Good work, CJ. You can have some of my medicinal brownies next. |
Job-hunting at the age of 45 is intimidating.The challenge is not related to finding a job, it is about the stress of finding the right job. Once mid-life hits, the stakes are high. I don't want to buy a Corvette and get a divorce, I want a new career.
What's the big deal? It's just a car. |
- Ages 15 to 22. All I wanted was extra change. Spending money for clothes and gas for the car. My horizon was the next two weeks. During these years I was a bus boy, I waxed and buffed floors, and worked in food service at Mount Vernon Hospital. I even cut grass on Fort Belvoir military base with workers on furlough from Lorton prison. After each summer ended, I always had the luxury of walking away.
- Mid-20's. A college degree now. Interviews. Salary instead of hourly. But youth is wasted on the young. Despite landing a great job I saved up a few paychecks and eventually quit. No plan. Just knew that I was not interested anymore.
- Late 20’s. A career starts to form whether voluntary or not. I learned what I was good at and what I liked and that sometimes the two were mutually exclusive. I also learned two career limiting actions 1) my excessive enjoyment of happy hours and 2) saying, "that's not my job."
So I booze a little. Shoot me. |
- Early 30’s. Life settles in--fast. Marriage. Kids. Mortgage. Voluntarily locked in. The career becomes a centerpiece. How good am I at what I do? No more half-assed work products in hopes that senior management would correct my mistakes. Own it. Working beyond my job description.
- Late 30’s. Moving up with enough tenure to manage large scale projects and groups. People are actually listening to what I have to say. My input is no longer patronized, it is necessary. Skipping happy hours in lieu of work.
- Early 40’s. Instead of swiveling my head in a conference room looking for someone with an answer it turns out everyone is looking for an answer from me. Did someone call me a "thought leader". Ugh.
- Mid 40’s. TBD.
Just one thing, CJ. Go out and find it you jackass. |
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