When trying to change careers, or start a second act, it’s important to remind yourself of what you’ve already accomplished.
In the spirit of Mae West, my mother once said, “I never met a machine I didn’t like.” Becoming a mother when she was still a teen, she went to business school at night and worked two jobs until she left waitressing behind to pursue a career in an office environment. As a working mother in the era of the “MadMen” TV show, she tamed the business machines of her time and had little in common with the housewives on her block. This led to her computer curiosity and savviness, allowing her to assist others with their computer skills, culminating in an opportunity to manage a fitness center when most her age were retired.
As her daughter, I also found myself drawn to technology. I started my professional career as a typesetter/graphic artist for printers, advertising companies, and publishers in San Francisco and later segued into technical writing/production editing for high tech firms of Silicon Valley, offering publishing tool support. As more and more people become involved with computers, blogs, and social networking sites, my skills are even more in demand.
I really noticed this when I began pursuing fiction writing and started interacting with other writers online. Many writers come from impressive backgrounds, such as doctors, lawyers, scientists, FBI agents, for example. But they don’t have the technology depth to their background that I do. And journalists, as a group, have the least technology skills. When I was blogging for the Orlando Sentinel, my news producer said that journalists could barely handle voice mail.
But the point isn’t to elevate myself or disparage other groups. The point is that we all have expertise that comes with age and experience. So when you’re stepping into a new field, looking for that second career, and finding yourself in an environment where you may feel overwhelmed by being a newbie or starting over, don’t forget to bring the skills you do have. And let others know you have them. You never know where that might take you.
Women have had to deal with these issues for decades. In the past, our mothers and grandmothers may have been full-time stay-at-home wives and mothers who didn’t work outside the home. But when faced with changing circumstances, such as a divorce or money issues or boredom, women found themselves attempting to obtain a paying job outside-the-home and met with blank stares as they handed over blank resumes.
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