Managing
your
career
later
in
life
Find out how you can make career changes in later life.
It’s never too late to make changes and support yourself in your career.
As you move through your career, you may be considering making a change. This could mean changing your current role (such as a change in hours or doing some more training), starting a new career, or searching and applying for career moves.
There’s plenty of advice to help you make the right changes for your career.
Rethinking your options
When thinking about your next steps, you should consider things like your current health and wellbeing, your support system and your priorities.
You should also consider what you want to get from a job, as well as what you have to offer.
It can be hard to think about what would suit you best, so it’s a good idea to take a skills assessment, which can help you with ideas on what to do next and how to use the skills you already have.
If you plan to stay in your current role, but want or need to make some changes, you could consider:
- flexible working
- hybrid or home working
- reasonable adjustments if you have any health issues
You should discuss these changes with your employer and find a way of working which supports you.
Researching your next steps
If you’re considering a change in career, you should start to think about the types of careers you might like, and how it would suit your skills and lifestyle.
You can explore careers to get more ideas about the types of careers available.
Make a plan
Once you’ve considered your options, it’s important to plan what your next steps are.
Consider whether you plan to:
- apply for jobs immediately
- apply for courses or training
- volunteer to gain experience
- make changes to your current role
If you need some training or experience to reach the next step for your chosen career, you can find a course to get some qualifications or read more about volunteering to gain experience.
Take action
If you’d like support with the process of applying for a new job, you can get help with writing a CV and get advice on interview techniques.
You can speak to an adviser if you need further support in making these changes.
The Job Help campaign helps workers who are over 50 to have the confidence and access the information they need to make these changes to their careers.
The campaign has helpful resources, including:
It can be easy to feel like your age may affect your chances when looking for new roles and positions, but you should be confident in the value you can bring to a new role.