Career change at 40: Why it’s the right time and how to make it work

Something happens in your 40s. An internal shift that’s difficult to ignore. For some in their midlife, that internal shift is work. A quiet and, sometimes not so quiet, desire for change – a career change at 40 – more precisely.

But you’ve spent the last 20 years establishing your career and your reputation within your work circle, a midlife career change would be foolhardy - right? Well, no, and here we’ll explore why a career change at 40 can be exactly the right time and how to make it work.

You’re the same person you were in your 20s and 30s but your priorities will likely have shifted to reflect a different life stage. Your 40s bring in different perspective on how you see things and what’s important to you. You may find yourself revisiting past passions and dreams or just yearn for change. Whatever your motivation, here are some common reasons that may resonate with you:

• You’re experiencing burnout or stagnation in your current job.
• The desire you previously felt for your current career is no longer there and you find yourself daydreaming about passion projects or past career aspirations wondering what it would take to rekindle them.
• Your career doesn’t provide the right salary / flexibility / stability.
• Your sector or job role has declining career opportunities, and you want to switch before it’s too late.
• You’re seeing rising job opportunities in a different sector (such as the tech industry) and want in on the action.

The short answer is no. In fact, your 40s is a great time to pivot your career. You’ve spent the last 20 years building up experience, networks and in demand transferable skills. These are not wasted. They’ll prove invaluable as you embark on a different career and re-enter the job market.

In your 40s you’re right in the middle of your career. With the population generally living longer and, therefore, having longer working lives, this means there could be 20+ years of career left. That’s plenty of time to reinvent your professional life.

The UK’s education system is also evolving to support adults who want to retrain. For example, the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, launching from 2026, will allow adults to access student finance more flexibly throughout their working lives. This means that you can get finance to cover individual modules and short courses as well as full qualifications.

Watch this space as ARU evolves our portfolio of online degrees to include accredited and non-accredited online short courses to help adults diversify their skills and be future-ready for a changing work landscape.

Don’t think of your age as a hindrance, instead reframe age as an asset. Employers who value experience already know this, so it’s good for you to understand this too. It’ll help you psychologically to stay positive and trust your self-worth as you take on the challenges of changing your career. It will also help you practically when you market yourself on your CV and during interviews.

The advantages of changing your career at 40 can include:

• You’ve built up transferable skills that work in whatever job role and career change, e.g., leadership, communication, time management, problem solving and critical thinking.
• Now in your 40s, you’ve gained professional maturity that employers look for whatever sector you’re entering.
• You may well have clearer career goals in your 40s than in your 20s or 30s. As a result, your work decisions are more intentional and you’re less likely to people please or ‘do what you think others expect you to do’.
• You’ve spent the last 20 years building up a strong work ethic and this will be apparent from your CV and job applications in the form of success and projects completed.

No career change at any age is without its barriers. Here are some you may come across and tips on how to overcome them.

It’s understandable to have financial concerns about pivoting your career at midlife, especially if you’re still paying your mortgage and have dependent children. Many 40-year-olds can’t afford to stop working to retrain and are worried about taking a pay cut if starting at an entry level job.

However, there are solutions. Choosing a flexible retraining option like distance learning means you can keep working and earning as you retrain. If you think you’ll take a pay cut in a new career to start with, save some money in your current job now to help supplement when the time comes. Remember, when you pick up experience in your new career, you’ll soon be able to command a higher salary.

There’s a time resource required when it comes to changing careers. That could be time needed to get new qualifications and/or to apply for new jobs. If you have family responsibilities, this could be tricky. Again, studying via distance learning, like the ARU online degrees, gives you the opportunity to balance study with family.

It’s understandable to feel fearful and lack confidence when it comes to starting over again. Embarking on a completely new field of work means you’ll be the newbie – the one with less expertise than others – and that can feel uncomfortable. In part there’s no getting around this. After all, it’s a normal human response. Remember you’ve been here before. You’ve already done it and you’ve come far. You can do it again. Don’t push those feelings of fear away. Instead acknowledge it but don’t let it derail you. Remember why you want to make the change whether it’s chasing a dream, or you’ve had enough of your current situation. The why will navigate you safely through the fear.

Unfortunately, ageism exists and it can exist in some workplaces. In your 40s, you may have already felt it, and you’re worried about whether it will adversely affect your chances in a new career. You can’t control what others think but you can control the narrative of your own professional worth. As a more mature employee, you bring experience, transferable skills, proven work ethic and more. In truth, you won’t want to be part of any workplace that consciously or unconsciously harbours an ageist culture. The employers that are open to recruiting mature employees – and there are plenty of them out there! – will be the ones that appreciate diversity in their workforce and the ones you’ll want to work for.

Here are some practical steps for a successful career change at 40.

There are a few ways to do this, and you should do what’s right for you. Here’s one idea from Lucia Knight of Midlife Unstuck.

In her Ted Talk, she talks about a bridge that takes you from recognising the situation you are currently in to taking you where you want to be. To do this, she explains that you first identify your ‘career kryptonite’ – that’s all the things about your current career that ‘clashes with your values’ and leaves you feeling ‘drained and depleted’. Then you identify your ‘superpowers’, those are the talents you do well, easily, more freely and energise you. Then lastly, you ‘find a problem you’re excited to solve’. Once you know these three things, you’ll know what to avoid, what talents you want to use every day and what types of work you want to do.

You may need to learn new technical and industry specialist skills as you embark on a new career trajectory, but transferable skills are skills you’ve built through your whole career and carry with you. They’re skills that are valued whatever the sector so understanding which soft skills you’ve developed over your career thus far is an important step to validating your value as an employee.

Here are 10 transferable skills that employers want:

• Communication
• Resilience
• Adaptability and flexibility to change
• Teamwork
• Creativity
• Problem-solving
• Critical thinking
• Emotional intelligence
• Leadership (even when you’re not in a leadership role)
• Able to show initiative and be proactive

Do some research on the sector and the types of job roles in that sector. What jumps out? Think about how you answered step one.

Find out what they ask for in their employees. That’s the essential qualifications, technical skills and those transferable skills we’ve already talked about.  Read case studies from people who already work in those roles or contact a person who does and ask them.

Going into a completely new career path can often mean retraining. Depending on the job role, there are various options available from short courses to full degrees to training on the job through apprenticeships.

Distance learning is one option. It provides the flexibility for adults to keep working and earning alongside studying and juggling family life. With the introduction of the LLE from September 2026, you’ll be able to fund accredited short courses and full qualifications and degrees. Whatever option you choose it'll be hard work, of course, but there are plenty of tips and tricks that can keep you on track and succeed.

Our ARU distance learning alumni can testify to how transformative the process has been for them. Some have chosen distance learning to embark on new careers, fulfil a lifelong ambition or progress their current career. Read about their stories here.

Before you go all in, test the transition. You can do this as a side project, through volunteering or work shadowing.