Just wondering if any one can offer advice. I work in Health Sector - see post re my friend/manager below. I am a junior manager. I work shifts - 39 hrs and do nights 7 nights on and 7 nights off about 3 times a year. I find since I hit my 50s, I am just wrecked and haven't the energy to work these shifts, though when I was 9-5, I also found I was wrecked a lot of the time. I did work part-time for a while, and this was great, but financially, I can't afford to do this long-term - teenagers at home, college etc. I also hate my job/career now after 25 years working in it. As you can see from post below re what my manager/friend endured at my workplace, it's difficult in terms of staff dynamics. I have a small business that I'm trying to grow on the side, but feel jaded a lot of the time, to do too much with it, and don't feel as passionate at all about it, as I did a couple of years ago. I have had my physical health checked out, and I'm fine, and I"m not depressed, - so, just wondered do other people in their 50s feel wrecked by full-time working and family commitments, or is it just me, or is it being in a job I hate. I used to be very driven and enthusiastic re my career, but not see it just as a means to an end - definitely no way enthusiastic about it now. Does anyone think a career coach would help in terms of pointing me in the right direction. Cooking is my passion but I am afraid to follow it at this age, and wonder if I will still feel wrecked doing that. Any thoughts/advice??
Career - 50s and working shifts - change?
- Thread starter Maryb50
- Start date
I don't know what aspect of cooking you mean as a career but to me most of them are pretty hard physically. As someone who had to switch to self employed at 52 and try and convert what was previously a lovely hobby into a business also in the cooking area I find it a lot more tiring than my office job was. Although I don't work 5 days a week, well I kind of do a bit 7 days, but in general I have 3 much longer days mainly standing which has caused it's own problems.
Working full time and looking after a family is tiring and definitely I felt once I hit 50 I could feel the energy gradually dipping a bit year on year, I am no longer as up to date in the garden or with the house painting as I would have been previously and the irony of it is when I was working full time I had the money to pay people to paint etc but didn't as I liked to do it myself, now I can't afford to pay them!
I also worked part time for a year when I was around 40 and it was brilliant but like that I couldn't have afforded it long term. I liked my job initially but grew to hate it too with all the changes in it but short of being very lucky I think it is very hard to change career in your 50s and retain a good level of salary if you have built up one over the years. In hindsight I would gladly have stayed in my job (if it was still in existance) if I knew what the alternatives were going to be. Again it's dependant on your qualifications/experience and location but I found most definite ageism when trying to get work in my 50s and gave up eventually.
Working full time and looking after a family is tiring and definitely I felt once I hit 50 I could feel the energy gradually dipping a bit year on year, I am no longer as up to date in the garden or with the house painting as I would have been previously and the irony of it is when I was working full time I had the money to pay people to paint etc but didn't as I liked to do it myself, now I can't afford to pay them!
I also worked part time for a year when I was around 40 and it was brilliant but like that I couldn't have afforded it long term. I liked my job initially but grew to hate it too with all the changes in it but short of being very lucky I think it is very hard to change career in your 50s and retain a good level of salary if you have built up one over the years. In hindsight I would gladly have stayed in my job (if it was still in existance) if I knew what the alternatives were going to be. Again it's dependant on your qualifications/experience and location but I found most definite ageism when trying to get work in my 50s and gave up eventually.
Its life. What should you be in your 50s.
A job that might have seemed important in your 30s, well you have been doing it for 20 years, even if its brain surgery, it probably becomes a bit ho hum.
Parenting, that was exciting, challenging and important at first but now, but what exactly is your role in their lives now.
Finances are a drag, you realise that you are not going to be rich, though you may be secure enough in comfort.
There isn't enough future left to try achieve the unobtainable, not without sacrificing the good things that you have achieved. (I would love to spend a year in the Caucuses but I wouldn't leave my family.)
The things that were important in the past are coming to a conclusion, but you are still tied in place especially if you have dependant children.
We need a new purpose, something that despite our experience we can take seriously and commit to. Let me know if you find it.
A job that might have seemed important in your 30s, well you have been doing it for 20 years, even if its brain surgery, it probably becomes a bit ho hum.
Parenting, that was exciting, challenging and important at first but now, but what exactly is your role in their lives now.
Finances are a drag, you realise that you are not going to be rich, though you may be secure enough in comfort.
