10 Ways to Start Your Career Path After 30
Multiple studies have shown that the majority of American workers claim to hate their jobs enough to want something altogether new. A large proportion of the respondents in the survey were over the age of 30.
To enter a new career, they would need to make huge changes to their lives. Here is how you can start your career after 30. It is certainly possible to find a new career but it is important to work with patience as you investigate your options.
1 Make sure you really do want a new career
Many people who are impatient in their current careers believe that a career change is what they want when in reality, all they are really looking for is an excuse to not commit. They struggle with commitment phobia. Before you look for a career change, make sure that your desire for change is a genuine one.
2 Are you after a trendy career?
If you have recently become aware of a hot new career trend, it could be a bad idea to pick up stakes for it. When smartphone app creation was a bright new field in 2007, many people try to quit their jobs for it.
They quickly learned that with hundreds of free apps coming into app stores each day, it was hard for them to stand out. If you’re thinking of a career choice that is a new trend, you should probably wait to see how it pans out.
3 Write out a detailed financial plan
By the time you are 30, you usually have responsibilities – a family, loan payments, etc. If you change careers, you may need to start at the bottom again, with a substantial pay cut.
You need to make sure that you can afford it – either with savings that you have put by or with a spouse who will pull up the slack. Depending on the new career that you pick, it can take as long as five years to get back to your current earning power.
4 Know what you want to do
There is a real danger that the new career path you find will turn out to be just as objectionable as your current one. You need to work hard investigating your options by taking assessment tests, and appointments with career counselors. Discussing your plans with friends, family and professional contacts is important, too.
5 Are you planning on a new degree?
If your choice of career requires new qualifications, you should first try to find out how far you can get without new qualifications. In many fields, experience is more valued than qualifications.
6 Make sure that you have explored enough
There is no reason to assume that the traditional career choices that you are aware of are all that is available. There could be many fascinating career options out there that you have never heard of. You should work hard to explore the world before you make a choice.
7 Audit career paths before you make big changes
Before you actually invest in a new career that you believe you like, you should try to test it out for as long as possible. One idea would be to ask for reduced hours at your current job and intern part-time at various jobs.
8 Write down your expectations
Whether you are looking for more money, better people, better challenges, or a different kind of work environment, you need to write down in detail what exactly you expect from your career change, and make sure that the new career path you choose does give you what you are looking for.
9 How long will you try?
Transplanting yourself in a new career is such a hard work, you should have a plan for what to do if everything falls flat. If the transition takes time or if you will find out very late in the process that you need to work for new qualifications, how long are you willing to give it? Do you love the career choice enough to never quit trying to make it?
10 Get on LinkedIn for the new career field
If you have a new career in mind, you should establish yourself on LinkedIn for it. Make new contacts, talk to professionals already established in it and learn.
Try to gain some information about your career choice from these contacts and ask them about your decision to switch. They may share inside information with you that shows you that the career is not what you think it is.
