AIBU to consider a change of career at 40?

[vivacian]

I read or heard something the other week about someone feeling that they were just done with their career. As in, they had just come to the end of the road with it.
Something clicked with me, and I realise I feel the same. I'm not burnt out, cynicism hasn't set in... it's just run its course for me.

But what to do? Do I dare leap from the top of this career ladder? How do I pay the bills?

Would love to hear your stories and advice.

Interesting....I used to really want to join the police. I failed the medical due to poor eyesight....bet good eyesight is still a requirement. I mean it’s fine with glasses but they said my glasses might be knocked off, etc.

@TraLaLaaaaa how are you funding your living and retraining?

@EvaHarknessRose my last post was unclear, I meant did you partly retrain as some kind of therapist?

I'm 50 and want a career change! I'm kind of planning it!

That's a shame Viva when was that if you don't mind me asking? I know that you can wear glasses and it hasn't been a problem.

There should have been a full stop in the middle of that.

Do you have kids OP, if you don’t mind me asking? I am 40 and in the same boat - in a good career for 13 years and then taken a couple of years off to bring up kids. And I just have no enthusiasm for my former career - like you, I don’t hate it, but just don’t want to do it any longer.

And no plan as yet! But I do feel very restricted training-wise by having a young family. If you don’t have kids, I think the world is almost your oyster, as you can devote all the time you need to to studying/retraining.

And for any posters who have managed to change career with a young family, I’d be interested to hear your top tips.

You have another 30 years of work left in you so plenty of time to change career and make a success of it. Most of us will work for at least 50 years of our lives. It's crazy to think that you will be in the same job/career for all if this time. It's healthy and right that you should change things up every decade or so.
I really believe that we need to get out of our heads that Uni is just for 18 year olds leaving school. We should all be retraining multiple times in our live.

Find out what you want to do, make a plan and then make it happen. You clearly have the skills to make that happen, you now just need the confidence to go ahead.

vivacian, I get the full student loans, plus a £1k NHS bursary (because I have a child) and £1.5k university bursary (which they give to all students). I also get child tax credits which I was on before starting university and they aren't affected by student loans. I'm also mortgage free. So I'm in a pretty lucky position.

I already have a degree (done before fees were introduced), so I could only get a loan for fees for this one because it's for an allied health profession.

What about probation service or youth justice? Your skill set would help with that. In Scotland the probation equivalent is run by social workers. Not sure if it's bursaried but worth a look.

I was 40 last year and I changed careers. Was a bit easier though as I'm a civil servant so I changed career within CS - no time off not being paid and training on the job. Then I got the bug and starting another new post tomorrow 😝

I got to the point where I was top of my game, been there a really long time and just so bored of knowing everything about what I was doing.

For me it started by looking at job ads - I was helping a few colleagues with their careers and eventually just thought I'd apply for something, and got it. Haven't looked back!

I'd start the same way - just start browsing job ads around the salary you want and see what's out there - you never know until you try.

I changed career at 43

How did you all decide what new career to do? I worked in finance, and have been a SAHM abroad for a while - now I want to get back to something but don’t know what..

I did it at 37. I just kept thinking, I can’t do another 30 years of this. It will kill me.

I did a part time MSc over 2 years, in the evenings. It was bloody hard work but worth it in the long run, I’m a lot less stressed now and have many more options.

@littlecabbage, no children and yes that does make it easier.

Thank you @ludothedog for your words of advice. I'm looking in to the roles you suggest.

I saw a job advert; never knew that this particular job existed, thought it sounded interesting, applied without thinking I had any hope at all and ended up with the job. Not the best way to do it I am certain but I am lucky in that it has worked out well for me.

I was seeking a career change at the time - just hadn't decided what it was I wanted to do.

Oooops that was in response to How did you all decide what new career to do?

I started off as a volunteer and applied for a similar, paid role.

Direct entry for inspectors is open for applications if policing interest you OP. It requires leadership skills.

Joining the police isn't as easy as people might think, there's medical assessments which even poor eyesight can fail you, unless you have laser surgery and wait I believe 2 years post op before applying. Then the fitness assessments which can be gruelling, then again I don't know if you are able to run x miles already, and background checks, not only on you, but also your nearest and dearest, and that's just to become a police constable, ie, nowhere near the "detective" work that you seem to be so interested in.

@insertimaginativeusername even if she were to apply for a "inspectors" role, which you seem to think would be open to her, with all the leadership experience she has, ie none within the police force, it's very unlikely that her application would progress, as there will be longstanding officers who will be applying for the promotion, who already understand the nature of the role and everything associated with it.

I changed career in my forties. I was in a professional role for many years & really just fell out of love with it. I went part time then stopped. I did a psychology degree with the OU and am about to start in a trainee role doing an MSc and working. I will be 49 this year, so plenty of working years left!

Following

@Retroflex you're not police are you? it's a direct entry scheme so it's literally for people like the OP.

I felt exactly the same at 40. I spent a couple of years on a quest for a new path, discovered it, went for it! My plan ended up zigzagging a bit but I made it. Less money, but massive satisfaction.