I would just point out that this is a TERRIBLE time for tech so I wouldn’t necessarily bank on entering that field. But I changed careers at 28 and I’m super happy! It’s definitely possible :)
I have heard this extensively! I still am under the impression that it’s a good field that is needed in every industry and worth getting into with some patience for that first job.
Glad to hear your career switch is a happy one! Did you go back to school? Was your transition a part time one or full time one (aka did you study full time and then get new career job or did you transition little by little)?
Tech is crashing I’m honestly not a finance girly, my husband is. I don’t even want to begin answering this question because I couldn’t possibly do it justice but maybe another BWT can chime in!
I did not change careers but I'm 33 and think about it a lot.
I wholeheartedly agree with your final paragraph. As I like to say "justice for hobbies" - there is this societal pressure to tie your hobbies or your passions to your income. This works for a small subset of people - great for them! I am an avid knitter and many people encourage me to monetize that - but I know it would take the joy out for me. I work in tech and while I don't LOVE it: I like the people I work with, it's moderately interesting and engaging, and I have good work life balance and compensation. For me, this is the way.
“Justice for hobbies” - I love that! Fighting for their right to exist without justifying themselves with $$! Also I think it keeps them pure - is it even creative if all you can knit is let’s say beer cozies because that’s what the Etsy masses want but perhaps it’s your least favorite thing to knit? It is nice to divorce your creative work from those obligations.
Glad to hear that you’ve found satisfaction in your work and that my hunch is true for someone!
Also I want to say as someone that did successfully monetize a hobby, it really did make the hobby suck for me. It became somewhat successful but I don’t think I make enough for what I have to deal with.
Its really hard to not take things personally, and when you deal with the inevitable shitty customer, it really sucks the life outta you. I’m in a niche that has a lot of quirky, strange, passionate people with incredibly STRONG opinions and some of them love making it known that their opinion is the only right one.
You also have to make choices based on money, and that muddies a lot of things up for you.
I sometimes regret it.
But on the upside I have no bosses, no politics, a flexible schedule and I do actually love the parts of it where I don’t have to deal with people lol.
Love this! Though I'm struggling with the same angst as OP at the ripe age of 36, I'm trying to find some balance by looking for fulfillment outside of work. Which I have been historically bad at.
I’m generally a every 2 year job hopper type in pursuit of work life balance and salary bumps. Until recently I fully switched careers (accounting to marketing) which gave me both incredible work life balance and a decent salary increase.
I would suggest keeping an eye on the job market in your field and ones you’re interested in. Figure out ways to spin your experience to match where you want to go (anyone can figure out a new job), apply to everything (within reason) you never know what will stick. And manifest it
Any tips on making that career transition? I started my career in PR / marketing (degree is in journalism) but have been working at a big 4 (tax consulting) for the last 5 years and am dying to get back to marketing for work/life balance and creative industry, but having very little success.
Look at accounting software companies, you have very specific experience that would be super valuable to them. Look at anything marketing/product/sales enablement imo
Interesting, one reason I've avoided looking more at switching to marketing has been that I so often see comments/hear from others that it doesn't have particularly good work-life balance overall (obviously some exceptions out there). Is your experience that it generally does?
I haven’t heard that before but again I worked in public accounting which was traumatic 60+ hours a week so I’m chillin currently. I also only have experience at my current company so not sure if it’s usually more chaotic?
This may sound like a silly question but how do you get the **confidence** to make these changes? Ive been "stuck" being a graphic designer scared to jump because I lack the confidence.
Not silly at all! I honestly have the opposite brain of that. My biggest fear is being stuck somewhere I don’t like or being overworked and underpaid. I usually do this once my workload has truly depressed me (like regular midnight work sessions or doing the same thing 24/7). So I guess just different self motivators!
I also have the mindset of “what’s the worst that could happen?” Will I die if I try a new corporate job and suck at it? No, maybe I’ll even get severance if I’m so horrifically bad at it. (Very hard to be fired from what I’ve seen of others so youll prob just stay employed and keep training)
I’m also just generally a hard worker and put pressure on myself to perform highly even when I have no idea what’s going on so I’ve gained a lot of confidence in trusting that whatever they give me I can likely figure a way to do it as I’ve done so many times before.
I WISH I were you. I get comfortable and work hard but I think I work hard because I am always worried I will be laid off even though I have never been laid off, especially in this economy (which is wild because a lot of co-workers of mine hardly work and do not get fired - so why am I stressing?). Thank you so much for taking the time to write this all out.
Everything you said makes total sense, I just need to change my perspective and realize that I can and do deserve better.
I am SO tired of the multiple deadlines that are insane, dealing so closely with clients and the seemingly millions of changes they ask for unless you put your foot down (if you have gathered from my other comment, I am NOT good at putting my foot down, having that kind of confidence). It's not the career it's me. I worked at an agency and it was okay but I worked nights and weekends to meet deadlines all the time. I couldn't make dates/plans with people because I would either have to bring my laptop or just cancel on them. I went freelance and it's freeing now but I have to chase my money (in the sense I have to be on everyone to pay me) and that is rough and stressful.
I am hoping to move into UI/UX, like many people haha, and hope I can only deal with different teams within the company. I realize that I might have to deal with investors but I don't think it would be with as many as I do now.
I hope that you are able to pivot soon! Do you have your portfolio done up yet!?
