Are you no longer satisfied with your current professional situation? Do you aspire to new responsibilities, a new air, a new job...? Isn't the idea of retraining at age 50 illusory and pointless? Of course not ! As a fifty-year-old, you still have ten years of work ahead of you (at least). So, to no longer suffer from your career and flourish in your professional life, the idea of changing paths and retraining seems to be more than ever the way to go. jobs_that_makesense guides you through a professional retraining at 50 step by step.
The 6 reasons that lead you to consider a professional retraining at 50
A meaningless job
Between the beginning of your career and today, there have been titanic changes, whether in the world of work or in your private life.
What made you want to surpass yourself in your professional activity at the time is probably no longer a sufficient source of motivation today.
Now in your fifties, you feel the need to make yourself useful, to carry out missions with genuine interest. No more spending days behind a desk to achieve uninteresting goals. Nor to mechanically fill in Excel tables and administrative files of all kinds. Before this weariness turns into discomfort or burnout, you think it's time to completely change your career.
So you are looking for a job that makesense and fits with your values, even if it means making a 180° professional change. This is good, because like you, many people want to go into professions focused on the social, the environment and solidarity.
The desire to break away from the daily grind
In women, as in men, there are periods of our lives when we feel the need to evolve, to break the routine, to change our lives.
Turning 50 can be a perfect time to see your professional life in a new light. The opportunity to embark on a possible conversion to a new profession or a new sector of activity.
The desire for change to use your skills and experience differently
You have been working in the business world for 20 to 30 years now. Whatever your job and your field, during all these years you have had to develop a lot of knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills. It is even possible that you have a high level of competence in several sectors.
Thanks to a professional reorientation, you hope to be able to enhance your experience within a company or an organization that will know how to recognize you at your fair value. And you will pay him back.
Working to change the world and society doesn't sound like an uninteresting midlife crisis!
Personal and professional maturity
Over the years, you have acquired a maturity that you did not have at the start of your career. You are therefore in a better position to know which professional environment suits you. If it's time to attempt a professional size change.
In addition, if for a long time the profiles of fifty-year-olds were shunned by recruiters, more and more companies are realizing the interest of having mature and experienced people within their team.
Rhythm
After the fifties, we no longer always have the energy or the health to maintain a frantic pace. If we are not yet classified in the senior category, we can still hope to enjoy a fulfilling job that allows us to find a more pleasant professional/personal life balance.
Retraining professionally at fifty or more can thus be an opportunity to review your priorities. This in order to reorient oneself towards a position with more suitable hours or professional mobility.
Financial stability
As we have discussed previously, around the age of fifty our life is rather well established. One can therefore have the chance to enjoy financial stability after having finished repaying large loans. Or simply no longer have dependent children and for whom to finance expensive studies.
Without these multiple financial constraints, it is often easier to allow yourself a few freedoms to better develop professionally. You are therefore thinking of professional retraining to evolve in the profession or sector that you are passionate about.
I'm taking the leap: Successful professional retraining in 7 steps
Do some introspection and list your priorities
Two important facts to keep in mind if you are considering quitting your job to embark on a career change:
- Major professional changes cannot be improvised.
- No big decision should be made on a whim.
If you do not follow these 2 basic principles, the risk of failing can be significant.
So, to put the odds on your side and see your project succeed, it is important to reflect and ask yourself the right questions:
- Why do you want to change careers?
- Which sector do you want to go to?
- Is this a growing field?
- Would you be fit to start now or would you need some training?
Once the main lines have been laid out, you can list what you think will be a priority in your future professional life (responsibilities, usefulness, skill development, freedom, etc.), but also the prohibitive factors. On another page, write down the activities and missions that you like to do and for which you have great know-how.
You can start with this little game to understand what issues really excites you.
Carry out a skills assessment
In addition to the work of introspection, it is often recommended that people considering a professional retraining at the age of 50 take a skills assessment. This will help you define your new professional project more precisely.
jobs_that_makesense also offers a selection of skills assessments to help you to take stock.
👉 We invite you to discover Primaveras, an accelarated skills assessment specialy designed for executives, managers and directors
Receive training
Training is often necessary in cases of professional retraining towards jobs with a positive impact. Depending on the path you want to follow, you will certainly need to expand certain knowledge and acquire new ones.
