Change profession in adulthood. How? Where to study after 40 years for a man

It turned out that the level of competence of people is unevenly distributed by age. It would seem that the older a person is, and the longer he has been engaged in his profession, the higher the competence should be, the better the results and the louder the success?

However, this is not observed in all professions. Perhaps only in some areas of art - painting, music, sculpture, literature, partly directing, crafts, martial arts, and then, subject to continuous practice and close involvement in the real industry.

In all other professions, there is a completely different distribution of competencies by age, with the peak occurring between 30 and 40 years. During this period, people are actively immersed in real projects and are less involved in management.

After 40 years, many people move from direct professional activities to managerial ones, which inevitably reduces their competencies. Some people at the age of 30–35 create their own business and go freelance, as a result of which they have to improve their marketing, sales, accounting, and business organization. There is less time for professional growth.

Individually, this age range of competency distribution varies greatly by industry. There are industries, for example, software development, where the rate of change is so high that the peak of competencies falls in the range from 25 to 35, and does not grow much because technologies, tools and frameworks are actively changing. There are industries where the rate of change is lower, so the peak of competencies moves closer to 40–45, sometimes to 50, which is already rare.

But one way or another, there is a significant number of people over 45, 50, 55 who have a serious problem: they changed many professions, but all these professions are outdated to one degree or another. As a result, such people are in a kind of illusion.

They continue to think that they are STILL professionals in these industries. Compared to beginner amateurs — yes, but for the requirements of the modern market, no longer!

That means back to school! 45–50–55–65 is the range when you can and should acquire a new profession, open up new horizons and opportunities. Why and why is this necessary?

Bad news first

If you are professionally illiquid, then an unpleasant prospect awaits you. You can continue to service increasingly simpler processes and, most likely, within 10-15 years you will be laid off. It is difficult and almost impossible for you to compete with the next generation in the age range of 35–45. Especially ….

Good news — we have a lot of it!

Oddly enough, people don’t get dumber with age, but get smarter! This is a proven fact, which means that You can learn 10–20 times faster, especially in complex subjects and skills. Yes, teenagers and schoolchildren will beat you in computer shooting games, but they will not even come close to understanding the complex concepts that you intuitively understand instantly. Why? Because your erudition, contextual spaces, ability to operate with categories and connect concepts are several times higher at this age. And they will continue to increase if you take care of this in advance.
You read faster, but most importantly, you understand faster. If a young person needs several years to enter the profession — you need just a few months, if you do it with the same intensity. Many who are over 45 they are afraid to study because they are used to thinking that it will take a very long time.

Children take a long time to learn, but adults learn 100 and 200 times faster. Now you don't have to be afraid.

You see new opportunities faster when connecting with new knowledge. Why? Because opportunities are the other side of problems, and you see them and are able to recognize them more and better precisely because you are more experienced and sophisticated in life. The problem with new startups is that they quickly gain expertise in technology, but they do not have knowledge of life and understanding of problems. Therefore, you will have new knowledge provide 10–20 times more opportunities than young people.

You renew your brain and it starts working 3-5 times more efficiently, because the brain, like any organ, works better the more often it is used. And learning and solving new problems — the best way to update.
Intensive learning dramatically reduces risk of age-related dementia, which is too early to think about before 40, and after 55 not too late.
New learning means new contacts, new horizons, new meanings, new countries. Children and household problems in the past.

The second youth has arrived — it’s time to discover the world, get new sensations, new experiences — everything is just beginning.

Feel yourself young again, a student again, leave the constraining role of an experienced person. Experience is needed to help you, not limit your growth opportunities.

What to study?

The general approach is based on two simple criteria:

Criterion No. 1: What do you like, what do you have a passion for?

People often do this here mistake #1- You are excited about many things that you know or have somehow encountered. But there is a lot of everything there is much more that you don't know, and that, perhaps, would have stuck you much stronger. In order not to fall into this mistake, read more in various industry press, go to events in different areas that are far from your everyday life.

Mistake #2- when people choose a profession. This is incorrect and I will explain why. A profession is just a tool for achieving and realizing your desires and ideas of success. Therefore, first you should understand what the picture of success looks like, the experience that you want to achieve. What does the role you want to play look like? Once you understand this, everything becomes much easier with the choice of profession.

Criterion No. 2: What will develop promisingly and intensively within 5–8 years?

