Career Change at 30: Building on Your Skills

Changing careers at 30 can feel like a major decision, especially if you’ve remained on a fairly steady path throughout the first portion of your career. Your inclination to redirect your career path can be a growth indicator, reflecting a desire to explore possibilities you weren’t aware of or that didn’t feel accessible to you when you first entered the workforce.

In this article, we’ll discuss how you might use your established work presence to frame a career change in your thirties and offer some ideas on how you can get started.

Why start a new career at 30?

Although you may have spent roughly a decade working toward your current position, you’re likely closer to the beginning of your career than the end of it. Many people will retire well into their sixties— even their seventies—which gives you three or four more decades to define and redefine your career destination.

Some indicators that you may be ready for a change are:

• You feel stressed or anxious about work: Stress and anxiety can be signs that something about your career isn't quite right. Identifying the source of your stress can help you figure out whether you need a career change, a change of environment, or a break.

• You feel a lack of motivation at work: If you are lacking motivation at work, it could be time to reassess your career goals and whether your current job is moving you closer to them. Perhaps it's time to consider new challenges and whether those challenges will come from career advancement or a new direction.

• You want a different lifestyle: If you feel like your career is getting in the way of your desired lifestyle or isn't accommodating the lifestyle you want to live, it could be time to consider a new path that will enable you to achieve that lifestyle. Think about the lifestyle you want to live, the qualities you need in a career in order to live that lifestyle, and what types of careers align with those qualities.

• You're thinking about making a change: Sometimes, your curiosity alone is enough to warrant deeper reflection on your career path. Explore your curiosities. Perhaps you won't land on a whole new career, but you may redirect your trajectory in order to incorporate new skills and responsibilities.

How to change careers at 30

You can change that destination as many times as you’d like to, and people successfully change careers at all stages of their life. In general, the steps remain the same:

1. Assess your current career.

2. Clarify your career goals.

3. Research potential careers.

4. Research job listings.

5. Define your course of action. 

Learn more about how to prepare for a career change with our step-by-step guide.

Tips for changing careers at 30

Any adjustment to your current career path will require some investment, whether that’s in the form of time, energy, money, or otherwise. However, regardless of your desired outcome, you’ve likely already made a substantial investment into your career, and you can use that investment to your advantage.

Think about this next stage of your career as if you’re refining your path rather than completely changing it. Your career path is a collection of your experiences, contributions, and successes, and you’ve built new job skills at each stop along your journey which you can take with you to the next. Over time, your path will uniquely qualify you for new opportunities—and it’s up to you to decide which opportunities you’d like to explore.

Here are some tips for figuring out how you'd like your career to look moving forward.

How do you know that it’s time for a career change?

Deciding to move your career in a new direction is a personal choice, and there’s no real way to know with certainty whether or not the time is right. However, the mere fact that you are asking the question may indicate that you desire for something to be different. Figuring out specifically what it is that you want to change can help you determine the type of career move that will make the most sense for you at this time.

Decide what's next.

Knowing that you’re ready for a career change is a productive first step toward making it happen, but having clarity on the direction you’d like to take your career is the key to ensuring you get the type of job you’re after.

Regardless of your specific experiences, you know more about yourself, your needs, and your preferences now than you did when you first entered the workforce. Use those insights to help determine your path moving forward. There are two broad areas worth considering: what you want to do and how you want to do it.

• What you want to do encompasses the tasks associated with your future career. What tasks would you like to continue doing? What would you like to do more of? What would you rather leave behind?

• How you want to do it involves the lifestyle and environmental considerations that will enable you to approach your work in a way that feels good for you. What type of office setting do you prefer? How much money do you want to make? How much flexibility do you need? Are any employee benefits particularly important to you?

There are many additional ways to keep assessing your priorities, from external resources like career coaching, career counseling, and career quizzes to internal exploration through meditation and journaling. There’s no right or wrong way to figure out your next steps. Find the mechanism that’s going to bring you comfort as you interpret your wants and needs.

High-demand careers

If you aren't sure what you want your next step to be, it may help to start by looking at careers in high demand. According to projections from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, here are some roles with an above-average job growth rate over the next decade:

• Software developer

• Web developer

• Market research analyst

• Financial manager

• Data scientist

Learn more about how to choose a career.

Embrace your accomplishments.

Although you likely still have much of your career ahead of you, you’ve probably already started seeing some of your investments in yourself pay off. Take stock of all you’ve accomplished and learned in your career as you approach your next steps.

Reflecting on the successes you feel proud of and why can help reveal what you value in a job. You may want to consider future roles that enable you to continue expressing those values through your work.

Meanwhile, considering the way you orchestrated those successes can help illuminate your top workplace skills. You’ll likely be able to highlight some of those skills as you apply for jobs and use them to secure a lateral (at the same level as you are now) or advanced position along your desired career path.

