Career Change at 40: What You Need to Do to Succeed
We’ve talked about changing careers at 30 and changing careers at 50, so it seems natural to address the decade in between. Making a career change at 40 is a bold, sometimes necessary, sometimes inspired move that can bring about great change in your professional life.
In the US, the average age of retirement is 65 for men and 63 for women. That means that at 40, you’re about halfway through your working years. But how can you make the leap to a new career?
Keep reading to learn a step-by-step guide to making a career change at 40 and potential new job opportunities to consider.
How to change your career at 40
A survey by the American Institute for Economic Research found that 82% of respondents aged 47 and older made a significant career change. You’re not alone—many job seekers in mid-life are successfully changing careers to find happiness, fulfillment, and a more positive environment.
A recent poll found that 50% of respondents aged 45 to 65 changed careers at least twice throughout their working lives, suggesting it’s not as uncommon as you might think.
So, how did they do it, and how can you do it too?
Consider your skills and interests you can apply to a new career
Identifying your transferable skills and jobs that align with your abilities can make a mid-life career change easier. Transferable skills, or soft skills, are types of expertise you bring from job to job. They’re innate or learned characteristics, behaviors, and traits that improve your work.
In contrast, individuals have specialized, job-specific capabilities known as hard skills. Since some hard skills don’t transfer in a career change, it’s important to highlight your valuable soft skills.
an infographic showing the difference between hard skills and soft skills Not sure which jobs align with your skills and experience? Using Jobscan’s free career change tool is an excellent place to start. Simply upload your resume, and the output will provide potential next steps toward a new career path.
You may also want to take a career assessment test to see which jobs align with your personality and innate capabilities—those typically become your strongest soft skills.
Network with peers, former colleagues, and mentors to find new opportunities
When you’re changing careers at 40, don’t underestimate the power of your network. It can help you become unstuck by providing perspective on:
- Your skills
- Which career to change to
- Your strengths and weaknesses at work
31% of job seekers find new opportunities through networking. Enlisting the help of your community can widen your prospects and reveal career paths you never knew were possible.
Establishing a personal connection with a hiring manager can be of great value when changing careers. Get active on LinkedIn. Reestablish connections with old friends and colleagues and reach out to those who may be able to help you in your career transition.
Encourage your LinkedIn network to provide endorsements of your skills. Without a history of success in a similar role or industry, hiring managers may be looking for evidence that you can do the job.
Assure them of your work ethic and competencies with prepared referrals and/or LinkedIn endorsements.
Talk to people in the career you want
Once you’ve tapped your network and narrowed your focus to a few new career options, talk to people in the industry to pick their brains. Offer to buy them a cup of coffee, schedule an informational interview, and ask for their unfiltered opinion about:
- How to break into the field.
- The most important skills needed for the role.
- How to hone the right skills.
- What makes the job meaningful, difficult, or rewarding.
Make a plan for your job search
A strategic job search is key to success. As you research companies and roles, remember the reasons that you’re changing careers in the first place.
- You’re seeking a better work-life balance.
- You’re trying to secure a better salary.
- Your current role doesn’t provide enough challenge.
- You’re in a toxic or stressful environment.
With the factors that set your career change in motion at the forefront of your mind, only apply for new roles that can provide the positive change you’re looking for. Applying for jobs without a plan can land you in a similar position that inspired your desire for change in the first place.
Tailor your resume to get more interviews
A resume tailored to your new prospective career is essential to your job search. You’ll likely come up against applicant tracking systems (ATS), a digital filing cabinet that houses your resume. Eagle-eyed recruiters input important keywords and skills to find the strongest candidate.
Where possible, include skills from the job description on your resume and update your resume headline to reflect the new position.
Cover letter for a career change at 40
Because it’s not likely your resume will be a perfect match for a new career, you’ll need to write a cover letter to fill the gaps. In your cover letter, you can explain how your old career has prepared you for a new role, highlight your transferable skills and communicate the unique value you can bring to the company.
Track your job search from application to job offer
Once you start sending out resumes, it can be difficult to keep track of what positions you applied for at which companies. Jobscan’s job tracker can help you organize your unique resumes, applications, interview notes, and job offers.
The Jobscan dashboard, pictured below, makes it easy to keep track of your job search and compare your offers to ensure you accept the right opportunity for you.
The best paying careers to start at 40
There are several growing careers that can fulfill the next half of your working life.
Change career to nursing
Nurses and nurse practitioners will be among the fastest-growing careers through 2031, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are different types of nurses, both specialists and generalists, who work in hospitals, medical clinics, or education.
Nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system and can fill many roles and responsibilities, such as case management, health promotion, counseling and education, and medication administration.
While you may need to pursue further education, nursing careers require many common and highly desirable soft skills, such as:
- Communication
- Teamwork
- Attention to detail
- Time management
- Adaptability
Change career to digital design or web development
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts an explosion of growth in the job market of 16% through 2031—a more significant increase compared to other occupations.
Digital designers create, develop, and test website and interface layouts for navigability and usability. Web developers, on the other hand, build and maintain websites.
Certifications often enable individuals to learn these in-demand skills. This saves career changers from having to devote time to formal re-education.
Some of the key skills you need to transition to a career in digital design and web development include:
- Adobe suite
- Web server management
- Online marketing
- User interface (UI)
- User experience (UX)
- HTML
- CSS
- Project management
- Communication
- Taking feedback
Change career to medical office assistant
For a low-stress career change, becoming a medical administrator in a doctor’s office, dental clinic, or physical therapy office can fit the bill. With the growth of healthcare occupations, administrative roles will be as critical as ever to keep things running smoothly.
If you have related skills and experience, further education may not be necessary. However, if you need to learn specific billing and coding skills, software, or terminology, online resources like certifications can help.
Medical office assistants do essential tasks like filing, booking appointments, and insurance billing. Critical skills to succeed in securing a job in medical administration include:
- Customer service
- Time management
- Discretion and confidentiality
- Organization
- Communication
- Medical terminology
- Relevant computer programs
How to deal with ageism in the job search process
A common concern among people considering a career change in their 40s is age discrimination in the hiring process. While age discrimination is illegal, unconscious bias on the part of the hiring managers is possible.
To combat age discrimination, follow a few key tips:
- Highlight your last 5 to 7 years of experience and leave off any jobs over 15 years old. If you have older experience relevant to your career change, create a “Prior Experience” heading to include important skills without dates.
*Leave out your graduation year if it falls in the 1990s.
*Eliminate references to obsolete or dated technology. Remove older email addresses. Get rid of AOL, Hotmail, or Yahoo email addresses and create a Gmail address instead.
While these details may seem harmless to include, they can leave clues to your age and subtly impact the hiring manager’s process.