The Mid-Career Success Guide: Planning for the Second Half of Your Working Life

Most people realize that the employment deal has changed: the days of lifetime employment, or even a clear trajectory up the corporate ladder, are long gone. Dozens of surveys merely quantify what we all know—that education, hard work, and loyalty are no longer enough to guarantee job security. People in mid-career today want to take greater control of their working lives for many reasons. But they are not sure of how to do that in a working world full of change, uncertainty, disappearing career paths, downsizings, and early retirement packages. In The Mid-Career Success Guide, Sally Power draws from her research in management and career development to explain the sources and implications of these trends, and provide solutions to the challenges they present.

The book introduces the Employability Plus model, an approach to career management that leaves behind the traditional job- or organization-centric perspectives by focusing on the individual's work, as a portfolio of skills that can be shaped to their interests and to their employers' needs and desires. Moreover, Power explores how individuals can make the time to develop new skills and knowledge, even when they are employed full-time, in order to expand the array of options available. Featuring real-life examples, interactive exercises, and an appendix of research tools and methods, The Mid-Career Success Guide offers fresh strategies and tactics for overcoming job stress and uncertainty, and proactively managing your career in midlife and beyond. In addition, it will serve as an essential resource for managers, human resource and career counseling professionals, and professors and students of organizational behavior and workplace trends.