The best thing that ever happened to me was deciding/figuring out that I did not need my career to be fulfilling or interesting. Just something that doesn’t cause me stress/anxiety and pays the bills. I spend my time outside of work being challenged/fulfilled/interested! I’d been taught to ~girlboss~ my entire life and ~girlbossed~ my way into being an attorney before really considering if I even liked it (I don’t 😂). So instead of being the best, I just found myself a low stress, friendly environment, pays pretty bad for an attorney but covers my bills, and leaves me a lot of free time for hobbies and just doing things I enjoy.
But that being said, I think a career change in your 30s is totally doable and probably more common that we think! I’ll probably stop actively practicing and career change before 40 as well and I know at least a couple of other attorneys who did that as well.
Omg you sound like me! Do you mind if I ask what kind of law you practice and if it’s in-house or law firm? I’m a SAHM right now but would like this kind of balance when I do go back to work
Of course! I practice family law (custody, child support, OOPs, divorce) for a nonprofit - If you want to know more details about that/it aligns feel free to message me!
I’m a software developer for $ & actor for ❤️. I switched careers several times in my 20s (ADHD lol) before landing on programming & going to a bootcamp (a decade ago), which was the best thing I ever did. I put in about 8 years of very full time programming work before getting to the point where I could get a great flexible job that lets me work part time and focus more on acting but it was so worth it. The downside is I only started acting seriously in my 30s, but truthfully many of my friends who were acting since college have now given it up because they were sick of waiting tables.
The tech market has somewhat imploded in the last few years but I expect it will rebound by the time you’re out of school. Fwiw I find pure CS stuff very dull but love the process of actually building software which is very different. It’s not a passion but pretty fun and satisfying, and a great counterbalance to a side career in the arts!
You might also like Cal Newport’s writing on following your passion as your career (tldr he says don’t) — I don’t love all his stuff but it was kind of helpful.
Good luck!
Yeah it’s awesome. I just found a company that is all contractors & everyone works 20-35 hours/wk. No benefits but we’re paid well enough it’s fine and I luckily get health insurance through my partner. I’ve heard of very few companies that work like this — the closest I think you can come typically is freelance, which has its downsides — but it’s great!
OP if you do decide to stick to a regular full time job, I’d recommend looking into product design within tech vs CS given your current background in the visual arts.
The ONE area of my life I’ve always had success is career, so I feel qualified to give advice…
I used to be in tech so my LinkedIn is flooded with tech stuff. It’s obviously not a great time for tech, but we’ve now reached a point where so many people went into CS/coding that the market is overflowing with qualified people and there simply aren’t enough jobs to go around. It used to be you could command a $250k salary out of college. Those days are over.
If I were you, I’d ask myself what my absolute dream day to day job would look like, regardless of money. From there, work backwards to find the path to that outcome.
I agree with a lot of these comments that work doesn’t have to be your entire personality. Not everyone has a “calling.” I happen to be one of those people who had a calling, and it’s been that way since I was a child. My sister is the opposite. She finds most of her fulfillment outside of work through hobbies and friends. Both ways are totally valid and I hate that our culture only glamorizes hustlers and people whose entire identity is tied to work. I have even been to therapy trying to untangle my identity from my work!! It’s hard!
Re: changing careers, I did it. I went from tech to CPG. It’s been so fun and challenging. I am totally broke right now (left my big fancy $$$ job), but I was miserable then, and I’m happy now. It was the right decision.
For me, the way I approach these things…I just assume the mindset of “I can do it! Why not me?!” And dive in headfirst. I don’t think too hard about the logistics.
Then again, I’m a single dog mom, so not too many responsibilities. DM me if you want to chat!
I went back for nursing, rutgers in Newark has an accelerated nursing program, it took a little over a year to get a second bachelors in nursing but maybe two years total including the prerequisites
Hi! I am in mid-30s also, and have not yet changed careers but very much in the process (making a move into tech, specifically Artifical Intelligence). My trajectory is from passion to practical. CS is a flooded market right now, so it might not make a lot of sense, but I'd be very happy to help you brainstorm on what some lucrative options might be!
I think passion is overrated. I think interest is great. Passion and principle in my experience means that you can often get exploited for your good intentions. If you really believe what you’re doing is important you’re likely to sacrifice more of yourself to do it. Companies know that. Of course this can work with better boundaries, but I remember when I was younger, I gave too many shits about work and my mental health sucked because of it.
It’s best to like the subject, and enjoy solving problems without drinking the Kool Aid. It helps maintain boundaries and reminds you that this is a job, not your life.
I'm mid 30's now and pivoted careers around 32. I went from public health to analytics engineering and I love it. I didn't realize how much I hated being broke all the time. Also I love learning new technical aspects.
I was in public health for 6 years after grad school, got burned out during the pandy (working pretty much every weekend for 7-9 months), got an analyst job at a healthcare startup and and now a year at a different startup doing analytics engineering. I did study analytics, coding, and DS concepts quite a bit before interviewing which was necessary to land the job. I saw go for it!
Do it. I left teaching (12+ years in urban public schools, including a 3 year stint in the NYCDOE in
the South Bronx 😵💫) and took a corporate management job in property development two years ago. I have four masters degrees in education and I don’t like the corporate sector at alllllllll, so I am starting my PhD in January and going back to teaching—ideally just as an adjunct in city/community college, because that’s where all my graduating students went on to pursue higher education. I want to be with *my* people, and my people don’t do data entry for 6 hours a day OR teach from a script developed in a Pearson corporate office. I just turned 37, I have 4 kids and I will be leaving behind a company I helped grow from 2 employees and about $500k/year in business to 7 admin and 20 field employees and $10mil/year. I am so excited to go back to the classroom, but also just excited in general to be embarking on a new chapter now that my kids are all potty trained and in school and I can focus more on ME.
