Are you ready for a mid-life career change?
Did you fall into your current career, because it just sort of landed in your lap? Perhaps you started down a career path in your twenties, fresh out of university and full of passion.
But here you are, potentially over half your life lived, and it’s just not doing it for you anymore. You might even dread Monday mornings, because it means going back to a job you absolutely hate.
I went back to school in my mid-thirties with the sole purpose of getting a job to support my young family as a single mom. At the time, there were jobs in Information Technology. And, I landed a government position straight out of college as a computer programmer.
Twelve years later, I have made my way up the job ladder from junior programmer to project manager. Only to discover, none of it is for me. As a matter of fact, it got to the point that Mr Very Right was putting me in the car crying because I couldn’t face work.
Time to consider a new career. But in my forties? Wow! Talk about scary.
Fortunately, I have found my true passion, and I have started my own company. But I haven’t quit my day job yet. The realities of living the lifestyle I have become accustomed to dictates that I plan every move I make, and play it smart. But that’s okay, because it is leading to a full time job in which I will be happy and energized.
Does this disconnect sound familiar? You ready to change things up?
If so, here are some things you need to consider.
Do you really need to quit your job?
Maybe what you need to do is find another role within your current company. I quickly discovered that writing code just isn’t for me. I’m a people person. So, I moved into the management stream. That was great, but then I discovered that I love helping people sort out process and procedures. I made another move and became a business analyst.
Yes, in the end it still didn’t work for me, but not because of the roles themselves. My problem was the work environment. But if you are in a company you love, try talking to your boss to see if there is another fit for you.
What are you really good at?
List all the things you are really good at. Not just at work, but in your personal and volunteer life as well.
- Do you keep the books for the soccer league?
- Are the most organized mom on the face of the planet?
- Are you the one who always raises the most dollars for that charitable organization?
So you are good at it, but do you like doing it?
Now take that list and cross off everything you actually don’t like doing. That’s right! Just because you are good it, doesn’t mean you actually like doing it.
As a project manager, I had to track a mulit-million dollar budget. All the debits and credits lined up, and I could pull accurate reports at the drop of a hat. I was darn good at it. But I HATED it!
What jobs match what you love to do?
Now do your research. Go to job sites and see what lines up with your skills. Don’t go in with any pre-conceived ideas of jobs. Be open to anything.
Mr Very Right ran his own extremely successful and lucrative catering company. But after 10 years it wasn’t working for him anymore, and his health was starting to deteriorate. Now he provides career counselling to our National Defence personnel who have to leave the Forces due to illness and injury. From chef to career counsellor. But, other than the cooking part, both share very similar skill sets, and the knowledge he gained managing staff and running a business carried over nicely to his new job. And he LOVES it!
How quickly can you make the change?
Let’s face it, the older we get, the more risk adverse we become. We have mortgages, car loans, and children’s tuition fees. We can’t leap into things like we did when we were younger.
You need a plan of action. You need to take the time to figure out what you can or cannot afford to do. And you might have to be patient. Maybe you have to finish paying off the car loan first.
That doesn’t mean you can’t work towards that new careeer. There are steps you can take to move you forward, such as
- volunteer to build up a network and reputation;
- take courses to fill in gaps in knowledge and skills;
- work part time at the new job.
In my case, I am willing to put in hours at night after my 9-5 job is done, and on weekends. I have a realistic plan on how long it will take me to gain enough business to enable me to leave my current job. And even at that, I will take a year’s leave of absense first, rather than quitting straight out.
One of the joys of being forty plus is getting to the point we just aren’t willing to settle for something that doesn’t fulfill us. But we also know that we really need to look before we leap.
After all, this time we want to get it right.
Suggested reading:
Career Change Tools for the Mid-Life Woman
Your Midlife Career Change
Mid Life Career Change: Is Now the Time?
Your turn:
- Are you working in a job that fills you with passion, or do you really want a change?
- For those of you who have made successful career transitions, what tips do you have to share?
I’m EXACTLY in the same situation you were in. In my 40′s, working a soul-sucking job, in a soul-sucking company. .
I’ve been an Engineer since 1987…that’s 22 years. It’s been a good ride, but it’s peaked, plateaued, and it’s slowly fizzling out. I’ve tried internal job changes, different industries..it’s all been the same.
Maybe it’s time to move on. But to WHAT?
It’s taken me two decades to build up an income, where I can actually have a place of my own, not rent a shitty leaky broken down house. And for the first time, I can afford to pursue my modest interests and hobbies, and enjoy the things in life that make a me happy person.
I’m not willing to give that up, and work 70 hours a week, and eating Ramen noodles, like a lot of these self-employed people are admittedly doing.
