To think I should have a career established by 31?

[Bella345]

Anybody else still undecided?

Or just not got round to it yet

I was 40 when I decided what I wanted to do.

I retrained as a teacher in my late 30s and in my NQt year at 40 well 41 since last week. I've also decided when I grow up I'd like to be an athropologist

You are going to retire when you are at least 68 so there is time for more than one career.

I'm many years older and just my second one established. I figure since I'll work till my 70s I've probably got time for a third or fourth.

@Vgbeat

I retrained as a teacher in my late 30s and in my NQt year at 40 well 41 since last week. I've also decided when I grow up I'd like to be an athropologist

Does that mean you’ll teach long enough to save the money to do an anthropology degree?

Some people never have a “career”. My sister works in the stockroom in a shop. She’s happy. So no, of course you don’t have to have a career. But I do think that if you want profession of some sort, it’s a good idea to have made some attempt at progression by 30 - be that in your “filler” job, or outside it -like volunteering or further study.

Sometimes it can happen in later life, if you don’t get to realise your best strengths
Don’t feel “pressured” into having a career as such.
Your day to day working life should be at least tolerable, if not rewarding and enjoyable.
Explore the internet, get ideas around what you think your strengths are, then see what jobs/careers make the most of that attribute(s)..

I'm 33 and only just getting my foot in the door in the sector I've wanted to work in since I was 14. I have no formal qualifications, as I decided to have kids first. I started my degree when I was 26, I still have 2 years left before I complete it.

My mum was in her late 40s before she got into the sector she wanted to work in.

Never too late to start in my eyes.

Depends really. Some people are only just finishing education if they've done a masters and a PHD.

It's not too late and we'll probably all have a few careers now we will live longer and work longer.

If however you have taken no steps towards a career at age 31 then some might wonder what you were waiting for. Perhaps you didn't know what you wanted to do and that's an ok answer.

Forgot to add - Mothering will also delay, derail or delete a career and that's also something we should accept and adjust for.
So 30 is as good as 20 and as good as 50 or even 60. We need to allow people their own timeframes.

Yes I’ve been focusing on being a mum for the past 5 years. Just wondered if this was ok

Everyone is different. I planned my legal career from age 14, graduated inl aw at 20, a year young, qualified as a lawyer in London at a very good firm at 23 (and married with a house and a baby) but I'm a planner. Lots of people are happy more to go with the flow. Neither type of person is wrong - just different. (I have always worked full time even with small babies - I expressed milk at work)

@FruHagen

Forgot to add - Mothering will also delay, derail or delete a career and that's also something we should accept and adjust for. So 30 is as good as 20 and as good as 50 or even 60. We need to allow people their own timeframes.

No it's NOT something we should accept! It isn't the 1950s.

I changed career at 34, it was tough moving from admin to an engineering role and there was a lot of imposter syndrome but 3 years in I'm loving it and my salary has almost doubled from 6 years ago

@justanotherlaura

I changed career at 34, it was tough moving from admin to an engineering role and there was a lot of imposter syndrome but 3 years in I'm loving it and my salary has almost doubled from 6 years ago

That's awesome. Would you be up for sharing what kind of engineering, how you made the change? I've always wished I'd studied engineering.

I’m 37 and going back to school this year 😆
By the time I finish I’ll be 41 but I don’t mind !

I left my second career in early 30s, had a while off, started my third career in late 30s.

I don't think there are rules, so long as you are not doing anything criminal, degrading or getting into debt you are fine.

Just keep an eye on pensions .

@Bella345

Yes I’ve been focusing on being a mum for the past 5 years. Just wondered if this was ok

Of course it's OK! Your future employer will ask in an interview about career gaps, but As long as you can explain them it will be fine.

I’m still working part time, just not in a chosen career I don’t think

@HotChoc10 it's software engineering, maybe not what you're looking for. I started as a software tester manually testing parts of the website by pushing buttons and checking they worked and then got more into the coding side of writing tests, once you can write tests you can write parts of the code for the website

I think now the retirement age is nearing 70, there is plenty of time for at least 2 long careers. The first is a well paid career to sort you financially, the second you may not earn as much but you will have far more job satisfaction. I would say as long as you are making plans/training by mid 30's for your second career you will be fine.

I’ve had two completely different ones so far. I think I’m going to have at least two more before I retire.

Can you have a career without a degree?

I was in Med school with someone in their late 40s. It's never too late to have a change of heart or find you vocation. It's just sad to think you may have missed precious years doing what you love (even if you haven't found it yet)