Thinking about changing careers in your 40s but wondering if it’s too late to start over? According to career coach and career for women over 40, Wanda Coustas, it’s never too late to pursue work that aligns with who you are today. Here, she shares why a midlife career pivot is not only possible, but can also be one of the most rewarding decisions you make.
For many women, reaching their 40s sparks a period of reflection. The career path that once felt exciting and aligned may no longer fit the person they’ve become, prompting questions about purpose, fulfillment, flexibility, and what’s next. While the idea of starting over can feel daunting, today’s career landscape is far more dynamic than it was a generation ago, making midlife reinvention more achievable than ever.
Whether driven by burnout, a desire for greater meaning, changing personal priorities, or the pursuit of a long-held passion, more women are exploring career pivots during midlife. Yet concerns about age, financial security, qualifications, and confidence often hold them back from taking the first step. When looking into why more women are considering career changes in their 40s, Wanda explains that when answering this question, it’s important to speak to the difference between women’s experience of midlife, and today’s modern workforce reality - both of which influence career pivots. “For many women, their 40s are a crossroads: parenting demands lessen, there is more headspace for reflection on career ambition, after 20 years in the workforce women begin questioning whether their workplace culture reflects their own values (need for flexibility, autonomy, creativity, meaning), there is a trend towards non-linear, “second act” careers (consulting, coaching, entrepreneurship) that allow them to use the essential “soft” and business skills they’ve learned after years of work.”
Further noting that the reality of the world today is that one’s lifespan is longer, retirement is later, and one’s 40s become the midpoint, not the end of one’s career. “One of the major drivers of career change is that women fundamentally change in their 40s and 50s - there is an inner shift and a resulting outer search for purpose. Women come home to themselves. Hence, the desire to align their inner needs with what they do with their lives,” she adds.
GLAMOUR: How can someone tell the difference between burnout and a genuine desire for a career change?
Wanda: This is a solid and important question, as burnout and the desire to leave one’s current job are very closely linked. Burnout is increasingly understood not simply as a person “failing to cope”, but as a mismatch between a person and their working environment - workload, values conflict, lack of autonomy, toxic leadership, chronic stress etc. The WHO also makes it clear that burnout relates specifically to occupational context. Burnout isn’t always easy to identify because its symptoms overlap with chronic stress, anxiety and depression. But there are recognisable patterns: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, sleep disturbances, reduced motivation and difficulty functioning well at work. Coaches and other professionals work actively with burnout using strategies like recovery time, boundary repair, values alignment, sleep, exercise and nervous system regulation. Research does show a strong correlation between burnout and the desire to leave one’s current job or employer. But burnout often points to a mismatch between a person and their current work environment, rather than a mismatch with their profession altogether. Many women use a career break - whether caused by burnout or redundancy - as an opportunity to reflect more deeply on the kind of work and life they want.
G: Many women worry they are too old to start over. What would you say to them?
WC: Feel the fear. And do it anyway! (a quote coined by Dr Susan Jeffers). The idea that you’re “too old to start over” belongs to a 20th-century mindset that we really need to get beyond. In that world, you climbed one corporate ladder for 40 years. Those days are over. If you consider that you could work until 70 or 75, then 40 or 45 is not even close to the beginning of the end. It gives new meaning to the term “midlife”! A career pivot, in this light, is actually a long- term investment. If you remain in a role that no longer serves you for another 25 years, that becomes the riskier path, both for your mental and professional growth. A 45-year-old has a wealth of transferable skills and context. You understand workplace politics, you’ve developed resilience through years of challenges, and you know how to communicate across different levels of an organisation. These women are not “starting over”; they’re transferring their existing competence to a new domain. Many women underestimate how much confidence can return once they begin taking small steps forward again.
G: What are the biggest fears women face when considering a career pivot, and how can they overcome them?
