My First Year of Changing Careers at 40- What It’s Really Like to Pivot

This post lists the twelve lessons I learned in my first year of changing careers at 40.

The journey of changing careers at 40 is like taking a cross-country road trip. 

You have a destination in mind, but you aren’t fully aware of what to expect or prepared for what’s up ahead. 

There are moments of feeling lost, bursts of happiness when you’ve reached a milestone, and times of disappointment, crying at the wheel (this is literally what happened to me).

In the past year, I have experienced the highs and lows of a career change at midlife. 

Each month felt like I was entering into a new chapter of personal and professional self-development. And at times, I am still surprised at what I am going through at 42.

A career change after 40 is not exactly how I pictured my life.  

And yet, I have arrived at the one-year mark of this career pivot and want to share with you what it’s been like to change careers, and will I survive another year? (I’ll share what’s in store for me next- a little further down).

Ready to find out what it feels like to change careers at 40? 

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

12 Lessons I Learned During My First Year of Changing Careers at 40

1. Changing Careers at 40- It’s OK to be Scared, Not OK to Settle 

At the beginning of the pandemic, I was laid off—an incredibly challenging time to look for work. There was so much uncertainty about the future, a lot of companies were on a hiring freeze. I was rejected and ghosted by so many companies and recruiters. 

This was a blessing in disguise. 

I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to continue my career as an apparel buyer. I couldn’t find any rewards or fulfillment in the role anymore. 

I wanted to do work that added value to the world, not just to make a profit. My intuition told me it was time to retire my career as a buyer and time to discover something new.

Although I trusted my gut and was certain of making a change, I still had fears of changing careers at midlife. 

This was a life-altering decision, so I knew I had to face my fears head-on. I started by asking myself some introspective questions: 

• Why do I want to change careers?

• Am I ready to be a student again? 

• Am I in a financial position to make a career pivot? 

Answering these questions during my daily journal practice helped me let go of the fears inside my head. I’m not saying it magically made all of the fears disappear, but it made space for me to explore the next steps.

2. Personality Test Revealed So Much, Even after 40

This may sound crazy, but I didn’t know what I was good at. 

As a mid-career professional, I reached a point in my career of managing teams and solving business problems while maintaining my role’s performance expectations. 

The feeling of not knowing what I was good at came from a disconnection of doing work that went with the job’s responsibilities versus doing work that plays into my professional strengths. 

So I decided to take a deeper look at what I excel in and what makes me unique.

I took three different character/personality tests (yes, I went a little assessment test happy). Here are the assessment tests I took: 

1. Via Character Institute

2. SparkType Assessment

3. Clifton StrengthFinder Assessment 

After analyzing the results from the assessment tests, I could see common themes of character strengths and qualities. I then took the data to map out my strengths and aligned them to possible roles. 

3. Help from a Career Clarity Coach will Provide a Road Map

Notice I didn’t say resume or interview coach; that comes later. After you have complete clarity and focus on what career you decide to pivot towards.

After listening to her in a Clubhouse room, I found my Career Clarity Coach, Jess Smith, LinkedIn. I didn’t even know this type of coaching existed, but after researching LinkedIn, I decided Jess was the coach I needed at this stage of a career change.  

After our session, I was so surprised by my answers. I shared details about my future career that I never said out loud and only kept to myself. Jess’ questions and clarity exercises allowed me to express what I was too afraid to say out loud.

The benefit of working with a career clarity coach is speaking freely to discover and reveal your inner thoughts without any judgments. It is in their best interest to support you and help you get the answers you need to move forward. 

And that’s what I did. I wanted to find people who could help me better understand what to expect in my next career as a writer.

4. Informational Interviews Are Magical

I love reading comments; it allows me to learn more about a situation from another person’s perspective and experience. I turn to yelp before I try almost anything out!

An informational interview can help fill in gaps about a role- information that you can’t find from a search on Google.

The way to achieve a successful informational interview is by asking specific questions like: 

• Describe what a typical day is like in this role 

• How long did it really take to get to that level for that position? 

These are the type of real-life situational questions to ask a person who is your future role.

I put together a list of 21 (get to the point) questions for an informational interview. Check it out here.

5. Experiment with a Side Project

I am a big fan of starting a side project before or during a career pivot. 

Here are the two biggest reasons a side project is good to have with a career change:

Learn More, Research More

A side project gives you a reason to do more research in the industry you plan to change careers for. It’s better to find out everything at this stage before you invest more time and money into a degree or course.

Proof of Work

A side project can provide proof of work to gain credibility when applying for a job or landing clients. It’s also a great exercise to see if you enjoy doing the work, giving you the chance to prove to yourself that you are (or learning that you are not) making the right decision. 

This website started as a side project to show future employers that I could stay digitally relevant and understand SEO. A year later, this website has become a valuable source of content to build my personal brand (I share the importance of building a brand online a little further below) and serves as an example for my content writing services to potential clients.

