Everything is ahead: career opportunities for specialists after 50

There is a stereotype in our country: the peak of a career falls on 35-40 years old, because after 50 the labor market has little to offer. Why this is not so and what development paths exist today, says Larisa Inozemtseva

I came up with my career change strategy during my life 40 years ago, when I was a student. After university and graduate school, I was going to become the director of a large research institute, and when I retired, be a psychologist and tell people how to “build life right.” Then, of course, no one thought about such things: you had to work in one place for as long as possible, preferably all your life. Career change was perceived negatively by society. I defended my Ph.D. thesis, worked in science, then went into business and made a career. I received two diplomas in psychology and coaching and have been consulting for several years.

Meanwhile, specialists over 50 are adapted to modern conditions and full of energy, they can take personal initiative, realize themselves in various fields of activity and prolong their active maturity for at least another 20-30 years. Does society know how to use their potential?

Fighting stereotypes

The problem of employment of people 50+ consists of several important aspects:

• economic: able-bodied professionals with extensive experience are excluded from the sphere of production and management;
• socio-demographic: an increase in life expectancy leads to a global “aging” of the population, and society must develop strategies for interacting with this contingent;
• ethical: age is still a stigma on the basis of which some people are discriminated against.

Unfortunately, many people 50+ have themselves inherited the stereotypical perception of age and themselves in it. They do not know what they will do when they cease to be interesting to today’s employer. They do not know how to plan “life after retirement”, do not see alternatives and do not know how to use opportunities. They themselves live by myths about age and are content with what society offers them – an uninteresting low-paid job or “dacha life”. But on the example of my clients and acquaintances, I see other solutions.

The first thing a 50+ person should decide is whether he wants to return to employment or not. This is a fundamental fork. When you are a hired employee, regardless of position and status, the employer is responsible for ensuring wages, social package and other expenses. If you are your own boss, then no. Hiring is better suited to those who are unwilling or unable to take risks and do not feel the strength to start a new business.

Find a new niche for yourself in the company

There are several clear forks in hiring a preretiree.

1. Remain in your profession while maintaining your status.

That is, continue working in your company or move to another. This option seems the most desirable, but it is also fraught with great danger. An employee of 50+ will be “pressed” by younger candidates, sooner or later they will have to leave, but already forced, there will be less strength, and time for a new start has been lost. True, there is a great option – to become a mentor for younger employees. Then your experience will be in demand, and age will be a plus. If the employer does not voice such an option, offer it yourself.

2. Stay in the profession with a decrease in status.

It can be in your company, you can go to another. This is a frequently suggested option, but be careful. Moving from the chair of the chief accountant to just a specialist is not only a minus of responsibility, but also a dismissal with the next reduction in staff. I recommend this step as an “alternate airfield” – for those who can simultaneously start a new business, when less responsibility and more time are needed for your goals. Well, the employer will definitely not consider you as a strategic personnel reserve.

3. Make a horizontal transition to a managerial position in a new area.

This option is available only to highly qualified managers: according to the headhunting company Contact (InterSearch Russia) for 2018, in our country the number of employees over 50 years old in managerial positions of senior and top management does not exceed 5%. Recruiting specialists confirm that 35% of employers do not consider candidates 50+ for managerial positions.

Therefore, if you have made a career as an expert, such a direct transition will not be possible. But if you are an easy learner, you can find in-demand growing segments where your expertise can be applied in a “hybrid type”. And then you are back on horseback, but already as a specialist with the necessary skills in this area and proven expertise in another.

4. Become an independent director.

This requires a previous proven managerial career in director positions. Experience in several industries or areas of activity is required, preferably in international companies, and ideally in both Russian and international business. Independent directors are usually invited by large or confident businesses, so knowledge of a foreign language, excellent communication skills and the ability to work in an international environment are a must.

Entrepreneurship: silver age

Let’s say you’re tired of being hired. Then the next fork is freelancing and entrepreneurship.

• For an expert, the usual format is consulting, individual or under someone else’s brand. My friend, a specialist in state regulation, was engaged in obtaining all kinds of licenses, excise stamps, and the execution of various decrees and orders of state bodies in several companies. Now she has organized an agency and provides her services to both Russian and international businesses. And the marketing director, along with a team of former colleagues, has developed a unique methodology and acts as subcontractors for a large communications agency.
• If you are a unique specialist with applied skills and at the same time do not like exhausting workloads, look for project work. You fit into the project, completed the work, received payment – and relax. I know a trainer who has been working in this mode for about 7 years. He forms a load for 5-6 months, then leaves for the southern countries for six months. IT people are undisputed champions in this format.
• A more familiar freelancing format is tutoring. It is now quite organized, there are sites where you can register and work officially.
• If you have a hobby, you can monetize it too: it is important to pack it correctly and not be shy about promoting yourself in the service market. To do this, take a few consultations and find out how to become in demand. If you have an unusual hobby, for example, jumping from a height (base-jumping), then you don’t even need to advertise yourself – they will find you. I personally know a man who jumped for the first time from a height of 10 meters in 60+, made about 100 jumps in two years, won champion titles and became famous. He is invited to television shootings, he is paid for travel to different countries and presented with international awards.
• And if you are not a director, you have not worked in a big business – what then? Ask yourself: what kind of life experience is in demand right now? Do you love looking after babies? Can you quickly clean up the most cluttered room? Offer yourself as such. There is always a demand for these services, it is important to effectively package your offer and, of course, do your job perfectly.

180 degree turn

There are other options that prepensioners don’t know about or don’t consider. Such changes are a turn in an unexpected direction, like in a movie: a change in environment, occupation, lifestyle, of one’s own free will or involuntarily. This happens not as rarely as we think – my friends got married in another country, went to children abroad to “unwind and live”, and there they mastered a new profession – they became specialists in recreational gymnastics and started a practice, opened an online school and taught fellow citizens, etc. All this is thanks to the Internet and globalization.

You can also establish a charitable foundation and become a manager. To do this, you need to be able to engage in fundraising – to look for funds and sponsors, to present ideas to investors. If you don’t have to think about food and want to bring concrete benefits right now, you can go to charity projects either as a manager or as a volunteer.

All of the above employment options are good. They differ in the level of monetization and requirements for the candidate himself. Another question remains: is society ready to look at people 50+ from this point of view? Are they on their own?

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