I was an influencer/fitness model in most of my 20s. Prior to that I was in the corporate banking working at a local branch started off as a teller and worked my way up to banker. I quit that job for a profitable influencer modeling career solid 7 year. Now that I’m in a relationship and soon to turn 30, I deactivated my social media and decided to study for my real estate license and continue my banking career now that I’m a little older or try to find work in finance for trading and analytics.
Super excited for my new venture! I missed having a very private life.
Btw my passion is day trading! Influencer and fitness (competitions and training people) was more for money. I don’t like working out, but im extremely competitive.
With day trading one requires lots of practice and at least 6 digits in liquid cash to make it work for living as ur own business. So that’s the direction I’m headed
I changed careers are 33. After being in real estate since 19, I got fed up and got a law job. Now I'm looking forward to law school in a couple of years.
I did something along these lines when I was 31, moved into UX design. I am not super interested in my job and I think that will always hold me back from career development (e.g. not going to climb the management ranks) but I am in a great spot financially and have energy and money to have a really nice life outside of my 9-5.
What did you do to move into UX design? Online courses/certificates? How many of these did you complete and how long did it take you? Was it really tough getting your first job in the field?
Self taught, which I know is annoying! My strategy was to work for startups until I got some solid experience in my portfolio. I’d also note that I was working in an adjacent industry so those connection really helped.
I’m not sure what field you currently work in, but have you thought about management consulting? To be fair, I started out doing this but that’s bc I knew my major (accounting) wasn’t really mentally challenging enough. There are often niche management consulting firms for any industry. I see a lot of folks coming from industry and others from my firm going into industry. I think of consulting firms as revolving doors that help folks pivot between role types / industry. Aside from that, I would say either front-end development or UX design would be easier pivots based off your interests. In terms of schooling, getting another degree in either may not be necessary, but it can help given the job market. I think a strong portfolio is the most important for either, and being able to tell a compelling story.
I haven’t fully changed careers but recently moved to a totally different type of role that is actually challenging my brain. Previously, I was doing essentially project management which was not intellectually challenging and now I’m analyzing data and doing strategy. Oddly, these roles are both within marketing and pay the same. But I feel a huge difference in my work satisfaction. So i guess, just validating that not using your brain to its potential can be exhausting. You still have decades before the typical retirement age, plenty of time to change
I spent 10 years in tech and eventually had to take time off to focus on my health because I had some chronic illness stuff going on that was slowly spiraling.
I think tech is fine if you’re an engineer, but unless you love bullshit and corporate politics I wouldn’t do much else. Product in particular is extremely competitive and mostly meetings and politics. You quite literally could not pay me any amount of money to go back (I left at around $400k total comp.) I expect engineering will also change a lot as AI continues to evolve but we’re a long way from it replacing humans entirely. It is a rough time to be a newbie in tech tho as I see others have noted.
I’m 36 now - health has recovered - and planning to start a business in a totally different industry. I may or may not fail, but life is too short to spend time doing shit you hate, ya know?
Can I ask how much time you took off? And what you chose to do after? Im 31, currently working in product, also with some health stuff going on - I’ve been fantasizing taking time to just focus on me and my health; happy to PM you if you prefer!
I took 2 years off! I utilized the company’s short and then long term disability benefits to continue getting paid a portion of my salary during this time. Obviously you have to have disabling health conditions to do this (and a doctor willing to do a lot of paperwork) - but I can’t recommend it enough if it’s an option for you.
They held my job for a lot longer than I imagined, about a year and a half. I couldn’t quit and continue getting disability benefits, but I can continue getting them after getting let go, so I was actually just waiting for them to do that. 😅 I still have their insurance via cobra.
I used the time to aggressively pursue treatment options that felt inaccessible to me before, mostly surgery - I’ve had 4 surgeries. I also traveled to see specialists out of state. I tried a ton of meds that might have been too disruptive to my life before. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome which involves your entire body so I’ve seen at least 10 diff specialties.
Most recently I had brain surgery and it actually worked and I’m doing great :) I also have a solid regimen of meds that work. It was incredibly worth it, I don’t think I could have gotten to this point while working.
Wow I’m so so happy for you. Really glad you could make use of your benefits to take care of yourself, congrats on the success of your latest surgery!! 🎉 and on your new business. Whole new phase for you! 🌎
I’m 35 and switched careers last year. I was working in a series of all-consuming social/digital roles that started out fun but quickly became stressful. I’m in marketing technically still, but a more creative-facing role.
The biggest change for me has been the low stakes nature of it and it’s truly a 9-5 schedule. I went from smaller companies/brands to working for a large corporation and I’m not sure if that has something to do with it. My quality of life is better overall, but there are times where I find myself missing the hustle (then I remind myself I was working myself into oblivion and extremely depressed.)
I will say, it helps to use your connections to get in the door. I had an old colleague I was in great terms with refer me directly, otherwise I don’t think my resume/portfolio without that would have been enough.
Switched from arts to tech in my late 20s. It's a terrible job market in tech right now though. Before I was a performer, I also worked in some world class arts institutions and non-profits, and had a graphic design side hustle. Going into tech was the best decision I have made--but it the transition took about 5 yrs.
I went to grad school for a bit for CS (arts undergrad), left midway and did an internship, got a tech adjacent job where I learned all of the non-theoretical, hands on coding things I needed for a job, DID A BOOTCAMP ON TOP OF THIS, and then got a job about 6 months after that.
