Complete change of career at the age of 39

careers
jobs
(Arie1985uk ) #1

I was wondering if you guys can help or suggest what’s the best thing to do here. Over the years I used to work a lot in marketing, affiliate marketing, media buying, worked with lots of companies, lots of people, but I don’t think this role is a solid role to carry on, I feel like it’s too dynamic and I’d like to go for something that is more solid, even though there are no guarantees in life with anything.

There are also other reasons behind this, but in general I’d very much like to change my career at the age of 39. I’m looking to start a completely new career. I know AI is a very hot topic but I don’t know how to start a career related to AI … I see some words such as “Machine Learning” that involves algebra, coding … I used to work with codes when I was younger, I also studied computer science (mainly with Java) and I liked it.

I don’t mind becoming a developer, QA analyst, anything like that… but I’m not sure where to start… online courses? So many promises, so many things I can’t believe … study by myself? How would I turn this into “experience” in my CV, in the eyes of a future employer? I also prefer if possible to find internship / junior roles, I don’t mind the low salary, as long as it could help me gain experience, but I tried to turn to many companies, in several countries where I used to work/live as well … nothing works … I think I have nothing to list in my CV that would convince employers to hire me right now and I might need to get a grip on it first, and finding a job where you learn and work on the same time is just impossible…

Anyway, do you have any tips, ideas, suggestions please? Anything you like to throw please do, even other suggestions/ideas …

PS I watch on youtube people say they got fired, they lost their job and they go all in on Youtube or other things - no, I don’t think it’s for everyone … I managed to do okay over the years, I’m really not interested in becoming an entrepreneur … I’m really looking for something solid, to work for a company(ies) and do my best and that’s it, until retirement, I’m happy with that. I just don’t even know how to start and feel like maybe the entire thought of changing my career is just a lost cause?

(Geoffrey) #2

I don’t think changing careers is a lost cause by any stretch. You just need to find something you are interested in.
Now I’m no help because I didn’t even understand half of what you talked about because I was just a blue collar worker all of my life. :rofl:
Spent 41 years as a mechanic but I did have a two year layoff in my 15th year as a mechanic and since I had always wanted to learn to drive a man 18 wheeler and get my CDL I went to school and got my license. I enjoyed those two years and if my company had never called me back I could have easily made truck driving my new career.

(Arie1985uk ) #3

Thanks for the response. Can I ask are you sorry looking backward for not working in a job that would have made you feel better?

And don’t worry about the jargon I use, it’s like Python and AI - Python is a computer language you can use to write a computer code and AI is AI … Artificial Intelligence, the major example for this is ChatGPT but not only that. I hope the term ChatGPT is not a stranger thing to you, but if it is I envy you - it’s so good to be away from the screens. I wish I could do that or let my kids do that, but it seems impossible nowadays.

(Robin) #4

I think I would start with a career aptitude test. Once I’ve identified my natural strengths and interests, you could also speak to a career counselor.

I would not be asking for suggestions from people like us, who really don’t know you. Ask people who know you well (professionally and personally).
I’m also a big believer in using things like pro & con lists, when I’m at a loss. Especially when the stakes are high… like a career change.
I also question where my desire for a drastic change is coming from? Am I feeling restless or bored? Is there an underlying cause that needs to be addressed first?

Sometimes we seek change merely to avoid dealing with what is.

Obviously, I am just sharing my random thoughts and experiences.
I have no expertise that qualifies me to give you advice.
Best of luck!

#5

Maybe my story will give you more hope and help you feel better? Given your age you’re in a much better position to change than I am.

I’m 59 this week. I was a computer science major and graphic design minor, and for 14 years I worked as a software engineer and designer, QA Analyst, Quality Testing manager, and technical course designer and facilitator. Then I had kids … and all three had multiple disabilities. I had to leave my career to advocate for them and see to their needs. For 26 years I’ve not had a full time job with a company. During the first 15 of those years I did minimal part time work as a consultant for companies like Motorola, freelance business identity designer, math tutor, and substitute teacher, none of which I had enough available time to stick with. My kids took most my time. Needless to say supporting our children on one salary drained all our savings and my entire retirement account.

So fast forward to today when we live paycheck to paycheck from one income - and we desperately need a second income right now, especially to provide for retirement. I want to get a job so badly because we are struggling, but I was always considered “over qualified” for the jobs I tried to get during the past 26 years, and often people were intimidated by me given my past qualifications or they wrongly assumed there was something wrong with me for being willing to take a job beneath those qualifications. It was quite frustrating. But now it’s even worse: I’m older, further from all those skills. I’m like a deer in headlights. I have no recent references and only one reachable reference from the past 26 years, I have no way to contact anyone I worked for in my career from 27-40 years ago, and I have no recent work experience in the current workforce environment. I may have great skills from all I have had to achieve with my kids and household the past 26 years, but even management positions require you have some training or experience in current management theories. Technology and languages have skyrocketed past me as has graphic design. While I could learn any computer language or design system quickly and easily, I still have to compete with an over-saturated market of workers who all have that experience and knowledge from recent years. And they are much younger like you. My only new skills from the past 18 years is fighting special education legal battles and working beside a few attorneys for the advocacy we needed, where I did more legal research than they did. But even that was cut short because we ran out of money to pay them, and if you don’t have at least $30,000 to pay attorneys, in our state there’s less than a 1% chance you can win during Due Process. Due Process is really only for the wealthy. So we had to walk away after our money was gone. Pro Bono organizations are over-stretched so only take the most severe cases that are politically significant. Or so they explained.

