"Second start" after 35/40: how to change direction without feeling like you're starting from scratch

There is an age when a person wakes up and says, "Is this what I'm going to do until the end?" For many people, this happens somewhere after 35-40. The career is supposedly "on track", but the sense of meaning and perspective is shaken. And here the words "reskill" and "second start" come on stage. Only, in order for them to make sense, we must think of them not as "me from the beginning", but as "me - second version".

The first thing worth remembering is that we are not starting from scratch. Even if we change the field - from administration to IT, from journalism to marketing, from engineering to training - we carry with us years of experience: communication skills, problem-solving, teamwork, organizational sense. These are the so-called "transferable skills", which are often more valuable than a specific software or certificate.

The second thing is to allow ourselves time for an honest "professional review". What am I good at? What do people naturally seek help from me? Where do I get tired, and where do I forget the clock? Many organizations around the world are already doing special "mid-life career reviews" - meetings in which a person sits with a consultant and maps their strengths and desires. We can do a similar exercise ourselves, with a sheet of paper and a few difficult questions.

Reskilling is more effective when it is specific. Instead of deciding abstractly "I will enter IT", it is more useful to ask ourselves: "Do I want to work with people, with data, with design, with text?" Then to choose a course not by fashion, but by coincidence with what we already know. A person with experience in sales can build on digital marketing; an accountant - in data analysis; a teacher - in training platforms and e-learning.

Many people over 35 are afraid that they are "too old to learn". The truth is that adults often learn more slowly, but more meaningfully - they connect new knowledge with real situations, ask more questions, think about the application. This means that it is important for the training to be adapted - with a clear structure, practical tasks and the opportunity to apply it during the course, and not only in tests.

The financial part also weighs. After 35/40, we often have loans, children, care for parents - "to stop and study" sounds unrealistic. Therefore, a more achievable model is the parallel one: you stay at your current job, but start a small side project - freelancing, internship, volunteering, a course in the evening or online. Thus, the "second start" happens step by step, without completely destroying the present life.

It is also useful to think of the new direction as an "experiment", not as a final choice until retirement. We allow ourselves to try, to see how we feel, to correct. Instead of blaming ourselves that "at these years we still don't know what we want", we can accept that the world is changing so fast that the second or third turn is not an exception, but the new normal.

And finally - it is important to change our inner language. "I'm starting from scratch" sounds like failure, like erasing life so far. It is much more accurate to "build on what I already am": the packaging turns into the ability to lead projects; years in support staff - into strong customer orientation; the long "low level" - into a deep knowledge of the system. Reskilling after 35/40 is not a denial of the past, but a translation of experience into a new language.

In a world where professions change faster than textbooks, the "second start" is no longer pointed at, but is a sign that a person is alive, awake and ready to learn. And this - regardless of age - remains the most valuable "skill".