[Survival Strategy] When it becomes painful to fit yourself into a job description... A way of working that turns your experience into solutions for someone else's problems

After quitting a job,
I think the first thing you consider is "looking for the next job."

Looking at job sites.
Going to the public employment office.
Consulting with a recruitment agent.
Asking acquaintances for referrals.

Of course, that is a natural course of action.

You need to earn an income.
You have a life to maintain.
Some people have families.
Therefore, looking for the next place of employment is a realistic option.

However, there is one thing I would like you to consider here.

In the coming era, is it really enough to just "look for job openings"?

Especially for mid-career changes or second careers after reaching middle age, simply trying to fit yourself into a job description can significantly narrow your options.

Age.
Salary conditions.
Industry experience.
Qualifications.
Work location.
Immediate readiness.

Job descriptions list the conditions required by the company.

When you try to fit yourself into those, you inevitably end up thinking, "Is there any job I can apply for?"

Of course, there is a path to re-employment by applying for job openings.

However, that is not the only way to work.

From now on, I believe we need a perspective of not just "finding" work, but "creating" work based on our own experience.

The pain of fitting yourself into a job description

When you are looking for a job,
your spirits can gradually be worn down.

In my case, I was in my second year out of college when I quit my job.

I didn't have any achievements I could talk about with pride.
I didn't have long professional experience.
I didn't have any specialized skills or qualifications.

I thought I had no experience and couldn't do anything.

Even when I looked at job descriptions, I didn't think there were any jobs I could apply for.

"What can I do?"
"Do I have no choice but to return to the same education industry?"
"If I don't want that, is my only option a part-time job?"

That is what I was thinking about.

On the other hand, for those who have gained a certain amount of experience,
there may be a different kind of pain.

Is it impossible at my age?
Will this experience not be valued at other companies?
Is it impossible unless I take a pay cut?
In the end, is there no choice but to return to the same industry?

Those without experience have the anxiety of not having experience.
Those with experience have the anxiety of whether that experience will be useful elsewhere.

Even if the positions are different, the root question is the same.

What can I do?
Where can my experience be useful?
How should I go about creating work from now on?

When you try to fit yourself into a job description,
your potential inevitably starts to look smaller.

Do I meet the requirements?
How about my age?
Is my experience sufficient?
Is the salary appropriate?
Will I be seen as someone who can contribute immediately?

If you only look at those things,
you end up measuring your own value solely by a company's recruitment criteria.

But what you should really be thinking about
is not just whether you fit the job description.

Whose problems can your experience and unique perspectives be used to solve?

By starting your thinking from here,
I believe the way you view work will change a little.

Work is born from 'someone's problem'

In the first place, what is work?

When you get down to it,it is 'solving someone's problem'.

Wanting to increase sales.
Unable to hire people.
Employees not developing.
Unable to disseminate information.
Work is becoming dependent on specific individuals.
Unable to hand over to a successor.
The business owner has no one to consult with.
Unable to put one's thoughts into words well.

Work is born where these kinds of problems exist.

The jobs listed in job descriptions are not
the only jobs that exist in the world.

In fact, there are many more problems that have not yet become job descriptions.

Especially in small and medium-sized enterprises and local settings,
even though there are challenges,
it is not uncommon for them not to have been carved out as clear jobs.

"I want to consult with someone."
"I want a little help."
"I want someone to organize this."
"I want someone to think about this with me."
"I want an outside perspective."

These kinds of needs are rarely found in job postings.

However, the seeds of work are certainly there.

How can I use my experience for these problems?

By thinking this way,
work changes from something you search for
into something you create.

Converting your experience into the "other party's challenges"

What is necessary to create work
is not just talking about your experience as it is.

What is important is converting your experience into solving the other party's problems.

For example, for someone who has worked in sales,
simply saying "I have sales experience" is weak.

If you rephrase that as,
"I can organize sales pipelines for small and medium-sized enterprises"
"I can support building relationships with existing customers"
"I can help create effective sales proposal materials"
"I can support the development of young sales staff"
, then the
value to the other partybecomes easier to see.

