How to Change Careers Mid-Life

How to Change Careers Mid-Life: How to Guide

This article provides a step by step guide to career change at mid thirty age. Midlife career change can be challenging and exhilarating. To be perfectly honest, dreaming about career change later in life is perfectly viable, as long as one approaches it in a proper manner. It is not the easy process to start a new journey all over, but with right attitude and accurate planning one can find new job which will be more satisfactory to him. This guide will outline various guidance strategies and findings on how you can achieve greater success when transitioning to a new career after the mid forties.

1. Self-Assessment: You should Know Why Before You Take the Leap
Before you say that you want to be a new profession, you must know why. What are the reasons that have led you to decide that you need to switch your career? Do you want more job satisfaction, to have a private life, or want more money? This self-reflection will not only assist you in defining your goals but also will probably be the best guide for your decisions if you decide to consider new positions. Ask yourself: What are some things you do not like about your job presently? What are you lacking in your next career that you desire in it? What experience do you have that is relevant for a different kind of job? It is also advisable to hire a career coach or take a career assessment test in order to get a third party opinion of one’s suitability for a certain position. The clearer goals a man has, the more concrete his search for a career will be.

2. The following are the benefits of change of career at middle age: Identify transferable skills
When you join another career at middle age, you come with a lot of experience from the previous job. Sure, the latter implies a change of industry, but most of what you have learned over the years can be applicable in another field. Common transferable skills include:

• Interpersonal Skills: The ability to write and/or speak orally cogently is very important. It is highly essential in almost any field of work.

• Problem-solving: People are respected for what they can do; and where problem solving skills are valued foremost, it will be appreciated if one is able to define problems and suggest how they might be solved.

• Leadership: Leadership skills which you gained by managing teams or projects will be useful in many new contexts.

• Time management: As a universal fact, managing tasks, timetable, and responsibilities is extremely important for every job.

• Collaboration: Interpersonal skills are important in almost every workplace around the world. It is when you have realized these transferable skills that you need to align them to your targeted sector through relating them both on your Resume and oral interviews.

3. Starting a New Career
After identifying one’s skills, one should begin the process of searching for new career opportunities that are most suitable to him or her. Most importantly, at this stage, research should be done again with an aim of checking whether indeed the career is good for you depending on your skills and your lifestyle. Here are some ways to explore new career paths:

• Informational interviews: One way of interviewing is to talk to people actually working in the fields you are interested in. This will give you a practical idea of the NEC and what the job involves as a practicing engineer.

• Industry research: It’s important that you know about the industries which you want to work with. It is important to consider the growth trends, salary and or expectation for those positions, and the demand of that particular position.

• Job shadowing: If possible, try to accompany and spend a day with someone who works in the target area of interest in order to see with your own eyes about the area.

• Online career assessments: There are other resources like MyNextMove, or a CliftonStrengths test to help figure out which careers are a good fit for individual skills. After getting a few interests, the next step to consider is which of these careers interests you most and aligns to your end vision.

4. Upskill and Bridge the Gap
This is an important step. As soon as you know the right career path that you want to follow, you need to find out if there are any gaps in your knowledge, credentials, and experience. The majority of midlife career changers still require extra skills or certification to make themselves marketable in that field. Here’s how to upskill:

• Online courses: Some of the main online learning platforms include Coursera, Udemy for business, and LinkedIn learning that provides cheap courses for numerous fields of industry, table and chart creations, data mining to digital marketing.

• Certifications: In some specialization areas, certification is compulsory. For instance, if you’re joining the IT industry, or perhaps in the health sector, having a cybersecurity or software development certificate may be vital.

• Community colleges and vocational schools: These institutions provide certificate courses and industry-specific continuing professional development education.

• Workshops and seminars: Take part in workshops or seminars to find out more about the tool advertising or strategy or trends advertising to the field of your choice. Moreover, volunteering or freelancing in your target industry will help one to gain working experience during the process of learning. It’s also a good opportunity to generate leads for a set of job seekers and to try out a new area of specialization before fully committing to it.

5. Once you get some new skills or qualifications, it is time to update your resume and your LinkedIn account with professional experience.
Here are some tips for updating your resume:

• Make sure to market specific skills and experiences relevant from your past career to the new career.

• Tailor your resume: To this we need to exclude the unrelated information and offload these skills and accomplishments to the particular job application.

• Show your growth: If you ever have enrolled in any courses, acquired any certification, or gained experience through volunteering, the fact should be included in the resume. This means that the profile created on LinkedIn should also be changed to fit the new career choice. To fill the gaps, include new job skills and licenses, becoming an active member of organizations that relate with a new career path, and linking to other professionals in the newly chosen field.

6. Branch Out/Use Your Network
Networking is one of the greatest assets in the process of a career transition at mid-life. The network may also refer you to companies with jobs available, provide counsel regarding employers in the particular industry, and vouch for you. Here’s how to use your network effectively:

• Reconnect with former colleagues: Inform them about your change of career and ask whether they happened to learn of any vacancies.

• Attend industry events: Be a part of a professional body or go to trade shows where people in your industry are to get acquainted with your target community.

• Use LinkedIn: Now, go to technologists in your new field and offer to pick their brains through an informational interview. It’s important to inform people about your new career choice and about your interest in the chosen direction. Networking can actually be as powerful since it can create opportunities which you would not be able to come across through various job advertisements.

7. There are Bound to Be Some Setbacks
Mid-career change isn’t always easy and it may be prudent to prepare for some setbacks. There is failure, there is financial pressure, there is insecurity. Though, one must not lose direction and continue to keep pushing forward through thick and thin. Here’s how to handle challenges:

• Patience: Changing careers normally takes time and should not be hurried through.

• Stay flexible: Do not mind beginning your work in your new profession at entry-level jobs or internships.

• Stay motivated: Make sure to have that intended behavior in mind, and constantly refresh yourself on your reasons for the change. Always be sure to achieve and enjoy the little milestones before the finals. If you get rejected, do not be ashamed to ask the employers for some advice on the matter. Some of this information could prove helpful in refining your strategy or in discovering key weaknesses that you will have to address.

8. Self-Employment Success Mindset
Gain an awareness of a growth mindset. Mid-life career changes involve learning and thus the individual must embrace this mindset. Another requirement that can greatly influence your success in your new career is to bear in mind that you can grow and change over time, accepting a growth mindset.
Some tips for fostering a growth mindset:

• Stay curious: More often than not, ideas not only cross industries but age brackets as well: continue learning and expose yourself to new ideas, tools, and trends within the new industries.

• View setbacks as learning opportunities: Failure or rejection is an opportunity. Every failure is an opportunity to learn something new and improve.

• Surround yourself with support: Find people with positive behaviors that you want to emulate, people that will challenge you to be and do better. By always maintaining a constructive attitude and always striving to get better, you’ll align yourself for long-term success especially if you are transitioning to a new career path.

Conclusion
It is, however, good news that changing careers mid-life is one of the most rewarding decisions that one can make. However, if you are willing to invest the time and effort assessing your motivations, recognizing and pinpointing transferable skills, getting the right upskill, and using the available networks, career change is not only possible but an achievable masterpiece. Accept the process, persevere, and remember that your experience, knowledge, and fight within will help you to find your new way.