Changing Careers - the New Midlife Crisis Option?

Brandy Hughes, 53, worked as a tax consultant in Durham until last year, but is working hard for her certification to become a math teacher in high school in Virginia.

Mary Lowell, 49, was senior buying manager for the teens section at a department store chain in Austin, but now mans the phones at a helpline for women.

Michelle Eikenberry, 42, used to work an injection molding machine at an auto parts plant in Illinois, and she made enough too. But here she is in her last year at nursing school today; she hopes to graduate next year to become a trained ER nurse.

Changing careers doesn't come easily to most people; when you start afresh, you usually start at the bottom. The respect your skills brought you before, may not be a possibility anymore. Sometimes, your successful old job may not exactly give you anything to complain about, but as a citizen of the new millennium, you feel real job satisfaction lies in another calling. For whatever reason, going for the other side, the greener side, has become quite fashionable today, and we could look at how people fare when they take a bow, and begin on their second acts once they hit middle age.

Brandy really did get enough at her job; even if there was respect, and there was the pay. But she felt that the feeling of giving back to the community, being a teacher, would be a way to share what she had learned being a tough numbers expert at her old job. Working at the plant wasn't exactly anything to complain about for Michelle either. But being able to go hands-on, helping those in need as a nurse, was her draw, even if to make as a nurse what she made at the auto parts plant, she would need to run herself into the ground. People who take second careers, often wonder if this is their way of acting out their midlife crisis in today's world. After seeing a reasonable amount of success in their tough-as-nails starter careers, they usually think of work in NGO'S, in schools, or in groups that help the environment as good alternatives; changing careers in this way is usually not out of necessity, though that happens too; it is to answer a higher call.

But sometimes, it isn't anything as abstract as a more "fulfilling" career at all; it is something right down to earth like the tough economy, or age discrimination working in an organization, or limited career advancement prospects; this is what gets people started on thinking about it all. Whatever your needs, how do you get started on something like this? You could begin, by looking up information in the library or on the Internet on the career path that interests you; better still, you could find people to talk to who work in those areas. There are websites that help people who are thinking of changing careers midway. Try Encore.org; they'll advise you where you need to get started, what new skills you need to learn, and what you can look forward to.

Changing careers usually begins in great personal stress, and anxiety about the future for most people. But if they face the challenge head-on, there is usually great personal fulfillment waiting for them at the end.