Transitioning into a bridge career—defined as the phase between a corporate job and full retirement—can feel like venturing into uncharted territory. This time of change presents exciting possibilities but also tough decisions.
Without a clear plan, it’s easy to misstep or miss out on opportunities to align your work with your evolving values, lifestyle, and goals; this is where a career coach becomes your partner in charting a fulfilling and strategic course.
Four Key Areas to Think About (with How-To Guidance)
1. Clarifying Your Vision and Values
Why It Matters: A bridge career is often a chance to realign your work with what truly matters to you—whether that’s spending more time with family, contributing to a cause, or pursuing a long-held passion.
How to Do It: A coach can help you identify your core values and shape a vision for this next phase. They’ll ask insightful questions to reveal what drives you and create a roadmap anchoring you in those priorities.
2. Reassessing Transferable Skills
Why It Matters: Your decades of experience hold value, but leveraging it in new ways requires a clear understanding of how your skills translate to different roles or industries.
How to Do It: Coaches guide you through an audit of your expertise, highlighting skills that are adaptable to bridge careers. They’ll help you refine your elevator pitch to position these skills as assets on paper and in conversation.
3. Shifting Your Mindset
Why It Matters: A bridge career often involves ‘downgrading’ the intensity or scale of work while upgrading your fulfillment and lifestyle. This shift can feel uncomfortable or even like a loss at first.
How to Do It: A coach provides perspective and encouragement, helping you embrace this change as a strategic evolution. They’ll work with you to reframe your expectations and build confidence in the meaningful work ahead.
4. Strategic Job Search and Negotiation
Why It Matters: Whether you want a consulting gig, a part-time role, or a passion project, landing a bridge career requires more than sending out resumes.
How to Do It: Coaches assist with networking strategies, tailoring resumes and LinkedIn profiles, and preparing for interviews. They also help you explore your financial needs and negotiate terms that balance your lifestyle and earning goals.
A bridge career is not just the winding down of your professional life; it’s an opportunity to design a purposeful, flexible, and fulfilling work phase. But to make the most of it, you need a plan—and a partner who understands your unique journey.
A career coach can provide the structure, tools, and guidance to navigate this transition with clarity and confidence. A coach could be the key to unlocking your best bridge career if you're ready to explore what's next.
Author: OpenAI · Prompt: “Please write an objective article on why you should work with a coach to navigate a 'bridge career.'” Edited: By Hillary Hufford-Tucker, using Microsoft Word and Grammarly.
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