Is it easier to succeed when you are a young college graduate just stepping foot into a new career, or to change careers later in life once you have experience behind you? As you now know from my own experience I was being faced with this question – and still am. Although I have been immersed in the transition for some time now, my answer changes based on what day you ask me.
In school it is all about having the time and motivation to study, read assignments, write papers, and prepare for tests. In my late teens and twenties, my first go at college, I had fewer responsibilities but a busier social calendar. Back then I could just focus on school, rather than trying to juggle it with work. Now, my husband understands if we go out to dinner and then I came home to do homework. Back then, Friday and Saturday night had a magnetic pull to be out and about meeting friends so I wasn’t missing out on something everyone would be talking about until next weekend’s outings. When I was younger in college, the massive amount of work was overwhelming, and no teacher was helping us all figure out how to organize our time. The focus was on just getting through it all, and getting good grades to make my parents proud. As an adult going back to college, I had already learned time management and, through trial and error, how I studied best. Now I was the one paying for these classes, so I better get my money’s worth. I also knew this was my chance for a do-ever, a fresh start, and wanted to soak up all there was to learn, regardless of the grade (though let’s be honest, I still wanted to make my parents proud with those shiny A’s.)
In stepping into a new career, it’s all about the confidence and motivation to try something new, meet new people, and keep striving forward toward each new job goal. As an adult, my past work experiences left me knowing what to expect. I know how to be dependable and what I need to do to have a positive annual review. However, it also leaves me exhausted from already working 20 years, and predicting all the pitfalls that could turn something I like into just another job I have to get through again. When you are younger, coming at it fresh, you feel that you have worked your entire school life to finally get to this point where you can transition to no longer having to go to school every day, and finally get paid for being somewhere every day. You are still full of idealism and only see the potential good things to come waiting in front of you – i remember back then as my blissful oblivion days. The idea of that every week cash infusion brings dreams of all you can buy now that you’ve begun this new career, while later on, you tend to see it as the just a new means to pay all of your old bills.
Both life stages have their pros and cons, so I think the conclusion will be different for everyone. And like me, it could even be different depending what day you ask. For me, I got a little more out of school the second time around because I realized what a gift it was to be getting this second chance to pick what I want to be when I grow up. For me, I have more detailed ideas of exactly what I want my new career to look like. But experience has also grown a lot of fear inside me, and makes it a little bit more difficult to take each step because I am afraid of all the things that could go wrong along the way. So I guess for me, I am more nervous now, but more appreciative, of being at the starting line again later in life. But I guess the most important part is that I am there….. despite the fear….. trying.