If you’re in your 30s and still looking for your dream job, this could be the perfect time to pivot. In fact, career change in your 30s can be ideal to find the next opportunity and move your career forward.
In particular, your 30s are a great time to reflect on your career—and take action to make change if you decide you want to shift. Work is an important part of life, and it can provide both meaning and belonging when it’s the right fit. But if it’s not what you want, you’re wise to take stock and potentially take action to make a change.
The Timing Is Right
Many people ask, “Is 35 too late to change careers?” The answer is no. It’s never too late—and your 30s can be an especially good time to find alternatives.
You’re at the perfect point to reflect—on what you want, where you’ve been and where you’re going. There are a few reasons for this.
- Skills and Talents. You’ve likely been in your role long enough to know what you love and also what you don’t. And you’ve likely moved from one role to another—or seen some evolution of your original role. This experience gives you good insight to your preferences and passions.
- Aspirations. You’ve also been in your career long enough to have a clear-eyed sense of the direction you’d like to take in the future.
- Culture and Leadership. In addition, you’ve been able to experience an organizational culture and at least one or two leaders—these will give you good insight into the kind of experiences and employers where you feel most fulfilled.
- Personal Life. By your 30s, you’re probably also starting to settle into your personal life with a spouse, partner or even children—and you’re understanding what’s most important to you in terms of not only your work, but also your life outside of work.
These areas of self-awareness will help you determine to whether you should pivot—and in what direction you’ll want to go.
Reasons To Consider Career Change In Your 30s
But why might you consider a career change?
The Content of Your Work. Perhaps you want to do something totally different in terms of the content of your work. You may have gone in one career direction and now realize it’s just not what you enjoy, nor is it what you want to grow into. You went into HR, but really prefer finance. Or you’ve been teaching, and you realize a corporate role may be a better fit.
Your Lifestyle. Maybe you want a different lifestyle. You may also prefer a different experience of work. Perhaps your role keeps you inside an office all day and you’d rather do something in a different environment—or perhaps you want to pursue a non-corporate job.
Your pay and promotion potential. Another reason you may consider a change is if you don’t see enough growth potential in your current career—and upsides in pay and promotion.
Staying Real
As you’re considering a career change, it’s important to keep a couple things in mind.
First, determine whether you want a different career or just a different job. You may have gone into the medical field and have now decide that you’d really prefer law. This is a true career change—in which you’ll need to seek different education and create new networks.
Or you may have gone into a job, and you don’t love your leader, your company or your coworkers. If you like the work, and not the context, you can seek a new role or a new company without changing the foundational elements of your career.
As you reflect, also ensure you’re being pragmatic. It’s very rare to find a job that is the perfect fit between what you love to do and what you have to do. But you’ll want to find work that provides you with as much overlap as possible.
Avoid making a wholescale change just because you have a less-than-perfect experience. If you feel like you’re making a difference, using your talents and enjoying many of your responsibilities, you may just want to continue to grow in your current trajectory—changing jobs within your career area, or changing companies.
How To Pivot
If you want to pivot to a new career, there are a few steps to take.
1. Research different kinds of jobs and careers. Check out top jobs to consider when making a career change—or do informational interviews with people who are in the careers that you want to explore. Also look at job descriptions to understand the content of alternative jobs or careers. Consider jobs that are totally different than what you have or work that is adjacent to what you already know.
2. Research the market. Depending on where you want to live or what industry you want to be in, you’ll want to find important details about the availability of a new job or career. According to resumegenius, the fastest growing jobs are in the areas of technology, healthcare, management, marketing and law.
3. Plan for your finances. You’ll want to be sure and do some extra budgeting as you’re thinking about a career change—to ensure you can get through if you end up between jobs, or to establish new spending boundaries based on a job with a different salary than you’re been used to.
4. Create your network. You’ll also want to build your professional network as you’re seeking a new opportunity. Reach out to new people who can help you in your adjusted career path–for a virtual or an in-person networking coffee chat.
5. Build your skills. You may also want to add to your education—taking classes, getting another degree or completing certifications.
6. Update your resume. Also polish up your resume, emphasizing the skills that will be a fit in the new job or career that you’d like to move toward.
7. Apply for new roles. Obviously, a big part of the process will be to apply for new roles. You can do this most successfully by making connections with people who can put you in touch with HR or hiring leaders. Another way to assess different jobs or careers is to experiment with a side hustle, which can allow you to test and experiment different kinds of work.
Make A Career Change In Your 30s
Of course, there are pros and cons of career change in your 30s. You have enough experience to know what you want. You also have a substantive track record that will be useful in demonstrating your skills and expertise for a new role.
There are cons as well, of course. If you change careers completely, you will leave behind some of the competencies that you’ve built—as well as team members and colleagues you have enjoyed working with.
Overall, a career change in your 30s can be a great idea—with research, preparation and positive aspirations.
Forbes
