Considering a Career Change at 30? Here's Why It Could Be Your Best Move Ever
Listen to the urge.
Photo: Create & Cultivate
The urge to make a career change at 30 (and during your 30s) is extremely normal. In fact, a whopping 73% of 30-somethings say they want to change careers (up by 10% compared to 2013), according to a 2015 study. What’s holding you back? 43% of those interested in making a career change cited the lack of financial security as a major barrier, and 36% said they worried about a lack of experience or education.
Being passionate (and happy) at work is critical, so those barriers shouldn’t stop you—or anyone else—from pursuing a career change at 30. Yes, as a 30-something, leaving an established career behind is an uncomfortable thought, but your dream career is worth a few months or so of unease, i.e. battling “the unknown.” (And think about it this way: You’ll always have that field to fall back on if things don’t work out.)
Career advice expert and spokesperson for TopResume, Amanda Augustine, has stellar advice for making a thoughtful career pivot. Is it time for you to take the leap? Here’s how to do it.
1. Understand the industry speak.
When you’re looking to make a pivot, something that will give you an advantage—and boost your confidence—is being able to talk about the industry as though you already work in it. Look through job ads on career boards specific to your new industry, and study how hiring managers describe those positions. What keywords are you seeing over and over? Take note, and make sure you know what they mean.
Augustine recommends doing some productive social media stalking, too. “You can follow industry leaders and influencers on social media to get a better handle on the industry buzzwords and catch up on the latest news that’s affecting target employers,” she says.
Then, apply those keywords to your resume and professional profiles. “You’d be surprised how many of your skills can be translated into a new industry—you just may need to change the terminology you use to describe them,” Augustine says. So, let’s say you used to analyze data in the finance industry—now you’re an expert in using that data to forecast trends in the marketing world. Done and done.
2. Make your connections count.
Just because you don’t know a ton of people in this new field doesn’t mean you can’t leverage the strong network you’ve already spent years building. It’s all about tapping those second- and third-degree connections.
If you’re hesitant to make an ask, consider how you can help the other person first. “As with any networking relationship, the goal should be to provide value before you start asking for favors,” says Augustine. “If you’re considering a change and want to leverage a contact’s expertise or resources, begin by re-establishing the relationship. Never call someone out-of-the-blue and start asking for help. Look for opportunities to pay it forward—this can be as simple as offering to make an introduction to someone else in your network or sharing a resource you found.”
Consider this approach: make a list of the people you want to reach out to, with a second column about how you provide something valuable to each person simultaneously.
3. Decide what compromises you’re willing to make.
In Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement address, he said, “I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter into one of the most creative periods of my life.”
Steve Jobs is always good for an inspirational quote, but it’s okay if you’re apprehensive about being a beginner again. Especially if it means looking for positions that have less seniority than the one you currently have, taking a pay cut, or taking a community college class in a room full of 18-year-olds. Acknowledge how you feel, but remind yourself that you’ve had the courage to course-correct (as those 18-year-olds will do one day, too) and follow the path toward your dream job. “Remember that sometimes it’s necessary to make a lateral move, or even a step-down, in order to move up on the right path,” says Augustine. “Accept this fact, and you’re already in better shape.”
In terms of cold, hard numbers, “re-evaluate your finances and identify areas where you can cut back your expenses to make the transition less jarring,” says Augustine. This might also mean thinking ahead of time about your negotiation needs once an offer is on the table. Say you have to take a small pay cut; you could ask to work from home one day a week to reduce commuting costs.
“It won’t always be easy, but keep your eye on the prize,” says Augustine. “If you’re passionate about this new direction, all this hard work will be worth it.”
An original version of this article appeared on Levo.
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This post was originally published on January 24, 2016, and has since been updated.
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When you're in a sea of applicants battling it out for the same job, make sure you're prepared with the proper answers to nail that interview and land that job.
“So, tell me about yourself?” How many interviews have you had that open with that question? It serves two purposes: 1) an ice-breaker to kick off the conversation and 2) to witness how the candidate prioritizes the details of her life. After that easy lob, you can’t predict what interview questions will come next.
Our favorite Q&A site Quora posed the question: What one question do you always ask applicants in a job interview, and why? Here, our favorite interesting interview questions and answers.
1. How do you stay current?
“The answer gives me a feel for the candidate’s curiosity and desire to continue learning, technical interests apart from work experience and how they value the knowledge and experiences of the broader technical community in building their skills and network.” —Travis Truman, software architect
2. If you could change one thing on your resume, what would it be and why?
“The answer tells me a lot about what they perceive as their own weaknesses, career regrets, and shortcomings.” —Tommy Thorton, IT professional
3. On a scale of 1-10, how lucky do you think you are, and why?
“This question has worked wonders for me to bring out some key incidents, experiences, and the overall philosophy.” —Puneet Mehta, cofounder, MyCityWay
4. Where do you rate your skills in [software/program/] on a scale 1-10?
“The number they give is usually irrelevant to the actual interview, but the way they go about explaining their answer reveals a lot about their character. A simple 1-10 rating scale on skill set with an explanation will give you so much insight about how a person views learning and improving.” —John B. Petersen III, startup founder
5. What’s the biggest misconception about you and why?
“Then, after they’ve answered, I follow up with, “How do you know it’s a misconception?” Tests how self-aware someone is, and whether they are open-minded. Two key traits in a great team member.” —Jane Yu, partnerships and philanthropy, AltSchool
6. What did you care about most when you were 10 years old?
7. What was the last thing you changed your mind about?
“Both are more specific than ‘tell me about yourself,’ and challenge the respondent to be specific, and, to me, the second question can show maturity and introspection.”—Gagan Diesh
8. What’s your favorite website?
“In truth, there are no wrong answers, but people who practice and read how to give the perfect interview are always flabbergasted. I want to know how they sound when they’re passionate about something, and make sure they love the internet. You can teach the rest…” —Alex Williams, creative and digital strategy director
9. Rank the following in terms of importance:
- Investors
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- Customers
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“It speaks to the alignment of goals, resource allocation, and priorities, and ability to tie different moving parts i.e. people … that are hard to measure and which make or break the company.” —Mrinal Desai, CEO and cofounder of addappt
10. Who is your hero and why?
“The why is most important. Research has shown that high-achievers have role models and you want to find out what personal attributes the job candidate admires and hopefully tries to live up to.” —Tony Mariotti, COO, Friendbuy