“Mid-career” typically starts between five and 10 years into a career and is the longest period of one’s professional life, sandwiched between “entry-level” and before “late career” and subsequently retirement. This exciting period provides plenty of approaches and considerations for mid-career professionals in the communications and public relations field.
We spoke with a few communicators and PR pros about what mid-career has been like for them and gathered some compelling, diverse answers below.
Janessa Bishop, Senior Director, Kaiser & Partners
Could you tell me about your mid-career transition back into agency?
“Looking back, I felt like I wasn’t being challenged, I wasn’t growing, and that made me seek other opportunities to build and gain different skill sets. For a lot of people at this point in their career, stagnation can happen, but there are a lot of ways to overcome that before necessarily seeking out a new role. There should always be a lot of opportunity to grow within organizations.
Continuous learning and development can sometimes be an afterthought at this stage of one’s career, but it’s important to grow and continue to build the skillset. Ask yourself, ‘What are some of the knowledge-gaps that I have and what can I do to fill those?’ Don’t get too comfortable in a position. That’s when you get bored and start looking elsewhere. Instead, embrace the uncomfortable or be comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
Why did you make the change?
“One of the things I like about communications and PR is that there are so many different aspects to it—you can go deep down into social media and metrics and data, or you can be more involved in public affairs and government relations, and so on. A lot of the core skill sets of communications are transferable to new sectors and industries. There might be some knowledge gaps in terms of working for clients in a new industry, but I love learning new things, whereas the core skills are in place to do the work well. I came back to agency because every day is challenging and new. I’m constantly learning and growing as part of what I do to make my clients shine.”
Abdul Wahid Sathar, Former Intern, Kaiser and Partners
Could you tell me about your mid-career transition in communications and PR?
“I have ten years of experience in the communications and marketing industry in Sri Lanka. The reason I left my job was to migrate to Canada and further my education in the field of PR here. So, I’m working to establish my credentials in a new country which can be challenging. I don’t see myself exiting the industry or pivoting further away from it either. My transition is within the communication sector. I also feel that my next job will be in an agency. I have had many peers leave agencies to join the corporate sector, looking for a little bit more quiet and better work-life balance. But I find the work in an agency interesting and constantly evolving. The new learning is what keeps me glued to the so-called “agency life.”
David Kaiser, Managing Partner, Kaiser & Partners
What led you to start an agency when you were in the middle of your career?
“I’m the kind of person who is open to the possibilities and to seeing what comes. The 2008/2009 financial crisis scared people, but for me that was a time of opportunity. It gave me the impetus to make a change.
Early on, and coming from a sales background, my fear was that nobody would pay us. What surprised me was how quickly work came. If you have a good brand that creates value for people, the work comes. The harder part is making plans so that we have the right staffing levels, with the right roles and the right internal structure.”
What are some of the challenges facing PR professionals and communicators at mid-career?
“There’s an ongoing conversation about agency vs. corporate—I’ve worked in both and neither are easy. Corporate is just as hard. But what agency does require is the ability to think in a fragmented manner—one minute you could be working on a press release for a food company and the next you’re doing media relations on an issue for a bank. Over time this can take a toll on people, I totally acknowledge that, but it’s also a skill you can build, like a muscle.”
Do you have any observations or tips for mid-career folks?
“If you’re in the marines, everyone knows how to shoot a rifle. Even if you’re a surgeon in the marines, you can shoot a rifle. In our industry, communications and PR, you’ve got to be able to write. Writing is our rifle. It’s not just the grammar, it’s the structure and logic, and clear thinking. It’s knowing how to be consistent with previous messages and pull all that together into something new.”