April 12, 2021

Changing career at 50 – How to be comfortable with the move

10 min read

You might have heard different stats around how many times someone changes their career on average during their work life. The truth is that while no two careers are alike, most of us will make a number dramatic changes throughout our work life – the line of work, the industry, the location etc. Changing a career is also commonplace in the 21st century where industry disruption is the norm.

For Kiwis who’ve worked for a good 30 years, changing a career can feel quite daunting – our expenses can be larger, we’re comfortable in our current line of work and we may feel like a learning curve would be overwhelming. We’re here to assure 50+ professionals that changing a career or significant role change isn’t just possible, but perfectly normal.

Changing jobs at 50+ is more common that you may think

Absolute IT as a recruiter works with Kiwis of all ages, many of whom fit the 50-65 age bracket. A sector as broad as IT means that a ‘career change’ can still happen within the industry – consider that a Front End Developer and a Digital Transformation expert fit under the umbrella term ‘IT’. Don’t be concerned that a career change is too late at 50, it’s happening frequently – and the industry isn’t just reacting to it, but requiring it, with highly experienced professionals being in demand to support new or evolving technology. If there’s one thing that’s consistent in the info-tech world, it’s change.

If you are starting in the tech sector for the first time ever, know there’s others out there also doing this – learning to code, design and other disciplines where you can apply existing experience combined with newly acquired skills. Many tertiary institutes’ technology courses are attended by a broad spectrum of ages.

Understanding your reasons for a career change before moving

Before changing your career – take time to figure out your reasons for doing so. A great way to do this is by writing out your thinking. Ask some questions like:

What does your current career not have that a new one would provide?
What are lifestyle reasons behind seeking a career change?
Are you seeking a change for more money?
Do you lack challenge in your current field?
Is there a ‘crossover’ opportunity that sits between your current industry and another that you’re interested in (e.g. Agriculture + Technology = Agritech)

It’s important that you don’t hastily change jobs off the back of a particular work event, such as a falling out with a colleague or failure to get a promotion. While how we feel is incredibly important to decision making, you should always ‘let the dust settle’ on any temporary episodes in your work before making a final decision. Take your time to make sure you’re moving to go to something else than simply leave your current role.

Talk to others about your plans

Just because you’re an experienced professional, doesn’t mean you should try to figure this all out yourself. In fact it’s even more important to seek advice from others as the decision to change career may have a bigger impact than someone just starting out. Advice comes in all shapes and forms – not all of it good. We’d suggest you chat to friends and family who know you the best, and then independent professional advice such as that from a recruiter. It can also be worthwhile chatting to any trusted work colleagues who have a good context of your current situation.

And finally, we’d strongly consider speaking to as many people within the industry you’re looking to enter as possible about what you might expect. Make sure to take notes of all the advice you receive – combined with your own brainstorm you’ll have a well-rounded picture of what a career change might mean for you. Have you missed something others can see? Without talking to others, you won’t know.

Taking stock of your transferable skills and experience

It’s almost a guarantee that in 30 years of work you’ll have a bunch of valuable skills to bring to another industry; people skills, problem solving, time management, planning, negotiating, financial understanding – the list will be long. We’d suggest writing out the high level skills and experience that a new career may require, and then at the same time, writing out a list of all the soft and technical skills you’ve acquired to date. This may take some time reflecting and pouring over old CVs, but ultimately it will build your confidence that a career change won’t be starting from zero entirely.

What motivates you in life?

Remove work from the equation for a moment: what makes you happy and fulfilled in life? Helping others? Creating something tangible? Making money? There’s no wrong answer here, but the answers are very important when considering a career change at 50. The worst thing anyone can do is take a job for reasons that don’t align with what truly brings you happiness in life. Yes, you need to pay bills like all of us, but there are plenty of roles out there that tick this box and also offer other things that will have you jumping out of bed in the morning. For some this might mean a role with a social good element, for others a flexible working arrangement so you can spend more time with family or on hobbies.

As you consider your career change, be sure to list out your motivations in life and work back from here in terms of where you go to work and what job you do. You might be pleasantly surprised where an exercise like this will take you!

Let’s Talk Money

Money is important – even if it’s not our primary motivator, we do need to cover our costs both now and future. When you’re considering a career change, you should make sure you have a clear picture of your budget and expenses. At 50 you also need to consider how you’re tracking towards your retirement and make sure that your income supports your retirement goals. If you’re making a jump to a new role where you’ll be taking a significant pay cut, take time to map out carefully how you and any family will navigate this – is the combined household income still practical to live on? What sort of trajectory will you be on with this new career and at what point can you expect to be earning your current income or better?

It may be that you don’t rely on your job for your income – in which case you may have more options around your career change and be able to focus more on other motivators.

