How to Change Your Career After 40
Being unhappy with your career is not necessarily unusual or surprising. In fact, 60% of workers report being detached from their current job, and 19% of professionals report feeling downright miserable in their current job or career.
In my experience, it’s more normal to hear people say that they are unhappy with their work than it is to say that they love their profession.
We all know the drill; it’s the end of the workweek, and whether you’re unwinding with your partner, your family, or friends, the general refrain is one of complete burnout, followed by comments like, “Well, that’s just work,” or “it’s not a big deal, it’s just a job, right?”
Newsflash: it’s not inevitable that you will eventually hate your job. And, just because you are over forty years old or have been in your current role for a number of years, you are not stuck!
I know because I have changed and pivoted in my career many times. And I anticipate I will do it again before I retire—if I ever do retire. As a working mother, serial entrepreneur, and business owner, I’ve seen the gambit of possibilities in the professional world. And let me tell you: if you are miserable in your job and you’re in your forties, now is the time to consider a shift in your career. Remember, success in career change is not just a possibility. It's a reality for many women over 40.
The real question is, how do you successfully change careers after forty as a woman?
I’m not going to sit here and tell you that it will be easy or that you’re guaranteed to change your career and love it. But if you don’t try, will you ever really know?
Here are five critical steps to take if you’re considering a career change.
Can You Clarify the Root Cause?
There are endless reasons why you might be seeking a career change. Maybe it’s because you’ve stopped feeling challenged in your current profession or because you are working in an industry that causes you an unhealthy amount of stress. It could also be because of your family's needs and constraints or a lifelong passion that you’ve left untapped. Whatever your reason may be, the first step is to clarify what the root cause of your unhappiness in your career stems from.
Remember, this clarification is for you and you alone, so be honest with yourself. You don’t need to sugarcoat your reasoning or force yourself into a way of thinking that works for someone else.
Will the Real You Please Stand Up?
The second step in navigating a career change, especially if you are over forty, is reconnecting with your true self. This means doing a little research, soul-searching, and digging. It’s not enough to say, “Oh, it would be fun to be a photographer.” What’s crucial to your ongoing happiness after a career change is whether or not the new career actually resonates with the real you.
A great way to cut through the BS and potentially distracting feedback from friends and family, I highly recommend that you start with the following steps:
Take a Personality Test: I’m a big fan of personality tests available on Truity.com. There are a number of valuable options available there.
Take a Career Aptitude Test: Here’s a great article from The Balance that discusses several free career aptitude test options.
Can You Become an Investigator?
Once you have executed steps one and two, start to put your feelers out there and gain further insight. If your dream career includes going back to school, start talking to graduate students in the same or similar fields who can give you a breakdown of the steps.
If your career change includes starting a new business, start talking to other business owners about how they got started.
It may sound lame. You may think you already know what needs to happen for the change or shift. Still, I guarantee you, if you start talking about it with your peers, you’ll discover avenues, challenges, and opportunities to get started that you may not have even considered.
Can You Start Planning for the Transition?
There will be a moment when you know it’s time to start the transition to your new, and hopefully, incredibly rewarding. When that moment comes, you’ll need to be prepared, am I right? One of the best ways to prepare yourself for the transition to the next phase of your professional life is to create a business plan. Whether the business plan is just for you and your career personally or for your dream business, get it done now so that you can move into the start of your new career with grace and confidence.
Get Richard Hedberg's book How to Write a Business Plan with No Experience for a step-by-step guide!
Can You Get Ready to Handle the Feedback?
No matter how much thought you put into your new career path or the people you talk with for reassurance, you’re bound to get lots of feedback that is, well, less than positive, especially if you have been in your current position for a long period of time, particularly if you are over forty.
It’s an unavoidable part of the career transition process. Believe me, I’ve experienced a good amount of “feedback” each time I’ve changed or shifted my career path. But you know what? I don’t regret a single one of my career choices. If anything, each change, each pivot, and each redirection has led to a better understanding of myself, a happier work life, and a more balanced home life for myself and my family.
I’ve tested these steps in my own life with success, and I hope these bring you a little bit of clarity and guidance as you move through the process of changing your career after forty.
Let me know where you’re at in the professional transition process!