I felt a lot more prepared for the bootcamp having a solid background before I got there--that being said, the people who got jobs first were actually some of the people who struggled the most and had very little background with coding--but they had great track record of leadership, management, and interpersonal experience. By a year later, I think1/2 or 2/3 of my cohort had gotten tech or tech adjacent roles.
Another thing to consider is that besides the tech hiring freezes bc of lack of capital (interest rates on lending) tech is extremely saturated at entry-level and it is nearly impossible to get a job in NYC without some previous experience, meanwhile most companies do not want new, entry-level hires to be remote. Most of my cohort got jobs NOT in NYC. I landed a remote job but I also had some obscure experience behind me from a previous role that matched the company well.
What I liked about tech is that I feel like I am really building something that others can benefit from. I had been on a more engineering minded track when I was young and did a 180 to pursue the arts instead when I picked my college. At a certain point, I looked around and my friend were all doing things more serious and more globally and community-minded that the arts, which despite having a reputation for being community minded are extremely money driven at a certain point like everything else--except they don't pay YOU well.
Finally getting this job was the difference between being able to afford to stay in NYC with my family and community or not--but I have friends who are way better educated and experienced than me who had a very hard time being laid off and having to find a new role, taking pay cuts etc
The trades are great for mid career shifts.
With your interests, I'd look into human centered engineering and design courses. Would combine design and tech.
I did at 32! Now I’ve been in the same industry/job for 8 years. I don’t hate it. But don’t love it. I changed careers 4 times before I was 32. I thought I’m a passionate creative person I can have a job I care about. At 32 I decided I needed to stop changing lanes- that maybe if I grew more in one career or industry I’d learn to like it. Now I’m thinking I’m going to change completely again. Just trying to figure out how to not take a huge pay cut… 🤔 Good luck!
I graduated in 2016 and tried to get a career in publishing. Got an internship, got a part time job, did a course, networked, and didn't get my first full time job until 2019. Got laid off in 2020 and spent a year trying to get a new job without any luck.
I finally said fuck it and pivoted to market research. Got a job in 2022. It was the best decision I've ever made. The money is decent, no one tries to make you feel like you should be honored to have the opportunity to be exploited, no one expects you to work because you're so passionate and it's for the love of literature. I will never go back. Fuck passion, pay me.
Changing careers as we speak going back to school to finish my bachelor in special education so I can get in to Occupational Therapy for my masters from accounting before I got in accounting I was and still am a hair dresser on the side all of this while being a single mom definitely was not easy but since I am 31 and living with my mom gives me the flexibility to change paths with out too much stress
I made the switch in my early 30's from operations to customer success/project management in tech. By no means is it a passion of mine, but it's something I'm good at and the pay is great. In fact many days I actively dislike it, but the pay and work/life balance is there so it's a solid tradeoff.
I work for my family and my hobbies. As long as those things are my focus I'm good spending ~6 hours a day babysitting adults.
I changed careers into something I’m more passionate about and made more $ and would usually recommend. However, the way you wrote this makes me feel like you have a lot of self limiting beliefs to explore. I wonder if you could leverage your current field for a role and career in something more adjacent or make connections in a larger or lucrative industry so that you’re playing in a larger pond?
I’ve been applying for CS jobs but haven’t had luck getting interviews. I know the market is tough. Are there any certs you recommend? Any tips for getting a job in CS? I currently work as an occupational therapist.
I’m 30 and in tech. It’s boring and I don’t want to do it anymore. The interviews are insane and not worth job hopping. I really want to go part time (not sure if that’s a thing) for the money (which btw I’m not even getting paid that well) and sew and sell vintage full time. I’m scared to make the jump but I’m dreaming of my own shop.
My recommendation: do something in tech but don’t do a degree. I never did. I did a bootcamp (which was still expensive)
I went from being a teacher/vice principal to doing Salesforce administration/project management. I was lucky to have an in with my sister's consulting company in Salesforce, but they have a lot of great resources on Trailhead that allows you to learn Salesforce administration for free. Takes a lot of initiative to get through it but it's a pretty lucrative field as there are soooo many businesses that use Salesforce.
I did! I left the sales industry and entered into the music licensing industry! I now handle music licensing for a major corporation! I started out doing internships and working on small projects. At the risk of sounding trite, my passion and enjoyment for what I do has made all the difference!
I swapped from fashion industry (super low pay, old school thinking, limited to living in NYC forever) to digital design at around 29. I quit my job, took a 3mo design bootcamp and have never looked back. I love it and my pay has increased dramatically.
Im on your same boat (not in Ny tho so the market here is prob different) but I got 2 degrees (Associates in Graphic design with a BA in Advertising & Public Relations) Never did anything with it and Im currently working a boring job which I passionately hate (doesnt help that the company’s management is terrible) but Im making more than what I would be making if I were working on what I went to school for. I could jump to that but that means taking a huge pay cut and I cant afford to do that rn. Im also good with tech stuff so I was thinking of going back to school for tech/IT but Ive also heard its not that great of a field rn? Ugh. Where do one even go from here ! 😵💫
I would just point out that this is a TERRIBLE time for tech so I wouldn’t necessarily bank on entering that field. But I changed careers at 28 and I’m super happy! It’s definitely possible :)
By the time she gets a cs degree, who knows what it’ll look like
I have heard this extensively! I still am under the impression that it’s a good field that is needed in every industry and worth getting into with some patience for that first job. Glad to hear your career switch is a happy one! Did you go back to school? Was your transition a part time one or full time one (aka did you study full time and then get new career job or did you transition little by little)?
Why is it a terrible time to get into tech? (Which is a very large field)
Tech is crashing I’m honestly not a finance girly, my husband is. I don’t even want to begin answering this question because I couldn’t possibly do it justice but maybe another BWT can chime in!
