Career changes after 50

I’ve started to realize that changing careers at this point is almost a non-starter. At least not changing careers to something vastly different than what I’m doing now. Any career changes will be comparatively minor changes in direction, as opposed to the huge shifts I made when I was in my 20s, 30s and even 40s.

Thinking back to my last “huge shift”–from the music business to health care–back when I was in my late 30s–I was able to leverage a certain amount of life experience, but for the most part, that change was huge, because it was comprised of a huge change in “content”. I had to learn a whole new language–medical-ese, if you will. Learning another language at 57? Probably, not as likely to be effective.

So, as I’m considering career changes now, I need to capitalize on the language skills I currently possess, perhaps using them in new ways. Maybe time to take another look at sales? We’ll see.

As we head on into 2012, I’m quite sure the future holds more change. I pray I have the maturity and good judgement to make the best of it all. And, Happy New Year to all of my friends and family.