04: Aged out: Making a career change over 50

Errol Griffiths spent decades in ad sales until he was aged out. Unsure of what to pursue next, he explored a few options that didn’t work out. He shares how he figured out his career switch at over age 50, and made his way into financial advising, where his age is now an asset with his clients and he can work as many more years as he wants.

Episode Highlights

• Be honest with yourself
• How to figure out what to pursue next
• Talk to people about what they do
• Rule out what you don’t want to do
• Ask people for what they see in you
• Applying your skill set to a new industry
• Going back to school at over age 50
• How being over 50 can be an asset in a new industry or profession
• The benefits of being a mature professional
• Choosing an industry where you won’t be aged out
• Advice for making a career switch at over age 50

Articles for a career switch over 50:

Flexjobs: 6 Tips for Starting a New Career at 50

AARP: Identifying Shortage Occupations and the Skills 50+ Workers Will Need, 2017-2020

LearnHowToBecome.org: The Complete Guide to Career Change After 50

TheBalanceCareers.com:  Top 10 Best Jobs for Women Over 50

TheMuse.com: 7 Tips to Help You Change Careers at (or After) Age 50


More episodes for making a career change after age 50:
Ep 16: Starting a new career after 50
Ep 18: The pros and cons of being a full-time author
Ep 21: A side hustle results in a career switch
Ep 23: How being bilingual helps your new career
Ep 32: How to make a career change after 50
Ep 41: Pursuing your passion at any age

Music credit: TimMoor from Pixabay

Podcast info:
What's your career switch? What do you think about this episode and the show? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Transcript

Lixandra: Hi everyone, I'm Lixandra Urresta, and this is Career Switch Podcast. This show is here to encourage you to take action with whatever career change you've been considering or are working on. In some episodes, I talk to people who've made their own career switch, whether by choice or circumstance. They share the good, the bad, and the truth about their journey, including what worked for them and what didn't. In other episodes, I speak with experts who offer their best career advice on issues that can come up during the process of making a career change. After all, it takes guts to switch things up, and it's not easy. However, it is possible. 

So, I hope you hear something in this episode, an idea, a suggestion, a piece of wisdom that'll spur you into action with your own career switch, whether it's taking that first bold step or trying something new. Welcome. I'm glad you're here. 

In today's episode, we tackle making a career switch when you're over 50. Errol Griffiths spent decades in ad sales until he was aged out. Unsure of what to pursue next, he explored a few options that didn't quite pan out. He shares how he took the time to rule out what he did not want to do to figure out his career switch. As a financial advisor for Prudential, his age is now an asset with his clients, and he can pretty much work for as many more years as he wants. 

Hi, Errol, thanks for joining us. Let's dive in. For most of your career, you were in ad sales, specifically for publications that focused on family life. What happened that led to your career switch?

Errol: Basically, I got aged out a little bit. I was in the business for thirty five years and I was very successful at it. There were very few people my age in the business doing what I was doing. Close a couple of titles that were my specialty areas so my position was eliminated. I wasn't ready to retire yet. So, you know, you do get to that point where you have to be practical and be honest with yourself and decide, ok, let me see what's next for me. I got to have a couple more tricks up my sleeve.

Lixandra: Did you know what you wanted to pursue next?

Errol: Absolutely not. The market changed, the business changed, the business models changed and I just didn't know where to go and what to do. It's hard when you're making a certain amount of money to just simply walk away and do nothing. So when the time came my comment to everybody is always when you get to the fork in the road take it. Got the fork in the road and I started looking to see what I wanted to do and tried to figure out what did I like doing, what was the best thing about what I did, and then started looking at industries where my skill set could translate.

Lixandra: Did you turn to any resources such as career seminars or career coaching specifically for career changers over 50?

Errol: No, not specifically. AARP had a number of seminars that I had listened to, but the research was more to determine that what I was thinking and what I was seeing was actually real as opposed to provide me with a roadmap to something else. And I, as a salesperson, I'm always out there hunting, so to speak. So hunting for a job, I knew that I would have to do it on my own.

Lixandra: So how did you go about figuring out what you wanted to do and what options did you explore along the way?