WC: Women’s biggest challenge is our critical inner voice. We are our harshest critics. The fear is that we don’t have anything of value to offer. We think we fall short, and that someone will find out we’re not all we’re cracked up to be - also known as imposter syndrome. Confidence is often rebuilt through action, experimentation and evidence, not through waiting to “feel ready.”
Other fears include: we fear social judgment at “losing” our current professional identity or title if we change careers; the “ageist” fear (discussed above) that assumes younger, cheaper talent (digital nomads) is more valuable than our years of accumulated wisdom; the discomfort of entering a new space where we are beginners again, and don’t know who we are (this one in particular is less a fear, and more the experience of many women as they make the career shift); financial fragility - the worry that in making a pivot we will lose financial status, have to adapt our lifestyle or jeopardise our retirement security; and the fear that we could burn our bridges - wasting the years of invested work and energy, rather than building on it. There are several strategies to overcome these fears:
1) break the career pivot into small, manageable steps, so that it’s not a “giant leap”.
2) know your values, strengths and priorities before making reactive decisions from exhaustion or panic (if you’re burnt out). Test new directions first - take a short course, volunteer, take on a side project, have conversations with others in the field.
3) Reframe age and experience as an advantage; they are! 4) Build support systems - mentors, networks - so that you feel less isolated. 5) Make friends with uncertainty. 6) Career pivots are an interactive process, not a perfectly planned linear trajectory. Sometimes it’s going to feel a little like two steps forward, one back…
G: How can women identify the transferable skills they already have?
WC: Another great question, and one I’ve spent practical time with in my own career. Women’s biggest stumbling block to knowing our transferable skills is that we become “blind” to our own talents and strengths. We no longer see our daily skills as extraordinary. I would suggest a two-part approach to unearthing these skills. First: do an AI-assisted audit - take your whole career history, not just your most recent CV, and feed it into an AI tool. Give it a prompt along the lines of: “Based on this career history, identify my strengths, talents, and skills, and map them to transferable skills I can use in [the new industry/role you want]”. AI is great as a neutral, objective “mirror”. Second: once you have the list, look closely at how you made things happen in your current job. For example: If you are moving from a project management role to, say, a coaching role, you don’t describe your work experience as: "I managed back-end delivery teams." That sounds like tech experience. Instead, you "translate" it to: "I facilitate communication between different departments to ensure projects stay on track." This translation lens rephrases what you do now, into what you can transfer to a new role.
G: What is the first step someone should take if they are thinking about changing careers?
WC: Start by journaling. This is one of the best ways of understanding yourself, your motivations, your feelings, your values, your strengths, fears, and thoughts. By journaling, I don’t mean sitting down to write a perfect memoir and a path or plan forward. Instead, pick up a pen (I prefer using a pencil) and simply write. Some people call this stream-of-consciousness writing. Just write the first thing that comes to mind: “I want to change my career…” and the rest will follow. Journaling turns the focus inward. The idea is to do this over a period of time. It acts as a psychological release valve, bypassing your inner editor or critic. Write without judgment. The only one reading this is you. The effect is that you’ll reduce mental clutter, process tangled thoughts and emotions, and understand vague anxieties. Over time (and it doesn’t have to take more than three or four sessions before you start identifying patterns, or gaining insights), you’ll deepen self-awareness and understand your feelings and needs far better.
GLAMOUR: How important is upskilling or reskilling when making a career change?
Wanda: Whether or not to upskill or reskill is really dependent on the type of career move you’ve chosen. If the move is a slight shift sideways and your current skills easily translate, then it’s probably unnecessary. If you intend to make a big change and the new career is completely different, then reskilling is an imperative. Upskilling or reskilling can have added unseen benefits. For example, a short (and inexpensive) online course or certification can quickly confirm your choice of career change, before you take on a greater commitment like a new degree. It also shows relevance on your CV and indicates to employers that you’re a lifelong learner and have a growth mindset. Sometimes, all you need are a couple of certifications on your CV to break into a new market. An often overlooked way to upskill or reskill is job shadowing or volunteering.