Fear of the unknown

A career change 30 years into our work life can feel like a shock to the system. A new job, jargon, people and skills that you are still working on – it may remind you of when you entered the workforce initially. It’s important to keep in mind that you will take some time getting up to speed – even with transferable skills. The fear of the unknown could otherwise be reframed as excitement for a new adventure; you just have to take the pressure off yourself and allow time to become comfortable. The alternative is not making that jump and be left wondering what if?

Of course you should listen to your gut instinct – if, after your research and consideration, a jump into a particular field doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. But if you are still highly motivated to try something new, but are given pause by the fact you will have knowledge or skill gaps – remember that a career change is a process that continues after you’ve made the jump.

Open mind to learning

That’s why an open mind is one of the best assets you can bring into a new line of work. Learning won’t stop at technical competencies either, you’ll be learning about a different culture, dynamics, types of people and many other new things. And that open mind means being open to learning from those younger than you. The more curious and hungry for knowledge you are, the quicker you’ll be up to speed and applying your own toolbox of skills to the new role.

Open mind to teaching

You’re coming equipped with all sorts of experience. Depending on the role, an employer may be looking for you to bring this into the team and share it. You can be a rookie in some respects and a master in others – and coworkers will benefit from your experience even informally. A willing teacher and student mindset won’t just help you do your new role better, it’ll build stronger, long-lasting relationships with your colleagues.

Choosing the right opportunities

Are you making the move from one tech-related industry to another? Telecoms to financial services? Are you leaving IT to go out into something unrelated like property? Or are you entering IT from another field? Pick work opportunities that line up with where you wish to end up – even if you enter at a lower rung than the ultimate role first. Picking the right opportunity should also include consideration of the experience you already have; jobs that demand some of your skills can make for an easier transition. The idea of the ‘double career change’ where you change function and industry isn’t impossible but will be more challenging.

Those motivators that you worked on earlier now come in handy again. As you search around, ask yourself which roles speak to your motivators the most. Does the job enable your financial, life and career goals to be realised? If not, the move may not be right.

Considering your lifestyle now vs. new career

A career change will impact your lifestyle in some way – especially if there’s a big change to what you get paid. A new career might have an initial pay cut but promise of much better remuneration in the medium-long term. As with anything, weigh up the pros and cons of the move on your lifestyle. Does your current role allow you to do more outside of work? Will there be significant learning required with a career change that will eat up more of your free time? This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it, but rather need to plan for and expect it. Oftentimes a career change will be made to reduce work hours and stress levels. Others will want to change in the pursuit of a new challenge.

Key lifestyle questions:

Hours you want to work each week
Demand and responsibility you’re comfortable with
Level of comfort around having skills/knowledge gaps
How much family/friends time do you want in the week?
What hobbies and interests do you want to maintain or start?
Transport to and from work – how long and is this easy?
Flexibility around work arrangements – do you want to work from home or irregular hours?
Personal and household budget – what does my income need to be to meet this?
Where do I want to live? Does that location offer work opportunities that support a career change?

As you can see, there’s a lot of thinking to be done here. Changing career is a perfectly normal thing to do, and with the right preparation and decision making can be tremendously rewarding.

Keen to chat more about your career change options?

Absolute IT works with experienced professionals’ career decisions every day. We know that the choices made at this stage of your work life are important. Our team can help prepare you for a change in role and tap into our network of clients and work opportunities. If you’re looking for a change but aren’t sure where to start, chat to our teamy and find out what the IT job market is doing and how you can find your next ideal role.

Absolute IT

March 29, 2021

Panel interviews – How to handle an interview with more than one person

7 min read

Preparing for a job interview with a hiring manager can feel like a big deal – so when an interview is with multiple people in a panel setting it’s only understandable that you would feel nervous. And it’s true, a panel style interview can be challenging, but it’s also an excellent opportunity to meet with more people from the business you’re considering working for. With some prep and a positive mindset towards panel style interviews, you can nail these interviews just as you might a 1-1 meeting. So how do you best handle a panel? Keep reading to find out!

Make sure you know who is going to be in the room

Don’t get blindsided by an interviewer who may have specific questions that would require some preparation. Reach out and establish exactly who is attending.

Not only is it common courtesy to have done your homework on the attendees of the meeting beforehand, it’s an important step in preparation. Ideally the hiring manager will have outlined who will be in the meeting (names and roles), but in some cases this information isn’t provided straight away. If that’s the case, we’d suggest you reach out and ask for this information – don’t be afraid to be transparent as to why.

With a clear picture of those who’ll be in the meeting, you’re able to figure out what sorts of questions might be asked based on their role. For example, a senior team member might have some more technical questions for you vs. a team leader who may be more interested in your work style, culture fit etc. To prepare for this, write out some bullet points on the types of questions you may get asked and add some answers. You’ll never completely predict every question, but some prep could prove really useful in the moment.