The calculation is simple - 5-7 months will be spent on training, approximately 7-9 months on entering a new field and getting to the forefront (remember that you are doing this 20 times faster than young people), and approximately 5 years of unlimited professional, social and financial growth . Then, most likely, either a transition to a higher level — management and business, or again a change of direction.

Instructions

By the age of 40, a person often manages to make a career, his life becomes orderly and stable. But at the same time, justified reasons may appear that force you to radically change your profession. Such changes can be prompted by deep dissatisfaction with the current job, job reduction, as well as some personal reasons.

If you decide to change your profession in adulthood, try to follow some rules. First, don't make a decision under the influence of a negative moment. Did you quarrel with a colleague? Have you been deprived of your bonus? There is no need to demonstratively slam the door and go into the unknown. Keep your current job until you develop a clear plan of action.

State your desires. It’s great if your skills and abilities allow you to move into a related profession or industry. For example, a manager can start his own business, a musician can teach vocals, a military man can head a security agency, an IT specialist can develop websites. It is much more difficult if you want to radically change your field of activity. In this case, it is important to soberly assess your abilities, skills and strengths.

Start preparing for a new profession. Learn, update your skills, improve your qualifications. It is better to do this while you are still working in your old profession. Go to evening or Sunday retraining courses, trainings, and educate yourself.

Find an opportunity to practice a new profession. Having practical experience when looking for work as an adult is taken for granted. If you don't want to shock new employers, take care of an internship and work at least a little in a new profession.

Stop being afraid. If you are well prepared, you will be a completely competitive specialist, and you should not be afraid to leave your favorite place. Your best bet is that you will spend the rest of your life doing meaningless work and receiving a meager salary.

Be inspired by the positive examples of some famous personalities. Paolo Coelho's first book was published when he was 41 years old. Christian Dior created his own fashion house at the age of 42. Housewife Susan Boyle, at the age of 47, took part in the show “Britain's Got Talent” and became one of the most sought-after and popular singers. Actress Katherine Joosten, who received a prestigious Emmy Award for her role in the TV series Desperate Housewives, worked as a nurse until she was 60 years old. She took acting classes at the age of 42, and then received refusals for more than 10 years after unsuccessful auditions.

It turned out that the level of competence of people is unevenly distributed by age. It would seem that the older a person is and the longer he has been engaged in his profession, the higher the competence should be, the better the results and the louder the success?

However, this is not observed in all professions. Perhaps only in some areas of art: in painting, music, sculpture, literature, partly in directing, in crafts, martial arts, and even then under the condition of continuous practice and close involvement in the real industry.

In all other professions, there is a completely different distribution of competencies by age, with the peak occurring between 30 and 40 years. At this time, people are actively immersed in real projects and are less involved in management.

After 40 years, many people move from direct professional activities to managerial ones, which inevitably reduces their competencies.

Some at the age of 30–35 create their own business, as a result of which they have to improve marketing, sales, accounting, and business organization. There is less time left for professional growth.

Individually, this age range of competency distribution varies greatly by industry. There are industries, such as software development, where the rate of change is so high that the peak of competencies falls in the range from 25 to 35 and does not grow much because technologies, tools and frameworks are actively changing. There are industries where the rate of change is lower, so the peak of competencies moves closer to 40–45, sometimes to 50, which is already rare.

But one way or another, there is a significant number of people over 45, 50, 55 years old who have a serious problem: they have changed many professions, but all these professions are outdated to one degree or another. As a result, such people are in a kind of illusion.

They continue to think that they are still professionals in these industries. Compared to novice amateurs - yes, but for the requirements of the modern market - no longer!

That means back to school! 45, 50, 55, 65 - this is the range when you can and should acquire, open up new horizons and opportunities. Why and why is this necessary?

Why study

Bad news first

If you are professionally illiquid, then an unpleasant prospect awaits you. You can continue to service increasingly simpler processes, and most likely within 10-15 years you will be laid off. It is difficult and almost impossible for you to compete with the next generation in the 35-45 age range. Moreover, the robots are advancing. Therefore, we will not discuss further why this is necessary: it is already clear. Let's talk about the benefits of getting a new profession.

Good news: we have a lot of them!

1. Oddly enough, people do not get dumber with age, but get smarter. This is a proven fact. You can learn 10-20 times faster, especially in complex subjects and skills. Yes, teenagers will beat you at computer shooting games, but they won't even come close to understanding the complex concepts that you will intuitively understand instantly. Why? Because your erudition, contextual spaces, ability to operate with categories and connect concepts are several times higher at this age. And they will continue to increase if you take care of this in advance.