This can be a VAE (Validation of Acquired Experience), or training and qualifications available on your Personal Training Account.
We also suggest that people in your situation take a tour of the training available to start this new stage of your professional life with as many advantages as possible.
It can be:
- Training allowing to develop soft skills who are highly sought after in the impact professions. Including non-violent communication, mobilization, facilitation...
- Generalist training to acquire a solid foundation in order to carry out an activity related to the ecological and social transition and above all to better understand the challenges of this field
- Specific training focused on key transition professions such as becoming a farmer, opening a third place, devoting oneself to the energy renovation of buildings, etc.
Identify your strengths and know how to highlight them
After this possible training, you will have new tricks up your sleeve. It is then up to you to identify all of your strengths in view of your applications.
You necessarily have good arguments to defend the quality of your profile. And this, even if your age makes you doubt your professional qualities in the face of younger candidates.
So start by redoing your CV. Then, practice in anticipation of the interviews, because this is when you will have to give everything to convince the recruiter. He will surely ask you to present the reasons for your professional retraining.
Analyze job opportunities
Thanks to a lot of personal work, you have a clearer and more precise vision of your professional retraining. The idea now is to take a closer look at the job market you are interested in to see if your project is feasible.
Often we do not know enough about the realities of the professional world. Taking a close interest in it allows you to clearly broaden your horizons. In the field of impact jobs, for example, we imagine that we are dealing with a very limited sector while it harbors an infinity of possibilities.
Do not hesitate to satisfy your curiosity and consult the latest job offers published on jobs_that_makesense. You can even create alerts so you don't miss any opportunities!
Opt for a real-life test
So as not to launch yourself into a whole new field blindly, today it is possible to carry out tests in companies to discover the reality on the ground. Like a discovery internship, this short period of immersion allows you to confirm or invalidate your choice of retraining by getting an idea of the job as close as possible to reality.
Use your network
Have you thought about your professional or personal network to help you in your professional retraining project? There is nothing better than reconnecting with former colleagues or classmates to gain access to professional opportunities even before the job offers are posted.
The 4 brakes facing a professional retraining in the fifties
Financial risk
If you hold a position with comfortable remuneration, it is quite conceivable to take the financial factor into account before embarking on a professional retraining.
It is not always possible to take the plunge when you risk jeopardizing your personal life. Whether at the moment t to pay his bills, or in the more or less near future, concerning the calculation of the amount of his retirement pension.
However, it should be borne in mind that jobs in the social and solidarity economy (SSE) do not necessarily rhyme with precariousness. The same applies to a reorientation with a permanent position in a committed SME. According to a recent APEC study, the wage gap between the traditional economy and the SSE for equivalent skills does not exceed 10%.
The fear of the Unknown
For many, the unknown and the new represent a danger that is difficult to overcome.
Embarking on a professional retraining at fifty can, on the contrary, be a wonderful opportunity to change paths and flourish again in one's missions.
And then as Oscar Wilde said so well, "Better to have remorse than regret".
The fear of failure
The fear of failure can invade us, regardless of our age. If you have thought about your next professional project and all the signs are green, do not let your fears take control of your life. Try your luck in a professional adventure more suited to your values and your current needs.
The lack of trust
It can be difficult to put yourself in the shoes of a job seeker after a smooth career. The impostor syndrome can quickly set in and make you lose confidence in yourself in the face of young recruits who you consider more in their place in the current world of work.
Do not let yourself be sucked into the spiral of doubt and think, on the contrary, of all that you can bring thanks to the solidity of your skills and the reliability of your profile. Because yes, recruiting a 50-year-old experienced person brings its share of advantages for a company.
Thanks to all these elements, the jobs_that_makesense team hopes that you now have all the material you need to best advance your professional project! And remember that age is just a number! It doesn't define you.
For further
You don't know where you are? 👉 Discover the 16 steps to a successful professional retraining
Are you looking for a meaningful job? 👉 Discover the latest positive impact jobs
Want to train? 👉 Discover the programs to develop your impact skills
Frequently asked questions
👉 How to finance your professionnal retraining ?
👉 How to do a professional retraining when you are on a permanent contract?
👉 How to make a professional retraining in the environment?