Starting Over Career At 30

How Can You Get A High

While spending more time in the workforce may lead you to higher paying positions, you can implement other strategies to help you achieve this pay level. Learning how to earn a high-paying position can help you earn your desired income with greater ease. Use these tips to help you get a high-paying job:

• Earn a certification. Consider pursuing certification to help you gain additional knowledge and help you improve your skills. When you include a certification on your resume, it may impress hiring managers.

• Expand your skill set. Learn new skills to broaden your levels of expertise. Consider cross-training in a different department to expand your skill set and show your employer that you’re eager to grow in your profession.

• Improve your leadership skills. If you’re not in a managerial position, look for ways to develop your leadership skills. For example, consider training a new employee or leading a training seminar. When you work on your leadership skills, your employer may take notice and reward you for it.

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Examine Your Current Career

Before making a career change, examine the aspects of what you do and don’t like about your current role. Some common questions you may ask yourself are:

• What do I enjoy about my current career?

• What drew me to this career?

• What draws me to this new career path?

• What aspects of my current career do I dislike?

It’s important to consider these questions because changing careers means you may have to start over and pursue jobs that are a prerequisite to your dream job. This self-assessment gauges what you’re missing and can help you learn to pursue what you want.

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Build A Network Of Contacts

Sending out resumes isnt very effective if people only know you because of your professional past and dont know that you are searching for new career challenges. In short, this is the moment to activatethose connections you built in the past.

Therefore, never underestimate the power of networking. Identify professionals that have values that match yours, even if they are in different markets. Eventually, these contacts can open doors for you in the company where they work.

Keeping in touch with your network is also useful to learn about the challenges that they face in their everyday life.

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Tips For How To Change Careers After 30 Or 40

1. Perform a self-assessment

The key to finding the right career at this stage is learning about yourself. Take a notepad and write down your interests, personality type, ambitions, and work-related values. This will help you narrow down a list of occupations that fit with your various traits.

From there, explore each occupation in depth. Look at duties, training, and salary. Weigh up the pros and cons and decide whether the career is right for your future.

Better yet, find a local career coach and start dusting off that old resume.

You can also use one of these career aptitude teststo determine a potential career that matches your personality and skillset.

2. Tailor resume and cover letter

Employers are looking for candidates who can make an instant impact. Theyll judge whether youre the person to do this based on your resume.

Look for parallels between your current experience and the skills required for your new job and highlight them in your resume.

For example, if youre looking to work in business or global development, skills such as communication, negotiation and foreign language might be critical to the role. If youve spent the early part of your career in sales, communication and negotiation are transferable skills youll have acquired.

And you can show them off by quantifying them:

• Increased company revenues by 44% over a three-year period.
• Led sales team to company high sales figures, securing contracts worth over $4 million in four years.

Pro: A New Career Can Infuse Energy Into Your Work Life

A common reason to change careers is because the old one wasnt fulfilling anymore. If youve come to dread going into work, feel uninspired, or have no room for professional growth in your job, changing careers can be a boost of energy. Starting something new, while scary, can be life-giving and motivating. It can be a great change of pace and can cause you to go from hating or tolerating your job, to loving your work.

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Con: It Can Require Extra Time

Unless your new career field doesnt require experience and you feel confident you can land a job, youre likely going to need to find extra time in your schedule for training. Consider where youre going to find the time.

It may mean working your current job until 5:00 p.m. and then spending your evenings or weekends getting experience in your new career. You might have to give up your free time and sacrifice time with family and friends to achieve your goal.

A New Career At 30 As A Psychologist

As a psychologist, you can either work in a research setting or with patients. While there is a need to have a masters degree in psychology and a license to pursue this career, the life experience of 30 years can prove to be quite valuable as a professional psychologist.

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Know That Its Never Too Late

You might think a career change means completely starting over. But in fact, you most likely already have years of work experience by the time youre 30. That means you have years of building transferable skills that will impress future employers and years of building a professional network that youll be able to tap into when you start your new career.

No matter how old you are, its easy to think theres some sort of cutoff point where starting a new career is impossible. But thats simply not true.

