Avoid a Mid Life Career Crisis

Midlife career crises are more and more common in our fast-paced world. Such crises may manifest in the loss of a job, being passed over for promotion, or in simple dissatisfaction with a career. A Midlife career crisis can not only cause problems in your work life, but in your home life, too. Fortunately, with a little work, you don’t have to have a midlife career crisis. By taking steps to make sure you’re fulfilled in your job, by building connections, and preparing yourself for the future, you’ll make sure to avoid a midlife career crisis.

Steps

Figuring Out If You Are Headed for Crisis

1. Ask yourself whether your career allows you to have an appropriate work/life balance. If your work life, family life, and social life are not balanced, you’ll likely wind up in a career crisis. In order to avoid this, ask yourself several questions:
   • Do you find yourself regularly sacrificing family time for work time? If so, you should question your career.
   • Does your work hurt your social life (and will it forever — not just because of a temporary situation)? If so, you should question your career.
   • Are there elements of your work or the organization you work for that contradict your values or priorities? If so, consider another organization.
2. Reflect on whether your career provides enough compensation and satisfaction. You may find yourself on the road to a career crisis if your work does not provide enough compensation or personal satisfaction. Ultimately, it will be very difficult to be happy if you don't feel rewarded — monetarily or personally. In order to gauge your satisfaction, ask yourself:
   • Will your career provide better (or adequate) compensation in the future? If not, consider another career.
   • Are you intellectually or personally fulfilled at work? Do you feel like finishing a project or completing day-to-day tasks makes you feel satisfied? If not, consider another career.
   • Do you feel overworked or burnt out on a daily basis? If so, chances are you're not fulfilled or satisfied. Perhaps you should look for another line of work.
3. Find a career that you love. The best way to avoiding a midlife career crisis is making sure you have a job that fulfills you. Without a career or job that makes you happy, you’ll eventually wind up in some sort of career crisis. When looking for a career you love:
   • Make sure you’re interested in a particular line of work. If you’re not interested in the nuts and bolts of a career, you won’t be fulfilled.
   • Make sure you enjoy performing whatever role you perform. While you may be interested in a given job, you might not actually enjoy doing the job. Consider this when finding a career you love.
   • Make sure you like the culture of the company or organization you’ll work at. If you don’t like the culture of a given organization, you may wind up hating a particular job — even if you love doing it.
4. Meet with a career counselor or coach. A few meetings with a career counselor or coach can help you determine if you're in the right line of work and if you need to make some changes when it comes to your job. Be honest and open with your counselor about your struggles and how you feel about your career so they can help you determine your next steps.
   • A career counselor or coach can administer tests and assessments that may help determine your personality type and work that best suits you. Tests like the Holland Code Assessment or the Strong Interest Inventory can help you identify a career that fits your strengths, abilities, an interests.
   • You may find you know what you need to do, but you just need a little help building up the courage to make a big change. Your counselor can support and encourage you to move forward.
5. Be realistic. Another important thing to remember when avoiding a midlife career crisis is also setting realistic expectations. For a lot of people, career crises develop out of either unhappiness or unrealistic expectations. This is especially true if you think you’re underpaid, overworked, or deserve a promotion. Always remember:
   • Set appropriate expectations in terms of pay. If you love your career, your compensation expectations should be based on what other people in a similar job are making at the same time. If you’re paid well relative to your peers, you’re doing well.
   • Have realistic expectation of the amount of time you’ll have to work. Some jobs, like those in the law or medical professions, may demand more than forty hours a week. Depending on the job, you may have to work sixty or more hours.
   • Don’t expect promotions when they’re uncalled for. Chances are, when you have the experience and skill set, you’ll be considered for promotion.
6. Change your career if you are unfulfilled. Sometimes midlife career crises develop because people are unhappy or unfulfilled in their job or career path. If you’re unfulfilled, consider changing your career; however, remember:
   • Consider whether it's your job that you hate or if it is your workplace or coworkers. Sometimes an organization can have a toxic culture. Make sure to make the right change before making any change. If the organizational culture is a problem, look for a new job. If the job is the problem, think about switching careers. In addition, if the organization is the problem, you may just want to put more effort into making friends.
   • Make sure to plan a career change appropriately. Line up a new job before you quit your old one.
   • Use personality, interest, and career assessments as tools to understand

