Midlife Crisis at 30?
From July 2006
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Berry’s story reflects a growing trend among employees under the age of 35. According to a white paper presented by Next Generation Consulting, by the time they’re 32, today’s workers, especially in creative endeavors, have had an average of nine jobs and have thought about or gone back to school and thought about or started their own business.
Unlike their parents and grandparents — who stayed in the same job for 25 or 30 years — today’s younger employees are more accustomed to change, says Helen Scully, president of Scully and Associates, a career-coaching firm in Roseville.
“People under 35 were raised to recognize they have choices in life,” Scully says. “They also may never have assessed their career choices and once they have been in a job for awhile, they realize it’s not a good fit.”
In her practice, Scully takes clients through an online assessment to determine the types of careers in which they might be happiest.
“I tell my clients they need to be clear about their skills and values,” she says. “As you get older, your work priorities can also change. In your 20s you might value flexibility and freedom, but in your 30s, after you’re married and have children, you might want a job that offers financial security and stability.”
Years ago, Scully says, employees stayed in jobs fearing that if they left they would earn the stigma of being “a job hopper.” But today it’s not uncommon to see an employee stay in a job for five or 10 years and to have several different jobs or careers during his or her lifetime. In fact, there are fewer members of Generation X than there are baby boomers, which will result in a shortage of 10 million workers across all employment categories by 2008, according to Next Generation’s report.
Authors Lia Macko and Kerry Rubin first profiled the phenomenon of young employees seeking change in their book, “Midlife Crisis at 30: How the Stakes Have Changed for a New Generation and What To Do About It” (Rodale, 2004).
Over the course of two years, Macko and Rubin interviewed more than 100 college-educated women, ages 25 to 37, across the boundaries of salary, race, geography and experience. They discovered a generation having its midlife crisis — at 30. But unlike their father’s midlife crisis, they found today’s young workers weren’t asking, “Where has all the time gone?” but rather, “Where is all the time going? Where is my life heading?” And, more specifically, “How am I going to have a career and a life?”
Allison Brennan, 36, an Elk Grove mother of five, began to question her professional life shortly after the birth of her third child. “I tried to figure out a way to stay home with my kids,” says Brennan, who worked as a senior consultant for the California Legislature. “Since I loved to write stories, I committed myself to finishing one of the books I’d started, then seeing it published.”
Continued...
Unlike their parents and grandparents — who stayed in the same job for 25 or 30 years — today’s younger employees are more accustomed to change, says Helen Scully, president of Scully and Associates, a career-coaching firm in Roseville.
“People under 35 were raised to recognize they have choices in life,” Scully says. “They also may never have assessed their career choices and once they have been in a job for awhile, they realize it’s not a good fit.”
In her practice, Scully takes clients through an online assessment to determine the types of careers in which they might be happiest.
“I tell my clients they need to be clear about their skills and values,” she says. “As you get older, your work priorities can also change. In your 20s you might value flexibility and freedom, but in your 30s, after you’re married and have children, you might want a job that offers financial security and stability.”
Years ago, Scully says, employees stayed in jobs fearing that if they left they would earn the stigma of being “a job hopper.” But today it’s not uncommon to see an employee stay in a job for five or 10 years and to have several different jobs or careers during his or her lifetime. In fact, there are fewer members of Generation X than there are baby boomers, which will result in a shortage of 10 million workers across all employment categories by 2008, according to Next Generation’s report.
Authors Lia Macko and Kerry Rubin first profiled the phenomenon of young employees seeking change in their book, “Midlife Crisis at 30: How the Stakes Have Changed for a New Generation and What To Do About It” (Rodale, 2004).
Over the course of two years, Macko and Rubin interviewed more than 100 college-educated women, ages 25 to 37, across the boundaries of salary, race, geography and experience. They discovered a generation having its midlife crisis — at 30. But unlike their father’s midlife crisis, they found today’s young workers weren’t asking, “Where has all the time gone?” but rather, “Where is all the time going? Where is my life heading?” And, more specifically, “How am I going to have a career and a life?”
Allison Brennan, 36, an Elk Grove mother of five, began to question her professional life shortly after the birth of her third child. “I tried to figure out a way to stay home with my kids,” says Brennan, who worked as a senior consultant for the California Legislature. “Since I loved to write stories, I committed myself to finishing one of the books I’d started, then seeing it published.”
Continued...
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