Turning the experience of your 50s into professional language
You have the experience, but you cannot put it into words
When you try to create work in your 50s,
while you may think, "I have the experience,"
there are times when you don't know how to put that into words.
Things you have done for a long time.
Things you have been asked to do by others.
Things that have become second nature to you.
Even though those things are certainly within you,
when you try to convey them as work, the words suddenly stop coming.
After I retired from teaching,
I was able to call myself a "former teacher."
But I felt that, on its own, that was hard to convey outside of school.
"Former teacher" alone was hard to convey
If you are inside a school,
the words "I was a teacher" allow people to imagine your background to some extent.
Someone who has taught classes.
Someone who has worked with children.
Someone who has handled parents.
Someone who has been involved in events and grade-level management.
But outside of school,
those words alone do not necessarily lead to concrete work.
I think what the other person wants to know
is not just "whether or not you were a teacher."
What kind of person can I rely on?
In what situations can you demonstrate your strengths?
Who can you be useful to?
If that is not visible,
the other person may find it difficult to reach out to you.
In other words, to bring your experience closer to work,
I think you need to replace your job title with words that resonate with the other person.
Translating your experience just a little bit
For example,
if you just say, "I have taught classes,"
it might be a bit distant for people outside of school.
But if you change your perspective,
you could also say, "I have consistently organized and communicated difficult content in a way that suits the audience."
"I have done classroom management" is also
a phrase that is hard to convey to people who don't know schools.
But if you replace it with,
"I have made adjustments while observing the situation to create a space where people can interact with peace of mind,"
the way it is conveyed changes a little.
"I have handled parents" is the same.
Instead of stating it as a job title, you can express it as,
“I have listened to people with anxieties and troubles, and thought through things with them while organizing their situations.”
This is not about making your experience seem bigger than it is.
It is also not about embellishing your words to make yourself look better.
It is about translating what you have done into a form that people outside of school can understand.
Rather than a job title, focus on “what can be requested of you.”
When building a career in your 50s, I believe you don't need to rush to create a new job title.
Before that, try translating your past experience into words that reach the other person.
What have you done? Who can you be useful to? In what situations would you like to use your skills again?
Once you can see those things a little more clearly, the shape of your work will also become easier to see.
I, too, have been involved in areas like teaching material production, writing, creating web courses, proofreading, and utilizing generative AI, but it wasn't all clear from the start.
Rather, as I did the work, I gradually felt,
“Perhaps my experience might be useful in this form.”
Even when introducing myself at networking events, there were times when it was easier for the other person to understand if I focused on “what I can do” rather than just ending with “I am a former teacher.”
For example,
“I can organize educational texts and materials into a form that is easy for the reader to understand.”
“I can structure the content of courses and documents so that they are easy to understand even for beginners.”
When you communicate this way, it becomes easier for the other person to think, “Then, can I ask you to do this as well?”
Experience is invisible to others as long as it stays inside you.
However, when you put it into words, it becomes easier for the other person to receive.
And when it becomes language that is easy for the other person to receive, I believe it finally becomes a “seed for work.”
Start by writing down just three things.
If you want to connect your current experience to work,
it might be a good idea to start by writing down the following three things.
What are the things you have done many times before?
What are the things people have asked you to do or thanked you for?
If you were to explain those things to people outside of school or your workplace, what words would you use?
You don't need to come up with an impressive job title.
Short phrases are perfectly fine.
Organizing conversations,
explaining things clearly,
preparing documents,
listening to people's concerns,
creating a flow for learning.
Within such small words,
there may be an entry point to transforming your experience into work.
Building a career in your 50s begins with putting it into words.
Building a career in your 50s,
I believe, is not just about suddenly starting something big.
Without feeling rushed,
without trying too hard to start from zero,
while thinking about a sustainable format,
gradually put your past experience into words.
I believe that this accumulation
becomes the foundation for finding a form of work that suits you.
In this series, I have written about building a career in your 50s,
covering "not rushing,"
"not needing to start from zero,"
"choosing a sustainable format,"
and this time, "turning experience into professional language."
For those who want to be more specific,
inventory their own experience,
and turn it into language that makes it easier for others to ask for help or into small service ideas,
I have also compiled a workshop-style guide in a paid note.
To start, try replacing just one piece of your experience with "professional language" today.
I am sure there is something you will see from doing that.
The previous articles in the career-building in your 50s series
are summarized below.
I hope you will read whichever articles interest you.
I also publish articles through "Edunext," which I am involved with.
Please take a look if you would like.