There isn't enough future left to try achieve the unobtainable, not without sacrificing the good things that you have achieved. (I would love to spend a year in the Caucuses but I wouldn't leave my family.)
The things that were important in the past are coming to a conclusion, but you are still tied in place especially if you have dependant children.
We need a new purpose, something that despite our experience we can take seriously and commit to. Let me know if you find it.
i have a lot of sympathy but you can be positive about it.
Lots of us spend our 30s and 40s completely swamped by work and parenting. When you finally get a chance to come up for air, you can discover that your job and life have become stale and its hard to remember what you enjoy doing.
I think part of the problem is that its easy to drop other things you like doing, when you don't have time.
Its time to get your life back. You have 30+ years of life left, you are in good health and hopefully have more spare time now that the kids are older. You should look at what you want to do with that time. Maybe a job change is a good idea, but maybe its not necessary if you find other things to do outside of work that interest you.
If you love cooking, do something with that. It doesn't have to be a career but there may be plenty of ways of enjoying cooking without committing to it as a full time job with a salary.
Its a new phase in your life and it hopefully will be good but you will have to make it happen
Good luck,
Lots of us spend our 30s and 40s completely swamped by work and parenting. When you finally get a chance to come up for air, you can discover that your job and life have become stale and its hard to remember what you enjoy doing.
I think part of the problem is that its easy to drop other things you like doing, when you don't have time.
Its time to get your life back. You have 30+ years of life left, you are in good health and hopefully have more spare time now that the kids are older. You should look at what you want to do with that time. Maybe a job change is a good idea, but maybe its not necessary if you find other things to do outside of work that interest you.
If you love cooking, do something with that. It doesn't have to be a career but there may be plenty of ways of enjoying cooking without committing to it as a full time job with a salary.
Its a new phase in your life and it hopefully will be good but you will have to make it happen
Good luck,
The stand out sentence for me is: "I also hate my job/career now after 25 years working in it" - that says a lot! That's no way to be: time to move on, I'd suggest.
A few more fairly random thoughts:
- you clearly should look for something without shift work, as that seems to be part of the problem
- asking a new job to offer a completely change your life is probably asking too much: what you do outside work may be sufficient to do this, so don't worry about looking for the "perfect" job or career
- your job may end up being just something to pay the bills: there's nothing wrong with that - but you shouldn't actively hate it
- turning a something you enjoy as a hobby may (and I stress the word is "may" rather than "will") make you grow to hate it if you start working professionally at it
- start talking to people working in an area you're interested in: "cooking" covers a lot, so try and make it as wide as possible - potential employers, people who've started businesses in the area and so on
I've no particular expertise in career advice, but I did switch industry completely at a similar age: I'd grown very jaded in the area I was in, and have enjoyed the move since. However, that’s not to say it couldn’t have all gone pear-shaped…..
My bottom line advice would be:
- switch job: life's too short to be in one you hate.
- investigate switching career by talking to plenty of people
- whether switching job involves changing to a different career/industry will depend ultimately on opportunities you uncover and your attitude to risk: there is no "right" answer
- if you don't end up switching career/industry, you can still get fulfilment from other areas you're interested in apart from working in.
A few more fairly random thoughts:
- you clearly should look for something without shift work, as that seems to be part of the problem
- asking a new job to offer a completely change your life is probably asking too much: what you do outside work may be sufficient to do this, so don't worry about looking for the "perfect" job or career
- your job may end up being just something to pay the bills: there's nothing wrong with that - but you shouldn't actively hate it
- turning a something you enjoy as a hobby may (and I stress the word is "may" rather than "will") make you grow to hate it if you start working professionally at it
- start talking to people working in an area you're interested in: "cooking" covers a lot, so try and make it as wide as possible - potential employers, people who've started businesses in the area and so on
I've no particular expertise in career advice, but I did switch industry completely at a similar age: I'd grown very jaded in the area I was in, and have enjoyed the move since. However, that’s not to say it couldn’t have all gone pear-shaped…..
My bottom line advice would be:
- switch job: life's too short to be in one you hate.
- investigate switching career by talking to plenty of people
- whether switching job involves changing to a different career/industry will depend ultimately on opportunities you uncover and your attitude to risk: there is no "right" answer
- if you don't end up switching career/industry, you can still get fulfilment from other areas you're interested in apart from working in.