Looking to make a major career change? You’re not alone if you’ve got work wanderlust, but before you take the leap, here’s what the experts advise.
As you approach your 40s, 50s, and beyond, it’s natural to take stock of where you are and whether it’s the right time to make a pivot. The fallout from the pandemic added to our collective soul-searching, causing many of us to reevaluate different aspects of our lives, especially our jobs. After all, work takes up the majority of most people’s waking hours and the trauma of the past few years has put how we spend our time into starker focus.
If you’re considering making a major career change, and you’re at or approaching midlife, the prospect of starting over professionally can be daunting. But this shift can also usher in a more fulfilling era of your life. Leading career and workplace experts have suggestions for how to best proceed to set yourself up for success.
Honestly Evaluate Your Current Career
The first big question to ask yourself is if you are simply unhappy with your current work environment or if you do indeed need a full-fledged career change. According to workplace and female leadership expert Francine Parham, author of Please Sit Over There: How to Manage Power, Overcome Exclusion, and Succeed as a Black Woman at Work, it’s time to switch careers when you are no longer interested or engaged in the work that you are doing.
“Ask yourself if what you are doing feels important to you or not,” Parham tells DailyOM. “Sometimes you may just need to take a break because what you are doing is intense work, but you still love it. But if you find yourself drained and not energized, regardless of how intense it is or not, it may be time to explore other options with your career.”
If you determine that it’s not your career path but your current job that’s the issue, you can start looking for work at a different company that better aligns with your values and goals or has other benefits your current role doesn’t offer, rather than changing careers altogether. Meanwhile, work burnout can negatively impact how you feel about your job. It’s an all-too-common feeling, which is why you’ve no doubt seen the term #quietquitting lately. Set appropriate limits with your job, like not checking work email at all hours and being sure to leave work on time.
Interested in learning more? Check out The Japanese Art of Happy Money
Trust in Your Wisdom and in Your Skills
If you do decide it’s time to make a major career pivot, remember that the work you’ve done thus far is extremely meaningful. One of the perks of changing careers midlife is that you already bring a wealth of knowledge — and maturity — to the table. It’s easy to fall prey to imposter syndrome whenever you’re embarking on a new journey, so remind yourself of all of the skills you’ve acquired over the years.
“Leadership skills, communication skills, collaboration, building trust, creative thinking, problem-solving — these skills are valuable and very transferable to a different career, no matter the industry or field,” says global workforce expert Dr. Shirley Davis, author of Living Beyond “What If?”: Release the Limits and Realize Your Dreams, whom DailyOM spoke with for this story. “You also bring experience and wisdom that you may not have had when you were first starting out. In midlife, you tend to take work much more seriously.”
Use these skills as your framework to figure out what to do next, Parham says, by both exploring what you do well and by asking other people what they think that you do well. This can start you in the right direction.
Consider Your Family — and Financial — Obligations
Before making a midlife career change, check in with your partner or anyone who depends on you, especially if you’ll need to go back to school, have to take out a loan, or expect to travel often for your new career. “There may be some frustrations that come along with a career change, so your family needs to be understanding and be able to undergird you with a level of support,” Davis says.
Talk with them about the short-term struggles you might potentially face and how they may be worth long-term payoffs. You may also want to speak with a financial advisor to get a sense of the money implications of changing careers in midlife. According to journalist Margaret Price and financial planner Jill Gianola, co-authors of Single Women and Money: How to Live Well on Your Income, changing careers often comes with a pay cut and lower benefits, like reduced retirement contributions and more limited health coverage.
“Before making this leap, revisit your budget to determine which costs you can cut or defer and how that will impact your family’s lifestyle,” the duo shared with DailyOM. “Determine how you will close the gap between the income from your new career and what you’d hope to earn in the future.”
Get Comfortable With Discomfort
There could be some growing pains as you make this transition. You’ll be learning new skills or may even need to pay your dues all over again.
“You're going to have to take a chance on work that you might not be comfortable with at first,” says Davis. “In an entirely new career, the tasks are going to be new to you, so you'll have to trust and give it time. You may also struggle with your sense of confidence because everything is new to you.”
Parham adds that shifting careers comes with a lot of uncertainty. That means you’ll have to sit in the discomfort of not always knowing what’s coming next.
“Ensure you are open to giving your change time, of course, but be willing to pivot as needed,” she advises. “Sometimes you discover what you thought you liked or what you were told about a job or its responsibilities wasn’t exactly what it turned out to be.” Parham suggests having a contingency plan you can fall back on if your new direction doesn’t turn out to be what you hoped it would.
Start the Transition
If a full-on career switch isn’t feasible right now — but could be in the future with some planning — you can still begin preparing for a transition. “Passion is one thing and practicality is another,” Parham says. “Take a step back and think through and about what you have to do to make your move successful.”
You can start, she says, by reaching out to people in your network (on LinkedIn or through your own channels) to find out more about various areas of interest for your new potential career.
“Ask other people what they really do in their own careers — what the good points are and what are the challenging aspects of the job,” Parham suggests. “Also ask about skill sets that are needed to be successful in the prospective job or role.”
In addition, you can take an online course to round out your skill set, research various companies in the industry you’re hoping to work for, and update your resume or LinkedIn profile.
Listen to Your Inner Knowing
On a spiritual level, making a midlife career change takes having faith in yourself, and in the universe, that everything will work out as it should. “With midlife career changes, the thinking mind may have a lot to say because we are butting up against everything we know, who we have been, how we contribute, how we spend most of our time, and, for some, our core identity,” says somatic expert, coach, and former psychotherapist Amy Babish. “The more space we can create for this new career opportunity to find us, the clearer the process will be.”
As you think about this new path, and even try to manifest it, be open to the idea that your next step could “live outside of what the thinking mind can comprehend,” Babish tells DailyOM, adding that your intuition will signal when you’ve found the right course to take — so listen to it! “Remember: The person you are today in your current career is a masterpiece, and the person you're becoming through this epic career change is still a work in progress.”
Honor both of these selves, says Babish, as you embark on this next chapter.