Errol: I talked just about to everybody that I knew, not about a job, but about what they were doing, how they were feeling about what they were doing, how long they think they were going to be doing this. And they provide different kinds of insights. And at the end of the day, I ruled out more things than I wanted to pursue. So after you rule out all the things that you absolutely don't want to do, there are a finite number of things that you can focus on. And then you focus on that and you think, well, what do I bring to the party? How can I make myself so useful that you guys cannot walk away from me? Out of that, people had a lot of ideas and what they couldn't do themselves, they could refer you to somebody who could.

Lixandra: What opportunities did you try along the way?

Errol: I love design. I love art. So I talked to Interior Designer, the magazine. It's a different industry. You know, it's publishing. It's very different. And after three interviews, I met with one of the owners. And after that conversation, I kind of decided that, yeah, I'd love to be offered a job, but I'm not sure I really want to do this. I was not offered a position.

Lixandra: After a couple of more tries in publishing, what did you conclude?

Errol: In the end, I thought, you know, what I wanted to do was to help people. I'm told that I'm very approachable and people easily share information with me. So I thought maybe I'd apply that skill set. And I thought about teaching. That would be very, very rewarding to me. I thought, let me look into it further. And I did. Um, I was late to the game. Usually there's a time frame where you have to make the applications and certain things are done in order to make the next cohort. Um, and I was late, but I was encouraged to participate and run through it from the folks at the board of ed. And, um, I did it. And at the end, you know, I was not selected.

Lixandra: You applied two more times, but unfortunately were not chosen. Why do you think that is?

Errol: There is definitely a preference for people who A, have experience or B, who are considerably younger and they're making an investment. Okay. So I understand that. And they will be better, getting a person who's going to be in the system a lot longer. But I thought that I could make a difference because I was a black male who was a role model in my business and I could be in the system. I thought I could really make an impact there, but that did not happen. I understand. I didn't feel bitter about it. I didn't feel that I was wasting my time.

Lixandra: So what made you think about looking into financial advising?

Errol: And then I thought, OK, the one group of people who are growing are people who are mature. People are living longer. No question. So they're going to be more and more of them. And there's going to be a need for people to work with those folks and help guide them. And that's why I chose to move in this direction away from education. So I started with insurance. Insurance is fairly straightforward. There are multiple products. How do you, as a customer, know which one you should write for you? Somebody in their 50s is a different product than what somebody in 23 I would recommend. It makes a big difference to understand the different parts of it in a simple manner, and that was appealing to me.

Lixandra: You had to take a number of courses to get licensed. What was it like to go back to school?

Errol: Going back to school was not appealing, but being in a position where you can actually help somebody and the rigorousness of the state regulations requires it. So I did it, and it really, really opened a lot of doors. So you take all these courses and then you get the tests, the state-run tests, and it's pass or fail.

Lixandra: Those courses are pretty rigorous. What got you through them?

Errol: my desire to do what I wanted to do. And that is what carried me through staying up 15 hours of studying online, taking pop quizzes.

Lixandra: So you've been a financial advisor now for about a year and a half. What role does your age play in your financial advising?

Errol: Well, age does help. It does help when you're dealing with somebody who is above 40, 45, because the life experience is relatable to some degree. It's sometimes challenging to talk to people seriously about what really concerns them. People don't want to necessarily open up. So there's a sense of vulnerability. I can use my years of experience to make that person feel comfortable sharing, because if they don't tell me the truth, I can't really help them. Whatever I recommend is not going to be right. I think the longer you're in this business, the better you get at it. I don't know if it's maturity that does that, or maybe it's just simply that you have more information to work with. You're building information. You're building on top of things.

Lixandra: Now that you've made your career switch, what do you personally like about your new profession as a financial advisor?

Errol: Everybody has something unique to offer. I like to think that I rarely ever speak to somebody that I don't learn something from them. I'm all about learning, all about understanding. I know the people that I'm talking to some of their challenges. I think a lot of people, especially when you're dealing with finances, people are very uncomfortable and therefore sometimes you have to make them feel a little bit better and that there's nothing wrong with it. You know, some people have a bigger pile than other people, but you can still do a lot with whatever you have and making small inroads. You know, whether it's savings, whether it's reducing debt, makes a difference. And if the person can be persuaded that that's a good thing, then they will feel better about it. So that makes me feel good. It makes me feel good when people refer clients to me. That tells me that, you know, they're confident in what I'm doing for them and it works for them.

