Pedagogy

Career Menopause…”Too Old to Rock’n Roll, Too Young to die!!!”

too_old

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwn0R1PFUwU

HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
CAREER PLANNING
Coping with “Career Menopause”
-by Bronwyn Fryer
OCTOBER 28, 2009

“Night sweats. Heart palpitations. Crying jags. Mood swings. I’m a 55-year old woman, well and gratefully past that hormonal “change of life.” So what the heck was this thing?

My brilliant (and younger) colleague Julia Kirby took me out for a glass of wine and patted my arm. “Don’t worry,” she told me sympathetically. “It’s career menopause.” Count on Julia to consistently deliver le mot juste.

I’ve always loved my job, but for ages I’ve been feeling something else — call it a longing for greater self-fulfillment — tugging at me. Relatives and friends have had brushes with death, or have died. I, too, have felt the shadow of my own mortality. I’ve been aching to write The Great American Novel, or volunteer for the Peace Corps, or sing in my own band, or do some other as-yet-undefined-thing — before it’s too late.

I’ve spent sleepless nights wondering whether I could possibly afford to make a career change — an especially crazy idea in a down economy.

Those of us in Jethro Tull’s “Too Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die” cohort are caught in a bind. We’re working at full-tilt because we have dependents and financial obligations — we can’t afford to retire early. At the same time, we’re getting tired and thinking of downsizing. We are proud of our well-honed experience and skills, but we’re also yearning to polish long-neglected aptitudes or build new ones. Many of us are frustrated and restless.

I called Marc Freedman, who runs a think tank called Civic Ventures. His organization studies issues affecting boomers who are undergoing psychic, generational, physical and economic transitions.

“An enormous number of people your age are hitting the career wall,” Marc told me. “You’ve been working very hard for a long time. The ‘pause’ in the term ‘career menopause’ catches it exactly. It feels awkward, uncomfortable, personal, and lonely. But you’re not alone at all.” Marc observed that at my stage of life there is no clearly-defined path, as there is for my college-bound daughter. “You are in a do-it-yourself situation.”

According to a survey by Civic Ventures:

  • A majority of Americans in the 40-70 age bracket want work with more meaning (i.e., work that contributes directly to society such as teaching, healthcare, government or nonprofit work).
  • 2/3 of those interested in what Freeman calls “encore careers” want to use their skills and experience to help others.
  • Those most interested in ‘encore careers’ are trailing-edge boomers – ages 44-50.
  • And get this: 84% of those who found jobs in education, healthcare, government and nonprofit work say they get a huge amount of satisfaction in their jobs.

So what are we all make of this? If we want to “retire retirement,” what other options do we have?

I finally hit on a solution that works for me. I’ve changed jobs — I’m no longer a senior HBR editor but a “contributing” editor. I love the title. (Hey — I’m contributing!) In my new role I’m off the payroll but working on freelance projects for my company. I’m also diving into new undertakings — volunteering in a hospice, songwriting, and catching up on the part of me that’s been ignored for a very long while.”