Most of us didnt know what we wanted to do with our lives when we started college or got our first job, and thats totally ok! Because nows your chance, not to start over, but to start where you are and make your career dreams come true.

Work With Multiple Recruiters

If you’ve gone through job boards without much success, consider working with recruiters to try to find a job that can lead to a career. Recruiters have more insight into available positions and work closely with employers to fill needs in the workplace. Some companies hire recruiting firms for specific jobs that they choose not to post on public job boards, so you may find greater success working with recruiters than going through your job hunt alone.

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How To Successfully Change Careers In Your 30s

1. Go to College

The best way to successfully pivot your career in your 30s is by going to college. Earning your College Diploma will make the transition easier and make you far more attractive to employers. It will also increase your earning potential and clearly define your career path so you can stay on an upward trajectory.

At Sundance College, you can complete your Diploma and be working in your new career in less than a year! Fill out our Request Info form to learn more about our programs.

2. Stay in the Same Industry

If you like your current industry, but dont like your specific role or would prefer a more high-profile position, consider a lateral job change. In other words, look for a different job that allows you to use the skills and interests you already have in an industry you already know.

For example, if you have experience waiting tables in a restaurant but feel strongly that you would make a great Restaurant Manager, why not take a Hospitality Business Management Diploma and combine your work experience and education to become a successful General Manager?

3. Create a Great Resume

Changing careers means that you’ll need a fresh, revamped resume to accompany your job search in a new field.

Remember, dont be put off if your experience doesnt exactly match the job description. To learn more about how to write a resume that will stand out from the crowd, read Dos & Donts of Resume Writing.

Why It Can Be A Good Idea To Change Careers In Your 30s

Now to weigh the pros and cons of a change. Changing your career path in your 30s has many benefits. One of the major ones is time. Even if you are starting over and do a new masters course, and even if this takes five years, you still would have some 30 years or more to work in this new career! This is three times as much as the time you have already spent in your current career. This put things into perspective, doesnt it?

Another benefit of changing careers in your 30s is the fact that you probably do not yet have kids and a huge mortgage, which does make things easier. And even if you do have these things , you still have lots of energy , so you can spend some extra time on the required work and studies.

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Reassess Personal And Professional Networks

One way to get into a new field is by reaching out to your network. If you have a friend or family member who works in an industry you wish to pursue, ask them to meet to discuss your aspirations. They may have the information you need to get started. Ask them about various skills, training, education, and experience requirements. See if they know of any job openings that would suit your current background.

Along with connecting with your personal network, consider joining some professional networks. Look for groups made up of professionals you’d aspire to work with and join them. See if there are any educational seminars or workshops hosted by experts in your intended industry that you can attend. In addition to these being learning experiences, such opportunities can help you make valuable connections with professionals who might help you get a job in your new career path.

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Determine What Career To Pursue

After deciding to make a change, your next order of business is to determine what career to pursue. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t know what to do next. There are steps to take that can help you figure it all out.

First learn about yourself by doing a self-assessment, an essential part of the career planning process. Look at your personality type, interests, aptitudes, and work-related values. Even if you did a self-assessment when you were younger, do it again. As a 30-year-old, your responses will be much different than they were when you were younger. Upon completion of this step, you will have a list of occupations that are a good fit based on your traits.

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Starting Over In A New City Isnt Exclusively For 20

We become accustomed to the stories of 20-somethings moving to new cities after college and starting over. Such occurrences are the subjects of novels and sitcoms.

But, what about 30-somethings? The beauty of starting over at 30 in a new city will display the power of reinventing oneself. Youll feel young again, but all the wiser.

Drawbacks Of Changing Careers At Age 30

Making a career change will come at a cost, regardless of your age. If you have your eye on a career that requires additional schooling or training, it may require quitting your job to free up your schedule. That means you may be unemployed and therefore without a regular income until you are fully prepared to enter your new occupation.

You will also need to fund your education. Before embarking on a career change, make sure you have savings or another means of financial support. It may be worth spending a little more time in your current occupation while saving up the money to finance your transition.

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Best Careers In Education To Start At 30

You can choose the following careers in the education industry:

Kindergarten and elementary school teacher

For an individual with a bachelors degree who has soft skills in empathy, dependability, leadership, and organization, teaching young children can be a rewarding opportunity. You need a certification or a license from your state to start working in the public school system, but youre unlikely to have to work during your summers.

