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Beyond 50: Professor Hatum on reinventing careers with accumulated experience
🇦🇷 Argentina /Culture & Society

Beyond 50: Professor Hatum on reinventing careers with accumulated experience

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Sources not specified Context piece
  • Professionals over 50 can leverage accumulated experience in new ways, moving beyond traditional career paths.
  • Experts suggest decoupling personal identity from job titles and seeking intergenerational professional connections.
  • This approach allows experienced individuals to contribute to smaller businesses, startups, or mentorship roles, changing their delivery format rather than abandoning their expertise.

Andrés Hatum, a business professor at Di Tella University, challenges the notion that reaching 50 marks the end of a professional career. He argues that the corporate world's tendency to associate age with retirement overlooks the immense value of accumulated experience. Hatum emphasizes that professionals over 50 possess critical assets like judgment, networks, resilience, and stability, enabling them to make decisions based on desire rather than urgency.

When you reach a certain age in the corporate world, a question starts to float in the air: 'What now?'

— Andrés HatumHatum describes the common uncertainty professionals face as they age in their careers.

He explains that the traditional linear career model of study, work, and retirement is outdated. Modern professional lives consist of multiple stages, and reaching 50 should be viewed as a transition, not an endpoint. To navigate this, Hatum proposes practical steps beyond mere motivational phrases, which he also analyzes with his students and details in his book "Extraordinary Careers for Ordinary People."

The first step involves decoupling one's identity from their last job title. Instead of being just a director or executive, individuals should recognize their transferable skills. Hatum likens experienced professionals to a "package of portable capabilities." Skills in crisis management, negotiation, or team building are particularly valuable for small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, or independent projects that need executive know-how but cannot afford full-time hires.

You are a package of portable capabilities.

— Andrés HatumHatum explains how experienced professionals should view their skills as transferable assets.

Many professionals are transitioning from high-level corporate roles to independent consulting, NGO directorships, startup advising, or mentoring. Hatum summarizes this shift as "changing the delivery format" rather than discarding their experience. The second step he recommends is seeking "cross-pollination," which means building professional relationships with people of diverse ages and forming intergenerational teams. This fosters a dynamic exchange of knowledge and perspectives.

They didn't throw away their experience; they changed the delivery format.

— Andrés HatumHatum illustrates how professionals adapt their expertise to new roles and opportunities.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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