How to Start Your Second Career
In today’s healthy economy, jobs are available – even if you’ve been out of the game for years
By: Kimberly Palmer
WITH A HUSBAND whose career as a construction executive required regular cross-country moves, Kathy Blyze couldn’t stay in one job for long. She was also busy raising her daughters, who have since flown the coop. Now that she’s in her late 50s, she says, “it’s Mama’s turn.”
After months of networking and research, Blyze, who lives in Indianapolis, landed her current job as executive administrator for a human resources advisory firm—a position that matches her nurturing personality and organizational skills. “I’m the swizzle stick of the martini around this place,” she adds.
Blyze is part of the wave of workers who return to the workforce each year after an extended absence, often triggered by caregiving responsibilities, health issues or an unexpected job loss. Not that returning to work is easy. “When you’ve completely changed your focus for so many years, I think your brain gets rewired,” says Marc Miller, a career coach to boomers. “That’s not necessarily bad, but it’s difficult to go back.” These five strategies can help smooth the path.
1. Network with former employees, especially younger ones. Since former subordinates have often risen through the ranks in your absence, they’re likely to be in positions now where they can make or are privy to hiring decisions. That was the case for Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO of iRelaunch, which helps people return to work. A junior analyst at Cohen’s former investment bank had become a senior manager at another firm and helped Cohen find a new position in 2001, after she had been out of the workforce for about 11 years. (She left that job after a year and cofounded iRelaunch in 2007.) “Often the junior person is happy to have a former boss on the team,” Cohen says.
2. Get support, both formal and informal. In addition to turning to career coaches, alumni networks and the formal reentry programs offered by some companies and colleges, look for support from people on a similar journey, which can make the process less lonely. Another option: “Find an organization where you can volunteer so you’re meeting people and getting out,” says Donna Satterthwaite, director of employment services at Senior Service America, which helps older adults reenter the workforce.
3. Brush up on skills. Earning certifications through a local college as well as watching YouTube videos on the latest in office tech can make it easier to adapt to today’s workplace culture. “You can do a lot of it for free with online tutorials,” says Caroline Dowd-Higgins, a career coach and the author of This Is Not the Career I Ordered.
4. Get on board with the new cultural norms. “We use emails a lot more for carrying on [work-related] conversations or analyzing issues,” says Cynthia Wells, 56, an associate in the New York office of the law firm Sidley Austin. That makes the office quieter than 25 years ago, when she last worked fulltime as a lawyer. She took time off to raise her six children, returning to work when the youngest was 12.
5. Take on a short-term assignment. Cohen is a big advocate of internships for returnees, since this lets employers take a low-risk chance on someone. She also encourages job applicants to suggest a paid short-term assignment if their potential employer seems hesitant about their career break. Wells notes that while her return to work was challenging for her family, her husband stepped up to handle more parenting duties and she loves her new responsibilities: “In many ways, you feel like you’re young again. It’s so invigorating and thrilling to be learning new things.”
This article originally appeared in the June/July issue of AARP The Magazine.