24 x 7 World News

Change of direction: Opting for a midlife career change

0

As an Olympian and member of JapanтАЩs national womenтАЩs soccer team, Yumi Tomei is no stranger to commitment, hard work and discipline. In her 12-year career as a football player, the defender twice lifted the Nadeshiko League trophy with professional womenтАЩs team Prima Ham FC Kunoichi (now Iga FC Kunoichi) and represented her country 43 times, scoring six goals.

Yet despite rising to the top of her game, Tomei retired from the sport unsure of how to transfer her hard-earned skills and valuable personal traits into marketable assets. She tried her hand at public relations, but found it wasnтАЩt for her and returned to graduate school.

While completing a Ph.D. in sports science and health, she encountered the EY Women Athletes Business Network (WABN), a mentoring program that supports professional sportswomen as they look to move into the corporate world. Before long, she found her true calling and started to use her experiences on the field to build better teams in Japanese organizations.

Setting up Tokyo-based consultancy Pass & Go at the age of 40 was far from easy, she says, but, eight years on, she has a full client book as well as regular bookings as a motivational speaker.

A few decades ago, TomeiтАЩs experience might have been unheard of. It was unusual to change jobs, much less change career, and even more so in the middle of oneтАЩs life.

тАЬAs the idea of a job for life became standard in Japan, there was a stigma attached to changing jobs,тАЭ says Adam McCann, senior consultant at Cornerstone Recruitment Japan. However, job changes have become normalized, particularly among young people, McCann adds. This is helping usher in the idea of career change, too.

The pandemic may be playing a role in quickening the shift in sentiment. Its widespread impact on peopleтАЩs lives has caused many to rethink not only work goals and priorities, but also how work affects their quality of life.

The U.S. National Library of Medicine describes the global phenomenon as a тАЬcareer shockтАЭ capable of changing an individualтАЩs career path significantly. In the United Kingdom, a fifth of some 5,000 people surveyed said the pandemic had made them realize their current role isnтАЩt for them. Their response? To use their free time during lockdowns (periodically from March 2020) to search and plan for a career in a new industry, according to British recruiter Totaljobs.

In Japan, a survey carried out by recruitment consultancy enworld in the fall of 2020, found that a quarter of the 1,000 respondents said they wanted a career change, up from 17% before the pandemic.

Yumei Tomei retired from professional soccer at the age of 29, and now uses her experiences on the field to build better team environments in Japanese organizations. | COURTESY OF YUMEI TOMEI
Yumei Tomei retired from professional soccer at the age of 29, and now uses her experiences on the field to build better team environments in Japanese organizations. | COURTESY OF YUMEI TOMEI

Tomei is among those who advocate that their dream is possible, saying the key to success lies in having good soft skills, a resilient mindset and unwavering determination.

тАЬThere are commonalities between the sports world and the business world, and I act as the bridge,тАЭ says Tomei, adding that she has brought knowledge and experience to her second career as well as the passion and grit she developed on the field.

тАЬTo succeed in play, we have to fail 1,000 times,тАЭ she says. тАЬWe are not afraid of making mistakes and we never give up.тАЭ

ItтАЩs the attitude the Gifu native has had since her teenage years. At 13, she dreamed of playing soccer for her country and recalls telling a Japan team member that she wanted to follow in her footsteps. At that time she was playing for an afterschool club but, at 16, she was invited to join the then-amateur Prima Ham team in neighboring Mie Prefecture. After begging her parents for permission, she took up the challenge, undeterred by the six-hour round trip for practice that forced her to study for her high school classes on trains and buses.

At 21, she was selected by the Japan team and played alongside her hero from her teenage days, which she describes as тАЬa special moment.тАЭ On graduation from university, at 22, she was recruited into Prima Meat PackersтАЩ public relations department with the main duty of playing soccer in the professional womenтАЩs league.

Due to a widespread belief that female athletes should retire by 30, before their performance wanes, Tomei hung up her boots at 29 without giving any thought to her next career.

тАЬI thought my future would be bright and I would be able to get any job because I had been to the Olympics for Japan,тАЭ she says. тАЬBut I was wrong. Thankfully my father had persuaded me to go to graduate school while I was on the national team. He had told me that I couldnтАЩt think about soccer 24 hours a day. That thinking has helped my current career.

