Any suggestions for a midlife career change?

Hello - I'm 41, married two kids (boys 15 and 12). My wife is an underpaid public school teacher and I'm a Pharmaceutical Company Marketing Director. She makes very little money - I make a fair amount (though living in NJ it doesn't go that far!).

Our older son is autistic and making my travel at times perilous for the family I leave behind for up to a week or sometimes more. I'm also finding that my 'passion' at work is dwindling due to the 'internal' focus of corporate hierarchy rather than true engagement with customers in the real world.

I have a Masters in Biological Sciences and would love to teach (but not enought money) or get into health care (nursing, physicians assistant, other????).

Anyone out there done something similar for comparable reasons? Love to learn from someone who's made a big change.

One way to get a change of perspective and still build on skills you already have is to work in the pharmaceutical industry from the agency side - think of all the vendors you are using now and what they do - advertising, medical education, etc. Any of those appeal to you?

Hello - I'm in that same age bracket as you but single with no kids (that I know of ...). I was working a full-time and a part-time job and neither position was totally fulfilling. What I wanted to do was write professionally (took some related training in this a few years ago and have only dabbled in freelance writing ever since, but I have been published numerous times).

After intense self-evaluation and internal deliberation, I decided to quit the full-time job to pursue the writing more seriously. In keeping the part-time job, I have kept a financial safety net (small, but it's still there ...).

Granted, things will be more difficult for you. While you have the benefit of a double income, you must also care for your son. I am, however, a huge believer in job satisfaction (you must enjoy what you do for work or what's the point?).

My suggestion to you would be to discuss decreasing your work hours with your employer (a possible white lie might be to explain that you need more time to care for your son ...). With having more time, look for part-time teaching opportunities (maybe working at some local community college or teaching outreach courses of some kind). This will provide you a chance to test the teaching waters with little commitment required.

I am immensely happier since giving up my full-time job to write. While writing - like teaching - is not going to make me rich, it is my passion. I urge you to make some changes in your life and follow your dreams. Job dissatisfaction can lead to all sorts of ugly outcomes including depression, relationship problems, etc.

Best of luck with it!

I am of the same age range with children of the same ages. I don't know anything about your career field but I do understand the midlife crisis. You could say I can speak of it from two points of view, mine and my husbands. My husband recently wound down his thriving Marketing business to a bare trickle in an effort to be a writer. This was a very scary thing to do and it was not easy to decide. We felt the risks were great but in the end your health and family happiness has to come first. Despite producing 3 books over the past few years and continuing to run his power earning business (at a severly lower level of production )we were not making enough money to survive. We both knew we could not carry on. We decided to sell our beautiful home and clear the debts. This was hard as it was a heritage home which we had lovingly renovated and restored. It was like our baby and giving it up was gut wrenching. However, just doing this step brought huge relief to us both and has given us time to get clarity before making the next step. This worked because we had enough equity in our home and property values had gone up hugely since we bought some 12 years back. You might be able to consider that option too if you are in a similar position. Now that the debt is gone (we don't really miss our house by the way) we still have the problem of producing enough money to carry on daily. We haven't solved this yet but I can say that it helps to think in terms of big picture strokes. For example consider where you will be at the end of this year and in 5 years instead of at the end of next month. You may need to loose a little before you can refocus and move forward in your new direction. Thats ok so long as you have foreseen it and have put plans in place to allow for this. We always have a fall back. In our case if it all falls apart we will once again sell our home but this time we will down size. We think we have bought well and might even profit if we have to do that step, which will be a bonus.
As for me, I am a trained teacher now after having a high flying career as an HR Manager. I don't want to manage a class full time but the money would be better if I did. Instead, I am tutoring special needs children from home. This gives me flexibility to continue to be Mom at home as well as a way to earn income and enjoy using my brain. Its working quite well. By working from home you can get all kinds of tax benefits too. At the end of the day, we chose to follow our hearts instead of the money train and are all much healthier and happier than ever. The children actually know their Dad and we are all laughing and smiling again (even if we can't afford a new TV!). I hope our story is helpful and gives you some insight. Good Luck with your decision and always be prepared to think of solutions outside the square. You may be surprised how well they can work!