Ask EDN Question:
Hey EDN,
I am 33 and I’ve worked in finance most of my career. Lately, I’ve been thinking about exploring a new field or career. I want to know, at 33 how do you transition into or start a new career? Is it even possible? Is it best just to stay the course?
Thank you,
M
Response:
Thank you for your Question! Please check out Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for some of the feedback we received from our EDN Community, whiche’ve done our best to incorporate inour response.
We are going to start off with an age old saying→ “Age ain’t nothing but a number.” Unless you’re planning on doing something that young people in college/high School do like trying out for the NBA or WNBA than I think you are good. It’s never too late to change careers.
Thirty-three seems as good as any age to ask one of the most important questions of your life, “What do I want from the rest of my life?” The answer to that question will not come from any book you read or quiz you take, it’s going to come from reflecting about your life thus far and than figuring out what your passionate about.
Your current job experience is more valuable than you know. You have plenty of transferable skills that could be used to continue your career in finance, branch out into real estate, teach in a classroom,start your own business, or start a nonprofit
Here are some points to consider:
- Assess what you like and don’t like about your current job. What aspects of your current role do you like, what don’t you like?
- Seperate your “Motivated Skills” from your “Burnt Out Skills” → The Motivated Skills are skills you are good at and enjoy doing and typically lead to career satisfaction and should be central to your focus in career transition. Burnout Skill are skills you are, or may be, good at doing, but you absolutely HATE using them. Work using these skills should be avoided in the future.
- Assess Your Interests or Passions→ Finding things you are interested in and passionate about most likely will lead to career enjoyment. Do you like working with people, data or things? If you like working with people, what type of person energizes you? Talk to a Career Counselor to help you identify what these could be.
- Assess Your Values (The rewards you want to get from your work)-Understanding your values is probably the most important of the assessment in this journey. Why? Because values touch the core of who we are, why we work, and what we hope to get out of our work. And, if there is a mismatch between your values and those of the organization/company for which you work, this mostly likely will lead to career dissatisfaction.
- Assess Your Finances-Career change can require additional expenditures for professional development, joining professional associations, technical equipment, résumé development, and additional training. Add to that, the worry about not knowing where you are heading, what type of salary you can make, and when you actually will land a job and start collecting a paycheck. So save those coins now.
Being older certainly has its benefits. As we get older, we tend to have a greater understanding and acceptance of ourselves, as well as a drive and confidence. Life experience is also useful in establishing what you don’t like. Starting with a process of elimination is a wonderful way to gain clarity.
It’s never too late to make a change. Life and work experience are invaluable and any employer who fails to recognize this simply isn’t worth your time. Reject the tired, rigid narratives that dictate the life markers you should or could achieve and do it your way.
Although, there’s nothing easy about the work of career reinvention. Even when you succeed, the rigors of running a business or operating in a new arena are always with you. This may be the most difficult work you’ve taken on in your career. It’s also exhilarating, liberating, and ultimately, potentially the healthiest thing you will ever do for yourself.
Let us know how it goes.
Best,
EDN PD.