How to Change Career in Your 30s

If you’re in your 30s, you’ve likely spent the best part of a decade in full-time employment and within similar job roles. You, like many others, might be at the point in your career where you’re wondering how to change your career in your 30s. The good news is it’s not uncommon to consider a career change at 30.

Did you know, Millennials are the most likely generation to change jobs? The average Millennial would have had at least 4 jobs by the time they reach 32.  

There are many reasons why we look for a career change in our 30s, including a lack of opportunities where we are, changes to the industry culture, and peaking in our current role (salary, job title or both). One other area that can help us make the decision to change careers is a lack of interest in the sector or an interest in another area.

Have you considered a career change in your 30s? If so, this article aims to help you decide which course of action is right for you and your career development moving forward and show you the best way to set about changing your career in your 30s.

Understanding your interests and strengths

Having been in full-time employment for over 10 years, you would have developed many skills and more importantly, you can recognise these skills and fully understand your strengths (and weaknesses).

When considering a career change, it’s important to recognise your strengths and use these to your advantage. Use these transferable skills to help you land job interviews in other sectors and industries. Besides these transferable skills, you will most likely need to supplement these skills with additional training, through a training provider like e-Careers. It’s important to choose a good training provider but it’s also important to choose industry-recognised qualifications for the best chances of success.  

How to gain a qualification for a new career

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to go back to university to train for a new career in your 30s (if you don’t want to). There are plenty of other training options to choose from, including studying a qualification in a virtual classroom, or studying online in your own time after work.

If you’re a motivated self-starter and can manage your training schedule yourself, you could comfortably study an online training course at home on your own.

For those that prefer to book a block of time out from work and be taught by a professional trainer, studying via a virtual classroom would be your best option, to get the most out of your training and increase your chances of success.   

e-Careers offers a wide range of training courses and study methods, so you can be sure to find something to suit your career goals.  

Ready to get started? View our full range of training courses and qualifications.

Choosing a career

It’s important to remember that it’s not too late for a career change at 30! You will have close to 35+ years of full-time employment ahead of you (and just 10-15 years experience so far), so now is a great time to think about what you want to do for the decade or two ahead of you and train to work in that sector.

If you’re finding it difficult to choose a new career path, it’s worth taking some time to create a career development plan. This plan is an evolving strategy that you continue to build and amend until you’re happy. Having a plan in place also is a great way to stop yourself from making impulsive decisions and recognise when you’re ready to move on from your current role.

There are four stages to developing a career development plan:

Identify your skills and interests – Think about what you’re good at, what you enjoy doing, what training you’ve had in the past and sectors you think you’ll enjoy. Also, think about the lifestyle you want. Is the career you want to move into going to enable you to work towards that lifestyle? If not, what will you need to change? What would you be happy with letting go of?

Explore career ideas – Research the job market (sites like Reed, LinkedIn, and Total Jobs), to narrow down your options. Think about your ideal job and look at what the typical requirements are to apply for these roles. You should then have a good idea of what training courses or certificates you will need to be considered for the role you’re looking for. It would also be beneficial to think about the company profile you're thinking about working for. Are they an SME, large corporation, public, private, or not-for-profit organisation?

Make a decision – You’ve narrowed down your options, great! Now you're ready to start making some decisions. Use what you’ve learned about yourself in this process and add that to what you want from an organisation, to narrow down your options to just one or two career choices.

Set achievable goals – Set short, medium, and long-term goals, and continually review your progress throughout the process. Goals are always evolving, so be sure to revisit and review your goals, their aims, and objectives throughout this process.

Here are 7 steps to help you with your career development goals:

• Perform a self-assessment
• Identify your ‘must-haves’
• Make a list of jobs to explore
• Research jobs and employers
• Start training and update your CV
• Find and apply for jobs
• Continue learning and growing

Career change ideas in your 30s

One of the great things about retraining to start a new career is that you have a wide range of career options to choose from.

You can train to become almost anything you like and if you’re passionate about it, you will more than likely put in the required amount of time and effort to be successful.  

Some of our most popular career choice options include:

• Accounting & Bookkeeping
• Business Analysis
• Cloud Computing, Cyber Security, Networking & IT
• Digital Marketing
• Mortgage Advice
• Football Intermediary
• Health & Safety
• Project Management

Interested in training for a career change in your 30s? Call us to speak with one of our Course Consultants on +44 (0) 20 3198 7700 or fill out our contact form, and someone will be in touch with you to discuss your training options.