Lixandra: What is the likelihood of getting aged out of this new industry? Was that a consideration for you when making your career switch?

Errol: Absolutely. Somebody can't just come and replace me because they don't have my context. They don't have my relationships. So there is an element where you don't really age out, even if you want to.

Lixandra: So you can work for as many more years as you'd like.

Errol: As many as I want. And that was one of the things that was stated to me about this opportunity.

Lixandra: You're currently a financial advisor for Prudential. How did you get into the company? Did you apply, network your way in, or did they reach out to you?

Errol: I applied. Having worked for the previous insurance company, which was part of Chubb, a lot of recruiters from different companies would see my information. They would see that I already have a license for health and travel and accidental insurance. They would reach out to me and said, gee, we have a great opportunity. And they tell me what the compensation process is. And they tell me that I can build a business here. I'm my own boss. They will even help set me up in an office if I wanted to. I can work with partners. I can hire an assistant. And they will subsidize the cost of that. So there are a lot of all these different things that are happening. And I get a ton of invitations for conversations all the time. But when I saw this one, I mean, there was Allstate and there was Nationwide and there are all these different insurance companies that were reaching out.

Lixandra: You actually met with Prudential.

Errol: I spoke with the person who was recruiting and had a conversation. And she was not an external recruiter. She was an internal recruiter. So I could ask her questions about Prudential. Made a big difference. She invited me to a meeting, which was more to present who they are and what they do and what they're looking for and so on and what the opportunity is. I met with them. I listened. I was impressed by what I heard. I also noticed that there are people who have been working for the company for thirty five years, forty years. That tells you something about a company. And since I'm so sensitive to the aging out process, it was comfortable these people were vital they were doing a great job doing it for a long time to love the company. After that conversation, I expressed an interest and they told me, you know, we can't officially hire you onto your license and you have your registration, but they would help me. I met with one of the regional managers and I told him what I wanted. I told him what I needed in order to make a commitment. Everything seemed to have been find with them met the managing director of the group and also felt they were very inviting and welcoming and i said okay let's let's rock and roll how long is going to take and what do i need to do and i do it you know they set a schedule six weeks to get all the different tests that i need to get done and how to go about doing it connected me with the organizations that do it and everything else set me up even before i was an employee uh and i had a contract i spoke to them just about every day just to keep on track They can be demoralizing, you know, when you're by yourself studying 15 hours a day, taking a break, going back and doing all this stuff continuously. But they kept up and I appreciated that.

Lixandra: What advice do you have for our listeners who may be over 50 and are in the process of making their career switch?

Errol: I would say the first thing that comes to mind is take a deep breath. Just take a deep breath and relax a little bit. People always feel that there's a desperation because somehow the end is near seems more real than not. So I think that the presentation, it's less about your skills and more about your presentation. And when people say to me, I'm not sure this person is going to be a good fit. What they're saying is the unspeakable really is that I'm not gonna be comfortable with this person or this person is gonna be too needy or I'm gonna feel like i'm talking to my grandfather and I you know so all of these different things come to mind. If it's not about money, you're 55 or 60 and you've worked hard and you've built a base. So if you needed to retire, you could, but you want to maintain vitality and you want to do these things and you want to make that kind of contribution. Then think about your passion. Think about what you enjoy, what you love best about your last two jobs, and then focus on a role that does that. Somehow you'll figure a way to make money doing that. It's not waiting, it's moving. Keep moving. A shark never sleeps, it just keeps moving. And more often than not, you're going to find something that you would not even imagine was there.

Lixandra: Well, you're certainly a great example of your own advice, Errol.

Errol: It's been an interesting exploration of my journey and my odyssey.

Lixandra: Thanks to Errol Griffiths for being our guest today and for openly sharing what he went through to figure out his career switch. You can find links to online articles for more help with making a career switch when you're over 50 in our show notes. 

You can find links to the resources mentioned in this episode and more helpful information in the show notes and on our website, careerswitchpod.com. While you're there, join our mailing list and follow us on Instagram and Twitter at careerswitchpod. So what's your career switch? Are you excited to take action after listening to this episode? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. We'd love to know, along with any feedback you have about the show. We're a new podcast, so please rate, review, and share with your friends and colleagues. It'll help get the show out there. Thanks for listening today. Till next time. The music heard on this podcast is by Tim Moore from Pixabay.