together that script. But don’t give up too easily!
Make the most of every learning opportunity.
Be a self-starter when it comes to learning. With the world so connected as it is, make it a point to grow your network, put your learnings into practice, and dig for resources. Just be aware and careful of data pollution.
Learn to fail forward.
Your dreams are worth it and the time to work for your dreams is now. Regardless of your age, be a learner and keep moving forward.