Phil Cooke Podcast: How to Change Your Career After 50

How to Change Your Career After 50

Apr 21, 2020

Changing careers at 50 and older can be a terrifying prospect. Whether you’ve been laid off or are taking the risk to move from a dead end job to your dream career, Phil Cooke offers a strategic plan to transition into a new career. https://philcooke.com

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Do you have a message or story the world needs to hear? As a Hollywood producer and media consultant, I offer advice for leaders and creatives each week on filmmaking, digital media, publishing, strategy, communication, leadership, culture and faith – to help you get from where you are to where you want to be in your career.

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**More About This Episode** How to Change Your Career After 50

Things like a changing economy, advancing technology, more (and younger) competition – all can easily keep someone stuck in a dead-end job rather than taking a risk on the career of their dreams. However, even after decades in one direction, it may be time to change.

In my book, “One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do,” I share stories of changing careers later in life, and how it literally transformed those lives. But even people who have discovered their One Big Thing struggle with how to make it happen. Do I leave my current job? Do I go back to school? Do I work on the side? Do I tell anyone?

While everyone is different, and in various stages of life, talent, and career, here are a few things to consider as you start refocusing your future on your one thing:

Be bold, but don’t be dumb. Begin today preparing, strategizing, and pursuing your purpose, but don’t be drastic. Don’t quit the current job until you have a transition plan in place.

Don’t burn bridges. When the time comes to make your transition, don’t make enemies. If it’s a case of leaving your day job, do it amicably. Leaving on good terms can reap a huge return down the road.

Trigger your connections. In the age of social media, you have no excuse for not having a powerfully effective database of relationships and connections.

Keep your résumé updated. It never hurts to keep your résumé, demo reel, or portfolio up to date and evergreen. You never know when the opportunity to pursue your dream will happen.

Finally, brace yourself for the risk. Dreaming isn’t “safe,” and if you’re looking for a sheltered, secure future, then your One Big Thing probably won’t be it. But even after 50, discovering your One Big Thing and then stepping out to pursue it will be the greatest adventure of your life. When that happens, work becomes passion, and you will join the ranks of the very few who have accepted the risk, calculated the peril, and leaped off the ledge.