2. You read faster and, most importantly, understand faster. If it takes a young person several years to enter the profession, it will only take you a few months if you do it with the same intensity. Many people over 45 are afraid to study because they are used to thinking that it will take a very long time.

Children take a long time to learn, but adults learn 100 and 200 times faster. Now you don't have to be afraid.

3. You see new opportunities faster when you connect with new knowledge. Why? Because opportunities are the other side of problems, and you see them and are able to recognize them more and better precisely because you are more experienced and sophisticated in life. The problem with new startups is that they quickly gain expertise in technology, but they do not have knowledge of life and understanding of problems. Therefore, new knowledge will give you 10–20 times more opportunities than young people.

5. Intensive education dramatically reduces the likelihood of age-related dementia, which is too early to think about before 40, and after 55 it’s not too late. More details about this can be found in the presentation of my TED talk “Non-drug approaches to active aging”.

6. New learning means new contacts, new horizons, new meanings, new countries. Children and household problems in the past.

The second youth has arrived - the time to discover the world, gain new sensations, new experiences. It's only begining.

Feel yourself young again, a student again, leave the constraining role of an experienced person. Experience is there to help you, not limit your ability to grow.

What to study

The general approach relies on two simple criteria.

1. What do you like, what do you have a passion for?

People often make mistake No. 1: you get excited about many things that you know and have experienced. But there is a lot of everything. There is much more that you don’t know and that could possibly embarrass you much more. To avoid making this mistake, you need to read more different industry press, go to events in different areas that are far from your everyday life.

Mistake #2: Choosing a profession. A profession is just a tool for achieving and realizing your desires and ideas of success. Therefore, first you should understand what the picture of success looks like, the experience that you want to gain. What does the role you want to play look like? Once you understand this, everything becomes much easier with the choice of profession.

2. What will develop promisingly and intensively within 5–8 years?

The calculation is simple: 5–7 months will be spent on training, about 7–9 months on entering a new field and getting to the forefront (remember that you do this faster than young people) and about 5 years of unlimited professional, social and financial growth. Then, most likely, either a transition to a higher level - management and business - or another change of direction.

After 40 years, many people move from direct professional activities to managerial ones, which inevitably reduces their competencies.

They continue to think that they are still professionals in these industries. Compared to novice amateurs - yes, but for the requirements of the modern market - no longer!

That means back to school! 45, 50, 55, 65 - this is the range when you can and should acquire, open up new horizons and opportunities. Why and why is this necessary?

Why study

Bad news first

Good news: we have a lot of them!

Children take a long time to learn, but adults learn 100 and 200 times faster. Now you don't have to be afraid.

6. New learning means new contacts, new horizons, new meanings, new countries. Children and household problems in the past.

The second youth has arrived - the time to discover the world, gain new sensations, new experiences. It's only begining.

Feel yourself young again, a student again, leave the constraining role of an experienced person. Experience is there to help you, not limit your ability to grow.

What to study

The general approach relies on two simple criteria.

1. What do you like, what do you have a passion for?

2. What will develop promisingly and intensively within 5–8 years?

At this age, revaluation of values often occurs. A person analyzes what he has achieved and what he wanted to achieve, have the goals he set for himself in his youth been achieved? Social status and financial situation do not play a role in this. Both a banker who has dreamed of creativity all his life and a freelance artist who likes banking can change their profession at 40. Such cases are not uncommon in real life.

Psychological moment

Despite the fact that many people have the desire to change their profession at 40, not everyone decides to take real action. This is due to fears and contradictions that hinder change. Fear of public opinion and loss of stability, failures in mastering a new craft often prevents us from making a life turn and starting to do what is interesting. In addition, a person faces a number of other difficulties.

Basically, by the age of 40, many have certain successes in their current field of activity, which are not so easy to part with, because changing a profession is always deprivation of their previous status. Another difficulty is that domestic employers are often not ready to wait for an employee to master a new job, since they want to see the results of their work immediately.

Overcoming anxieties and understanding that it is not circumstances that shape one’s destiny, but a person himself who creates situations that determine the course of one’s life, will help make progress in changing the type of activity.