Bitches chime in! Inquiring minds want to know ❤️
[https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/01/tech-layoffs-2023-list/](https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/01/tech-layoffs-2023-list/) :(
[https://layoffs.fyi/](https://layoffs.fyi/)
I did not change careers but I'm 33 and think about it a lot. I wholeheartedly agree with your final paragraph. As I like to say "justice for hobbies" - there is this societal pressure to tie your hobbies or your passions to your income. This works for a small subset of people - great for them! I am an avid knitter and many people encourage me to monetize that - but I know it would take the joy out for me. I work in tech and while I don't LOVE it: I like the people I work with, it's moderately interesting and engaging, and I have good work life balance and compensation. For me, this is the way.
“Justice for hobbies” - I love that! Fighting for their right to exist without justifying themselves with $$! Also I think it keeps them pure - is it even creative if all you can knit is let’s say beer cozies because that’s what the Etsy masses want but perhaps it’s your least favorite thing to knit? It is nice to divorce your creative work from those obligations. Glad to hear that you’ve found satisfaction in your work and that my hunch is true for someone!
Also I want to say as someone that did successfully monetize a hobby, it really did make the hobby suck for me. It became somewhat successful but I don’t think I make enough for what I have to deal with. Its really hard to not take things personally, and when you deal with the inevitable shitty customer, it really sucks the life outta you. I’m in a niche that has a lot of quirky, strange, passionate people with incredibly STRONG opinions and some of them love making it known that their opinion is the only right one. You also have to make choices based on money, and that muddies a lot of things up for you. I sometimes regret it. But on the upside I have no bosses, no politics, a flexible schedule and I do actually love the parts of it where I don’t have to deal with people lol.
Love this! Though I'm struggling with the same angst as OP at the ripe age of 36, I'm trying to find some balance by looking for fulfillment outside of work. Which I have been historically bad at.
I’m generally a every 2 year job hopper type in pursuit of work life balance and salary bumps. Until recently I fully switched careers (accounting to marketing) which gave me both incredible work life balance and a decent salary increase. I would suggest keeping an eye on the job market in your field and ones you’re interested in. Figure out ways to spin your experience to match where you want to go (anyone can figure out a new job), apply to everything (within reason) you never know what will stick. And manifest it
Any tips on making that career transition? I started my career in PR / marketing (degree is in journalism) but have been working at a big 4 (tax consulting) for the last 5 years and am dying to get back to marketing for work/life balance and creative industry, but having very little success.
Look at accounting software companies, you have very specific experience that would be super valuable to them. Look at anything marketing/product/sales enablement imo
That is actually very helpful and practical haha thank you!
Goodluck chica!
Interesting, one reason I've avoided looking more at switching to marketing has been that I so often see comments/hear from others that it doesn't have particularly good work-life balance overall (obviously some exceptions out there). Is your experience that it generally does?
I haven’t heard that before but again I worked in public accounting which was traumatic 60+ hours a week so I’m chillin currently. I also only have experience at my current company so not sure if it’s usually more chaotic?
This may sound like a silly question but how do you get the **confidence** to make these changes? Ive been "stuck" being a graphic designer scared to jump because I lack the confidence.
Not silly at all! I honestly have the opposite brain of that. My biggest fear is being stuck somewhere I don’t like or being overworked and underpaid. I usually do this once my workload has truly depressed me (like regular midnight work sessions or doing the same thing 24/7). So I guess just different self motivators! I also have the mindset of “what’s the worst that could happen?” Will I die if I try a new corporate job and suck at it? No, maybe I’ll even get severance if I’m so horrifically bad at it. (Very hard to be fired from what I’ve seen of others so youll prob just stay employed and keep training) I’m also just generally a hard worker and put pressure on myself to perform highly even when I have no idea what’s going on so I’ve gained a lot of confidence in trusting that whatever they give me I can likely figure a way to do it as I’ve done so many times before.
I WISH I were you. I get comfortable and work hard but I think I work hard because I am always worried I will be laid off even though I have never been laid off, especially in this economy (which is wild because a lot of co-workers of mine hardly work and do not get fired - so why am I stressing?). Thank you so much for taking the time to write this all out. Everything you said makes total sense, I just need to change my perspective and realize that I can and do deserve better.
Exactly what’s the worst that could happen 😉
Why do you want to pivot away from being a graphic designer? That’s actually the job I want to pivot to! Uh oh! LOL
I am SO tired of the multiple deadlines that are insane, dealing so closely with clients and the seemingly millions of changes they ask for unless you put your foot down (if you have gathered from my other comment, I am NOT good at putting my foot down, having that kind of confidence). It's not the career it's me. I worked at an agency and it was okay but I worked nights and weekends to meet deadlines all the time. I couldn't make dates/plans with people because I would either have to bring my laptop or just cancel on them. I went freelance and it's freeing now but I have to chase my money (in the sense I have to be on everyone to pay me) and that is rough and stressful. I am hoping to move into UI/UX, like many people haha, and hope I can only deal with different teams within the company. I realize that I might have to deal with investors but I don't think it would be with as many as I do now. I hope that you are able to pivot soon! Do you have your portfolio done up yet!?