For someone who has been involved in education,
just saying "I have 10 years of teaching experience"
might not convey the value to the other party.

What is important is to put into words how that experience can help with the other party's specific problems.

For example,

"No matter how many times I explain it to employees, they don't seem to understand"
"Subordinates and young staff aren't able to think and act on their own"

In response to such worries,

"I can organize information in an order that the other party can understand and present it in a way that gets through"
"Through questioning, I can draw out the other party's thoughts and create a state where they can act on their own"

If you express it this way, it is conveyed not just as mere teaching experience,
but as the ability to solve the other party's problems.

For someone with management experience,
instead of "I have management experience,"

"I can support the retention of young employees"
"I can step in between management and the front lines to organize issues"
I think you could express it like this.

In this way, instead of just listing your background,
put into words how it will be useful to the other party.

That is the first step to creating your own work.

You don't have to start a business right away

When people hear "creating work," some immediately think they "must start a business."

However, you don't need to establish a company from the start.
You don't need to create a grand business plan.
You don't need to aim for huge sales right away.

First, you should just try it on a small scale.

Give advice to an acquaintance.
Help out with local activities.
Host a small study group.
Share your thoughts on social media.
Try offering a service for free or at a low price.
Ask people where your experience might be useful.

Through these small actions, you will begin to see who needs your experience.

If you try to create a perfect product from the start, you will become paralyzed.

What is important is to first encounter people's problems.

What are they struggling with?
Where are they getting stuck?
What are they unable to put into words?
What kind of support would help them move forward?

By listening to those things, you will see the value you can provide.

Look at "what is needed" rather than "what you can do"

When trying to create work, many people first think about "what they can do."

Of course, that is important.

However, that alone does not make a job.

To become a job, it needs to connect with what the other person is looking for.

What you can do. What the other person is struggling with. Work is born where those two overlap.

Experience that you thought had no value can sometimes be a great help to someone else.

Things you have done as a matter of course. Things people often ask you for advice about. Things you can continue doing without feeling burdened for some reason. Things people around you say "that's helpful" about.

Within those things lie the seeds of work.

Conversely, even if you think you are good at something,
it is unlikely to become a job if the other party does not need it.

That is precisely why asking questions is necessary for creating work.

“What are you struggling with?”
“Where are you stuck?”
“What is not organized?”
“What kind of support would help you move forward?”

By engaging with people with these questions in mind, your own role becomes visible.

People who create their own work put their roles into words

People who are creating their own work put their roles into words.

Saying “I can do anything” does not get the message across.

In fact, the more you say you can do anything,
the less the other person knows what to ask you for.

What is important is to clarify who you are delivering value to and what that value is.

“I can consult on anything.”
“I can help with various things.”
“I can provide support by utilizing my experience.”

At first glance, these words sound positive.

However, from the other person's perspective, they are also expressions that make it difficult to know what to ask for.

What business owners and managers are looking for is not vague ability.

“I want to organize the thoughts in my head.”
“My interviews with employees are not going well.”
“I cannot put my company's strengths into words well.”
“I have experience, but I cannot move forward with confidence.”

They want to know how you will solve these specific problems.

That is why you need to put your role into words that match the other person's troubles.

For example,

“I act as a consultant for small business owners to organize their thoughts and consider their next move.”

“I support companies struggling with employee development by designing interviews and dialogues using questioning techniques.”

“I work with business operators who cannot articulate their company's strengths to organize their messaging and how they present their business.”

I provide support for people who have experience but lack confidence, helping them articulate their own value.

When you put it into words like this, it becomes easier for the other person to think, 'In that case, I want to consult with you.'

Work is not created just by having ability.

It is created when what the other person is struggling with connects with what you can do.

To achieve that, it is necessary not just to talk about your experience, but to convey it as value for the other person.

There are paths you cannot see just by looking for job openings

I do not intend to deny the value of re-employment or changing jobs.

Applying for job openings and working within an organization is an important path.
Earning a stable income is also important.
There are also jobs that can only be done within a company.

