Career Change at 40: Moving Into Your Next Stage

Explore how to change careers if you’re in your forties and how you can use your work and life experiences as guidance towards your next steps.

Although many workers in the United Kingdom looking to make a post-pandemic career change are members of the younger generations, those over 40 are also looking for a change.

Regardless of your age, you’ll typically follow the same key steps when you’re considering a career change:

1. Assessing your current career

2. Clarifying your career goals

3. Researching potential careers

4. Researching job listings

5. Defining your course of action

What does it take to change careers in your forties? Careful planning, assessing your strengths, and a willingness to embrace change. 

Changing careers at 40

If you’re in your forties, you’ll likely be coming into your new career with established skills and lifestyle considerations you may not have planned for when you decided upon your current path. Examples include family obligations or financial responsibilities. The good news is this: you can use your work and life experiences as guidance towards your next steps.

Decide what's next.

Your life likely looks different now than when you started your career, and those changes may have led you to shift your work preferences over time.

Get clear on your current preferences to guide your next steps. What do you want to continue doing? What would you prefer to do more of? Consider activities you’d rather stop engaging in, lifestyle needs, desired compensation, how many hours you want to work, and where you want to work. You may not be able to find the exact position you envision, but knowing what you’re looking for will help you get as close to your perfect version as possible.

According to Bankrate, Gen X workers seeking a career change largely prioritise flexible work arrangements and higher pay [1]. To help envision what flexible, high-paying jobs might be, consider these jobs with flexible hours, jobs for better work-life balance, and remote jobs that pay well.

Consider transferable skills.

Your forties are somewhat of a midpoint in your career. It can also be a productive time to reflect on what you’ve done and decide what you’d like to bring to this next part of your journey.

Transferable skills are the specific skills you use in your current roles that you can apply to a new path, such as problem-solving, teamwork, and organisation. To identify some of your transferable skills, reflect on your accomplishments. The sources of pride in your accomplishments reflect your values, while your actions in achieving your accomplishments reflect your skills.

As you consider your skills, consider how to apply them to a new career path. Remember: Your transferable skills can come from any area of life. For example, if you took a few years away from a traditional workplace to raise a family, you may have exhibited transferable skills such as negotiation, communication, and management throughout that time.

Learn new skills.

At this career midpoint, you have likely already built a solid foundation of skills. However, depending on the career change you’re seeking, it may help to enhance your current skills (upskill) or learn new ones (reskill) by taking additional training in your desired work area.

You’ll find various ways to upskill and reskill. For example, you may enroll in a Certificate Programme, take online courses, or build a project portfolio to demonstrate newly acquired skills that may not be apparent on your current CV. Read through the job requirements for roles that align with your desired career to determine the type of additional education you may need to feel secure in moving forward.

Career change at 40 with no degree

Some professions, such as medical doctors and lawyers, require a specific level of education to move into that career path. However, many companies are moving away from education requirements and considering candidates with comparable work experience instead of a degree.

Depending on the career you hope to move into, you may be able to rely on your transferable skills to get you there—even without a degree. If it becomes apparent that you need additional education to attain your desired position, consider whether you can learn what you need through a Professional Certificate programme. These tend to be quicker and more affordable options for people looking to build skills applicable to a specific career path. Alternatively, you can look into high-paying jobs that don’t require a degree.

Navigate workplace culture.

In your forties, you might have more adult responsibilities than your younger colleagues. As you search for your job, consider what type of workplace support you’ll need to succeed during this next career phase.

Many companies offer flexible parental leave policies, retirement benefits, and wellness programmes to encourage work-life balance. Organisations may also highlight Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and other networking and internal support groups that elevate employees’ voices with similar values to influence company culture and professional development.

By approaching your career change with a realistic perspective of your needs, you’ll be better able to recognise the workplaces that fit your desired lifestyle.

Next steps

Get job-ready for project management, UX design, marketing, sales, and more roles with a Professional Certificate from world-class companies like Google, Meta, and HubSpot on Coursera. Join now to start exploring the next phase of your career.