Monet asked: How do you start over with no education at 40?
I love getting questions from the newsletter readers because then I know what topics to cover in the blog. So first of all, thank you, Monet!
Consider rephrasing the question
What immediately caught my attention was how the question was focused – starting over, no education, at age 40. This makes the question about overcoming obstacles, which of course I’ll address in this post since that was what was asked.
But keep in mind that how you frame your question is how you’ll get your answer.
When you’re networking and are tempted to ask a question about obstacles you’re facing, try posing the question about your end goal instead. Instead of saying you want to start over, be specific about what you want to do when you start over. If you don’t know exactly, you might know what types of activities you want in your next role or maybe you have an industry you’ve always been interested in or even a specific dream company.
Consider phrasing all your fact-finding questions on what you want, not what you don’t or what may stand in your way.
Starting over = career change ≠ traditional job search.
I don’t have any additional information on Monet, but “starting over” suggests there is a newness in this quest. Perhaps you are starting over after an absence from the workforce. Perhaps you are starting over in a different role or different industry.
You want to treat a restart like a career change, which is different than just any old job search.
With a job search, you’re going after the same line of work but somewhere else. So you have experience, a track record, and therefore some proof of potential. When you’re changing careers or starting over, you’re a blank slate. Your focus needs to be on amassing that proof of potential. I shared tips on repositioning yourself for a new career in a previous post.
If you think a career change might be for you, take a listen to a webinar I did with a career changer, or check out this page with more general career change resources.
Lack of education is not a deal-breaker for career change
One proof of potential is education – e.g., coursework in a related subject, degree from a selective school – and therefore some people assume education is necessary to starting over in a new career. However, you don’t need specific schooling to change careers, and in fact I blogged specifically about why you shouldn’t go to grad school to change careers.
What you need is the learning and projects that education often provides, but that you can get elsewhere.
You absolutely need to know the area where you’d like to work – what’s trending in the industry, what the challenges are, who the competitors are, what skills are needed. You can do this by reading, taking a one-off class or program, joining a professional association or attending a conference. To get hands-on project experience in your related field, consider volunteering or temping.
Use age to your advantage
So, starting over is feasible and lack of education can be overcome. Similarly, landing a job after 40 is definitely doable. As an older job seeker, you have advantages – more years to gain experience, wisdom and perspective, more contacts in quantity and diversity, hopefully more maturity!
There are several good resources for the older job seeker. I recently read an excellent career guide, 50 Plus! Critical Career Decisions for the Rest of Your Life, by Robert Dilenschneider. In addition to sound advice, Dilenschneider taps different specialists (image consultant, executive recruiter, etc.) to share tips specific to older job seekers.
Other helpful resources include Encore.org for experienced professionals looking to move into non-profit, Five O’Clock Club which has strong career resources at all levels but also a book geared to the over-50 professional, and Life Reimagined, a lifestyle site sponsored by AARP that has a strong Work section (full disclosure: I used to write for it so perhaps I’m biased to the quality!).
There are a multitude of ways to land that next job, whether you’re starting over, lacking education, over 40, or some other obstacle. The next step is to identify what you will do next. Pick just one thing and then another and then keep going.
