Is 50 too late to become qualified in your dream job?

AMKC

I just had an affirmation of what I want to be. The last 24 years of my life have been wasted doing a job I either hated or nothing at all but in the last couple of months I have realised more and more that I want to help people in some way and the way I want to do that will take 7 years and it involves getting a degree and a masters as well as have to be accredited in the country you want to work in which in my case is Ireland unless the pay goes to crap. But its not about the money and never should be as long as I could make a decent living on it I would not care. I would love a World with no money but alas we have not yet figured out how to do that.

Yes I am mid 40s now :(

Wish I had done this when I was 20.

ancapailldorcha

At least you figured out what you want! Most people never get that. I'm 36 today and I just saw on LinkedIn a woman who was a PhD student six months ago announce that she's moved to LA. I've been in the same tech job with no idea what to do next.

As for the question, it depends I suppose. Like, you're not going to get to be an Astronaut or win Wimbledon. That's just not going to happen. If you want to be a cardiac surgeon, it's going to involve a degree in Medicine, years and years of advanced training and colossal amounts of stress. Can a 50 year old handle that?

If you're dream job is to be a data analyst, I would expect you could do an online course or two to get a taste of it and then sign up for something part time. That would be perfectly realistic.

As the old saying goes, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today".

eightieschewbaccy

Yep, agreeing with @ancapailldorcha, be a realist but as long as it's not something where age works against you, I don't see the issue. Do it now rather than regretting not doing it years down the line.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058316373/is-50-too-late-to-become-qualified-in-your-dream-job

What do you want to be?

Nobody can assess the realism of that ambition without knowing that which you wish become.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121183026#Comment_121183026

Quote: As for the question, it depends I suppose. Like, you're not going to get to be an Astronaut or win Wimbledon. That's just not going to happen. If you want to be a cardiac surgeon, it's going to involve a degree in Medicine, years and years of advanced training and colossal amounts of stress. Can a 50 year old handle that? :Unquote

Oh don't worry it's neither of them things.

It's more to do with helping people other people find themselves or even to help them solve their problems etc. I just gave advice to someone on Facebook who was not sure what they wanted. Not that they should listen to me but it helped them. I am kinda in the same boat as them do and when it came to the question they were asking I know for myself what I want but they were unsure so I just tried to help them a bit.

looksee

Go for it, I turned 50 in college, was self employed for a while then 'fell' into a job I absolutely loved for the 8 years before I retired. I am so grateful for those years, and I got a real buzz out of college too!

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121183132#Comment_121183132

Thank you.

Floppybits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058316373/is-50-too-late-to-become-qualified-in-your-dream-job

I'm just about to turn 50 and I would have loved to be a Personal Trainer/fitness instructor, now at my age and my dodgy knees I know that it is too late now but I'm ok with it. 😀 On the other hand I have just got my degree in Data Analytics so like another poster said it depends on what you are going to do. I am thinking of another doing another degree in Systems Architecture or Database design even though I think my wife might divorce me, so I might give it a little while. 😀 I don't what you are looking to study in but you should check out https://springboardcourses.ie/ . These are government funded courses. I did my degree in a year so it is intense and now have the option of doing my masters but I'm not really interested in devoting the time needed to do the masters.

Cluedo Monopoly

Go for it OP. Mid 40s is young. 20+ years of work left. Have no regrets.

I am 51. I have had 10+ employers during 3 different careers. Started off as a geologist but totally different game now. Probably a little late for me to reinvent myself now because I have kids in college but I am always dreaming...

Fr AMKC, bless you my son.

AndrewJRenko

Have you thought through the practicalities? How are you going to fund yourself through years of education? What salary will you bring in starting out at the bottom of your new profession?

It sounds like you're considering some healthcare or therapeutic profession. Have you considered the impact of possible future health budget cutbacks on your plans?

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121183832#Comment_121183832

Lol not a hope in hell. Hell I will probably go to hell being the person I am by them anyway lol.

Put it this way. The profession I want to do is something I will still be able to do if I go blind as that is always on my mind. Hopefully it never happens but my eyesight was never as good or as equal to most people. Yes I can see and there is people who were born blind who have never seen but they learn how to see differently from the beginning for my it would mean relearning how to see. To put it another way I have less than 50 per cent the sight of most people. I can watch TV and can walk around and look after myself now but in 20 years time I might not be able to.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121184042#Comment_121184042

I have no idea yet. I currently do not have a salary. Never had a salary only a wage.

So not much there.

Yes you are spot on with your guesses.

