4 Lessons I Learned Radically Changing My Career in my 30s

Consider these if you’re thinking about a career change

Back in 2019, I embarked on a radical career change.

Before that, until 2017, I worked in marketing. After doing that for nearly ten years, I decided I didn’t want to climb the corporate ladder anymore. I was sick of the competitiveness and the constant focus on improving often meaningless metrics month after month. So I quit.

I wasn’t sure what I would do at first, but I eventually settled into freelance writing and marketing with a bit of pet-sitting on the side. Although I was happy doing this, I wasn’t making as much money as I wanted to, and I thought maybe I could be doing something more “noble” in the world.

Enter my wonderfully-timed idea to embark on a healthcare career.

A few months before the pandemic started, I enrolled in prerequisites for a radiologic technologist (x-ray) program. In March of 2020, just before lockdowns began, I got my acceptance to said program. In early 2022, I graduated from the program and started working as a mammography technologist.

Yes, this was a drastic change. Was it worth it in the end? Read on to find out. Either way, I learned several important lessons along the way, including:

1. You’re never too old to change careers

Of course, this isn’t a revolutionary idea, and you hear people say it all the time. But when you’re about to do it yourself, it’s easy for doubt to creep in.

I was 34 when I started my prerequisites, 35 when I started my program, and 37 when I graduated. Not old, by any means, but I was the second oldest in my class.

Before starting the program, I was so in my head about whether I was too old to return to school. I kept fretting because it had been 12 years since I had done any formal education. Although I had always done well in school, science was never my strong suit, and this program was going to be science-heavy. I sent myself into near panic attacks wondering if I could handle it.

But guess what?

I killed it. I was the top student in my class academically and won scholarships and awards because of it.

But aside from me, there have been many students over the years who’ve successfully completed similar programs in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. I also have a friend who just became a nurse at 52.

I have a theory that older students are often better or at least more motivated because there’s more at stake if they fail. If a 20-year-old flunks out, they’re more likely to have mom and dad to fall back on (financially and emotionally) and generally have more time to figure things out. When you’re older, you have a greater sense of urgency and more willingness to work through a demanding curriculum because it all falls on you if you fail.

The moral of the story is that you shouldn’t let age, in and of itself, be a deterrent for changing your career or anything else you want to do. You might surprise yourself with how well you perform.

2. Changing careers often takes a lot longer than you think

One of the reasons I decided to go into healthcare (in addition to thinking it would be more meaningful work) is because I thought it wouldn’t take very long.

Well-meaning people who don’t know any better often say things like, “Become a [insert allied health profession here]; it’ll only take two years!” — referring to the fact that many allied health programs at community colleges take about two years to complete.

These people often don’t realize, though, that you may have to take a year or two of prerequisites before getting accepted to the primary program. Additionally, many of these programs are competitive — there’s no guarantee you’ll get in on the first try. Also, if you decide to specialize in something like I did (mammography), that can add even more time.

Before I embarked on this journey, I told myself I didn’t want to get another Bachelor’s degree because that would be a four year process. Well, the entire process to get all my x-ray and mammo certifications took nearly 3.5 years — so when all was said and done, it almost was the length of a Bachelor’s program.

Moral of the story — most goals take longer than you think they will to achieve. Consider this before embarking on a new educational or career path. Do your research!

3. Changing careers might be one of the hardest things you ever do

Don’t get me wrong — the ability to change careers is a privilege for many people.

Still, it’s one of the most grueling things I’ve ever done.

Why?

In my case, part of it is the industry I went into and the time in history I decided to go into it. Healthcare programs are demanding — they require clinical rotations in addition to class work. My program included three 8-hour clinical days and 2 class days per week (plus homework and studying). It’s a full-time job that you’re not paid for (to the contrary — you’re paying for the experience!). On top of that, I worked part-time as a student x-ray tech through much of the program. The time commitment itself is enormous. Then add to that a global pandemic that wreaked havoc on the industry. Having to learn in an environment with an incredibly stressed-out workforce was brutal. Especially because I saw much of that workforce dwindle, which often caused administration to heavily and unfairly rely on us students for work.

But even if I hadn’t decided to go into healthcare, changing careers would have been difficult. Unless you’re switching to a job that’s very adjacent to what you’re currently doing, you may have to undergo rigorous training and you’ll start at the bottom.

It’s a humbling experience. If you’re in your late 30s or older, you may have to learn from people nearly half your age. They won’t care about your previous credentials or achievements in your last career. They may even treat you like you’re just out of high school. You’ll probably start out making less than them and possibly less than you made in your previous career. You may make many mistakes along the way, which is tough if you’re used to working a job you feel competent in. Lastly, if you have to work full or part-time while you’re learning your new trade, you’ll feel like you never have any free time. You may not see your friends and family much. It’s mentally and spiritually exhausting.

