It is an age-old question: “Am I too old to change career?”
According to The Recruit Venture Group over-45s are the most likely age group to think it is too late to change careers, but strangely 10% of 18 to 24-year-olds also believe it is too late to change. Half of over 65 employees are not in their dream job and yet 35% think it is too much trouble to find another job.
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But if you are thinking about changing career over the Christmas break, here are five suggestions to consider.
Tech careers
Careers in technology are a safe bet for 2019 and beyond. Progress and technological breakthroughs in AI and in Big Data are set to continue. Data scientist and AI researcher are two jobs that are hugely in demand and under-resourced.
The usual suspects are being welcomed to apply for these jobs – maths graduates and computer programming experts. But aptitude and enthusiasm are equally important and training is always available for those that show commitment.
The dream job
The Recruit Venture Group found the most desirable job for children and adults is in education or teaching.
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By GlobalDataWhether you are a nurse, who once wanted to be a firefighter or a lawyer who wanted to be a vet, perhaps now is the time to turn back the clock, put aside adult perceptions and embrace the child within.
| Dream job as a child | Dream job now | |
| 1 | Education / Teaching | Education / Teaching |
| 2 | Nurse | Vet / Animal related |
| 3 | Doctor | Business owner / CEO |
| 4 | Footballer | Travel/holiday rep |
| 5 | Vet / Animal related | Lawyer |
| 6 | Pilot | Author |
| 7 | Engineer | Doctor |
| 8 | Firefighter | Nurse |
| 9 | Police | Acting |
| 10 | Astronaut | Photographer |
Change the world
Do you think you could do a better job than Theresa May, or have more personality than Donald Trump? Did you go to Oxford or Cambridge University or are a multi-millionaire businessperson or feel ready to break the mould? The premiership of the UK could soon be up for grabs and perhaps now is the time to form an opinion in politics and make it heard.
But politics is not the only way to change the world. You might just need a change of perspective and goals in a job like journalism, or to move into charity work in an area like marketing. If you are a lawyer, you could move towards pro bono work or another field such as human rights.
Get into business
Money matters for many of us, with children to raise and holidays to take, and all of us wanting a place on the property ladder. With this basic need for a healthy income, many people look to business for the opportunity to make it big.
Inspiration strikes from being immersed in the world, with people and with trends and anyone can have an idea, the skill is in making it happen.
Write a novel
It is easy to delay writing your autobiographical masterpiece until you retire, or perhaps you planned to write after your education. Many people have literary aspirations and even those who do not enjoy writing have good stories to tell.
Dostoyevsky wrote Crime and Punishment at 45 years old and Tolstoy wrote War and Peace at 39 years old. No additional training is necessary to be a writer, though sometimes it is useful to collaborate or write with some company. So perhaps now is time to pick up that pen or hit the keyboard.