Any movement towards personal growth is always associated with discomfort. And often, if you want to change your life at forty, learning a new profession cannot be avoided. Fortunately, the process of mastering some knowledge, skills and abilities is not too long or complicated.

The list of the fastest-growing specialties looks like this.

Confectioner. The art of creating sweet masterpieces is in demand today no less than cooking. But there are few masters. The advantage is that you can gain knowledge about preparing desserts without interrupting your main job, practicing your skills at home. Having a pastry chef diploma on your list of achievements, you can get a job abroad without worrying about your future.
Barista. If changing a profession involves mastering the art of creating coffee drinks, then one can only rejoice at the speed of the learning process, the basic period of which lasts only a few days. However, if you take the matter seriously, you will have to improve your skills throughout your life.
Nail service master. The profession is in demand in almost all developed countries of the world. And training in this craft today can be completed at a high level. It’s also nice that the money spent on the courses and the necessary materials will pay off quickly.
Tourism manager. In this case, training courses last no more than three months and allow you to understand the intricacies of how booking systems work, learn the features of the visa regime of different countries, and become familiar with the basics of marketing and communications with people. Another advantage of the profession is that it will be possible to travel around the world for free or for half the cost of a trip.
Automated warehouse manager. Experts talk about a significant increase in the popularity of warehousing and logistics, given the computerization of the industry. Today, these types of activities require a person to have knowledge of digital technologies. And you can easily get them by taking a short specialized course.

Methods for mastering a new specialty

If you have a desire to change your profession in adulthood, but have not yet decided what to do, you should pay attention to the types of activities that are in demand on the labor market. Perhaps it will be easier to decide on the choice of a new craft. According to experts involved in the study of business processes, the following areas are relevant and profitable today.

Sales. Who and what to sell is a matter of taste. One thing is clear: by the age of 40, people change their field of activity, having a considerable supply of knowledge and skills that can help them realize themselves in this field. If you have no previous experience with this type of activity, you can try to sell something for fun. In addition, mastering the ability to sell does not always require a corresponding diploma. And here previous experience is completely unimportant. The main thing is desire. If it exists, then with the right approach to organizing the process, significant profits await a person.
Education. The transfer of experience and knowledge has been practiced since the emergence of humanity. Today, teaching what you know is not only a good thing, but also profitable. In recent years, all over the world there has been an increase in people's need for self-development. It has become fashionable to visit various training centers, participate in seminars and trainings. Therefore, the chances of being needed and important in this area are high. The main point here is to decide on the content of the training and choose the right audience.
Teaching or apprenticeship. Often, in order to get a new profession at the age of 40, you need to undergo appropriate training. And the number of organizations for which it is important for an employee to have a diploma has not diminished today. In this case, it is important for a person to rationally choose a method of learning. If you already have a diploma in a specialty that you would like to practice, but due to some circumstances you still haven’t had to, it makes sense to dust it off and start doing what you want, without being afraid of the number of years that have passed since you received it document. In this case, there is not even a need for new knowledge, you only need to refresh what you already have.
Earning money from a hobby. If the fear of change is stronger than the desire to change the field of activity, or a new profession after 40 years remains a dream for other reasons, you can try to increase profits by turning your passion into money. Every person has some favorite thing. If this is sewing, then it would be advisable to sew to order, if you like to write pictures or poems, if you wish, you can find a demand for them.

Examples of success

History has many facts describing the path of success of people who quit their jobs at 40 and started doing what they loved.

Donald Fisher. At the time of his fortieth birthday, he knew absolutely nothing about organizing trade. Despite this, Donald opened a clothing store and named it Gap. The label's products quickly became fashionable, and the company increased its assets in a short time. By the way, to this day it is one of the largest in the clothing industry.
Vera Wang. The famous author of exclusive premium clothing was a figure skater in her youth and was also interested in journalism. At the age of 40, she began her career as a fashion designer. Her favorite activity brought her worldwide fame and considerable income.
Yuri Larin. The famous Russian painter held the position of hydraulic engineer until the age of 40 and at the same time studied at the Stroganov School. After graduation, he began to engage in creative work professionally. Now his paintings are exhibited in famous museums in Paris, Moscow and New York.

It's never too late to become successful.

Having a strong desire to change the type of work, and subsequently the quality of life, you need to move towards it, regardless of age. This is much more exciting than going every day in the direction you don’t want, and doing what you don’t like, simultaneously regretting a life lived contrary to your dream.