Anywayyyy, I’ve been anxious about finding work this past month. I don’t know where to begin. I don’t have a professional online presence either, and I’m not sure I want to play that game. Here in the US they don’t make it easy for the aging population to get back into the workforce because they don’t respect or revere their elders the way countries like Korea or Japan do. We are not important enough and our younger generations have not seen anything modeled to change such behavior. We really are cast aside unless we were lucky enough to be able to stay in the workforce all the way through without any lengthy gaps. But if you are a woman who had to stay home with your kids, it’s even worse. I hate that our country created an economy that demands two incomes but then does not help those who are ready to rejoin the workforce after child rearing.

So I say given your age and the fact that you are working right now in this present day, by all means change your career if you want to. You have all the important things in your lap that will make it really easy to do so because you can compete and are relevant. .

(Edith) #6

I would suggest taking some online classes or going to the equivalent of a community college (a junior college in the US). Get a few courses under your belt to put on your resume.

@Just_Juju - You wouldn’t happen to live in Maryland would you? My brother-in-law in his wife are always having a hard time finding good help? They do webpage design and service providing.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

For anyone interested in computer programming or development, I would advise checking out the offerings on the Free Code Camp channel on YouTube as a way of dipping one’s toes in the water.

(Chuck) #8

At age 55 I changed my career from electronic tech/engineer to software engineer. In fact it was making my hobby my new career. It meant that I basically went from working in a solitary bench job to spending my day interfacing with people that was having computer issues. It made me an intervert become an extrovert. It also brought to light the fact I was hard of hearing. It turned my life upside down. It increases stress, it send me to getting hearing aids. And I found that it was what I was borned to do. I found that helping others is what I needed to do to full fill myself. Yes it also changed my eating habits at first to the worst then using my troubleshooting skills it changed my eating habits back to my youth. Where I only ate fresh real food, meat, dairy, vegetable and fruit and nuts. I should’ve switched my career path much sooner

(Geoffrey) #9

Actually no because I enjoyed both jobs. The main difference was as a mechanic I had to deal with ignorant managers and as a truck driver I was more independent.
My career was as a mechanic and loved my work but if I had lost that career for some reason I could have easily restarted with a career in truck driving.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #10

I changed career at 50, ended up retiring from IBM, I had gone to a community college and took some classes there. I had done a lot of work on computers as an admin assistant over the years.

My original training was counseling and guidance. I learned early on solving computer issues is way more simple and enjoyable than solving people’s emotional problems.

Lots of us change career over the years. Good luck on finding something you want to learn about and moving in that direction.

(Arie1985uk ) #11

Thanks so much, very helpful post, thank you.

(Bean) #12

I haven’t read all the posts in this thread, but I am a career switcher (two transitions, actually). Both times I transitioned initially by volunteering for an organization in a target field that later hired me.

#13

And I left a career in IT to be a truck driver, LOL. I liked IT, but it just kept getting stupider and stupider. Plus, like you, dealing with idiots all day, vs showing up basically whenever I want, hitting the road, cranking music and podcasts, not dealing with anybody other than my customers, coming back and going home. Plus, as you know which sadly many are learning, hence all those crappy CDL mills, is you can make a lot of damn money, at least with a Class A. I make more now than I did after years in IT. My last job the overtime after 8hrs and almost free Cadillac health care was nice too!

(Geoffrey) #14

Even though I’m no longer a driver I still maintain my license even at 68 years old. As long as I’ve got that I can always get a job if need be.

(Doug) #15

Same here, Geoffrey. I didn’t drive constantly - probably 20% - 30% of the time - we hauled our own equipment all over the place (all 50 states, all Canadian provinces and territories), then would operate it on site for a day or a week or months…

Certainly easy to get a driving job these days - if you’ve got a fairly clean record, can pass a drug test and have experience, you’re a rare bird… :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: Heck, even just being able to pass a drug test… :stuck_out_tongue:

If not for Covid, I would probably have been retiring right about now. My employer shut down for a while in early 2020, and when they called me back in September… I said **** it - I’m done; have greatly enjoyed the last 4 years.

I hated the electronic logging - that was a part of my decision to quit.

(Geoffrey) #16

I was fortunate that E logs were just starting up back when I was dragging trailers all over the country. I only ran one set of paper logs but I cheated like crazy on them. My dispatcher loved me. I made them a lot of money. :wink:

(KM) #17

To the OP: In the US there’s a website called USA Jobs, which lists all publicly offered government civilian jobs. They’re “graded”, so it’s possible to apply for a lower paying job that’s related to your field even if you don’t have much experience or specific training, with the idea of eventually moving up into your chosen specialty. The pay will never be as good as private sector but it provides an entry point. I’m assuming from your handle that you’re in the UK. Do they have something similar?

#18

Aw so kind :heart: but no, I live near Chicago :woozy_face:

(Arie1985uk ) #19

kib1, I’m in the US actually in Texas… I see there are lots of jobs available for Cybersecurity, can I ask what’s your opinion about getting into this field? I do have some IT background.

(KM) #20

I honestly know nothing about cybersecurity. My USA Jobs experience is through my husband, who has hopped up through the ranks over the years, gradually moving himself into a good position with a good paycheck by aiming toward his chosen profession and taking any classes offered or suggested along the way. It’s not glamorous but it’s the most stable, traditional benefits employer I know with the prospects of shifting gears if you work at it and honestly I don’t think they ever fire anyone, they just shuffle people around. I know of many other former civilian employees who eventually left the government for private sector or consulting work, having earned their “experience” requirements - hubs chose to stay for the benefits and security.

Personally, I’d probably apply for a job that looked to be a fit for my experience, and if I got the interview, get more specific info on what the job entailed or whether there was room for advancement. I will say that USA jobs used to use a screener, checking resumes for specific buzzwords, so you might want to think about this when creating one. (Basically parrot what they’re asking for in the description and then expand a bit.)