However, there are paths that you cannot see just by looking for job openings.

Using your experience for someone else's problems.
Offering small consultations.
Getting involved in the issues of local communities or small and medium-sized enterprises.
Connecting with people who resonate with your ideas through sharing information.
Creating services, courses, or support menus based on your experience.

These ways of working are not listed on job postings.

That is precisely why you need to find them for yourself.

In the coming era, work is not just something given to you by a company.

It is also something you create within your relationships with others, based on your own experience.

Your experience still has uses

As you get older, you might find yourself thinking, 'What can I possibly do at this point?'

I can't keep up with new technology.
Younger people learn faster.
I don't have as much physical stamina as I used to.
Age is a disadvantage in the job market.

There will be times when you feel that way.

However, there are also things you possess precisely because you have aged.

The experience of listening to people's worries.
The experience of having seen things on the front lines.
The experience of having failed.
The experience of having struggled within an organization.
The experience of having faced customers.
The experience of having nurtured someone.

If you can articulate them well, they have the potential to be useful to someone.

However, experience alone does not automatically become a job.

You need to inventory your experience, connect it to the other party's challenges, and communicate it in easy-to-understand language.

Only when you have done that can your experience become the seed of a job.

From finding work to creating it

As corporate restructuring and early retirement programs increase, what is important when thinking about your future second career is not limiting your options only to job postings.

Of course, it is necessary to look for work. Re-employment is also a realistic and important option.

However, in an era where early retirement and voluntary resignation programs are carried out due to company circumstances, if you think about your second career only in terms of 'which company to join next,' your options will become narrow.

Companies are reviewing their age structures, adapting to new technologies, and promoting operational efficiency through AI.

In the current situation, those who work also need to rethink how to make the most of their experience.

Re-examine your experience. Think about who you can be useful to. Listen to people's problems. Try things on a small scale. Put your role into words. Deliver it to those who need it.

Through this accumulation, your next way of working will gradually take shape.

Broadly speaking, ways of working can perhaps be organized into two categories: 'being employed by a company' or 'running your own business.'

However, an actual second career is not that simple.

Even within the same way of working as an employee, the nature of the work changes depending on whether you are re-employed as a full-time regular employee, involved as a contract employee, or working limited hours as a part-time or casual worker.

Even if you work by running your own business, you don't need to start a company right away. You don't need to prepare a perfect product. You don't need to aim for large sales from the beginning.

In fact, it is more realistic to start with small requests at first.

'I'd like you to give me some advice,' 'I'd like you to help me organize my thoughts,' 'I'd like you to look at this text,' 'I'd like you to think about the direction of my messaging with me,' 'I'd like to consult on how to proceed with an interview,' 'I'd like you to help me organize the direction of my business.'

Within these small interactions lie the seeds of your role.

At first, it might not be something you could call a job. It might be a consultation from an acquaintance. It might be a one-off favor. It might be an interaction that is close to free.

Even so, if the other person feels 'relieved' or 'helped',
there is value in that.

And if the same kind of consultation continues repeatedly,
that might be an area where you can be useful to others.

From there, the shape of your work will gradually come into view.

Turn one-off consultations into a consultation service.
Turn frequently asked questions into a study session.
Turn organizing someone's challenges into ongoing support.
Turn your experience into a course or training program.
Turn the tasks you were helping with into a contracted service.

I believe this is what it means to create work.

Creating work does not mean starting a business overnight.
It means nurturing small requests into your own role.

A second career does not mean discarding your past experience
and becoming a completely new person.

It means re-examining your experience to date
and rethinking whose problems you can help solve and how.

For a company, profitable restructuring or early retirement
might be a structural reform.

On the other hand,
for the individual worker,
it is also an opportunity to redesign their own role.

Work is not just something given to you by someone else.

When you connect your experience to someone's problem,
the seeds of new work are born there.

Instead of just fitting yourself into a job description, find your own role yourself.

And gradually nurture small requests into work.

I believe that is the necessary perspective for thinking about a second career
in an era where profitable restructuring and early retirement are advancing.

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