тАЬI wasnтАЩt a great employee at Dentsu. I quit after five years тАФ I basically failed in my career there but I still tried to achieve my dream of working in the business world,тАЭ she adds. тАЬIтАЩm so glad that WABN recognized my ability and potential. In Japan, we need to change the idea that people have to stay in a company for a long time. People should always have a second chance to do something else.тАЭ

Adam McCann, senior consultant at Cornerstone Recruitment Japan, says job changes have become normalized in recent years, particularly among young people. | COURTESY OF ADAM MCCANN
Adam McCann, senior consultant at Cornerstone Recruitment Japan, says job changes have become normalized in recent years, particularly among young people. | COURTESY OF ADAM MCCANN

McCann agrees, adding that people want to change their career for all kinds of reasons, including the desire for growth. He entered the recruitment industry at 38, seeking new challenges after a career in corporate training.

тАЬIf you are changing to pursue new opportunities, employers can look on it favorably,тАЭ he says. тАЬThey want candidates who are running toward something, not running away.тАЭ

Although he admits it is not easy for people to change their industry in Japan, particularly for older people, тАЬcommunication skills, proven self-development, language skills and the ability to manage yourself and othersтАЭ can be gamechangers.

Whereas multinationals might seek up-and-coming talent, startups might value an older candidate as a safe pair of hands because of their decades of experience.

His company has found roles for individuals making midcareer moves from niche industries, including life sciences and finance, into imports and management, which McCann attributes to considering candidates on more than simply their resume.

Entrepreneurship is also a popular choice for midcareer industry transitions.

Ian Gibbins, owner of British-themed shop and food producer Swan & Lion in Tokyo, began his working life as a lawyer in England but a тАЬlow work satisfaction rateтАЭ saw him return to Australia where he had once enjoyed a working holiday.

On arrival he got a job as a cycle courier, which suited his love of freedom and strong work ethic. He particularly enjoyed delivering to lawyersтАЩ offices as a reminder that he had made the right choice, he says.

But Gibbins had long had an interest in film and television, so he began looking for ways to enter the industry. At 27, his legal training landed him the role of operations manager at Beyond Films, where he sold international movies to territories all over the world. Supporting major film markets and festivals, such as Cannes, afforded him many opportunities to travel until he became more involved in production and was appointed general manager at Arclight Films.

Ian Gibbins is the owner of British-themed shop and food producer Swan & Lion in Tokyo. | ALEX TREVES
Ian Gibbins is the owner of British-themed shop and food producer Swan & Lion in Tokyo. | ALEX TREVES

When professional and personal obligations kept bringing him to Japan, the Anglo-Australian settled in Tokyo but missed the тАЬamazing food cultureтАЭ of Australia. He began making pickles, chutneys and jams тАФ just as he had done before, using produce from his garden тАФ and giving them to Japanese friends.

тАЬThey loved the sweet and sour combo, so I decided to make a brand and see what happened,тАЭ he says, adding that the first step was selling jars at local markets. Next came Christmas fare тАФ puddings and mince pies тАФ followed by baked goods and meat pies.

With interest rising among both Japanese and international residents, Gibbins realized he could make a viable business. At the same time, he was becoming fatigued by the volume of work emails he was receiving, often as many as 180 daily. Some days seemed тАЬsimply a challenge of how many could be processed,тАЭ he says.

At 49, driven by his upcoming milestone birthday and inspired by the gap in the market, he left the film industry and opened a shop in Chiyoda Ward.

тАЬIt happened so organically,тАЭ he says when describing the development of the business. тАЬBut the first few years of running the shop were challenging. I had no experience in the food industry and underestimated how hard it would be, but I was always confident I could do it. I was a handy home cook who loved making new recipes and was good at scaling up.тАЭ

Like Tomei, Gibbins drew on skills gleaned from previous careers, including multitasking, prioritization, planning, organization and communication. His previous roles had also made him creative and risk-tolerant; he has even considered opening a yakitori bar as a semiretirement business if he ever leaves Japan.

