Written by: Margaret Bourne

There are people who absolutely love the career they’ve chosen. And then there are those, like me, who reach a point where they need to be doing something new. I’m lucky, that I was able to transition into a new role that uses the existing skills I have.

For many over the age of 40, changing jobs can seem an impossible task. Ageism is real, as is the perception that people with a certain amount of experience won’t want a slightly less senior role. I’ve been turned down for many roles because I have “Director” listed as past roles.

There’s also a prevalence of potential employers seeking the perfect match for all required job skills. “Don’t have X years of experience in the XYZ industry? Yeah, we’re not interested.”

So how can one easily transition from one career to another when the odds are stacked against you?

There are a few strategies that worked well for me in finding my dream job at Butterly, and I’ll share them with you.

How I Transitioned My Skills To A New Job

I knew about ChickAdvisor for many years – heck, I even invited founder Ali de Bold many times over to client events I managed. Our paths had crossed at some point in the 18+ years I spent in the PR world.

In 2016, when my son was born, I was just entering my 40s. To be honest, having him was a bit of a revelation. I was dealing with work burnout. Maternity leave put things into perspective – I was stressed out, miserable and bored with the state of the PR industry. I needed a big change in my life. Going back to work wasn’t working out and so, I parted with the PR agency world for good.

Sure, I did some part-time freelance PR work. But it was no longer satisfying.

At that time, I decided to take my blogging hobby and transform it into a side business. I started blog coaching at MargaretBourne.com. But it was still not enough to keep my inquisitive mind satisfied. It’s also solitary work and I enjoyed working with teams.

As my son was getting older, I decided it was time to look for a full-time job. Now what could I do?

Here’s how I went about finding my job at Butterly:

• I looked at all of my top essential skills. I could do things like client service, content writing and management, project management, online marketing, branding, etc.
• Next, I researched what job opportunities were out there to match my skills and interests. I started searching exclusively for the roles that would be the perfect fit.
• Finally, I crafted a template for my cover letter, focusing on my transferrable skills, my work experience, my blog business and where I was at in my career. I needed to explain why somebody my age, with my experience would be seeking a role that’s NOT in PR, and most likely at a lower position than my last full-time role.

The last point is important. Sometimes you need to be blatantly honest about what you’re seeking and where you’re at because potential employers make many assumptions based on your resume.

I’ve seen it happen before. In the past, I helped hire somebody in the past who was older (over 40), and in the exact situation as me. She just wanted to get back to work after a few years of being in a full-time mom role. Her quirky cover letter was extremely honest – “I hope you can look past my age and my plethora of experience because…”.

If you find the right employer who gets it, consider yourself lucky.

Doing Something Familiar But New

I got lucky. After meeting with key team members and Ali, I got hired for my role. And almost a year in, I’m loving it.

The company culture, remote work and type of work I’m doing, are a great fit for me and my life.

At the end of the day, I can say, it’s been exciting to learn new things in this role. At the same time, it’s not too much of a stretch from what I used to do.

Is it hard to transition your skills into a new job as you get older? Yes. It takes much patience, strategy… and many “no thank you’s” (and in some cases, complete silence from prospective employers). But it can happen, if you do it right and find an employer that’s got an open mind.

The best thing is that my job is never boring. I’m continually learning something new about the SaaS world. And that’s exactly perfect for me!