Mid Life Interview Preparation Guide

An emotional period of doubt and anxiety sometimes experienced by people who realize that their life is already half over.

When preparing for the interview, identify the skills and activities you'll be using in the new job. How are they related to skills and activities you used in the past? Think of some specific instances where you excelled - three to five should be enough.

Interviewers are looking for up-to-date skills, especially in their older workers. What did you learn from your experiences, both positive and negative? What might you do differently if the same problem presented itself?

When thinking about situations to discuss in the interview, do not limit yourself to work experiences. If you've returned to school recently, or taken additional training courses, think about how you behaved in situations you encountered there. Or if you've volunteered or participated in community or political activities, maybe you applied your knowledge or skills in a way that reveals your abilities that related to the job you're interviewing for. These are often resources when changing job fields.

Be sure to write down your stories or notes about them to refer to in the intensity of the interview without anxiety. The more you can think through the situations you'll be discussing before the actual interview, the more you'll be able to mine the experiences for relevant details which related to the job at hand.

Midlife often is called "the prime of life".

Your body changes at midlife, too. Around your mid-40 s, you enter a transition phase called perimenopause. It is a time of gradual change leading up to and following menopause. In general, perimenopause extends from age 45 years to age 55 years, although the timing varies among women. During this time, the ovaries produce less estrogen.

Menopause is sometimes called "the change of life." It marks the end of menstrual periods and of your childbearing years. On average, the age at which American women have their last menstrual period is 51 years.
Perimenopause and menopause are natural events.

In your 40s, increasing and decreasing hormone levels can cause changes in your menstrual cycle. These changes can be erratic.
Although changes in bleeding are normal as you near menopause, they still should be reported to your doctor. Abnormal bleeding can sometimes be a sign of other problems.

As you approach menopause, you may start having hot flushes (also known as hot flashes). About 75 percent to 85 percent of perimenopausal women get them. These flushes are the most common symptom of perimenopause.
A hot flush is a sudden feeling of heat that rushes to the upper body and face. The skin may redden like a blush. You may break out in a sweat. A hot flush may last from a few seconds to several minutes or longer.
Hot flushes can happen anytime - day or night. Those occurring during sleep, called night sweats, may wake you up and leave you tired and sluggish the next day. Even though hot flushes are a nuisance, are sometimes embarrassing, and may interfere with daily life, they are not harmful.