Why changing careers in your forties can be the best time
Are you considering changing your career in your 40’s but worried it may be too late? Don’t worry, you’re not alone and it’s not too late. More and more people are changing their careers in their forties, for their enjoyment, their health, for their families, and because it’s easier than ever before.
Gone are the days of forty being ‘over the hill’, in fact from a career perspective this is the peak time of your life, from an experience and earnings perspective. It really can be one of the best times to change your career too. Not only have I seen this as a career coach, I speak from personal experience, having successfully made a career change myself in my forties and with a family. I have transitioned from career coaching to learning and development and now work in both, following the principles I will teach you.
Firstly, let’s explore why changing careers in your forties is a good idea, then we will look at key fears to overcome.
Four reasons why changing careers in your 40s is the best time:
1. Middle of your career – With changes to pensions and the retirement age, most of us will be working until we are 70, assuming we are fit and able. This means that if you are 45 and started your career at 20, you have exactly 25 years behind you and 25 years ahead of you. If the thought of staying in your current career and your current job depresses you, this is a sign that it is time to make a change. Often when people have a ‘mid-life crisis’ it is primarily a career crisis, which is also a crisis of identity. The many people who aren’t happy in their careers often wonder “There must be more to life than this?” It’s very unlikely that the career you chose as a teenager or in your twenties will suit you now as a middle-aged person. You aren’t the same person, you have grown and changed, and your career needs to change with you. These days the statistics are that people will have between three to seven different careers in their lifetime and the younger you are the higher that number is likely to be. Because you are in the middle of your working life, it is well worth the investment of retraining for a new career, because you will have plenty of time to put it into action.
2. Experience and transferable skills – One of the great things about getting to our 40s is that we have a lot of experience and developed a lot of valuable transferable skills. These transferable skills or competencies are a key building block in enabling us to change careers. We have also developed a lot of soft skills that enable us to adapt to different situations, workplaces and roles, which are harder to develop than technical skills. It is easier to train someone what to do than how to be. Many skills that can be transferred into any number of professions include; problem solving, relationship management, project management, planning, process improvement, communication, people leadership, and adaptability. As you read this list, I’m sure you can tick off many of these.
3. Qualifications – Whilst your university days may feel like a long time ago, the qualifications that got you to where you are now, can help get you where you want to be. As a professional with a degree, you can leverage your undergraduate degree to retrain more easily and quickly to get a Graduate Diploma or Master in a new field. By using your degree, diploma or even based on your work experience, you can gain a new qualification part-time while you are still working, or full-time in a fraction of the time for a full degree. Not only that, but it is a proven fact that mature students consistently outperform younger students straight out of high-school. This is because when you know yourself, have a clear reason why you have chosen a qualification and you have more at stake, you naturally put in more effort and reap the rewards.
4. Established Network – finally, by our 40s we have met and gotten to know a lot of people professionally. Even if you aren’t currently making the most of it, you will have an established network of professional contacts, friends and colleagues that you can call on. Whilst you may be used to thinking solely of your current colleagues as your network, I encourage you to think more broadly about friends, neighbours, sports team-mates, religious group members etc. Leveraging your network of people who know and trust you is a key success factor in helping you to tap into the hidden job market and get a new job that isn’t advertised.
Three Fs to overcome in our Forties:
I've already said the 'F' word - forty, now wait, here come a few more, based on the three 3 biggest Fs most career changes face in their forties.
Many people argue, perhaps rightfully so, that changing careers in your 40s may not be as easy as in your 20s or 30s. As a career coach, I agree that in our 40s we have more going on in our lives, and more that could get in our way. This can be true if you let it.
If you are contemplating a career change, but things are getting in your way, let’s have a look at the three fatal Fs in our forties, that we need to overcome:
1. Finances – By the time we are in our 40s we have more financial commitments; mortgage, bills, family costs, investments, and so on. The thought of changing jobs, especially the prospect of taking a financial hit is very scary and unsettling. For men who are the primary income earners for their families, the fear of reducing their income and the impact on their families can be a big concern.
On the flipside, we also have more funds at our disposal, which we can use to retrain. There is more at stake and the potential gains can be greater too. With the help of a career coach you can choose a change pathway that is financially sustainable. Change doesn’t happen overnight and there are ways to create stepping-stone changes, which may take longer, but reduce risks. With all the various flexible working and portfolio careers, and internet based entrepreneurial options available, it’s never been easier.
2. Family – In our 40s many of us have children, or perhaps elderly parents that we are responsible for, and our time can feel a bit squeezed, especially for women. We are so busy working and running around after others that we can forget to look after ourselves. I always remind clients of the airplane safety briefing – whose oxygen mask do we put on first? Our own. After all, if we aren’t alive and thriving, we can’t help anyone else.
Whilst changing our careers isn’t usually a matter of life or death, the wrong job can have very negative impacts on our mental, physical and emotional health. When we have children, we want to lead by example. By successfully changing our careers and doing what we want, we can show our children what is possible and set a positive example that they can achieve what they want in life with planning and action.
3. Fear – This is the big one. It could be fear of failure, fear of the unknown or simply fear of change itself. By the time we are in our 40s some of us may be more set in our ways, we like our comfort zone of what is known and familiar. Unfortunately, sometimes our comfort zone can turn into a rut, and the difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. Sometimes in their comfort zones people stop living the life they really want. In my 17 years’ experience as a career coach I have often observed that ‘people are unwilling to change until the pain of the current situation outweighs the fear of the unknown’. Hence many people don’t change careers unless life tips their hand through a sudden change, like redundancy.
Another fear is people thinking they are unemployable anywhere new, or that they are too old. In my experience everyone has transferable skills, and everyone is capable of change, clients often have too many career choices rather than not enough. Also age really is a state of mind and I know of many people working into their 80s by choice.
Of course the key to overcoming all of these F word obstacles is to get some help to identify and then overcome each one. One of my favourite books is the wonderful "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway" by Susan Jeffers, it has certainly has helped me overcome my fears. Working with an experienced career coach can help you to identify and overcome the above fears and more. It can help you to uncover your hidden talents and transferable skills and find the career you will enjoy. It will also shed light on unknown factors to help you understand your different career options and plan your pathway before making the leap. This support has certainly proved to be very valuable with all my clients. Whilst career coaches are not financial advisors we can point you in the right direction there.
To check out real life examples of people who have successfully overcome anything in their way and made career changes in their forties, refer to my next blog:
How to Change Careers in your 40s – Part 2
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