Nov

11

If my dad can change, so can you

Posted by Dan

November 11, 2008 |

Yesterday I wrote about the changing reality of work. Namely, there are very few people out there who can count on job stability. There is no guarantee that your job won’t be in jeopardy tomorrow, next week, next month, whenever.

I don’t mean to be a downer. So here’s a positive example: My dad.

My dad, who’s in his mid-60s, worked for 30-plus years at the same printing company in Chicago. Part of that time he spent as a typesetter. The rest as a proofreader, making sure that ad copy didn’t contain any typos, that everything on a page lined up properly.

His industry changed, though. He could see that his company — thanks to technology advances, mainly — was going to change, too. It was going to shrink, if not disappear altogether. So, in his early 50s, my dad left the job he held for three decades and began a new career, with the U.S. Postal Service. Today, he drives a mail truck to and from O’Hare and Midway airports. It’s a completely different job than the one he previously held. But he enjoys it. And he’s looking forward to a well-deserved retirement in just a few years.

The point of all this? My dad accepted a career change, when he was in his 50s.  That isn’t easy. But he did it. If he can do it, so can you.

I’m going through a bit of this right now. For years, I’ve made the bulk of my money through freelance writing for newspapers and magazines. Today, though, many of my formerly steady markets are drying up. A lot of this has to do with the crummy economy and low ad sales, of course. Some has to do with more writing jobs migrating toward the Internet where pay levels, unfortunately, are not nearly as high as they are for print media. I’m adjusting, though, too. And though it’s taking me more work to make the same amount of money, I’m making it through this tough economy.

Don’t despair because the work world is changing. Adjust. It’s all any of us can do.


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