Are you happy with your job?

Cort Arlint, an attorney and accountant, gives an impromptu presentation as he fills in for another speaker during a meeting of the Vegas Young Professionals Toastmasters club in the Emergency Arts building downtown Monday, May 14, 2012. Toastmasters is an organization of clubs that encourage members to improve their public speaking and leadership skills.

As the estimated 82 million U.S. Generation Xers hit midlife and traverse the transitional years between ages 30 and 55, they face the possibility of midlife crises — both personal and professional.

Unlike a personal watershed, however, a career crisis can provide a time to reflect on your professional progress and uncover incentives to improve your marketability and pay grade. To give you a leg up, we’ve compiled tips to help boost and amplify your career as you reach your midlife stride.

First, look inward

Make sure you are in the right career. That feeling of being unsettled in midlife could lead you to not only re-embrace the career you chose 20 years ago, but to look at it with a renewed level of vigor.

Janet Cranford, a certified career coach who focuses on midlife professionals, suggests taking some time to rediscover you. Assess your values, preferences and passions. You may be feeling stuck in your career, and Cranford suggests a way forward: “Try looking at your larger goal sideways rather than head-on. … Slow down and really listen to yourself. What’s getting in your way? … As you begin to spread your wings once again and move on, keep your vision in front of you but don’t let it overwhelm you.”

Learn a second language … or third

Employees who are bilingual or multilingual are becoming increasingly valuable in the melting pot of corporate America. Not only are bilingual employees more marketable and promotable, they also can help employers target potential untapped foreign markets and are instrumental in international expansion.

Spanish speakers are a hot commodity, but employees fluent in French, German, Russian, Japanese and Mandarin are also in demand. Learning a second language can also lead to a fatter paycheck: AOL Jobs reported that bilingual employees can earn 5 to 20 percent more than their unilingual counterparts.

The Foreign Service Institute is a great online resource to help you get started, as is Rosetta Stone.

Never stop learning

In his article “The Importance of Continuing Education,” Al Stevens, who writes about online degrees at phdfusion.com, writes, “You need to start looking at continuing education as an investment in yourself. … Look around at those (co-workers) who are either higher in pay or higher on the organization chart. Determine what skills they have that you do not. Do they have management experience? … Management courses are very easy to find online. Do they understand the department budget better than you do? If so, all junior colleges offer many options for non-accountants to better understand accounting.”

And be sure to check with your personnel department to see if your company will kick in part of the cost of professional development. Many do. Other learning opportunities include webinars, DVDs, books and professional conferences.

Use social media wisely

While maintaining an up-to-date LinkedIn account is standard procedure for any businessperson, using nonprofessional social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can also be basic means to leverage your competitive advantage, because it’s almost a given that both new and existing employers are looking at your online presence.

Jessica Hall, a social media and marketing consultant, says social media allow you to brand yourself with a few well-placed updates.

“If you Instagram photos of yourself at restaurant openings, or showing off new brands or hobbies or trips to off-the-beaten-path locales, you look like someone who’s an early adapter and who’s willing to try new things,” Hall says.

Another advantage? If you’re older in an industry that values youth, you can use social media to demonstrate that you’re up on current trends.

Network and connect

In “Six Ways to Boost Your Career in 2014,” Vicky Oliver notes that engaging in networking is like fertilizing a plant.

“You’ll grow and energize your career by making new professional connections, learning about new trends in the industry and getting exposed to new business ideas.”

Maintain contact with new connections, and don’t be shy about sending out the occasional email to touch base or even picking up the phone and inviting a colleague or client to lunch.

“One of the most important things I’ve learned over the years that will help you in any career you choose is to stay in contact with people you meet,” writes Jeffrey Strain in “31 Ways to Improve Your Career Today.”

Strain also advises joining your industry’s local trade or professional association, becoming an active member and researching what career-related meetings, presentations and events are taking place in your area. Not only can you broaden your knowledge, but you also can forge new connections.

Improve your communication skills

This includes written and verbal communication, according to Strain, who says being able to craft well-written reports, letters, proposals and other documents is a valuable — and marketable — skill.

Review some basic writing techniques, and while you’re at it, brush up on your public-speaking skills as well, especially if the thought of speaking before a crowd makes your stomach churn.

“Being able to make a quality presentation is an important way to get noticed and improve your career prospects,” he says.

Consider joining your local Toastmasters to improve your speaking skills, and don’t be afraid to practice in front of the mirror. And take a look at your business cards. Anything need updating?

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