To ask what profession I can retrain in at 35?

[HairyHermanetta]

I say profession, i.e. something you study for a particular career e.g. teaching, nursing, accounting, etc?

What career can I enter and not be seen as too old/too much of a late starter. I have messed around for years, got half a floaty degree that trained me for nothing in particular. I wish I had put all my efforts into making a decision in my twenties to train for a career but here we are....am I too late?

Whoever previously said you can’t get a job as a software developer with a 1year conversion masters, that’s lies. Yes you can, there are plenty of companies who are desperately looking for new grads all the time. Loads of people have been employed as software developers with just the 1 year masters and an irrelevant bachelors degree . Most companies have a graduate development programme that offers support for the first two years of your career.

In Scotland you can do a 12 week course to do dev ops, with Kodeclan. In my last workplace we hired a few people.

Optician

Following.

Try checking out the job listings in your area for ideas also. That will give you an idea of what the demand is for various skills.

Following

Accountancy. I know several people who have.

I'm 44 and about to go into the second year of a degree to switch careers. I don't regret it - I do slightly regret the fact my first career choice had such negative effects on my mental health (anyone guess what it was? It's been mentioned on here!)

@SnowsInWater mediation sounds interesting, is that on a voluntary or paid basis? Is there earning potential in it?

@radness75 thank you so much for sharing. Very helpful, also heartening to know there are people who start in their 40s!
And I'm a night owl so I actually love the idea of shifts.

@DominaShantotto compliance? Accountancy?
It will be an eye opener in case anyone considered it!

@radness75 How much do you earn as a radiographer if you don't mind me asking? Or if you could give an idea of general salaries, that would be helpful. Thanks. x

Domina I knew straight away and stalked your posts to see I was right! I've sent you a pm - you've made the exact change I'm about to make, you're just a year ahead of me [high five]

I’m due to go to uni I’m September to study ODP (Operating Department Practice)

I’m nearly 34

I really want to retrain in carpentry but have no idea how to go about it. I have my own shed that I do a few bits in but would love to learn how to do it all properly! But you don't really hear of 35 year old women doing it!

OP...
What are you good at? What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What are the elements you enjoy and not enjoy about your current career?
A good career for one person isn’t necessarily good for another.

Agile scrum master. Pretty easy to get started and certified. In demand too.

[quote Bowchicawow]@DominaShantotto compliance? Accountancy?
It will be an eye opener in case anyone considered it![/quote]
I've moved out of teaching and onto a speech and language therapy degree. Loving the course!

How about becoming an ODP? You can do a 2 year diploma or 3 year degree. There's probably isn't a more interesting NHS job, it opens doors to do many things and there are always vacancies somewhere.

If you want to retrain and want to have a good career with high pay, I would personally look at Tech related roles. There is something for every personality type. If you are creative there is DX / UX, if you a logical there is a coding / web development, there is also information security (Infosec) which is one of the fastest growing roles and there is a huge shortage of people with these skills (I.e. you can print your own money here). I am in the industry myself as a digital project manager, I found it pretty easy and cheap to get qualified (Aglie / Scrum) and was able to use the soft skills I already had to get a job. Starting salary about £40k I reckon but easily a lot more if you specialise in one of the areas I suggested. It's a great industry with lots of different personality types especially more introverted people, and now pretty much all orgs are going to be working from home as the norm.

Domina and DanceMonkey can I join the club?! Not doing speech and language though although would have been an interesting option.

Train driver

Plane driver

Bramble picker

Hi Pollo 👋
What are you going to do?