Turning 40 and thinking of retraining, has anyone done this?

[whomoon]

I turn 40 this year and have been in the same company for 19 years, and the same position for 12 years. I am an executive assistant and have done a few qualifications but only to support my learning rather than progress in my career/pay as that’s not been an option.

I am comfortable in this position. I know the job, I work 2 days from home and 2 in the office, there’s no pressure, it’s relatively interesting and I like everyone I work with. My salary is okay for the job but no prospect to earn more except for annual pay rises if and when the company do them.

But I’m having moments of reflection now I’m entering my 40s. I suppose we all look back and wonder what we could have done differently and imagine being somewhere else in life. And as I look forward, I’m wondering do I continue doing the same thing for the next potential 25/30 years!

So I’m looking at possibilities of retraining. Accountancy was something I was going to do when I entered the workforce at 20 years old, and had the opportunity through my employer, but was put off by the work being the same month in and month out so I changed departments.

I am the main breadwinner between me and my partner. We have a 2 year old child, and no debt. We live in my house and I have a smallish mortgage.

I am curious if anyone has been in the same position and retrained, or wished they had, or did but regretted it?
what can I expect? With my child going into school in 2 years time, I’ll get some time back I guess so should I wait til then?

i feel like I’m coasting a bit now, and I’m missing opportunities to bite the bullet and do something different in order to reach my potential of career and earning opportunities.

I don’t have any formal qualifications except GCSEs so will be entering completely new territory

Will be following with interest. Currently 42 years old, recently made redundant. Think it is time to retrain before it is too late.. but no idea what in !

Have a look here! Study, retraining and mentorship all covered at every level of cogitation and experience.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/maturestudents

DS already had a degree and did teacher training aged 40. Have you thought of asking your employer if there are any possibilities for training and advancement?

Sadly nothing in the industry I’m in, long gone are the days where they pay for any formal qualifications that can help advance in your career let alone switching functions

Thanks although the link doesn’t work, I’ll have a search through the topics though and see if I can find it x

I know I’m going to sound really negative but I would wait a couple of years and see what effect AI is going to have on the working world.
Maybe do an evening course or qualification alongside your regular job. This is from someone who went to uni and got a degree aged 34. I can’t get a career that uses this qualification now and I have a ‘blue collar’ minimum wage job

I thought of retraining in both my 40s and 50s but didn’t because it seemed late in life to do so plus I had a mortgage and bills to pay etc. it’s one of the biggest regrets I have. I’m in my 60s now and still soldiering on in a job I don’t particularly enjoy and for not much money. I wonder how I could possibly think that it was too late at 40/50 and not take the risk financially to retrain.
You have a lot of life yet to live OP so find something you can enjoy doing and go for it

That’s a really interesting insight, thank you.
when I look back on the last twenty years, I had two opportunities in that time; to train as an accountant, and then also a solicitor. I chose to continue as I was as I was happy, no stress, avoided a nice enough lifestyle. But now I’ve got a child, I have another 25 years working and do I want the same salary and work experience in that time, when I could be earning more and doing more.
its down to me too, DO has no pension and no qualifications. So feel I should be maxing out my potential whilst I can. Just a case of finding what that is!

Not negative at all, very logical. The function I work in is being taken over by AI more and more. Makes me wonder how I can train in AI somehow to be able to move with the times.

Not to sound discouraging but I reckon AI will pretty much take over accounting soon. As someone mentioned above, teaching is a good course to pivot into or do some AI courses related to accounting if there’s any out there.

I started a masters at 52. I retrained into cyber security. Don't regret it at all and haven't had any issues getting jobs (at good pay)

40 is a baby 😃

Oh - I’m sorry, no idea why the link doesn’t function.

‘Mature study and Retraining’ comes under the Education topic.

Yes I went back to study so I could change career in my mid 40s. I didn't have a child though. I had a decent payout from last employer. It wasn't easy and getting back into the market was a challenge but I've never regretted it.