Avoiding Crisis By Making Human Connections

1. Cultivate healthy relationships with your coworkers. You should spend time building good relationships with the people you work with. By cultivating healthy relationships, you’ll not only make friends, but also gain potential allies who might help you enhance your career. In addition, you’ll take steps to make your work more enjoyable.
   • Join in organizational functions. By being a part of organizational functions, you’ll have a good time, cultivate relationships, and make a few friends who might offer you support during rough times. For example, try to attend the company holiday party, if you can.
   • Spend a little time expressing pleasantries with your coworkers. Make sure to smile at coworkers, ask them how they’re doing, and wish them the best on projects, in their personal lives, or more. For example, when greeting a co-worker on a Monday morning, say “Hi Tom, hope you had a great weekend with the family!”
   • Avoid arguing with or insulting any coworkers. Instead of insulting a coworker or snapping at them, offer constructive criticism. For example, if you need to let a coworker know that you have a problem with their work, you should say something like “I noticed you had a problem with Project X. If you want, we can work on that together. I have some good ideas you may find useful.
2. Network in your field. By networking in your field, you’ll meet a lot of people who may act as important resources in your career. You’ll also be able to gain new information that will enhance your ability to perform your job. In the end, you’ll become more vested in your career.
   • Attend conferences relevant to your field or job.
   • Join social networking sites like LinkedIn.
   • Participate in continuing education classes, depending on your field. You may meet people who will be helpful.
3. Find a mentor. A great way to avoid a midlife career crisis is to find a mentor. A mentor will provide valuable information about your career, career path, and other related information. Ultimately, a mentor will help you form appropriate expectations and prepare you for a successful career.
   • Pick a mentor who is in the same career as you. If you’re an accountant, find a mentor who is also an accountant.
   • Find a mentor who has a lot of experience, preferably a decade or two.
   • Locate a mentor in your organization, if possible.
   • Choose someone you like talking to and being around. In order for a mentor-mentee relationship to be an effective, both people need to be able to communicate properly.

Preparing Yourself for the Unexpected

1. Act deliberately and with thought. By acting with thought, you’ll avoid any rash or emotional decisions. Such decisions can not only hurt your career, but poison relationships you’ve worked to build over a long period of time.
   • Think before you speak.
   • Never email or call customers, coworkers, or management when you are angry.
   • Take time before you make any big career decisions. For example, if you receive a new job offer or even a promotion at work, take at least a night to think over your decision.
2. Plan for the future. A great way to prepare yourself for the future and ensure a healthy career life is to plan for the future. By planning for the future, you’ll put your expectations, goals, and career life in perspective.
   • Think where you want to be in one, three, five, and 10 years.
   • Decide if you want to move into management at some point.
   • Figure out what you need to do to execute your plan. For example, if you need a MBA to move into a management position at your organization, plan to complete an MBA in a given amount of time.
3. Embrace opportunity. Make sure to always be on the lookout for opportunity and to embrace it whenever you can. If you don’t embrace opportunity, chances are your career will stagnate and you’ll find yourself unfulfilled.
   • Always be on the lookout for ways to advance your career. While this doesn’t mean that you should be on a constant job search, you should periodically look out for new opportunities.
   • View new challenges on a daily basis as a way of proving yourself or honing your skills.
   • Be active on message boards or websites that are related to your career. Investigate any new information that could improve the way you work. In addition, be on the lookout for job positions that could be better than your current one.

References

See also

• Leave a Job You've Outgrown
• Downsize Your Own Job
• Get Out of Job Jail
• Get Your Last Paycheck and Team Hot Check After Transferring
• Retain Your Job in Crisis
• Recover From Unemployment
• Give Up Your Job and Feel Good
• Work Beyond 65
• Handle Anxiety About a Promotion
• Tell If Your Career is Stalled

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