Mid-Career Transition

Abstract

The era of change is now the rule rather than the exception. Organizations are adapting to environmental demands such as an expanding international market, individual work techniques in manufacturing are being replaced by work group techniques because of increasing competition, and the individual himself/herself is experiencing changes in values through the maturation process as well. At mid-career these transitions pose difficult questions for the individual; he/she is concerned with maintaining work competency and managing change related stress. A strategy involving the continuous scanning of organizational, work and individual issues may assist the mid-careerist in answering these questions. Learning, understanding, predicting and acting, and controlling are the elements required in the process of problem-solving and decision-making for the individual as he manages his/her mid-career transition through this myriad of organizational, work, and individual change.