GLAMOUR: Is it better to transition gradually into a new career or make a clean break?
Wanda: This is dependent on the new career and the individual’s capacity for balancing more than one job at a time. Some businesses allow gradual transitions into new careers within the organisation, such as taking on project work for another department whilst remaining in your current position.
G: What financial considerations should women keep in mind before changing careers?
WC: I’m not a financial expert, but I can share one suggestion. Having an emergency fund (at least 6 months’ living costs) in place to support you through a career transition is essential, particularly if you’re segueing into entrepreneurship or have been retrenched and are using this transition period to pivot your career.
G: How can women position their experience as a strength when applying for new roles?
WC: Firstly, know your strengths. There are numerous free or cheap strength assessments available on the Internet, such as highfivetest.com , https://mypersonalitytest.org/free-test/ , https://personality.co/strengths-finder-test . Work with an AI tool to weave these strengths through your CV when applying for new roles (in a similar way to question 5 - transferable skills). Add these strengths to your LinkedIn profile. Working with a coach can help women identify and articulate the deeper strengths that often come with experience - adaptability, emotional intelligence, leadership, resilience, communication, and the ability to navigate complexity and change. Coaching is useful to help people shape a clearer professional narrative, so they can speak about themselves with greater confidence and authenticity in interviews, networking conversations etc.
G: What strategies can help women navigate ageism or gender bias during a job search?
WC: 1) Stay away from a long chronological history in your CV and LinkedIn profile. Stick to those that show relevance, outcomes and impact. You can simply summarise older experience briefly if it’s no longer relevant. 2) Remove age markers from your CV and LinkedIn profiles, like school graduation or very old qualification dates. 3) Position your experience as an asset - emphasise transferable skills like adaptability, judgement, EQ, mentoring ability, and leadership. 4) Stay visibly current: list recent courses, certifications, tools, and technologies. 5) Build your professional networks - often career transitions happen through relationships, referrals and conversations. 6) Practise self-positioning in the mirror - women over 40 tend to understate their achievements!
G: How should women update their CVs and LinkedIn profiles to support a career pivot?
WC: Focus less on listing every responsibility you’ve ever had, and more on communicating relevance, transferable skills, strengths and impact. Your CV and LinkedIn profile should tell a clear story about where you’re going next, not only where you’ve been.
G: What opportunities are emerging for women looking to reinvent their careers today?
WC: The current job market is challenging in many sectors. But there are also meaningful opportunities for women looking to reinvent themselves - tech and digital roles; healthcare; entrepreneurship and the green economy in particular. Technology and remote work have made it easier for women to retrain, build portfolio careers, freelance, consult, start small businesses or explore more flexible ways of working. Using a combination of AI tools and digital media, a woman no longer needs a team to bootstrap a small business idea! There is definitely a growing shift towards work that feels more meaningful and sustainable. Many women over 40 are now asking “How do I want to live and work for this next stage of my life?” Rather than “What job can I get?” This type of question opens the door to far more aligned and fulfilling career choices.
G: What is the one piece of advice you would give to a woman who wants to pivot her career but does not know where to begin?
WC: Begin by being curious! Your initial steps are not about having your entire future figured out. Rather, spend time exploring yourself again. So many women reach a career crossroads and want immediate certainty, when actually what they need more is a space to reflect - What matters to me now? What am I good at? What kind of life do I want this next chapter of my life to support? Clarity and confidence tend to grow together over time.
A career pivot rarely happens in one dramatic leap. More often they unfold in small conversations, experiments, insights and acts of courage. Gradually, you build clarity and confidence. You don’t need to know the whole path to take the first step towards a career pivot.
Recent stories by:
Thobeka Phanyeko
Wellness Wednesday: The joy check-in you need, according to Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Melissa Lainn
Women’s Month: Liezl Gericke on Leadership, Resilience and Making Space for Others
5 Authors on our radar this Women’s Month
Reclaiming Confidence: Why more women are choosing hair restoration
