Fancy a Career Change? You’ve Got Time!

There is nothing easy about changing careers at any point in life, but it’s particularly hard when you’re getting older! There’s a societal expectation that we’re to have it all figured out by the time we’re 30. We’re supposed to go to college, then get married and have a few kids while working our way up the corporate ladder.

It’s all very neat and tidy, but the problem with this neat and tidy line of things to do is that life isn’t all about being lined up! Life is messy and everything we do triggers a set of ripples that change the way life falls into place around us. Changing your career is one of the hardest things to do if it means starting again, but doesn’t starting again sound so much nicer than being unhappy with what you’re doing?

Making the change that you want is the first step you take to change your life, but before you can make that step you need to know what change you want to achieve! You have to know whether your idea means going back to school and trying to study alternative medicine online, or whether it means moving out of your industry entirely. You need to effectively analyze your dissatisfaction to know what you’re unhappy with, but the best thing to know here is that you have time. Whatever it is that you want to do, you have time for it.

A career change comes with many twists and turns and before you go ahead and deep dive into that change, you need a plan. What do you want to achieve with it? How do you want to navigate your life beyond this change? You have to know your strengths, your weaknesses and how you plan to make this change work for you. You have enough time to make any change that you want because you have to make the most of the time that you do get. No one knows when they will die, and that means that until you do, you have a chance to do better for yourself.

There are plenty of reasons to change your career and it’s common to want to make changes even when you’ve been in your job for years! When people query why you want to make such a dramatic change, you want to be able to tell them an answer! Below, we’ve got a mega list of reasons you can make the change you want to make – no matter what others around you have to say about it!

1. You want to do something in your life with more meaning. Whether this means that you want to achieve a better outcome for other people by seeking out work in medicine, or you want to give yourself more meaning, it works. Some people change their job because of a need to contribute positively to the world around them.
2. You want more access to better pay. When you have reached a ceiling in a particular industry, sidestepping into another one with a much higher ceiling is often the best thing to do. Your current job might not fix your growing pile of bills at home – it happens!
3. You’re dealing with some serious burnout. Your purpose in life is not to work yourself to death. Your purpose is to find a balance between what you want to do and what you have to do, and you need to feel as if you are able to work without running yourself into the ground. If you’re stressing about deadlines and working long hours to meet them, you need to figure out what’s going to give you a better work/life balance.
4. You just don’t feel passionate about what you’re doing. You may not be one of those people who are happy to work the same job with the same people forever and ever. Tastes and likes change as we get older, and if your job is tedious it’s time for a change.
5. You’re aging out of the industry. There are some jobs that require a level of physical activity that often, we cannot physically keep up with due to age. If this is happening to you, there’s no shame in finding another role in the profession that suits.
6. You want to learn something new. Being hungry to learn is a good reason to change careers. You can swap into pretty much any industry if you have the willingness to absorb new information. Changing careers can often mean that you are starting over at a new job and it’s very exciting – you get to learn new things when you do this!
7. You’re craving a challenge. When life coasts along it can be boring. A new challenge gives you a chance to be educated, get out of your comfort zone and be excited to expand your horizons.
8. You need more stability. Some companies just don’t stand the test of time, and your career change may be triggered by being stuck on a sinking ship of a business. You need to hop off the ship and onto another, more stable one to carry you through the rest of your career.
9. You require a sense of purpose, and your current position just isn’t giving you that!
10. Right now, your current company just isn’t giving you the growth opportunities that you need to succeed. You need to feel as if your talents and assets are being used properly and that often means moving on.
11. You’re ready to assess your new strengths. You’re older and wiser and that means a new strength that could pay better!
12. Technology is changing and you’re unfamiliar with it. Taking time to get up to scratch in your field – or another – means it’s time for change!

Choosing to change your career doesn’t mean that you are quitting work. It means that you are expanding your skills and improving your future all in one fell swoop. Take the time to figure this out and congratulations!