Career Change 101: The Ultimate Guide to Changing Careers at Midlife
Are you feeling stuck in a career that doesn't light you up anymore? You're not alone. Many of us reach a point where the path we're on no longer feels right.
Maybe it's the craving for a new challenge, a shift in personal values, or simply the desire for a better work-life balance. Whatever your reasons, taking the leap into a new career can be both exhilarating and daunting.
I’ve supported many midlife professionals on this journey, and with the right approach, changing careers can be one of the most rewarding decisions you'll ever make.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through five common steps of a career transformation, with specific actions you can take at every stage of the journey.
Step 1: Self-reflection and laying the groundwork
Before you dive into the world of job hunting and skill-building, it's crucial to start with a period of self-reflection. Changing careers is not just about moving from one job to another; it's about aligning your professional life with your personal aspirations, strengths, and values.
When we speak or write, we get much deeper clarity on our thoughts and feelings. So, get yourself a notebook—or even better a career coach—and start looking inward!
Identify your Why: Understanding why you want to change careers is essential. Is it for more fulfilment, better salary, work-life balance, or to pursue a passion? Your 'why' will guide your decisions and act as your north star. Here are some questions you can ask yourself or explore with your coach:
What clues do you see in your history about your Why? What brings meaning to your life and work? Is there a cause you feel strongly about, or something that you feel a gravitational pull towards?
What are your specific career goals? Why do they excite you and what contribution do they make to the world?
In your previous work, what have you loved and what have you disliked?
What does your perfect working day look like? Who are you working with, what kind of projects are you tackling, and what positive impact are you making?
Who are your dream employers? Which companies or nonprofits do you admire for their mission, or their products or services?
If you want to be your own boss, how does this link to your why? Why this product or service? What demand or gap in the market are you going to fill?
Assess your strengths: Here are some ideas to help you identify your strengths so you can align them with work that is well-suited to you:
Make a list of your skills, both hard and soft. Hard skills are technical, job-specific skills built through education, training, and practice. Soft skills are often overlooked but are highly relevant to most roles and are linked to personality traits. What are your soft skills? Are you a great listener? A natural leader? A good communicator? Be honest with yourself, this is not an exercise in what society deems virtuous; it’s about finding out who you really are.
Ask someone that knows you well to write down what qualities and attributes they recognise in you that you might take for granted. This can be quite a revealing exercise and is also a nice way of connecting with friends, colleagues, or family members.
There are many personality tests available which can offer insights into your strengths and personality. Myers-Briggs is a great place to start, and there are also free options such as 16personalities.
Assess your finances: Money is a common obstacle for people looking to change careers. It’s important to have a realistic picture of how much it will cost to maintain the lifestyle you want in your new career.
Assess your situation, perhaps with the help of a financial advisor, and identify any expenses you can cut back on or eliminate. Having a few months’ worth of living expenses set aside for emergencies can be very advantageous when making a career change.
Prepare to get out of your comfort zone because change of any kind can be challenging. You will likely take a financial hit as part of building your new career, so be realistic and prepared to make some sacrifices. What’s the trade-off in terms of the pay cut you are prepared to take, versus the enhanced quality of life and fulfilment that your new career will give you?
Step 2: Research and exploration
With a clearer understanding of who you are and what you're looking for, it's time to explore your new career possibilities. This phase is all about research—the more the better! Here are some actions you can take to get clarity on what’s out there for you:
If you’re still unsure about where to start, try this quick journaling exercise: write down some jobs that are instantly appealing and interesting to you. Review the list and identify the ones that really stand out and are realistic in terms of you getting qualified and ramping up the prerequisite skills. These jobs can be a great place to start exploring.
Get industry insights by diving deep into industries that align with your interests. Look for growth sectors because a thriving industry offers more opportunities. Do some research into artificial intelligence to establish what opportunities or threats it presents to the industry you’re looking at.
Examine job descriptions and requirements for roles that intrigue you. Note the required skills, qualifications, and experience. This will give you a checklist of what you need to work on.
Have some real-world conversations; informational interviews/chats are a goldmine. Reach out to professionals in your desired field to gain insights into their daily work life, challenges, and successes. You likely won’t get responses to many of your requests but keep at it. When you eventually connect with someone, keep the interest on them. You’re not asking them to hire you, you’re asking them to share their insights.
If starting your own business, this expands the research phase even wider. Look into resources available for new business owners. How will you craft a business plan and what are your funding sources? Talk to business owners in your new field and have realistic expectations of how long it will take to grow your business.
Step 3: Learning new skills
Building a second career is often not about starting from scratch. It’s about redeploying your existing skills in a new direction, whilst learning some new skills to ensure you are up-to-date with new trends and tech. Here are some actionable strategies you can implement to start your learning journey:
Ask yourself which of your skills are transferable and which ones you need to develop? Identify the skills gap between your current position and your dream job and consider certifications, online courses, workshops, or even degree programs if necessary. Platforms like Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and Udemy offer courses in various fields.
