How To Make A Successful Career Change After 40

If you’re in your 40s, it might not surprise you to learn that quite a large percentage of our age group make the choice to pivot their careers. Whether it’s to pursue a passion, earn more money, scale things back, or just shake things up, so many people in their middle years take the plunge. It’s a hard, scary process to put yourself out there and start new journeys at this stage in life – so how can we do it? Kathy Caprino, career and leadership coach and host of the fantastic Finding Brave podcast, recently broke down the key trends, processes, and outcomes she’s observed in those over 40 making sweeping changes to their careers. Here are her observations.

Why Do We Change Careers After 40?

While the act of pivoting careers in middle age is common, the reasons for doing so are as varied as the people doing it. Caprino outlines five main umbrellas that most people’s reasons fall under:

1. Your current sacrifice is too much

Many jobs ask us to give up things that most people take for granted. Nights, weekends, family time, big events and milestones, low pay for the potential of future gains, the list goes on. In our 20s and 30s, these things can be swept aside for the good of our career progression. As we age, the amount of work versus the benefits no longer balance out, and it becomes harder to accept the status quo.

2. You’re being mistreated or undervalued

If the way you’re being treated by your employer is either unacceptable or unsustainable, and when you look around your industry and only see more of the same, it’s an easy decision to take your business elsewhere.

3. Your priorities have changed

Around 40, humans enter a new stage of psychological development, known as ‘Generativity vs. Stagnation’. This is when we feel most strongly a need to create things that will outlast us – often in the form of parenting children, making positive changes to society, or helping others grow. 

4. You have a need for more control

Once you’ve become an expert in your field, it can be tough to still have to answer to a boss. Many workers feel a need to take authority over their professional lives, especially in the face of changing priorities, families, and age.

5. Your industry has changed

The march of technological advancement is inexorable, and many of us struggle to keep up with how things are changing, especially within our industries. AI is just one example that’s still in its infancy, but adapting to changing processes of any kind can become tougher and tougher when our priorities have grown apart from those of our industry.

So How Can You Do It Right?

Caprino observes five critical steps that can help you avoid critical mistakes during your career change process. They are:

• Step Back

It’s important to take an objective look at who you are, what your skills are, what your priorities are, and the life structure you desire. Many professionals are so absorbed in their work and balancing it with their life that they forget to look inwards and find who they are and what’s truly motivating them.

• Let Go

Caprino’s research has shown that 98% of professional women and 90% of men are facing damaging power and confidence gaps that keep them from reaching their highest and happiest potential in their work. In order to take the leap to a fulfilling new career, you need to let go of those beliefs that hold you back, no matter what they are.

• Find Your Vision

Envisioning what success in your process of change will look like is vital – but dreaming too big can often mean missing the important first steps. It’s important to find your “Goldilocks” vision, the one that sits in the perfect middle between preparation and success. Often, this looks like a series of stepping-stone goals, with the biggest goal at the end and some gaps in between for flexibility.

• Try It On

The most important step is to do your research. Find out how people really operate in the industry you’re gunning for – whether through reading, networking, or ideally getting hands-on yourself. Start to build a solid plan, see what you need to achieve, acquire, or demonstrate to get there, and decide if this is the right path for you.

• Create It S.M.A.R.T.

You can’t go from A to Z overnight. These five steps can often take a lot of time, effort, cost, patience, and commitment. Rebuild your plan with the knowledge you’ve gained in the first four steps with Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound goals, and someone in your court to help you stay accountable and on track.

Most of all, it’s important to keep taking steps. As Caprino says, “The worst thing to do when wanting a career change is to wait until you think you have it all figured out and have ‘all the answers’ before you make any moves.” Real progress doesn’t just happen – it takes confidence, self-trust, and commitment to grow and change our lives for the better. Luckily, once you’ve decided to take the plunge, Act 2 makes it easy.