Fellow business owner Dermot Killoran also continues to draw on myriad skills picked up in the diverse roles he has undertaken. He began his career at Bank of Ireland, which facilitated his arrival to Japan in 1983 via a European Union program to encourage greater foreign direct investment into Ireland. Within three years, he was chosen to head up the bankтАЩs representative office in Tokyo.

Business owner Dermot Killoran says confidence is key when trying to break into a new industry in the middle of one's career. | COURTESY OF DERMOT KILLORAN
Business owner Dermot Killoran says confidence is key when trying to break into a new industry in the middle of oneтАЩs career. | COURTESY OF DERMOT KILLORAN

When the office closed in 1993 following a reorganization, Killoran was called back to Dublin, but he negotiated a two-year leave of absence in a bid to allow his then-young children to absorb more of their bilingual culture.

Within that period and aged 38, he set up IT consultancy PTS (People, Technology and Solutions) from the spare room of his home, and committed to staying in Japan.

тАЬI was motivated by the desire to know computers,тАЭ he says, adding that he saw the industryтАЩs nascent potential. In 1993, the internet communicated 1% of the information flowing through two-way telecommunications networks and Microsoft released the first version of the newly developed Windows NT operating system.

With demand booming from companies keen to educate employees on how to navigate the new industry, he expanded the business to employ 85 staff. At the companyтАЩs peak, he exited the business age 48 following an acquisition by Datacraft Singapore.

тАЬIt was desk-bound work and I felt I had a creative side. In my mid-20s I was a member of a photographic club in Dublin, so I co-founded Calderwood Productions,тАЭ he says.

As executive producer, the Irishman led the production of television commercials for brands such as Yamaha and Jeep alongside his movie director business partner, who quit Japan following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.

After the partnership dissolved, the then-56-year-old Killoran sought to do something by himself and set up Calderwood Images to focus on commercial portrait photography and postproduction. From his studio in the Yotsuya neighborhood of Tokyo, he captures individuals from a variety of industries to supply photos for their company websites, LinkedIn profiles or personal use.

He has employed many transferable skills in each transition, including financial and business understanding, a collaborative and individualistic approach and, most important, working well with people.

тАЬMy work today involves managing people and helping them relax so I can get them to express their true selves with confidence,тАЭ he says.

As a mentor for the Japan Market Expansion Competition, he also motivates participants тАЬso the sum of the team is greater than its individual parts.тАЭ

EY Global Women Athletes Business Network leader Janelle Sasaki believes retired sportswomen offer a lot of potential in terms of leadership. | COURTESY OF JANELLE SASAKI
EY Global Women Athletes Business Network leader Janelle Sasaki believes retired sportswomen offer a lot of potential in terms of leadership. | COURTESY OF JANELLE SASAKI

For Killoran, career change is also about taking risks and avoiding regrets.

тАЬJumping in without knowing the outcome is always a bit of a gamble, but if you over-examine it, you wonтАЩt do it,тАЭ he says. тАЬYou have to go forward with belief in your own idea and with confidence you can make it work.тАЭ

That belief and confidence, agrees Killoran and Gibbins, comes from not only accumulated experience and expertise but also consultation with others, whether an industry specialist or a trusted adviser.

Support is also the bedrock of WABN, according to Tomei, who says her mentor gave her тАЬencouragement and tips as well as practical tools.тАЭ

EY Global Women Athletes Business Network leader Janelle Sasaki spent more than 10 years as a competitive gymnast in the United States. | COURTESY OF JANELLE SASAKI
EY Global Women Athletes Business Network leader Janelle Sasaki spent more than 10 years as a competitive gymnast in the United States. | COURTESY OF JANELLE SASAKI

In recent years, more athletes have been making successful career transitions, a trend that Janelle Sasaki, EY Global WABN leader, says can help Japan, too. As someone who spent more than 10 years as a competitive gymnast in the United States, she believes retired sportswomen have great potential.

тАЬIf you want more women in leadership, I would focus on women athletes,тАЭ she says. тАЬThey are probably the most untapped pipeline of future leaders.тАЭ

In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

Leave a Reply