In an attempt to soften the blow, you’ve changed it to the sound of the ocean gently brushing against a shore or the wind blowing autumn leaves off the trees. However, will anything really prevent the sound of your morning alarm arousing pangs of dread and disappointment? Maybe the problem isn’t your lack of sleep or the wrong dolphin call symphony assigned to your phone’s alarm clock – perhaps it’s your job.
New research by The Recruit Venture Group (recruitventures.com) has highlighted that only seven percent of employees aged 55-64 are following their dream career path. Many of us are thrown straight in at the deep end once we leave formal education, equipped with very few tools to prevent us from drowning. Once time has been invested in treading a certain career path, it’s extremely difficult to stop in your tracks and turn around, especially if you’re nearing the pension offering at the finish line.
“I was apprehensive about such a huge career change,” admits Helen Freeman, now a content marketing executive (staceymacnaught.co.uk). Helen decided at 55 that her time spent at work as a careers advisor wasn’t fulfilling. “Digital marketing is something I’ve always thought of as a young person’s industry. My main worries were that I wouldn’t be able to learn enough to really be adding value to the company. I suppose it came down to confidence, really.”
Helen advises that we don’t settle for an uninspiring role simply because the alternative seems like too much effort. “I feel much more satisfied in my occupation. I’m in the last decade of my working life and it feels like I’m finally in a job I should’ve been doing for years,” she explains. If having your own card-making business, becoming a florist or opening up a quaint bed and breakfast establishment has been a lifelong, unfulfilled ambition, what better day than today to start working towards it? Take the careers quiz at whatcareerisrightforme.com if you know you’re following the wrong path but are unsure what the right one may be.
