The Mid-career Success Guide: Planning for the Second Half of Your Working Life

Recent surveys of today's labor force merely quantify what we all know: education, hard work, and loyalty are no longer enough to guarantee job security. The days of lifetime employment, or even a clear trajectory up the corporate ladder, are long gone. Mid-career professionals who have developed specialized skills and reached management positions may be particularly vulnerable--easy targets for "early retirement" programs. And yet with the greater challenges to career management come a wider array of opportunities to develop new skills and explore second or third careers. In The Mid-Career Success Guide, Sally Powers draws from her research in organizational psychology and career development to present a new approach to managing careers midstream, with a focus on: (1) defining your mid-career objectives; (2) taking greater responsibility for anticipating employers' needs; (3) developing a portfolio of skills; and (4) balancing work and life goals. Introducing the "Employability Plus" model and a process for identifying your "personalized work focus," and featuring case examples, interactive exercises, and an appendix of research tools and methods, The Mid-Career Success Guide offers fresh strategies and tactics for overcoming job stress and uncertainty and proactively managing the latter stages of your career.

Sally J. Power is Professor of Management, College of Business, University of St. Thomas, in Minneapolis.