How To Make A Career Change After 40

Making a career change after 40 seems like eating a Carolina Reaper deliberately. It seems like a lose-lose situation. It’s not that bad — unless you don’t have any secondary skills. But we even have a fix for that!

So, if you’re feeling bored with your career, think it’s moving at a snail’s pace, or you’ve reached as far as you can go, you can change it after 40. You just need to be extra careful.

Really. That’s all it takes.

So, how can you actually make a career change after 40? How can you be successful in your after-40 career?

Let’s find out!

4 Ways to Make a Successful Career Change After 40

Feeling tired of writing or looking at code all day? Want to make a career change? Here’s how you can do that successfully:

1. Select a Skill You’re Proficient At

If you have a secondary skill you’d like to pursue, you should look into it first. For instance, if you’re good at writing and wanted to pursue it as a career when you were young but never got the time, now’s the decade to do it. You could quit your current job to go on your writing journey or keep it as a side gig while working.

Similarly, if you’re done with writing code and have worked as a manager or leader during your stint as a programmer, you could transfer into a managerial role and oversee a team of programmers. You could even awaken your inner teacher while showing them how to jump through the hoops of writing code!

2. Choose a Career Path That’s Easy to Learn

If you don’t have a secondary skill you could monetize, go through a list of things you’d like to learn and choose the easiest or the most interesting one. For instance, you could decide to become a painter, manager, UX designer, quality assurance specialist, or even an admin assistant!

However, when you’re choosing an exciting skill, keep in mind your budget constraints. If you don’t want to spend thousands of dollars on learning a new skill, try to limit yourself to five or six skills you have a passing knowledge of and work on one.

For instance, if you want to work as a painter but you’ve never tried it, don’t go for it. Painting is time-consuming, especially if you want to keep your job during the first few months. Instead, go for a leadership role, but if that makes you uncomfortable, you could try a customer-facing role.

However, if you’re not a people person, you could moonlight as a programmer, UI/UX designer, or graphic designer. These roles are often remote and require minimum screen time. So, you can spend all your time behind the screen if you wish!

3. Try a Course Before Shifting Lanes

If you’ve never tried a skill, you should try it before changing your career. You may think it’s great in theory but hate it when you go for it. How can you try a skill?

Skillshare is excellent for dipping your toes in whatever skills you want. It has thousands of courses made by masters in their fields. So, if you want to start gardening, you can watch videos introducing you to the skill. You can take a look at Epic Gardening on YouTube.

Similarly, if you want to try your hand at interior decorating, you could try a course from a skilled creator.

If Skillshare isn’t up your alley or you want to try a physical class, you could search for one near you and try it for a week or two. That’s all you need to know whether you like a skill or not. If you don’t like a skill, drop it and give another skill a try. You have five more options to go!

4. Work Part-time Before Going Permanent

Let’s say you’ve decided to become a writer after all. You’ve got the certificates under your belt. You’ve created samples, gotten them approved by some friends, and even started your blog! You’re ready to take on the world of writing.

But hold your horses!

Are you sure you can hit the ground running as a copy or content writer? Can you create content on command? Are you chill enough to accept feedback without breaking down or becoming irritated?

The last point is the most crucial. Getting feedback from a friend is easier than getting it from an editor. So, try a part-time gig before going full-time. Your part-time job will help you get the hang of what you’re doing and what you’re expected to do.

Once you gain enough experience, you can transition to working full-time. At that point, you’ll be able to handle anything your job throws at you because you’ve experienced it all before. Plus, you’ll get more benefits as a full-time worker, such as remote assistance and free Wi-Fi, which are great for increasing employee motivation.

The Bottom Line

Changing your career when you’re already established and have tons of experience seems pointless, but it isn’t.

In fact, a career change can help you bring color back into your life and have new experiences. Plus, if your secondary work gig doesn’t work out, you could return to your previous job (not the same one, obviously).

Ready to give your pay stub a boost or try something new? Start experimenting today!

Additionals:

• Is Relocating For Your Career Worth It?
• Why Consider A Digital Marketing Career?
• 7 Interesting Career Paths For DBA Graduates