Recently, while hanging out with some longtime girlfriends, we got to talking about "what's next" for us. We have all enjoyed (or are continuing to enjoy) satisfying careers that tapped our skills and interests, but none of us sees ourselves as retired (including one who already is retired, but "works" more than ever as a volunteer).
To the person, we all envisioned a future being just as busy as we are now, just in a different way, whether that means volunteering or starting a whole different career.
There's a term for what we've described: an encore career. Essentially, it's when people choose to use their talents and skills to pursue a passion or longtime interest that may or may not have anything to do with what they've spent their worklife doing. For instance, a high-powered business woman who decides to devote her time to training unskilled, poor women to prepare for their first job. And in doing so, she trades money for fulfillment.
Some reports suggest as many as 80+ percent of boomers will "re-career" in some way after they have reached the traditional retirement age of 62. I count myself among them.
That's one reason I so enjoyed hearing from Terry Nagel, managing editor of www.Encore.org this week. He pointed me toward a release about the winners of a recent contest in which boomers told their own stories about what they chose as their encore career and why. The stories are inspiring, unique and often unexpected.
But Encore goes a step farther by offering specific advice on how to know if you're ready for an encore career. The site even suggests where boomers may want to look for an encore career.
The boomer trend toward re-careering isn't driven just by economics. Sure, many boomers will continue working because their finances dictate that they do so, but the fact is the boomer generation is eager to give back and leave a legacy. And what they don't already know, they're willing to learn. That's one reason we see so many boomers going back to school, oftento community colleges, not to seek degrees but to learn more about a subject that's relevant to their encore interests. Look for colleges to make significant changes to their curricula, tuition structures and even class hours.
With unemployment headed north, boomers delaying retirement and an incoming president promoting change through more social engagement, we can expect to see all kinds of new flavors of boomer careers over the next several years.
They won't all rush to nonprofits, of course, which is why companies looking for reliable employees need to consider boomers who are looking for new careers, often before they're old enough to retire. I see all of these changes as tremendously positive and it excites me to think what might be next for me!
