Stuck in a mid-career crisis

Our resident career doctor is here to study your problems and research the best advice for you by consulting a vast army of experts.

Here, the career doctor advises an experienced PR/communications executive who has reached a difficult stage in their career.

Dear career doctor,

I have reached a certain level in my career where I am at my wits' end about what to do next. I have been in marketing/communications/PR for around 20 years. Not for the first time in my career, I long for something different but I have no idea what that might be.

In addition, I was made redundant three years ago and since then have been doing some freelance work, mainly for ex-clients who have become friends. However, the work has now dried up. Hence, no income - I have savings (what was to be my 'pension' if you like) which I am now forced to spend to stay afloat.

I have not been idle over the last three years - I have been looking for full-time work. There is also the problem that my last role was as MD of an international office, so I am extremely experienced at senior level.

My career counsellor suggested working for myself (creating a portfolio of clients), but it has never been an aim of mine to set up my own business and I am no good at sourcing new business. I am now looking at doing either bar work or similar just to earn some money. I have been told by most of the recruitment consultants I have contacted over the past three years that there is little likelihood of finding work again at my level.

Any thoughts?

VB.

Dear VB,

I hope you don't mind me roughly calculating your age, but I get many letters from people in a similar position to yours, going through a career 'midlife crisis' in their forties or fifties. Invariably they are looking to do something different and fulfilling but don't know where to start. Some, like you, have been made redundant and others feel that after years of stagnating in a dead-end job there must be something more.

Having worked as a PR professional, you should understand the importance of positive spin. If you can stay upbeat in your approach to jobseeking and take a few proactive steps, you are more likely to succeed in embarking on a new career. 'It is entirely possible to change direction from one career to another after the age of 40,' says Spencer Jacobs, operations manager at Forties People, the London-based recruitment agency for mature workers.

Despite a tough marketplace, good transferable skills are high on many bosses' 'wanted' lists. 'A lot of employers come to us looking for staff who are reliable, experienced in the office and have the life experiences necessary to deal with people,' says Jacobs.

Additionally, it will soon be unlawful for employers to discriminate on grounds of age. In order to meet the commitment to the EU Employment Directive, the UK Government must put in place age discrimination legislation by the end of 2006. The new legislation will carry the same weight as earlier legislation on gender, race and disability. Visit the Employers Forum on Ages web site at www.efa.org.uk for more information.

There are many work areas you could explore, as well as deciding if you would be prepared to retrain. Sectors known to welcome candidates with a wealth of life and working experience include health, teaching and charities.

In order to pinpoint a new direction and meet a new employer's expectation, I recommend taking the following steps.

• Identify your transferable skills. According to David Wright, head of corporate marketing at the Chartered Institute of Marketing, skills from your work in marketing and PR will include planning, marketing strategy, process management, managing agencies and project management and financial management. Soft skills like creativity and innovation are also important, as are management skills including leadership, time management and presentation abilities. These are all useful assets in a lot of industries.
• Identify where your skills have been successful and show employers where they have been used with good results. Employers want proof and examples of success. Show these on your CV.
• Work out what's important to you, what motivates you and what sort of environments you enjoy working in.
• Identify the job opportunities relevant to you. Search totaljobs.com to research vacancies and employer histories. Read job descriptions in our 'So you want to be a ' section for further inspiration. Match the information and conclusions you have gathered about yourself against the needs of employers

The recruiters you have already spoken to have prepared you to be realistic in terms of salary expectations, and they're correct. Despite your previous high-powered jobs, you should expect to receive a salary appropriate for the level of job you finally accept. Once you prove yourself, then it may be possible to renegotiate your pay.


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Good luck!

Career doctor