The Next Frontier: Midlife Career Change
Adventures in job-seeking at age 50.
Have any of you made a career change later in life? It’s equal parts scary as shit and super exciting, right?
A few weeks ago I had a complete meltdown over the unequal division of labor as a mother. The pot of rage had been simmering for a while, and after a few little back-to-back incidents, the lid blew. I still have so much value to offer the world besides making school lunches and doing the laundry. I turn 50 in June. I’ve been a stay-at-home mom and freelance family photographer for the last nine or so years - and I’m ready for something new.
We grow and change, right? In my twenties and thirties, I was maniacally passionate and driven about my career in the theater. From age 15 on, theater was my LIFE. I never in a million years thought that I would do anything else - but when I became a mother, my focus suddenly shifted. Things that hadn’t seemed all that important before (holidays, weekends, sleep), were all of a sudden supremely important. My tolerance for bullshit bottomed out (there is a lot of bullshit when you are working with actors), and I was friggin’ exhausted. I knew it was time to do something different, more conducive to life with kids, and although I do miss the theater community and the friends I made - I don’t miss the work itself.
Similarly, when I got serious about photography, my kids were small - and they were my muses. Everything they did was hilarious and novel and beautiful, and I tried to capture it all, I think in an effort to freeze time. I had an endless stream of subject matter at the ready, and it never occurred to me that there would be a day when it would run dry.
But now - years later, the kids are moody pre-teens and spend most of their days behind closed doors with “keep out” signs on them, playing video games that are mystifying to me on devices with friends. They no longer welcome (or even tolerate) the camera - if it comes out, they’re out.
So I’ve been forced to look elsewhere for inspiration. For the past couple of years, I have volunteered as the PTA historian for my kids’ school, and I have discovered a real love for documenting school life. Teachers are truly unsung heroes, and capturing and sharing images of the students interacting and learning through innovative curricula (when I was growing up we did not have even a fraction of the hands-on educational experiences students have now) is not just a joy, it feels like rooting for the good guys. Advocacy. As my friend Tanya and I used to say “using our powers for good”.
This has led to a desire to make a shift in my paid photography work, as well. Although I am not looking to stop family photography altogether, I have begun to look for a full-time job - either as part of a communications team for a private school or at one of the PR firms that represent the local public school districts. I’d like for freelance work to take a backseat. I am aching to work as part of a team again.
Trying to re-enter the workforce at age 50 is not for the faint of heart, though. When I was first applying for stage management jobs back in the ’90’s you dropped your resume off, in person, at a stage door. Now everything is not only electronic - but did you know that computers read your resume now and weed out a certain number of applicants before a human even gets involved in the process? Do I sound 1000-years-old right now? LOL. But seriously, did you know your resume has to be in a specific font for those applicant tracking systems to even read it? It’s wild!
I sent in my first application last week, for an account executive job at a local PR firm that works with the public school districts in our area. I haven’t heard anything yet - but fingers crossed I get a call. I wonder which way the computers spat my resume? In the yay or nay pile?
Have any of you switched careers during midlife or after an employment break? Any advice for me? Also, are there any family photographers out there who have similarly shifted focus when your kids grew up? For both personal work and paid work? What subjects do you photograph now?
Finally, I listened to this episode of “Everything is Fine” (my favorite podcast) yesterday. It is a recording of a live talk the hosts did at Alt Summit a few weeks ago - the discussion about career transitions in midlife is really insightful - take a listen if you are in the same boat as me, you might find some helpful nuggets.