Career Confidence Over 40
Following is a guest post from Jackie Williams, Women’s Career & Leadership Coach.
Details of how you can get support from Jackie are at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!
Are you experiencing a crisis of confidence in your career?
A career in later life can bring a number of challenges which can feed directly into our confidence levels.
I’m going to explore some of the challenges here that may be causing you to feel a dip in confidence at work but I’ll also be sharing some of the benefits of being over 40 in the workplace. And yes, there are lots!
First up, the challenges…
Age Discrimination
Evidence shows that age discrimination at work is a very real challenge for people later in life, in particular for people over the age of 55.
Plus there is a double whammy because this impact is greater for women.
Some of this comes from biases within society but we also hold biased beliefs about ourselves. We will subconsciously – or sometimes consciously – be aware of these biases so that in turn impacts how we feel about ourselves as we get older.
Have you ever lamented about ‘getting old’ when you can’t do something in the same way you once did?
I’m an older Mum – I have a 6-year-old son and I’m 47. So when I have to ask him to read a label for me or when he can use his computer game controller more easily than me I have been known to say ‘oh man I feel old’.
Saying these things about ourselves, can’t not impact our confidence levels.
Menopause
Menopause comes with a whole host of symptoms that can distract us from other parts of our lives.
Handling the changes that come with peri-menopause and menopause can have a huge impact on our confidence levels.
I experienced feelings of ‘being past it’ and ‘having no further purpose’ when I realised I was in peri-menopause.
Again, these thoughts are bound to impact our confidence levels.
Technology
As with my son being able to use his game controllers so much more easily than me, other technologies in the workplace that perhaps younger people grasp a little more quickly can certainly impact our confidence levels at work.
And clearly, menopause symptoms can contribute to that too. Tiredness, brain fog, memory lapses and concentration problems caused by menopause are clearly going to impact how quickly we learn.
But it’s important to say that, this doesn’t mean we CAN’T learn new technology!
Parenting and Caring Responsibilities
Let’s face it, women are still more likely to have the lion’s share of parenting and caring responsibilities. This is going to influence how much time and energy we have to dedicate to our careers.
When we’re so busy juggling all of life’s balls, it’s no wonder our confidence gets knocked when it comes to our careers.
A number of challenges then that women over 40 face in relation to their careers can severely impact confidence levels.
And when our confidence is impacted we will hold ourselves back. Even if we really want to either advance our careers or change direction completely, these challenges may be enough to de-rail us, if we don’t get conscious of them.
Once we have become conscious of them and we recognise the challenges we have, we can deal with them. We can seek support where it’s needed, we can challenge the biases in others and most importantly in ourselves. And then we become empowered!
We become empowered to move ourselves in the direction that we want to go with our careers.
But as well as getting conscious about the challenges we face and dealing with those, there are also plenty of BENEFITS of being older in the workplace and it’s important we recognise those too….
Benefits of being Older in the workplace
- Skills and Experience
We’ve acquired a ton of skills and experiences during our careers. Way more than our younger colleagues. Let’s get clear on what they are and how they add value.
- Strong Work Ethic
Older workers typically have a much stronger work ethic and tend to take fewer days off. I was definitely more interested in my social life in my twenties than my career! But my priorities changed as I got older.
- Knowledge and Networks
People in the later part of their careers have gained huge amounts of knowledge and built so many more relationships. This is critical for success in the workplace!
- Positive Role Models
With our strong work ethic, skills, knowledge and networks we are brilliant role models for younger workers. We are invaluable for the training of the next generation.
- Resilience and Adaptability
My bet is you’ve been through lots of change over the years at work. You’ve seen managers change, structures re-organised and new ways of working introduced. And you’ve lived to tell the tale!
This means you’ve developed a bucket load of resilience and adaptability skills along the way which are crucial in an ever-changing employment landscape.
The key to confidence at work then is to recognise our strengths and focus on these rather than dwelling on what we can’t do.
Take Action
Sometimes though, low confidence at work can come from other sources – not just being older.
Maybe you have experienced those feelings of low confidence for a long time.
Perhaps it shows up as imposter syndrome – worrying that you’re going to get caught out at any moment for not really being good at what you do.
If this is you then I’d like to offer you my free Imposter Syndrome guide.
It explains why you might experience imposter syndrome and provides some techniques to overcome it so you can feel confident in your own abilities.
You can access the guide HERE.
Jackie Williams
Women’s Career & Leadership Coach
Jackie is a Women’s Career & Leadership Coach. She helps her clients to thrive at work by supporting them to:
- grow in confidence
- develop resilience
- build successful working relationships (and navigate challenging ones)
- manage their time for high productivity
- hone their management and leadership skills
- create a healthy work-life balance
This blog looks at some of the challenges facing women over 40 in their careers but also explores where they have a competitive edge over their younger colleagues!