Under: Career/By: Will Veic

When you really think about it, starting a new career is much easier at 40 than it is at 20. Why? Because of all the existing knowledge you have.

This is what I realized when I had to change career from software developer to something completely different.

I had so much knowledge that went beyond pure programming:

  • I knew the industry
  • How businesses work inside out
  • What products/tools are being bought and sold
  • Workflows and processes
  • Key players and overall had a bunch of connections

Changing a career while still using all the industry knowledge I collected made my entire transition to a new career that much easier.

Do This Test

Take out a piece of paper and list ALL the knowledge and ALL the people you know in your industry. Then ask yourself:

  • Would you know this if you were just starting out?
  • How long would it take to get in touch with all these people?
  • How big of an advantage do you have over a 20-year-old?

But why would your current knowledge be useful? Aren’t you changing your entire career?

Yes, but here is the biggest trick…

Change Your Career – Not The Industry

When I had to change my career, I realized I didn’t want to touch code ever again. However, I also realized that changing industries would not be smart.

So now I work a completely different job, but I kept all the benefits of knowing the entire industry inside out.

Even if you just worked as a bricklayer for the past 20 years and now you’d like to have a comfy office job – it would still not be smart to go into coding, for example.

Why?

Because you’d lose all the advantages.

Instead, there are so many different careers available within the construction and real estate industry that fit your description and don’t require you to lose all the progress.

Maybe you can work in sales or distribution of raw materials. Maybe just managing orders and filing paperwork.

Or maybe you can start a business because, in your long career, you saw so many things that are broken or can be optimized – things you could easily fix with all your knowledge and experience.

The opportunities are truly endless…

And if you want to see a real-life example, you can read more on how I switched my career.