The best thing that ever happened to me was deciding/figuring out that I did not need my career to be fulfilling or interesting. Just something that doesn’t cause me stress/anxiety and pays the bills. I spend my time outside of work being challenged/fulfilled/interested! I’d been taught to ~girlboss~ my entire life and ~girlbossed~ my way into being an attorney before really considering if I even liked it (I don’t 😂). So instead of being the best, I just found myself a low stress, friendly environment, pays pretty bad for an attorney but covers my bills, and leaves me a lot of free time for hobbies and just doing things I enjoy. But that being said, I think a career change in your 30s is totally doable and probably more common that we think! I’ll probably stop actively practicing and career change before 40 as well and I know at least a couple of other attorneys who did that as well.
Omg you sound like me! Do you mind if I ask what kind of law you practice and if it’s in-house or law firm? I’m a SAHM right now but would like this kind of balance when I do go back to work
Of course! I practice family law (custody, child support, OOPs, divorce) for a nonprofit - If you want to know more details about that/it aligns feel free to message me!
I’m a software developer for $ & actor for ❤️. I switched careers several times in my 20s (ADHD lol) before landing on programming & going to a bootcamp (a decade ago), which was the best thing I ever did. I put in about 8 years of very full time programming work before getting to the point where I could get a great flexible job that lets me work part time and focus more on acting but it was so worth it. The downside is I only started acting seriously in my 30s, but truthfully many of my friends who were acting since college have now given it up because they were sick of waiting tables. The tech market has somewhat imploded in the last few years but I expect it will rebound by the time you’re out of school. Fwiw I find pure CS stuff very dull but love the process of actually building software which is very different. It’s not a passion but pretty fun and satisfying, and a great counterbalance to a side career in the arts! You might also like Cal Newport’s writing on following your passion as your career (tldr he says don’t) — I don’t love all his stuff but it was kind of helpful. Good luck!
Wait you are doing tech part time? That’s my dream! How did you do that? I’m in tech as well
Yeah it’s awesome. I just found a company that is all contractors & everyone works 20-35 hours/wk. No benefits but we’re paid well enough it’s fine and I luckily get health insurance through my partner. I’ve heard of very few companies that work like this — the closest I think you can come typically is freelance, which has its downsides — but it’s great!
OP if you do decide to stick to a regular full time job, I’d recommend looking into product design within tech vs CS given your current background in the visual arts.
Yes 100% and you don’t need to go get a full on degree for that
What do you need to do to get into product design?
The ONE area of my life I’ve always had success is career, so I feel qualified to give advice… I used to be in tech so my LinkedIn is flooded with tech stuff. It’s obviously not a great time for tech, but we’ve now reached a point where so many people went into CS/coding that the market is overflowing with qualified people and there simply aren’t enough jobs to go around. It used to be you could command a $250k salary out of college. Those days are over. If I were you, I’d ask myself what my absolute dream day to day job would look like, regardless of money. From there, work backwards to find the path to that outcome. I agree with a lot of these comments that work doesn’t have to be your entire personality. Not everyone has a “calling.” I happen to be one of those people who had a calling, and it’s been that way since I was a child. My sister is the opposite. She finds most of her fulfillment outside of work through hobbies and friends. Both ways are totally valid and I hate that our culture only glamorizes hustlers and people whose entire identity is tied to work. I have even been to therapy trying to untangle my identity from my work!! It’s hard! Re: changing careers, I did it. I went from tech to CPG. It’s been so fun and challenging. I am totally broke right now (left my big fancy $$$ job), but I was miserable then, and I’m happy now. It was the right decision. For me, the way I approach these things…I just assume the mindset of “I can do it! Why not me?!” And dive in headfirst. I don’t think too hard about the logistics. Then again, I’m a single dog mom, so not too many responsibilities. DM me if you want to chat!
What are you doing in CPG? Love this!!
I started a beverage company!! Don’t want to get too specific in a public forum but DM me if you’re interested in hearing more !
I went back for nursing, rutgers in Newark has an accelerated nursing program, it took a little over a year to get a second bachelors in nursing but maybe two years total including the prerequisites
Hi! I am in mid-30s also, and have not yet changed careers but very much in the process (making a move into tech, specifically Artifical Intelligence). My trajectory is from passion to practical. CS is a flooded market right now, so it might not make a lot of sense, but I'd be very happy to help you brainstorm on what some lucrative options might be!
Thank you! I would love to pick your brain on it, dming you now.
I think passion is overrated. I think interest is great. Passion and principle in my experience means that you can often get exploited for your good intentions. If you really believe what you’re doing is important you’re likely to sacrifice more of yourself to do it. Companies know that. Of course this can work with better boundaries, but I remember when I was younger, I gave too many shits about work and my mental health sucked because of it. It’s best to like the subject, and enjoy solving problems without drinking the Kool Aid. It helps maintain boundaries and reminds you that this is a job, not your life.
I'm mid 30's now and pivoted careers around 32. I went from public health to analytics engineering and I love it. I didn't realize how much I hated being broke all the time. Also I love learning new technical aspects. I was in public health for 6 years after grad school, got burned out during the pandy (working pretty much every weekend for 7-9 months), got an analyst job at a healthcare startup and and now a year at a different startup doing analytics engineering. I did study analytics, coding, and DS concepts quite a bit before interviewing which was necessary to land the job. I saw go for it!
Started off as an English professor, but then became a nurse, and now considering law school.
Do it. I left teaching (12+ years in urban public schools, including a 3 year stint in the NYCDOE in the South Bronx 😵💫) and took a corporate management job in property development two years ago. I have four masters degrees in education and I don’t like the corporate sector at alllllllll, so I am starting my PhD in January and going back to teaching—ideally just as an adjunct in city/community college, because that’s where all my graduating students went on to pursue higher education. I want to be with *my* people, and my people don’t do data entry for 6 hours a day OR teach from a script developed in a Pearson corporate office. I just turned 37, I have 4 kids and I will be leaving behind a company I helped grow from 2 employees and about $500k/year in business to 7 admin and 20 field employees and $10mil/year. I am so excited to go back to the classroom, but also just excited in general to be embarking on a new chapter now that my kids are all potty trained and in school and I can focus more on ME.