And (here’s a key factor), unlike many career-changers, I don’t have a spouse/significant other working full-time to pick up the slack if my new job doesn’t pan out.
So I’m still haven’t figure out what my Career Change will be. But there WILL be some kind of change. I can’t keep doing this crap for the next 20 years.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready to work at the Factory (Sigh).
I was working for several years concurrently in my freelance “day” job whilst establishing Europe a la Carte, my online travel content site/blog. I’d reduced my day job to 2 – 3 days a week but it got to stage where I was constantly frustrated and decided that I needed to focus totally on travel site/blog in order to make a go of it.
@Friar – one of my frustrations with the pure Follow Your Passions Come Heck or High Water proponents is that this doesn’t take into consideration the realities of life. Hey! I like my pretty home, my Volvo, and my hot tub. I am not ashamed to state that. I worked hard for these pleasures. So, they must be considered in deciding on any career changes. You can still Follow Your Passions, but you need to build the boat to deal with the High Waters so you can keep from drowning. This takes time and patience.
@Karen – yes, there comes a point where you have to bite the bullet. You either have to jump right into the new business, or go back to the old one. I am hoping I’ll know when that point is!
So much happened in such a short time (circumstances, illness, joblessness, homelessness, etc.) to me and my husband. Boils down to this: I realized that life was way too short to let other people determine my career path. At 35 went back to school, have 2 degrees, moved for job, stranded cuz laid off, found crappy jobs, area not good for my expertise, etc. etc. etc. Then, with husband’s push and belief in me, I said fine! My turn! Researched options, found what I wanted to do, held back again by circumstances (lack of high speed internet in area, only had 1/2 of funds saved, etc.) Finally, through financial assist from family member, took the plunge and purchased necessary equipment and software and hung out my shingle. Following month the economy went south. To heck with it – I’m ignoring the naysayers. My business hit a tipping point this past April, I’m signing on clients one at a time, I’m moving forward, I’m hoping to support my husband and I in a few months. Goal is to sell house and move south – should be able to do this in one year. If not, to heck with the naysayers, we’ll ignore them and do it anyway
Again, life is too short. Oh yeah – I’m 45 now and 1.2 years into it 
@Burke Research – Hurray! It’s the life is too short part that I go by. I am not wasting a single second. You go! Two interesting points for me from your comment. 1) support from your husband – critical! Mr Very Right and I had multiple conversations about me starting a business and what that means to us as a couple. I wanted to be very clear on his and my expectations before I even started. Fortunately, he knows even better than I what it means to run your own business. 2) your tipping point occured around the one year mark. I am all about ignoring naysayers, but at the same time we need to be realistic. I hear of too many people who think they are going to have a successful business in no time flat.
@Eliza: you’re absolutely right on both counts. Hubby thought I should have done this 10 years ago. It was me holding me back. As for the tipping point – I’ve been around business and marketing and such too long to think anything will happen overnight. Which is why it was important to me that we have our emergency fund properly stuffed, a savings account for the business for 1 year of operating expenses, 6 months of living expenses in house fund and a full freezer. Most of the monies have been drained because of emergencies, loss of job/work, etc. But not all. And, because I refused to borrow from the bank or SBA we don’t have the additional expense or stress of a loan payment. We did have to dip into the credit card a few hundred dollars for transmission work, but that’s been it.
We have shelter, food, clothing and transportation – we also have hope for the future.
@Charlene – wise advice and inspirational. Thanks so much for sharing!
When Nixon abolished the draft on a Thursday afternoon, by Sunday the quad was so full of Uhaul trailers that nearly half the graduate students left Seminary. I remember standing in my window thinking I should be leaving too. I knew I was not in the right spot, but was 50k in debt and only had 1 semester to go.
I was doing everything I loved – just it is not the reality of the job.
My partner does exactly what he loves to do….and until this big recession we made enough money to meet our needs and spent no money on wants…we made it.
Now we have lost our retirement we each need another 12 years of income and I am hoping I figure it out sooner rather than later?
I haven’t found any one who wants to pay me for what I am good at. Well, everyone loved how their houses looked when I was done cleaning them….
@Patricia – ah, doing everything you love, but not the reality of the job. I totally get that. I am doing everything I love at work BUT the reality of the work environment is I am blocked at every turn. I was so upset for over two years, thinking I had to find something totally new to do. Then it slowly dawned on me, I could still do what I love, but just do it in a different way. Which led me to starting my own company. Not to say that your solution is to start your own company. Just that I hope you are able to find something new yourself that allows you to continue doing what you love.
me too!