Mid Life Crisis

Someone recently described mid life crisis as a result of people climbing up the corporate ladder which is leaning against the wrong wall and therefore changing career paths when they are supposed to be at the peak of their careers.

I found that this description sort of made sense. Unfortunately, there aren't many hiring managers out there who would want to hire someone without any experience in the exact same field or role. Regardless of the soft and hard skills picked up along the years of climbing that particular ladder, corporations want to see you having the exact experience in your cv for a considerable period of time.

Of course I'm not talking about moving from a being procurement executive to become an eye surgeon.

For example, I know of a friend who is doing sales but she doesn't quite like what she's doing and was hoping to move back into a product marketing role.

However, the people whom she has met for interviews have boxed her into sales roles. It's very sad to see the reality of this happening because we are then pushed up a corporate ladder onto a wall we don't want to be leaning against.

I wonder if this is also prevalent in other countries. I've always wondered if things would be better if Malaysians know what their personal strengths would be most suited for so that they would select the relevant course and therefore avoid this mid life crisis. Or would we still get bored eventually and long to try something else?