That risk would be mitigated somewhat if people didn't have to worry about health coverage if they decide to strike out on their own.
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It's wonderful that we don't even have to give our jobs until we're ready. We can pursue new vocations on the side and gain much needed experience to refine our ideas and see what market or need exists. That's what I'm doing, more slowly than I would like because of factors outside my control. Nevertheless, I am making steady progress. And that's what's important.
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Inspiring story, but you picked the winners after the fact. I'd be interested in what percentage have been successful, and what has happened to others who have failed.
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Life is for living and if you're able, make your living doing something that adds meaning and happiness to your life.
Bit of a clunky Hallmark card slogan there but also the very simple truth.
Trained for a new career in mid-life and it was the best decision I've ever made. No question. Many friends remarked about how brave this decision was but I never felt it was particularly brave. It was simply something I wanted and needed to do and I'm very happy I trusted my instincts on this.
If you can and as you can, take a chance on being happy rather than taking the safe, predictable route. It's a mighty powerful thing to challenge and surprise yourself.
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@Basil Kostopoulos - That’s my story too!
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I trained and worked as a freelance theater designer for almost 25 years and then started volunteering with a cat adoption group. After doing this and other related animal welfare volunteering for a number of years I developed enough skills sets to move full time into animal welfare which I have now happily done. I still design one to two shows a year but that career is now an avocation and my animal hobby has become my job. Volunteering to in a field you love is a way to pave the way for transitions like these. Follow your muse.
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I started our new business by accident. We made a moss wall for ourselves, and then got asked to do one for another company in the area who wanted a green wall. It grew from there and now we have a studio and a team. It's crazy how fast our little niche business has grown.
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Interesting, but far removed from the lives of most people. "I quickly raised $1 million" is not a phrase most Americans can ever expect to utter in their lifetimes.
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I am semi-retired at 55 and I want to be a part-time high school teacher. I am a graduate of top universities, have taught in the past, and get on great with students. Yet, I can't find a job. Schools only seem to want full time, or they only want candidates with teaching certificates (a waste of time for older experienced teachers), or they don't want to make any changes to schedules. I have even offered to teach for a few months for free - just so they can see if I fit - to no avail. Given how we need dedicated teachers in this country I am dismayed at how difficult it is to get a teaching job if you don't fit the mold.
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@nexttsar, whether it is intentional or not, your statement that you shouldn't need specialized training or credentials to teach is insulting to the profession. Would you say this about being a nurse, construction foreman, social worker, or engineer?
Teaching is not a hobby. It is not volunteer work. Experience teaching college does not mean you are prepared to teach a heterogeneous population of needy children.
Having said that, it is true we need good teachers. If you are truly willing to work 40+ a week for part-time teacher pay, here is some advice for getting a job without certification.
Some private schools do not require certification. Before applying at a private school, take a few further education credits on trauma-informed instruction, learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, differentiated instruction, RTI, management of difficult behaviors in the classroom setting, cross-curricular literacy methods, strategies for supporting struggling students (key word: relationships), seclusion and restraint, factors affecting minorities in education, Common Core curriculum requirements, project-based learning, and writing strategies for your content area. I would also recommend getting a few long-term sub positions at the high school level. This will help you demonstrate sober respect for the complexity of the job next time you are in front of a hiring committee.
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You has discovered one of the fundamental flaws in our broken educational system which is rigidity. Most school districts have top-down central planning (we know how well that worked in Russia and China back in the day) that contains little or no local customization or flexibility. It’s a loss-loss situation and very sad.
2
I am 63+ years old, currently unemployed and up until recently, have been actively networking and submitting resumes for new positions in my field, to no avail. I have up-to-date tech skills, successful experience within familiar Chicago ad agencies and in-house marketing departments. Nevertheless, by financial necessity, I have now chosen a viable career change, and that job search is now underway. A career change at age 63 is a challenge others share, and I would ask that The New York Times expand on this, "...Find a Niche and Fill It" article to focus on making a career change after age 60, plus any background on successful strategies for over-60 job searching for those that are highly skilled, also strategies for overcoming ageism in hiring.
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@Over 63, Changing Careers The big word is NETWORK. Find a good, solid networking group and use it to meet people and practice your elevator speech.
Information interviews are also very effective since they move the focus from job to job content, and the person with whom you are networking doesn't approach your request with panic - and since you are doing a career change it makes it very legitimate.
What I did, and both techniques worked (to my shock).
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I've had my own business for 25 years and every day is a potential career change. There's no one to tell me exactly which business opportunity I should follow up on any given day.
But don't forget to think about the downside potential. Most new businesses fail. You need to be have the resources to handle the worst-case scenario.
7
People who write books titled “Take the Leap: Change Your Career, Change Your Life”, make money selling those books to the hopefuls who are fed up with their careers. They make money out of your misery and are not responsible if you fail.
People who were making 6 figures and are now ‘taking a chance’ have had ample time to save money. They will tell you ‘success did not come over night’, what they do not tell you is how much of their savings they blew making these changes. And no one follows up years later to see if they are still ‘making a living as a commercial artist and illustrator’, or if they went back to work after their savings are gone.
But most often than not, this is the actual result: “I quit my job, and no one else was hiring me’.
So the lesson is simple.
Get a job that makes a lot of money, save it, and start your dream career as a commercial artist and illustrator, but do not quit your job until your new venture takes off.
And am sorry, but someone who was ‘editor in chief of Essence Magazine’ has plenty put away to buy 5 Inns. A law school graduate who starts a portfolio management does too. But the regular office drone dying at a desk day in and day out does not have the money to survive this leap. Terrible example you gave us.
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@AutumnLeaf
This is similar to people who write books about how they simplified their lives and travel the world instead of working...except it turns out that they had high-paying jobs and were able to save much more than most people ever could.
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