If you have the time, gaining practical experience through volunteering, internships, or freelance projects can be highly valuable. Real-world experience allows you to test things out and get more clarity on what is right for you. It also builds your CV/resume and gives you confidence in your new role.
If starting your own business, what skills, certificates and knowledge do you need prior to launch? If there are skills required that don’t play to your strengths, how can you improve or get support in these areas?
Step 4: Networking and building bridges
Networking is about building relationships that can support and advance your career change. It's an essential step in discovering opportunities and learning more about your new industry.
Hopefully by this stage you’ve already had some informational interviews/chats with people as part of your research. Keep building on these sorts of relationships and make the conversations genuine. Focus on the other person because people love to be seen and properly listened to.
Join any relevant professional groups and associations, both online and offline. This can connect you with like-minded individuals and potential mentors.
Create a solid online identity. LinkedIn can be particularly useful. Update your profile to reflect your new career direction, including a high-quality photograph of you smiling. Share content related to your desired field and be proactive in engaging with relevant people and industry leaders.
Attend industry conferences, workshops, and networking events. These can be great opportunities to make connections, learn about the industry, and even find out about job openings.
Step 5: CVs, applications, and interviews
With your groundwork laid, skills acquired, and network built, it's time to start applying. This step is about strategy, patience, and persistence.
Applying for jobs: It’s a hard truth that most jobs are not published on job sites in the public domain. They are largely filled through networking, internally or through referrals.
It is still worth applying for applications on jobs websites but have realistic expectations and understand that you will be competing with hundreds of other applicants. Don’t lose faith if it feels like you’re constantly firing off applications into the abyss! It’s a numbers game and you may need to submit dozens of applications before finally getting shortlisted.
Apply to jobs through various channels - online job boards, company websites, and through your network. Don't rely solely on one method.
It will help massively if you have made contacts and built relationships with people at the company you are applying to (see step 4 of this guide). These people might put in a good word or follow up on your application for you. This is the kind of competitive edge that you need over the hundreds of people applying for the same job.
Update your CV/resume: It’s important to have a robust CV that puts you above the competition and doesn’t get culled by an AI application tracking system. This is very common technology used by companies during the hiring process. Job applications that don’t contain keywords stated in the job advert can get automatically rejected by these systems without a hiring manager ever seeing your application. Here are some tips to make sure you don’t fall foul of this and to make your CV stand out:
Always customise your CV and match your skills and experience to the exact ones in the advertised role. If your last job was programme director, but in the new role they use programme manager, call yourself a programme manager in your CV.
To reduce the risk of experiencing ageism, limit the work history you include in your CV to the last 10-15 years. This period is most relevant to current employers.
Make sure you have a modern email address such as Gmail. If you use a Hotmail or an AOL address, you will create an outdated impression.
Highlight your proficiency with modern software, tools, and platforms that are important in your industry. This shows that you're adaptable and capable of working in today's digital workplace. If you're not proficient yet, go book yourself on a course!
Give a killer interview: If you get an interview, prepare to discuss your career change confidently. Focus on your transferable skills, why you're making the change, and how your background is highly valuable to the role. A hiring manager will want to see the right skills and experience, a great attitude, and a willingness to learn and be a great team member.
Here are some other top tips for giving killer interviews:
Research the interview panel and the latest news at the company. There might be opportunities in the interview to demonstrate your awareness of this. But make sure this happens organically; don’t force it into the conversation.
Start identifying as someone who looks forward to interviews. Be prepared, but take the pressure off yourself to perform, and instead expect to enjoy the interview. See it as a great opportunity to learn about the company and to share and celebrate who you are.
Keep in mind what was in the job description and make sure you are weaving those requirements into your answers. This might be easier to do if it’s a more structured, competency-based interview. In which case, stick with the format and make sure you answer the specific questions that are being asked.
Prepare questions to ask your interviewer, including one about them and what they love about their job. Another good questions to have ready is about what the biggest challenge the successful candidate will face when they step into the role.
Conclusion
Changing careers is something many people think about, but the fear of change gets the better of them and they end up stagnating in a career that is well past its work-by date.
If you feel a glimpse of excitement about changing your career, I invite you to act now. The temptation to play it safe and stick to what you know will likely be strong. But the path of least resistance will lead to stagnation and suffering.
It is a bold move to change careers and requires courage, determination, and resilience. By following the steps in this guide and seeking the support of a career coach, you're opening yourself up to a hero’s journey of self-discovery, learning, overcoming adversity and growth.
I’m a fully qualified career coach with over 20 years of experience delivering multi-million-pound transformation programmes for central UK government departments in London.
I now support midlife professionals to get excited about their future and build a fulfilling second career. If there is something inside of you that wants to make a change, get in touch today for a free 30-minute discovery call to see how coaching could change your life.
