Midlife Crisis?

Sinead Hasson asks ‘what’s next?’ for senior researchers approaching their career mid-point.

20 years is a long time in any industry. In the early days, hopping from one role to another barely raises an eyebrow. A healthy ascension through the junior ranks to a position of seniority is a challenging and gratifying journey.

But what then? Many find that the higher they climb, the harder it becomes to keep moving up. Then, arresting questions start to set in. Is this level enough? Am I satisfied? Am I still learning? Have I hit a career plateau? What’s next?

At some point all researchers have found themselves re-evaluating what they want from their careers, having concluded that past ambitions no longer fit with their current way of thinking. The triggers here are varied; priorities can change dramatically over a decade or two. Economic conditions, personal relationships, children, housing, travel, even hobbies can instil a new way of looking at the working world. Others simply find that life higher up the ladder is different, somehow, to what they expected. Whatever the reason, switching jobs after 20 years is likely to have a greater impact than it did before. With this in mind, if you’re mulling a change, it’s more important than ever to get it right.

It’s a popular misconception amongst ‘mid-termers’ that research employers are only interested in young rising talent. Such candidates would do well to remember that diversity is not only about gender and ethnicity, it’s about age and experience too. Sure, an employer will assess both early- and mid-term candidates for ambition, but when level pegging, a skill-set battle-hardened by real world experiences counts for a lot. Remember too that today’s insight professionals are being recruited by a much broader spectrum of organisations than previous years, so a practical appreciation of how research and insight can be leveraged for the benefit of the whole business, is becoming increasingly attractive. And that’s hardly something that can be picked up while learning the ropes.

Performing a brutally honest self-appraisal can be an invaluable and revealing process, and one that I highly recommend. Treat yourself like a research brief. Define your personal objectives. Be ruthless about your current chances of reaching them. This will help to define precisely what it is you are looking to change. Is it more pay? More responsibility? Greater diversity? Perhaps it’s less of something. Less responsibility. Less time in the office. Less rigidity.

Don’t fall into the trap of using experience as the only string to your bow. If your skills and methodologies need a refresh, then take the courses. This will boost both your confidence and employability. A strong personal brand can also make a difference. How visible and how credible are you online? It’s true that age loosely tallies with social media usage, but this is the digital age, so you absolutely must treat LinkedIn to the same dotage as your resume. You may not have the time to engage in LinkedIn groups, but your profile page should be exemplary. Companies will seek you out on other channels, too, so if you are locatable in the Twittersphere make sure you have something relevant and interesting to say. Blogging provides a window into your expertise and opinion, but also takes time. Employers don’t like half-measures, so do, or do not. There is no try (thanks Yoda).

Offline, engaging in industry conferences and networking events can reinvigorate your contacts book and generate opportunities. Don’t forget too that it’s possible to remain in the industry without being on the front line. Now, more than ever, research and insight skills are transferable to related business functions.

Our industry will continue to be influenced by advances in both technology and methodology. Researchers, at all levels, must keep their skills sharp if they want to keep pace. Mid-termers that attend to this put themselves in a commanding position. Experience still counts, even in this brave new world.

Join the debate, tweet @SineadH.

Sinead Hasson is Founder and Managing Director of specialist recruitment consultancy, Hasson Associates.