School counselor

As a school counselor, you will work with children, providing career guidance, academic support, and assistance in making college applications. For job seekers with soft skills in empathy, time-management, kindness, and communication as well as a masters degree in psychology or a related field, this can be a fulfilling profession with a faster than average job growth. In addition to the educational requirements, youre likely to need a state license to start working.

Teacher assistant

A teacher assistant job can be a suitable option for people with soft skills in empathy, dependability, and communication who enjoy spending time with children. You can get this job with at least two years of college, and it involves helping certified teachers perform their job duties. This is a profession that could work for you if youre studying part-time toward your college degree, and the work experience could help you to decide whether you want to be a licensed teacher when you graduate.

Get Your Finances In Order

After a decade or more in one career, workers in their 30s have typically achieved a more financially stable situation, particularly in a dual-income household. Many Millennials have had to deal with a recession at a crucial time in their career, however, and the combination of student loans, rising housing and childcare costs, and other factors may mean its a bit trickier to take financial risks.

Launching a whole new career can negatively affect your finances, particularly if youve progressed to a lucrative level in your current industry. Avoid unnecessary stress by building a financial safety net before you make the shift. Calculate the costs of changing careers ahead of time, including education, training, initial salary drops and the temporary loss of employee benefits.

This is even more essential if youre starting a business for your second career. Burr says he had two years of savings built up, but experts in the field warned him it could take up to four years to turn a profit. Research the trends in your chosen field, as some businesses can earn more quickly than others. Be prepared to change your spending habits, take out a bank loan or work with investors.

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Work Out Your Strengths

Epiphany Life Coach Jenny Butler believes that you need to understand what makes you tick. Are you driven by money or material success? What environment works best for you? Do you favour pay or job satisfaction? Once you have some answers, youll get an idea of what direction to go in.

You need to understand your strengths, motivation and fit, Jeremy says. Strengths make a note of what you enjoy, what makes you thrive and what energises you. Motivation: what would you do for free? Fit: What do you want your day to be like indoors, outdoors, working on your own, in a big team? Does the purpose matter? Does the end result matter? Imagine your perfect day.

It’s Never Too Late: 9 Things I Learned After Starting Over In My 30s

In what may be the most unique of all of my birthdays, I woke up in hotel room on the morning of my first day as a 30-year-old. I felt no different as I contemplated a future that had yet to be determined.

I wasn’t the least bit concerned with cards, phone calls or even the traditional gift basket. In the week before, I had completed a year-long internship where I coexisted with people barely into their 20s.

It’s how I spent age 29, which was the most challenging year of my life. Despite still being a 20-something, I was seen as the old guy, with one peer even calling me “Grandpa” at times.

I tried to dispense life advice at times to no avail, as it was made clear that younger counterparts assumed they already had all the answers. It was rather rough at times although, I now know it was inevitable.

Instead of worrying about my situation, I stayed focused on my next decade and how it would begin.

Where would I be? What would I do? Will I ever stop being a nomad? At the time I lived in a small California college town that I grew to love as much I grew to love California. My intention was to stay, as I felt my nomadic days were over.

I was constantly asked what I would do when I returned to my Midwestern hometown, but I knew it wasnt my wish to do so. I knew a new life was on the horizon. And, now, here I am, age 30 and starting over in a new city.

As I write this article, I have been 30 for about 90 days, and I have never felt better in my life.

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Learn To Embrace Change

One of the most constant aspects of life is change. And while change may be scary, in the case of a career change, it can end up having a huge positive impact on your life. So why not focus on these positives?

Whether its more money, more job satisfaction, or more flexibility, a career change can be beneficial to both your career and your life in general.

If youre still worried about making such a huge change, break it up into smaller steps to make the transition more manageable. One step might be enrolling in a skill-building course. Another might be updating your resume or attending a networking event.

As psychologist Susan Heitler puts it, The #1 strategy for reducing stress is problem-solving, that is, finding a plan of action to address and resolve the problems that are causing your stressed feelings.

Once you have a transition plan, the change wont seem as overwhelming.