Whether you believe life truly begins at 40, or you simply need a change in your life, it’s never too late (or early) for a career change. And with the tech industry constantly growing, evolving and doing some, quite frankly, really cool stuff, it’s no surprise that everyone wants to get involved.
It doesn’t matter if you grew up before the World Wide Web was invented or used an iPhone before you could walk, there’s something for everyone.
We do, of course, understand the courage needed to make this leap. That’s why we want to arm you with all the information needed to set yourself up for success.
Let’s start from the beginning.
Why do 40-year-olds change careers to the tech sector?
People switch careers, no matter the industry, for any number of reasons. Among the most common reasons (or a combination of them) are for:
- Mental health reasons
- A better work-life balance
- Stress reduction
- Higher pay and better financial security
- Getting out of the wrong career or line of work
- Getting that dream job
The tech sector offers the opportunity to check off almost all - or all - of these boxes.
The average work week in the tech sector can be less than the average working week for many other service industries, improving employee work-life balance, reducing their overall stress, and thus, improving their overall mental and physical health.
Similarly, the tech sector often pays much better (the average salary currently sits at $112,000 vs the Australian average of $93,964).
How to make a career change at 40
1) Identify what technology roles are available
Before you can even consider making a career change, you first need to come up with some new career ideas, specifically: what jobs could you reasonably do? After all, you need to make sure that changing careers is actually a good career move.
The best way to do this is by conducting a job search on sites like LinkedIn and Indeed and looking at recent job listings in the technology sector.
While doing this, it's important to remember that the tech industry is incredibly broad - it goes beyond just software engineers and data analysts.
As such, you should look at what each role entails and think about how you would personally get on with it, in particular, how much you'd enjoy it relative to other things, e.g. pay and working conditions. You’ll want to get a sense of what a day in the life is like because that’s what can make or break a role.
Depending on how the labour market is, what your specific career goals are, and what you're likely to want to do for a living, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few years whilst you find the right job opportunities.
2) Identify your transferable skills
Once you've settled on a particular type of tech job(s), your next step should be to identify the necessary job-specific skills potential employers want to see from applicants.
It might turn out that they're looking for applicants who already have soft skills, like critical thinking and time management, or even things like analytical skills.
This stage is arguably the most difficult, as it then requires you to do some self-assessment, and more importantly, to be honest with yourself about it.
Look at what skills they are looking for and ask yourself "Do I have these? The answer might not always be "yes" but mark down those you believe you have.
If there's someone you trust to be objective and honest with you, say a friend or ex-colleague who's known you for a while, ask them to double-check your list for you and confirm whether your self-assessment of your transferable skills is accurate.
3) Get more training
Don't worry if your self-assessment doesn't go well. The best part about most of the skills employers look for when filling technical roles is that they can be taught, rather than needing a natural aptitude for it.
If you haven't got as many transferable skills in your existing skillset as you'd like, you can learn more. If you've got some, but want to strengthen them, you can always develop them.
Thanks to the popularity of tech jobs across Australia, it's not difficult to find all types of training covering almost every skill employers in the tech sector look for.
Many of these, like the ones UTS Open provide, are short courses built by subject matter experts that you can complete during your spare time - around your workload and personal life.
These are designed to give you all the information and skills you will need to have a successful career in the technology industry.
Plus, a recently awarded qualification looks great on a CV and tells employers that you're willing to go above and beyond to get a start in your new career.
4) Take advantage of networking opportunities
As one of Australia's largest industries, there are literally hundreds of networking events specifically targeting the tech sector, held in almost every city across the country.
If you're looking at giving up your current career for one in tech, attending these events can prove to be a goldmine.
For starters, it will help you build up a professional network of tech experts and employers that will help you as you change careers, whilst also helping to become known by employers in your area.
Secondly, if the people at these events are aware you're looking to change careers, many of them will gladly give you free career advice - the things they wished they knew when they were getting into the industry.
They'll often be able to point you in the direction of vacancies you'd be perfect for, and help expedite your application (especially if they already know you from these events).
If you are at the point where you're still researching or considering what tech job you might want, attending these networking events might help you get a better understanding of the career options available to you.
5) Look at the financial trade-off
Having a career change at 40 often has a profound effect on your personal finances, which can be either good or bad.
The most obvious is pay.
Depending on your pre-existing skill set, newly acquired skills and the rest of your background, you may be able to get into some sort of managerial position, which may come with a higher salary than what you're getting in your current job.
More often than not, however, your lack of experience in this new industry will mean you have to take an entry-level position, meaning you have to take a pay cut.
However, even if you get a new job with a lower salary, you may be better off for two other reasons: commute and taxes.
If your new career sees you working closer to home, it should be cheaper to get to and from work. Depending on how much of a pay cut you've taken compared to the money you save from the shorter commute, you may actually end up better off each month.
Similarly, you could win on taxes too. Like most countries, Australia has a proportional tax system - the more you earn, the more tax you pay - and this comes in bands.
If you were on the bottom end of your band and have taken a pay cut that puts you on the top of the band below, you could end up better off if you pay less in tax than what you lost on your paycheque.
6) Apply for roles
When you've taken all your financial responsibilities into account, gotten the training you need and attended some networking events, you probably feel a bit more confident about your new career path.
Now all that's left is for you to apply for the role(s) that you are interested in.
In this regard, a midlife career change is like just like any other kind of career change: you send in your CV and a well-crafted cover letter that accurately displays why you're the best candidate for the job.
Top tip: When making this kind of career change, it's best to be upfront and honest about your knowledge of the tech industry. If you don't know a great deal (even after attending all the events), stress how your previous job and recent skills training more than compensate for it.
7) Get the job!
Now all you have to do is wait. Like any other job application, the employers you have applied to will review your application and decide whether or not to move forward with your application.
For some, your lack of prior experience in the industry will see your application get put in the bin. For others though, your non-tech background and life experience in general will prove invaluable.
It's simply how these kinds of things fall.
These latter employers may invite you for job interviews. Depending on the role, you may also have to do a skills test to prove you do have the required skills for the job, even if you already have qualifications that say you do.
Assuming you ace all this, and there are no other hiccups along the way, you should be able to get the job and begin working in your new industry!
Looking to learn some new skills to secure your dream career in technology? Enroll in a short course or microcredential and get started today.