To combat this, I recommend having a solid support system. This helps in all facets of life, of course, but especially if you’re undergoing a career change. If you’re in an educational program, make friends with others in the program or those in similar situations. Make sure your friends and family understand what you’re going through and why you might not be around as much. Have people you can talk to when the going gets tough — because it will.

4. Your career change may not work out the way you hope it will

This lesson is the most important one I’ve learned, and it was, unfortunately, a big kick in the face:

It’s possible to launch a new career only to discover it’s not what you want after all. Even if you’re good at said career.

When I started my journey, by the end of it, I wanted a career that made more money than what I was bringing in through freelancing and pet-sitting, and I wanted to do something I felt was meaningful.

I achieved both those goals. I made a decent salary as a mammography technologist, and it was rewarding to help women detect breast cancer.

But after doing it for about a year and a half, I decided it wasn’t the best fit for me, at least not full-time forever. I plan to write about this more in the future — but to make a long story short — working in a patient-facing environment is draining for my personality (it’s not the patients themselves — most of them are lovely — it’s more the sheer amount of interaction that’s tough for me).

And, at this point in history, it’s still a difficult time to work in healthcare. The pandemic has decimated staffing levels to a nearly untenable degree. I was working with a lot of miserable people. Working with so many negative people, I, too, became miserable, and it started to feel like I was living someone else’s life.

So — plot twist — I quit my job a few weeks ago. I may eventually return PRN so I can work when I please and supplement my income. But for now, I plan to return to doing what I did before the career change — freelancing and pet-sitting. But yes, after 3.5 years of working my ass off to change my career, it wound up not being what I’d hoped it would be.

And I can’t even be upset with myself for it not working out. I did my due diligence before starting this journey — I researched the hell out of the career and talked to people already working in the field.

But as I’ve written about before, people (including myself!) are notoriously bad at predicting what will make them happy. And I couldn’t have predicted a pandemic would impact the industry just as I was getting my foot in the door.

Do I regret the career change? Not really. I did feel guilty for a while that I put in several years of work only to leave the field after a year and a half. But at the end of the day, I got to see things most people never see and was able to help many people. Additionally, learning is never a waste. And I now have another marketable skill and something I can always fall back on.

That said, if I knew then what I know now, I can’t say I would’ve gone down the same path. And if I had to advise someone who’s considering a career change, I would say the following:

1. Before considering a drastic career change, consider whether a less extreme change might be worth pursuing. What exactly are you unhappy with in your current role? Are there similar roles you could transition to that would eliminate or reduce the negative aspects of your current position? Are there roles where you could transfer your skills instead of pursuing a lengthy or costly education? In my case, I wish I’d just revised my previous freelance strategy or started my own pet-sitting business to increase my income (because overall, I was happy) — instead of pursuing an entirely new field.
2. Beware of pursuing a career because it is “rewarding” or “noble.” It might feel good to say your job provides a service, but if you don’t enjoy doing it daily, you’ll only be able to do it for so long before you become miserable. I pursued mammography because it seemed noble and practical, not necessarily because I felt an overwhelming desire to do it. The fact that it was rewarding was not enough to compensate for my personality not being the greatest fit for the job.
3. Consider whether you’re moving toward your new career or away from your old one. Do you have a genuine interest in the new job you’re considering? Or is it simply a way to escape your old one? If it’s the latter, maybe consider what careers you have a genuine interest in — not careers that simply seem practical or rewarding.
4. If you have doubts about your new potential career, listen to those. They may be trying to tell you something. Trust your instincts! Early in my schooling (and even before it), I had feelings of doubt about healthcare being the right fit for me, but I ignored them because I felt like I was already too deep into the process. Of course, this was just the sunk-cost fallacy at work. Just because I’d already invested a lot of time, doesn’t mean I needed to keep doing so despite the fact I wasn’t in love with what I was doing. The same goes for you. Life is too short to do something you’re not happy with.

Final Thoughts

Changing your career is a huge decision. And it’s often a lot more challenging than people think. If you’re considering a career change, make sure you’re moving towards something you’re genuinely interested in, and not simply trying to escape your current job. Consider your personality type and how it might fit into the roles you’re interested in. Resist the urge to pursue a career simply because it sounds or looks good on paper. Know that age, itself, shouldn’t be a deterrent for doing something you want to do. Just make sure (as best you can) that it is, in fact, something you want to do.