I had a social work career until
my mid thirties then left in a fit of stress and strain and joined another industry starting again right at the bottom. Within five years I’ve been promoted several times and I’m now in senior management with huge and exciting responsibilities and a career path ahead of me. BUT I am not someone who would ever have turned down an opportunity at any point to work harder - I’ve always been ambitious. I have achieved a number of degrees while working, the most recent paid fully by my current workplace.

So I really think this is about looking at what’s changed for you and how that impacts your approach. Can you decide a goal and work doggedly to achieve it regardless of your exhaustion and the potential impact on family life? Can you commit to knowing it will get worse before it gets better?

One thing I would also do for a bit of fun and to get your cogs turning. Ask AI to do professional psychometric testing with you. Get it to ask you questions based on all models of testing. Try Hogan, DiSC, Game Changer. It won’t be as good as what you’d get if you did them professionally - but it will be a useful guide. Get it to look at your interests with you too. Eventually tell it what you actually do and give it your CV. It will build you a profile and help you think it through. (Use an account you’re not logged in to - you don’t want it to make assumptions).

Can you fund it? Chartered accountancy qualifications are hugely expensive (as will a lot of retaining be!)

I'm similar to you OP. I'm 46. Been in the same company for 16 years. Loved it and still do but I'm now stuck In a very niche industry with no option for training or learning, just churning out work that they love year after year. I've been retraining for a few years now and it's soooo hard. Work is always ramping up, my perimeno make me tired and irritable and I really could do with some help. I'm trying to get into print design. ( I have a degree in graphic design) And whilst I love learning something new my progress is SLOW. What freaks me out is if I was made redundant now I think I'd really struggle to get another job and that terrifies me. I live alone and have a mortgage to pay. I'm very capable and a good worker but I'm not academic and I'm absolutely awful at self promotion. I'm also getting too old for my industry ( marketing for a youth-culture brand) I really feel for you op, you're not alone

I trained to be a teacher in my 40s and have just retired! It was hard work but worth it!

Thank you for this advice!
I did the psychometric test you suggested, and it was very insightful. Explained a lot of how I work and my strengths and weaknesses.
but, I asked what jobs I am best suitable for, and the very first suggestion said Executive Assistant lol!! So I know I’m definitely suited to my role now, haha. But, it gave me pathways to potential promotions which I hadn’t thought of before.

I think 40s are a great decade to retrain. People tend to choose something they are more passionate about IME. Its worth looking at industry growth areas such as green skills, social care, I am sure there are many others.

What pathways did AI suggest, OP? I was an Executive Assistant, I went on to be Project Manager and Operations Manager, and back to EA again. The EA role I have though is really broad as it’s a small company, so I’m not just playing diary Tetris all day. I do a bit of HR, Ops, Business Development as well as diary and email management. If the company you’re with isn’t developing you maybe it’s time to move on? I was with big corporates previously who very strictly saw ‘admin as admin’ and there were no possible routes out or to expand. Smaller companies gave me a lot more scope.

That’s interesting as AI gave that exact pathway, Operations Manager. I work in a big corporate company, and as you say admin is admin so there’s no scope to progress or get exposure to other functions or roles. I used to have a much more technical admin position as the company used to be smaller but then was bought by a bigger company and the role ended up like this.

Thats a really good insight into how your EA position enables you to have exposure to other things. I’d always envisaged working for a smaller company if I left the big company, but would imagine it’d be a much smaller salary? For what I do now, I’d only earn more if I moved to London so feel I’ve reached the peak of my salary potential in this position.

I earn mid-50k’s, it’s been similar through all the different roles. I am in London, and it is quite low for London but I’m very willing for that trade-off because I get on so well with my colleagues and find the work interesting. I’m also close to retirement now and don’t care at all about career progression.

I feel your pain, I looked at some many things over the decades to try and move away from admin. I almost did CIPD for HR as well but was put off by reading how hard it was to get jobs in HR. Also looked at retraining as solicitor. Went back to art school at one point and became an artist for a while. In the end the solution for me really was smaller companies that were willing to see some aptitude in me for broadening out and not pigeonholing me. If I’d been more ambitious and willing for responsibility I could definitely have got higher in the Operations role, or considered Chief of Staff roles.