Zak shares the highs and lows of finding the right way back into work in his 50s, after an unconventional career journey…
Name
Zak
Old Position
Accountant
New Career
Charity finance manager and freelance fundraising consultant
Can you tell us about your current role?
I’m doing a balancing act between two different jobs. For 2.5 days a week I am the finance manager at a heritage charity, which I combine with also running my own business as a fundraising consultant to start-up businesses.
I joined the charity in January 2024. I needed to find a route back into employment and was fortunate to have a personal introduction to the charity. I have a lot of experience, but having been self-employed for over 15 years, I hadn’t worked for an employer for a long time. I was finding it impossible to get back in through applying for job vacancies.
What were you doing previously?
I qualified as an accountant in 1990 and initially worked on government privatisation projects, which were in vogue in the early 90s. After five years I realised I wanted to leave this area and I found a role that I was very happy with, as chief financial officer at an international oil and gas engineering consultancy.
I really enjoyed it, and learnt a huge amount, particularly in areas such as international taxation. But after ten years, working across international time zones virtually seven days a week, I was getting burnt out. I was getting to the point of not wanting to see the inside of another hotel room in my life.
That was when I set up on my own. I had an inkling that I wanted to have a stab at running my own business. I developed my proposition by focusing on what I knew I was good at – developing financially-based messages and presenting financial information in engaging and digestible ways.
This has inevitably changed with the investment landscape over the years, but it mainly involves helping start-up businesses with their financial modelling and producing investment pitch decks. It’s very stimulating, and it’s given me the opportunity to work with and help some very interesting businesses.
Having been self-employed for over 15 years, I hadn’t worked for an employer for a long time. I was finding it impossible to get back in through applying for job vacancies.
What made you decide to take up part-time employment?
What I learnt the hard way is that working on my own, without daily contact with other team members around me, wasn’t very well suited to my mental make-up. I found myself struggling with my mental health and suffered depression and anxiety. It took a lot of hard work to get me out of that trough, and it took me further time to realise I wasn’t pursuing the right work model for my mental health. I came to the realisation that I needed at least part-time employment to give me that structure and support.
How hard was it to make the change?
I have a huge amount of experience, but I tried and tried to find work through conventional job applications and found myself getting nowhere. I tried some placement agencies which seemed to be well suited to what I could offer, but I felt they were stringing me along and that my name was not being put forward where it mattered.
My experience is definitely that if you can’t present yourself with a conventional career path, particularly in your late 50s, then online jobs boards and applications systems reject you. I didn’t know what else to look for, or where to start looking, as I didn’t know what else was out there.
I joined Brave Starts at a point where my self-belief was ebbing away daily. Just connecting me in various online meetings with seven or eight people in various circumstances was uplifting and invigorating.
What support or advice did you get with making the change?
I signed up for various activities, most of which didn’t come to anything. I joined Brave Starts at a point where my self-belief was ebbing away daily. Just connecting me in various online meetings with seven or eight people in various circumstances was uplifting and invigorating. It made me feel that I wasn’t alone.
There was also a lot of practical help around self-presentation, and they made the introduction to the heritage charity, who ironically were struggling to fill the role of finance manager.
How are you feeling about your new career path?
I am able to balance employment and self-employment, in a way that enables me to co-parent my son who lives with me in the second part of every week. I have gone through a huge journey and learnt a lot. It’s a journey that a lot more people are going through than are talking about it, and it’s important to normalise it.