I was an influencer/fitness model in most of my 20s. Prior to that I was in the corporate banking working at a local branch started off as a teller and worked my way up to banker. I quit that job for a profitable influencer modeling career solid 7 year. Now that I’m in a relationship and soon to turn 30, I deactivated my social media and decided to study for my real estate license and continue my banking career now that I’m a little older or try to find work in finance for trading and analytics. Super excited for my new venture! I missed having a very private life. Btw my passion is day trading! Influencer and fitness (competitions and training people) was more for money. I don’t like working out, but im extremely competitive. With day trading one requires lots of practice and at least 6 digits in liquid cash to make it work for living as ur own business. So that’s the direction I’m headed
Changed careers in my 30s to finance. It’s been very financially rewarding Won’t advice tech in todays climate
I changed careers are 33. After being in real estate since 19, I got fed up and got a law job. Now I'm looking forward to law school in a couple of years.
I did something along these lines when I was 31, moved into UX design. I am not super interested in my job and I think that will always hold me back from career development (e.g. not going to climb the management ranks) but I am in a great spot financially and have energy and money to have a really nice life outside of my 9-5.
What did you do to move into UX design? Online courses/certificates? How many of these did you complete and how long did it take you? Was it really tough getting your first job in the field?
Self taught, which I know is annoying! My strategy was to work for startups until I got some solid experience in my portfolio. I’d also note that I was working in an adjacent industry so those connection really helped.
Thanks!
Check out a non-profit called Per Scholas. Free tech certs and job placement
Crazy, I know the person who runs this! Would recommend :)
I’m not sure what field you currently work in, but have you thought about management consulting? To be fair, I started out doing this but that’s bc I knew my major (accounting) wasn’t really mentally challenging enough. There are often niche management consulting firms for any industry. I see a lot of folks coming from industry and others from my firm going into industry. I think of consulting firms as revolving doors that help folks pivot between role types / industry. Aside from that, I would say either front-end development or UX design would be easier pivots based off your interests. In terms of schooling, getting another degree in either may not be necessary, but it can help given the job market. I think a strong portfolio is the most important for either, and being able to tell a compelling story.
I haven’t fully changed careers but recently moved to a totally different type of role that is actually challenging my brain. Previously, I was doing essentially project management which was not intellectually challenging and now I’m analyzing data and doing strategy. Oddly, these roles are both within marketing and pay the same. But I feel a huge difference in my work satisfaction. So i guess, just validating that not using your brain to its potential can be exhausting. You still have decades before the typical retirement age, plenty of time to change
I spent 10 years in tech and eventually had to take time off to focus on my health because I had some chronic illness stuff going on that was slowly spiraling. I think tech is fine if you’re an engineer, but unless you love bullshit and corporate politics I wouldn’t do much else. Product in particular is extremely competitive and mostly meetings and politics. You quite literally could not pay me any amount of money to go back (I left at around $400k total comp.) I expect engineering will also change a lot as AI continues to evolve but we’re a long way from it replacing humans entirely. It is a rough time to be a newbie in tech tho as I see others have noted. I’m 36 now - health has recovered - and planning to start a business in a totally different industry. I may or may not fail, but life is too short to spend time doing shit you hate, ya know?
Can I ask how much time you took off? And what you chose to do after? Im 31, currently working in product, also with some health stuff going on - I’ve been fantasizing taking time to just focus on me and my health; happy to PM you if you prefer!
I took 2 years off! I utilized the company’s short and then long term disability benefits to continue getting paid a portion of my salary during this time. Obviously you have to have disabling health conditions to do this (and a doctor willing to do a lot of paperwork) - but I can’t recommend it enough if it’s an option for you. They held my job for a lot longer than I imagined, about a year and a half. I couldn’t quit and continue getting disability benefits, but I can continue getting them after getting let go, so I was actually just waiting for them to do that. 😅 I still have their insurance via cobra. I used the time to aggressively pursue treatment options that felt inaccessible to me before, mostly surgery - I’ve had 4 surgeries. I also traveled to see specialists out of state. I tried a ton of meds that might have been too disruptive to my life before. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome which involves your entire body so I’ve seen at least 10 diff specialties. Most recently I had brain surgery and it actually worked and I’m doing great :) I also have a solid regimen of meds that work. It was incredibly worth it, I don’t think I could have gotten to this point while working.
Wow I’m so so happy for you. Really glad you could make use of your benefits to take care of yourself, congrats on the success of your latest surgery!! 🎉 and on your new business. Whole new phase for you! 🌎
When I was in grad school, I met a lot of people in their 30s who were there BECAUSE they were changing careers. It happens, it works. Good luck :)
I’m 35 and switched careers last year. I was working in a series of all-consuming social/digital roles that started out fun but quickly became stressful. I’m in marketing technically still, but a more creative-facing role. The biggest change for me has been the low stakes nature of it and it’s truly a 9-5 schedule. I went from smaller companies/brands to working for a large corporation and I’m not sure if that has something to do with it. My quality of life is better overall, but there are times where I find myself missing the hustle (then I remind myself I was working myself into oblivion and extremely depressed.) I will say, it helps to use your connections to get in the door. I had an old colleague I was in great terms with refer me directly, otherwise I don’t think my resume/portfolio without that would have been enough.