Recognize transferable skills.

Transferable skills are the skills you take from one job to another. These skills tend to be important to roles across job functions and industries, and you can use them to demonstrate that you qualify for roles beyond entry level, even if you don’t have direct experience with your desired function or industry. As you research your next role and build familiarity with the associated job tasks, take note of similarities with your current position.

Some examples of transferable skills are:

• Critical thinking

• Problem solving

• Adaptability

• Teamwork

• Management

Keep in mind that different industries may use different language to describe similar skills, and in some cases, it may help to reframe the language on your resume to better align with your desired future position. For example, you may have considerable experience coordinating the needs of various people to achieve a singular goal. In some roles, you may use that experience to highlight your customer service skills, and in others, you may consider that stakeholder alignment.

Tip: To help determine the terminology that best aligns with your desired future career, consider taking an introductory course online. You’ll likely be exposed to the crucial skills and phrasing common to your desired position.

Learn new skills.

As you learn more about your desired future career, you may notice some core technical skills that you haven’t yet developed. There are many ways to learn new skills as you move toward the next phase of your career, including completing projects, taking courses, earning a professional certificate, or getting a degree.

Filling your skill gaps will likely require some investment on your end, whether in the form of time, energy, or money. Ideally, you’ll be able to leverage this short-term investment into long-term career gains. In order to do that, it may be worth focusing your investments on in-demand, high-value skills.

Some high-income skills include:

• Data analysis

• User experience

• Web development

• Project management

• Account management

In many cases, you’ll be able to find flexible options to gain new skills, such as online classes, that enable you to continue working or tending to other responsibilities while you learn. You may also be able to find relevant free online courses or other resources that enable you to easily demonstrate newly acquired skills. 

It’s never too late to keep learning. Most students pursuing their bachelor’s or master’s degree on Coursera are 30 years old or older [1]. The median age of all learners on Coursera in the United States, for both men and women, is 34 [2].

Learn more about creating a career development plan using our free template.

Seek a cultural fit.

Workers in their thirties, specifically millennials, tend to change jobs more frequently than other generations. According to a Gallup poll, millennials feel less engaged with their workplaces, but want to feel purpose in their work. They generally seek professional development opportunities over job satisfaction. When looking for a new role, they tend to consider factors such as growth opportunities, management practices, interest in their work, and jobs that offer strong work-life balance [3].

As you consider your next career move, you may want to think about your lifestyle and cultural needs in addition to your job function preferences. One way to figure out your cultural needs is to assess your current and previous workplaces: what about them made you feel empowered, motivated, and able to succeed, and what about those environments felt discouraging?

If you want guidance as you begin considering roles that may better align with your lifestyle needs, here are some ideas to start your search:

• 9 Jobs for Better Work-Life Balance

• 13 Jobs with Flexible Hours to Suit Your Lifestyle

• 10 Remote Work-From-Home Jobs that Pay Well

• 15 Jobs that Allow You to Travel

New careers at 30

In your thirties, you are early enough into your career that you can consider a wide range of new career paths. Still, some paths are easier to transition into than others since they tend to have fewer barriers to entry like strict education requirements or limited job openings. Here are some career areas to consider as you determine your path forward:

• Cybersecurity: As technical as it is rewarding, protect organizations from cyber threats through preventative and reactive measures. Cybersecurity professionals are in high demand, so it's a good time to enter this field. Start learning with the Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate or Microsoft Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate.

• Web development: If you enjoy technical challenges and design, consider learning web development. With this career path, you'll find opportunities for both full-time positions as well as contract roles. Start learning with the IBM Front-End Developer Professional Certificate or IBM Back-End Development Professional Certificate.

• Data analytics: If you like working with data, nurture that interest to help organizations make data-driven decisions. Working in data analytics can take many forms, as businesses across sectors use data to drive results every day. Start learning with the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate for a broad overview, the Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst Professional Certificate for a business perspective, or the Meta Marketing Analytics Professional Certificate for a marketing and advertising focus.

• Project management: If you enjoy collaboration and organization, use those workplace skills to guide projects from the initiation phase through execution. Start learning with the Google Project Management: Professional Certificate, or for a technical focus, try the IBM IT Project Manager Professional Certificate.

• Digital marketing: For a role that is both creative and analytical, consider what you can do with a career in marketing. Whether you want to guide brand messaging for an established organization or launch your own business, knowing how to communicate with audiences is crucial for a company's success. Start learning with the Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate, or for an analytical focus, try the Meta Marketing Analytics Professional Certificate.

Keep learning

Explore your career possibilities with Coursera. Sign up for free today and gain access to over 7,000 courses from world-class institutions, or become job-ready with career-oriented Professional Certificates from industry leaders like Google, Meta, and IBM.