Think about things like:

Technical skills on specific platforms, coding languages, disciplines.
Views on emerging technologies.
Specific projects you’ve worked on and what you contributed.
Challenges you’ve encountered that might be relatable to certain people in the room (and how you overcame them).
Your preferred work style.
What’s important to you in a workplace and team environment.
What prompted you to look for another role.

Preparation even more important with multiple people asking you questions

A long silence can be uncomfortable 1 on 1, but multiply that by the number of people in the room and the stress can start to distract you from answering questions – not exactly an enjoyable experience! Being adequately prepared can help you answer questions from any direction in a reasonable time. This means careful, considered answers that show a level of preparedness to the panel – even just the evidence of someone doing homework beforehand can be a huge plus when shortlisting candidates. After all, it’s a sign you’re taking the process seriously and care about the job role in question.

If you’ve been asked a question that you genuinely don’t understand, make sure you let them know in a clear but respectful manner, e.g. “Do you mind just going into a bit more detail about what you mean by xyz”. Most interviewers will have no issue clarifying for you. Be sure not to draw from this well too often though, as a lack of understanding throughout the interview could be a sign that you’ve not the experience or skills for the role. Just do your best to answer each question the best you can – the rest of it lies in the hands of the panel and employer!

Address the person who asked the question, but don’t ignore the others

Remember in English class when it got to that dreaded time of year to do speeches? One of the most common pieces of advice back then was ‘make sure you address the whole class, not just the front row or one person’. For most people this was a highly unnatural process, requiring stopping the speech and looking around before burying back into cue cards. Luckily in this context, there isn’t a prepared speech, but rather an answer based on your real experiences – far more natural. But the same mistake of just talking to one person can be made in a job interview. If someone asks you a question and the answer is reasonably detailed, remember to give your answer while catching every person’s eye. This is not only polite but it brings everyone along with what you’re saying, vs. them feeling as though they’re an audience. Important though, is to start your answer while looking at the person who asked it, as not doing this can be seen as very rude or disinterested. As you unpack your answer in more detail, move around the interview participants.

Create a conversational atmosphere

In a group setting, an open free flowing conversation is much more natural and effective at showcasing who you are. To do this, make sure you combine direct answers with thoughts, questions and context that encourages dialogue between everyone in the room. One great sign that the vibe is right, is when conversation (including you) happens between the panel on a topic. Perhaps you’ve talked about a solution to a problem at a previous role that this current employer hasn’t tried and is intrigued.

Don’t be afraid to go off course into something if the panel is visibly interested. Without overstepping the mark asking about confidential business information, you can probe a little bit and offer extra tidbits of advice. It’s in these moments that the application of your expertise is on display. That will stick in a panel’s mind after the interview is concluded. If you’ve made them think about something applicable to their business, what else might you be able to help with? That sort of lasting impression gives you an excellent chance of success of securing a role.

Conversations don’t all have to be technical either. Depending on the types of personalities on the interview panel, there might be openings to discuss family, interests, weekend activity, sports, and current events. While it might not seem relevant, those non-work conversations reveal more about who you are, which can put a panel at ease. It’s just as important for a panel to go away thinking I could work with that person as their confidence you’ve satisfied the job description’s requirements.

Be conscious of time…

Remember, with more people come more questions (and more answers). You’ll be amazed at just how quickly an hour will go by with a panel of interviewers asking questions. Take care to answer the question directly early on in your answer (the interviewer writing is a sign you’re on the right track), before you go into more detail. Another way to preserve time, and keep the panel’s interest, is to mix up shorter answers with longer ones. You can pick these based on how valuable extra information might be. A question about which languages you can code in might be a fairly straightforward answer where you can earn back valuable time to spend more on a question like ‘what sort of projects have you worked on?’. You have limited time, use it wisely.

…but don’t rush

Rambling is just confusing and detrimental to your chances of being memorable to the interview panel. But rushing through your answers can make it hard for an employer to get a proper sense of your fit for the role. If someone is clearly rushing an answer, it can give the impression that they might rush work and not go deep on tasks. Worse, it might suggest the interview itself is something to quickly get done and out the way. We can say from experience that candidates who rush interviews seldom if ever land the role.

Managing your time across an interview can be made much easier with thorough prep. It means you’ve got the material there when you need it, and can draw the appropriate amount from your prep that each question requires. The employer is also responsible for structuring an interview so you have ample time to answer all the questions they have.

Eye contact and body language

We’ve touched upon the need to look at all of the panel as you answer an in depth question. But broadly, body language and eye contact can do so much for the success of the interview. Sitting up straight, open arms (feel free to gesticulate as needed!) and direct eye to eye contact helps connect you with the panel. Sitting back slumped in a chair can make the interview panel think you’re not interested. Conversely, leaning far forward across the table could make your panel a bit uncomfortable. Stay relaxed but engaged!

Need help with preparing for an interview?

Chat with our team about career opportunities including how to best prepare for interviews. Also, check out our other articles for more job advice.