Not really but I am hoping to help people just like me when I get qualified. It's an underfunded and up and coming part of health that more people will be looking to get looked after in.

whisky_galore

Look at it this way, 50 to retirement is a long time doing a job you hate.

Altreab2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058316373/is-50-too-late-to-become-qualified-in-your-dream-job

In 7 years time your still going to be in your 50s. You get to decide if you will have the qualification or not by then.

Can you get a back to education awollance? That keeps going as long as you are progressing, don't start with I wish I had done it in my twenties nor over thinking it, start with a level 5 and go for it, we had a staff who went back to college at 45 and started work with us at 49.

BrianD3

Mid 40s is much too late to do a 7 year course for financial reasons unless you are unemployed or very poorly paid and if you will get considerable assistance in terms of fees and grants. Also, you will likely face age discrimination when looking for work.

If you want to do it for an interest, that's different.

But personally I cannot really think of many careers that I'd want to do for interest (also mid 40s) now. There's sh1te to deal with in every job no matter how much of a dream job it appears from the outside. I've had a couple of such jobs that were also badly paid and after a while they turned to sh1te. The purpose of a job is to make money and it is critical that you make good choices and are money oriented as early as possible in life.

weisses

I'm nearly 52 and just finished my nursing degree course... don't let age dictate what you like to do

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121184608#Comment_121184608

Mid 40s is much too late to do a 7 year course for financial reasons unless you are unemployed or very poorly paid and if you will get considerable assistance in terms of fees and grants.

Yes I am one of them things and it's really getting to me now. There is only so long you can watch the same stuff on the T.V before you go mad.

When I had the 7 years done I would likely be self employed in a high paying profession that I could work via the HSE or whatever it will be called by then for.

Don't think of it as a dream job either. That often leads to unrealistic expectations.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121184675#Comment_121184675

Thank you. I will try that. It's just a job I know I want to do. I want to help people and not do some thankless dead end job.

taratee

Never too late. If you've found something that you are truly passionate about, and you can make a living doing it, go for it.

kirving

It's never too late to change careers, but you do need to be realistic about your prospects, especially if it's money you're after. 7 years of study is expensive, with at minimum very low earnings, and potentially no earnings. You then graduate when you're 50. Do you plan to work until 65?

You could end up starting on a graduate salary, and/or take a long time to build a client base.

Compared to what you earn now, the cost of studying, what is your break even point after you begin working?

Could you just swap jobs now to something better paid, and follow this in your free time if you're interested in it?

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121185114#Comment_121185114

Compared to what you earn now, the cost of studying, what is your break even point after you begin working?

Could you just swap jobs now to something better paid, and follow this in your free time if you're interested in it?

I do not earn anything at the moment 😞. Am unemployed 😞

looksee

You have to make life do things, not wait for stuff to happen. As they say, life isn't a rehearsal. Since I retired I spent a year in ridiculous circumstances, trying to make a particular thing happen. In the end it fell through due to circumstances outside my control, but in the meantime I had one of the most satisfying years of my life.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121185322#Comment_121185322

Start now if you are serious it's not too late to start a level 5 in a further education college the term only started two weeks ago.

Dial Hard

I think it's doable if you have a realistic, well-researched actual plan for making it happen, aswell as a Plan B for if it doesn't. But it sounds to me like all you have at the moment is a bit of a pipe dream. Like, have you actually researched courses, availability on them, workload, cost, etc? Are you going to attend full-time or part-time? How will you get to and from campus? How will going back to college affect your social welfare payments? Etc. etc. etc.

Oscar_Madison

So psychologist or psychotherapist - yeah lots of people come to those professions I’m their later years- as long as you feel you can last the pace then do it - lots of long lonely hours studying - and you’ll have to get off boards too 😀

TokTik

I studied Sports and Leisure management in 2000. There was a 60yo woman in my class. I’m sure you’d be well able for it. It’s only a year long course too, so not too much learning to get there.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121183721#Comment_121183721

Wanderer78

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058316373/is-50-too-late-to-become-qualified-in-your-dream-job

go for it, go for it, go for it! you ll regret if you dont, and lifes way too short for that sh1t! best of luck with it

https://www.tcd.ie/trinityaccess/alternative-entry-routes/mature-students/

lbunnae

If it's not about the money then of course go for it. If it is , then definitely do not.

Retirement age is going to keep creeping up. Someone who is 40 now might work til they're 75.

There will (probably) be improvements in longevity, DNA repair, cognitive ability, linking your brain to computers etc.

Beasty

This is not a forum for careers advice. We have an Education section as well as a Work and Jobs forum

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