The Call for Change: Career Change Help for Midlife Women

Several times in my career, I’ve felt the Call. I used to teach high school, and although I was passionate about my work (in theory), constantly being “on” in front of classes combined with the work load constantly grading left little time for the instructional design and creativity I desired. In order to make ends meet, I was taking on tutoring and enrichment classes, and at the end of the day might be prepping for 5-8 classes. When I had my son, I started to think about what my future would look like continuing on this path. Did I want to be putting all of my emotional energy and time into being scrappy and overloaded, or did I want to put energy into being a parent?

The Decision

The decision to switch careers was not easy. I had a lot of education, certification, and especially identity wrapped up in teaching. It was not just what I did for a living. It was WHO I was. I had been working with children as a teacher, tutor, camp counselor, babysitter, and nanny my whole life. I infused my reading and writing courses with passionate social justice and critical thinking topics. I enjoyed pouring over teaching books staying up on the latest psychology around how best to reach learners. But I also knew that I needed more. I needed higher pay, to take back my evening hours, and I couldn’t stop that nagging voice in my head calling for change.

But the idea of applying for jobs in the tech world brought up lots of apprehension: Would I be able to break into the corporate world as an instructional designer with just my academic teaching experience? What if no one wanted to hire me? How would I prove my credibility if I didn’t have the right experience? At the time, it seemed like I had an impossible task in front of me. But those were just negative thoughts about my own abilities. My circumstances were just that – circumstances. And my thoughts needed to change.

I started to think about the future me – the one with the tech job. What would she have on her resume? What experience would she have already? And I set out to become that person.

But first, I just put myself out there. I started looking for a job I was qualified for with my existing background. A stretch goal type of job if you will. What I found was a summer contract role in digital publishing. The job required me to use my teaching experience to develop teaching content for a digital curriculum. This was literally the first digital curriculum I had heard of being created for kids and it would be consumed on iPads. 

I had always wanted to work in publishing – I dreamed of working for Scholastic – you know the book orders we used to get at school? - or to get paid to read and select novels for publishing? It seemed like a hard to reach career though so I took a safer, “easier” route into teaching English. (Are you starting to hear a pattern of how limited my thinking used to be?).

Well I took a bold leap - I applied for this digital editor role, and I got it! So now I was in a hot seat! Was I really going to quit teaching to jump into this new life? Hell no! I had taken the first steps, gotten the job, and now I had to face reality. Luckily, I am quite resourceful though. Since I was off teaching for the summer, I had the opportunity to get acclimated in my role. I worked over the summer, things were going well, and so I decided to take a leave of absence from teaching for the year. A security blanket that would enable me the safety net of having a job to return to should I want to and still get to focus on the new path in front of me. If it didn’t work out, none would be the wiser and I would be able to scurry back to my former job.

Having a contingency plan gave me the security I needed to answer the Call for change, and it ended up taking my life in a new and rewarding direction.

During this time, I didn’t just stop my growth plan. After all, this was a contract role that would eventually end. I knew I wanted a full-time permanent role in the education technology field, so I put together a transition plan. 

I knew I was looking for a role where I could use my teaching experience to design curriculum for adults. I reviewed job postings for the types of roles I wanted. I had to first understand what the expectations would be to determine where I had experience to gain and skill gaps to fill. Then I started to build a bridge.

I already had a Masters degree in Education which put me in a good place to get a job as an instructional designer. However, I knew that in the tech world, I would need to use tech tools – like e-learning authoring tools or graphic art and video editing tools. So I set out to learn! 

I started a second Masters degree program to bulk up my skills. 

I took a few certificate courses in e-learning design.

Having the skills gave me confidence and helped me shift my self-limiting thoughts about who I was.

I tailored my resume to focus on the experience I did have rather than the specific roles I had done.

I connected with some connections in the corporate world to improve my chances of getting my foot in a door. 

I applied - to many, many roles. Until one of my applications stuck!

So many years ago, my mom said, keep putting applications out there until you get the job. I never forgot that!

After taking all this massive action, I had the confidence to fully change my belief systems about myself – I was the instructional designer with the experience, the tools, and the confidence to bring future me to life! It was not impossible. I just needed to put in some effort and creativity to realize the new and improved version of me.

That was 12 years ago, and I never stopped expanding my experience and self-image to become the leader I am today. I get to help other women transform their lives, I get to create visionary educational products, and lead others to develop themselves to reach their goals every day. All because I answered the Call for change.

Reflection

Where in your life are you being called to make a change? So many of us take the easy path, the obvious path. We slug along at a job we love or stick out a toxic relationship because it is the path of least resistance. We live on autopilot – our present circumstances seem like obligations. We box ourselves in by the limitations we place on ourselves! What is the worst that could happen if you started something new? If you applied for that stretch goal job? 

Start small. You don’t need to take a flying leap, but you can try something new or different! You just might like it - take a class, start a hobby, apply for a new job, something to start the process of growth and development. 

Figure out what you want. What does a future you look and act like? What experiences does she have under her belt? What do you really envision your life to look like in 5-10 years? If you really let yourself dream big?

Once you figure out what you are being called to do, put together an action plan. List out everything you need to DO if you want to realize your goal.

Now what are you willing to change? The biggest part of making changes is acknowledging that not only do you have to act differently to effect change, but you need to change your ways of old thinking. Starting with I can. I can switch careers may not seem so easy to digest at first. But how about I can take a class, I CAN research job adds to see where I need help. I CAN reach out to my network to find out about opportunities. I CAN see myself in a different job. I CAN live differently.

Finally, look at the life ahead of you. If you continue on the path you are on today, what can you expect your life to look like in 5 or 10 years? Can you afford NOT to make a change?