6. LinkedIn 2.0

After being laid off at the beginning of the pandemic, I knew becoming active on LinkedIn was necessary to find a job. But I was terrified to post anything because of the shame of losing my job. 

I had to get over my fears of posting and focus on sharing the articles from my blog. If I wanted to gain the attention of my side project, I needed to post about it. 

If you don’t share what you are working on, it will never count. 

It made sense for me to invest time learning how to use LinkedIn because that’s the audience I was speaking to. 

7. Building a Personal Brand While Making a Career Pivot

When I first started to post on LinkedIn, someone asked me if I was building a personal brand. I was so confused by this statement. I never heard of this term and never thought of myself as a “brand’.

My understanding of branding was reserved for retailers like Nike or Target. How can a person be viewed as a brand? 

Well, I soon learned that a personal brand is basically your reputation online. What you are known for and how people remember you.

Once I understood the meaning behind a personal brand, I started to embrace it and became intentional about posting online. 

When changing careers, you may find that you know no one in the industry. Yep, not one person. 

So, you’ll need to create content that places you at the center of the new space to attract the right people you want to connect with.  

8. Career Change Strategy: Certification and Courses

Earning certificates through online courses from reputable companies was one of the best things I could do to help gain credibility as a content writer faster. Changing careers at midlife- you can’t afford to waste any time!

I took several courses from different companies to become certified for SEO, content marketing, and writing. I added the certification badges to my LinkedIn profile. An excellent way to add keywords to my profile, allowing me to come up on searches from recruiters and potential clients on LinkedIn. 

9. Side Gigs Were a Lifeline

There were times when I felt like I was back in college. 

Juggling my time studying for courses, keeping up with a social media presence to help build my personal brand, plus trying to earn some income on the side. Except that this time around, the income needed to support a family and not just me. 

So I stitched together different types of side gigs and consulting jobs to make it work.

I took advantage of two things I could spare:

1. My previous buying background and knowledge to be a fashion business consultant. 

2. Extra time on weekends and nights as a wedding coordinator. 

Saying yes to side gigs and consulting isn’t exactly how I imagined my career to be at midlife. But it’s the price I am paying to make this career change a success. 

I learned not to place energy on what people might think or say but to stay focused and clear on my long-term goal of becoming a writer. 

10. Your Negative Thoughts Will Try to Talk You Out of It

There were so many times I wanted to give up, stop whatever I was doing and hop on Indeed to look for a job as a buyer again. I would miss the feeling of doing a job I knew how to do.

These moments of wanting to quit were usually caused by a rejection from a writing publication or the blog’s view count dropping that day. I was facing so many things that were out of my control and I didn’t know how to fix them, on top of dealing with switching careers at midlife. 

All these challenges made it easier for my negative thoughts to creep into my head, telling me, “I told you so” or “This isn’t going to work.” 

That’s why it is so essential to adopt a growth mindset. 

A growth mindset is a belief in seeing the value from situations regardless of the outcome. The belief has been well-researched and written in a book by Stanford Professor Carol Dweck. I learned about Dweck’s work from a Ted Talk.

You believe your talents can be developed through hard work, planning, strategy, and planning with a growth mindset. Failure doesn’t mean it is the end; it’s an opportunity to learn and grow.. 

The type of mindset you need when navigating a career change.

11. Balance Your Busy  Career-Changing Schedule

Want to learn more about this type of time management and productivity? Here’s the article, you’re welcome!

12. A Season Doesn't Last Forever (Even If It Feels Like It)

Looking back at this past year, I realize there were distinct seasons I experienced. 

Not referring to the natural change of seasons like Fall, Winter, Spring, and Summer, but the different seasons of a career change and the emotions that came along with them. 

I can breakdown this career-changing journey (so far) into four different stages: 

Accepting the Change

You no longer want to feel unfulfilled or realize your life’s priorities don’t align with the work you do.

Curiosity Investigator

You are curious to learn more about your new career, and it’s through interviews and experimenting that will give you the clarity you need to move forward.

Being a Student (Again)

You have a professional goal in mind, and now it’s time to go back to being a student. Being a student at midlife brings a deeper focus and determination than your time as a student in your twenties. If you had this type of grit back then, you would have aced each course!

Early-Stage Professional 

You gain all this new knowledge and pick up some extra skills, and it’s now time to put them into practice, even if it means starting at an entry-level role.

Conclusion

Each season has a purpose and is a progression to the next. You can’t skip any of the stages or force yourself to speed through them. It’s a hard lesson, but you learn to hold onto the vision and trust the process. 

So there you have it, the 12 lessons I learned in my first year of changing careers at 40.

I hope these lessons give you some insights into what a year of change looks and feels like. 

It has been an incredible year of ups and downs, and I’m looking forward to another year of growth and new experiences. I know this is just the beginning of a very long and fulfilling career, even though this isn’t my first one.

Stay tuned to what I will share next changing careers at 40. Sign-up below so you won’t miss out on more tips and shares on how to pivot a career.