Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy ... And Pays the Bills

Afterword

Finding a great job is within your power. As you’ve heard from the people who’ve shared their work lives with you in these pages, great jobs come in all different forms. At the root of what makes a job search successful and a job great, is our attitude.

We have the ability to control how our mind confronts and responds to trying something new, to learning new skills, or to adapting to new work environments. At this stage in our lives, we’ve developed knowledge and capability about a vast number of subjects. We’ve worked alongside a diverse group of people in a variety of workplaces. We have swag.

Even if you have had only one employer to date, which is less likely than it was in our parents’ generation, you’ve probably shifted from divisions or departments over time and taken on new job responsibilities. You’ve pushed outside your comfort zone.

We aren’t beginners. We come to the challenge of job seeking with an inner compass that has steadily given us direction. Our accumulated expertise allows us to quickly get up to speed in fields that may seem worlds apart from where we’ve started.

Consider the culture shock, for example, of moving to a small nonprofit from a large insurance company, as Cheryl Champagne did when she left the Hartford. But when you look below the surface, you find that you, like Cheryl, can succeed.

It’s a process. A great job rarely falls in your lap. It takes some detective work and preparation.

In review, there are three major actions that will ...