Are You Approaching the New Career Danger Zone?
From the Career Opportunities Archives…
Over the last several decades, the age at which someone needs to have cemented their career has been steadily dropping. Where, in the past, it would not have been surprising to see workers in the 50’s and 60’s, now many of these people have been “aged out” of the work place. In fact, in the course of my own career, I have come to see that 40 is the new career danger zone. If you haven’t moved into management, or into your own company, the chances are very high that you will be fired or laid off in the coming 5 years. In some cases, if you can make it through this danger zone, you might continue with your current company in your current position, but for many of us, 40 is a career milestone that we will have to face head on.
I normally don’t like to use hard, age-related, milestones when discussing life and career, but my own experience has shown that many people are more than willing to use age as a deciding factor in job decisions. We all learn and grow at different rates and we all have different goals at different times, but much like the now mostly abandoned concept of “middle age,” those around us will apply certain stereotypes to us once we reach a certain age. Once we reach the age of 40, people will start to look at us differently — treat us differently. This is especially true in work environments where management can be younger than those they manage.
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