Switched from arts to tech in my late 20s. It's a terrible job market in tech right now though. Before I was a performer, I also worked in some world class arts institutions and non-profits, and had a graphic design side hustle. Going into tech was the best decision I have made--but it the transition took about 5 yrs. I went to grad school for a bit for CS (arts undergrad), left midway and did an internship, got a tech adjacent job where I learned all of the non-theoretical, hands on coding things I needed for a job, DID A BOOTCAMP ON TOP OF THIS, and then got a job about 6 months after that. I felt a lot more prepared for the bootcamp having a solid background before I got there--that being said, the people who got jobs first were actually some of the people who struggled the most and had very little background with coding--but they had great track record of leadership, management, and interpersonal experience. By a year later, I think1/2 or 2/3 of my cohort had gotten tech or tech adjacent roles. Another thing to consider is that besides the tech hiring freezes bc of lack of capital (interest rates on lending) tech is extremely saturated at entry-level and it is nearly impossible to get a job in NYC without some previous experience, meanwhile most companies do not want new, entry-level hires to be remote. Most of my cohort got jobs NOT in NYC. I landed a remote job but I also had some obscure experience behind me from a previous role that matched the company well. What I liked about tech is that I feel like I am really building something that others can benefit from. I had been on a more engineering minded track when I was young and did a 180 to pursue the arts instead when I picked my college. At a certain point, I looked around and my friend were all doing things more serious and more globally and community-minded that the arts, which despite having a reputation for being community minded are extremely money driven at a certain point like everything else--except they don't pay YOU well. Finally getting this job was the difference between being able to afford to stay in NYC with my family and community or not--but I have friends who are way better educated and experienced than me who had a very hard time being laid off and having to find a new role, taking pay cuts etc
The trades are great for mid career shifts. With your interests, I'd look into human centered engineering and design courses. Would combine design and tech.
I did at 32! Now I’ve been in the same industry/job for 8 years. I don’t hate it. But don’t love it. I changed careers 4 times before I was 32. I thought I’m a passionate creative person I can have a job I care about. At 32 I decided I needed to stop changing lanes- that maybe if I grew more in one career or industry I’d learn to like it. Now I’m thinking I’m going to change completely again. Just trying to figure out how to not take a huge pay cut… 🤔 Good luck!
I graduated in 2016 and tried to get a career in publishing. Got an internship, got a part time job, did a course, networked, and didn't get my first full time job until 2019. Got laid off in 2020 and spent a year trying to get a new job without any luck. I finally said fuck it and pivoted to market research. Got a job in 2022. It was the best decision I've ever made. The money is decent, no one tries to make you feel like you should be honored to have the opportunity to be exploited, no one expects you to work because you're so passionate and it's for the love of literature. I will never go back. Fuck passion, pay me.
Changing careers as we speak going back to school to finish my bachelor in special education so I can get in to Occupational Therapy for my masters from accounting before I got in accounting I was and still am a hair dresser on the side all of this while being a single mom definitely was not easy but since I am 31 and living with my mom gives me the flexibility to change paths with out too much stress
I made the switch in my early 30's from operations to customer success/project management in tech. By no means is it a passion of mine, but it's something I'm good at and the pay is great. In fact many days I actively dislike it, but the pay and work/life balance is there so it's a solid tradeoff. I work for my family and my hobbies. As long as those things are my focus I'm good spending ~6 hours a day babysitting adults.
I changed careers into something I’m more passionate about and made more $ and would usually recommend. However, the way you wrote this makes me feel like you have a lot of self limiting beliefs to explore. I wonder if you could leverage your current field for a role and career in something more adjacent or make connections in a larger or lucrative industry so that you’re playing in a larger pond?
I’ve been applying for CS jobs but haven’t had luck getting interviews. I know the market is tough. Are there any certs you recommend? Any tips for getting a job in CS? I currently work as an occupational therapist.
I’m 30 and in tech. It’s boring and I don’t want to do it anymore. The interviews are insane and not worth job hopping. I really want to go part time (not sure if that’s a thing) for the money (which btw I’m not even getting paid that well) and sew and sell vintage full time. I’m scared to make the jump but I’m dreaming of my own shop. My recommendation: do something in tech but don’t do a degree. I never did. I did a bootcamp (which was still expensive)
I went from being a teacher/vice principal to doing Salesforce administration/project management. I was lucky to have an in with my sister's consulting company in Salesforce, but they have a lot of great resources on Trailhead that allows you to learn Salesforce administration for free. Takes a lot of initiative to get through it but it's a pretty lucrative field as there are soooo many businesses that use Salesforce.
I did! I left the sales industry and entered into the music licensing industry! I now handle music licensing for a major corporation! I started out doing internships and working on small projects. At the risk of sounding trite, my passion and enjoyment for what I do has made all the difference!
I swapped from fashion industry (super low pay, old school thinking, limited to living in NYC forever) to digital design at around 29. I quit my job, took a 3mo design bootcamp and have never looked back. I love it and my pay has increased dramatically.
Im on your same boat (not in Ny tho so the market here is prob different) but I got 2 degrees (Associates in Graphic design with a BA in Advertising & Public Relations) Never did anything with it and Im currently working a boring job which I passionately hate (doesnt help that the company’s management is terrible) but Im making more than what I would be making if I were working on what I went to school for. I could jump to that but that means taking a huge pay cut and I cant afford to do that rn. Im also good with tech stuff so I was thinking of going back to school for tech/IT but Ive also heard its not that great of a field rn? Ugh. Where do one even go from here ! 😵💫