I Switched Careers When I was In My 40s to Level Up My Life

Sponsored Content by Ministry of Digital Development and Information.

Study, graduate, find a job in your field of study, then work your way up the corporate ladder.

That seems to be the linear career path most of us are familiar with.

But while it may work for some, our interests and needs tend to shift as we grow older, and our job scopes may change as workplaces and the industry transforms. We might even want to explore new roles in a different sector.

When that happens, should we stay in a role we are comfortable with, or take the bold step of pivoting to a different career?

Nelly Lee decided to switch careers at the age of 40. This is her story…

Looking for more stability

Nelly, who had been working in the travel industry since she was 19, decided to switch careers when she was 41.

“My schedule was very hectic back then. I used to work on weekends and travelled a lot. Sometimes, seven days of work without any rest,” she says. The single mother adds that school holidays and festive periods were their peak seasons, so she would be very busy and didn’t have time to spend with her daughter or take her for outings.

Then, the pandemic hit and Nelly went from being too busy to having nothing to do at all! With many countries closing their borders, no one was travelling, and tourism came to a standstill.

Nelly needed to find something more stable. As she put it, “I was worried that if I were to stay put and endure it until the pandemic was over, there may be another pandemic in five years’ time. Then, I’ll have to (face this whole) thing again.”

Seeking to futureproof herself, she started looking for growing industries and found potential in the tech sector. Coincidentally, Nelly also discovered that there were government subsidies and grants she could utilise to support her reskilling and decided to grab the opportunity!

Government support allowed her to up her game

After consulting her brother (a software engineer) about the job prospects of the field and skillsets needed, Nelly signed up for a three-month course to learn Microsoft Cloud Support and DevOps.

Her course fees were heavily subsidised by SkillsFuture Singapore, which provided additional support for mid-career workers aged 40 and above like Nelly. As a result of utilising her SkillsFuture Credit, Nelly only had to pay SGD$100 for her entire course!

I wouldn’t have been able to do the course if it wasn’t for the subsidies, says Nelly, who adds that it can be quite costly just to get a certification.

So, the only thing she had to worry about was the course itself.

As the industry was unfamiliar to her, Nelly initially struggled during her lessons. “(As) everything was so new, I was very slow in learning and I had no idea what (my lecturer) was talking about,” she says.

So, after lessons, Nelly would put her daughter to bed before staying up until around 2am to go through what her instructor had taught her that day. She would Google terms, do more background reading, and even ask her brother to explain things to her.

Her efforts paid off.

After completing her course and an apprenticeship, Nelly went for five interviews before landing her current job as a DevOps Engineer at an international gaming company. There, she does maintenance and monitoring work to ensure games run properly, users don’t have any issues with the game rooms and do debugging and updates to ensure there is no downtime.

Nelly is also grateful towards the mentor assigned to her during her apprenticeship. “I (had) an approachable and knowledgeable mentor who patiently guided me through (various) technical tasks,” she said. Nelly added that he even helped her craft her resume and coached her on what to say during an interview. This gave her the mental support she needed to persevere,

Her learning journey doesn’t end there

“There are still a lot of things I don’t know,” Nelly says frankly. Hence, she is already eyeing what she would like to study next. Only this time, it’ll be in the same industry.

“The government just gave us (mid-career workers aged 40 and above) $4,000 (in SkillsFuture Credit) so I’m looking at what other courses in tech I can take,” says the 44-year-old.

Nelly, whose goal is to be a team lead before she turns 50, added that she would like to learn more about software systems.

Technology is, after all, an industry known for its rapid and continuous evolution, so it is essential to keep up. To this end, Nelly actively engages in self-learning and discusses with her colleagues on what they are learning or reading up on to stay informed.

It’s tough and there are a lot of challenges but I’m happy I made this move because my life is more stable now, shares Nelly.

With a fixed schedule that doesn’t require her to work on weekends, Nelly has more time to spend with her daughter now. “(On) weekends, I’ll be with my daughter. I can accompany her for her class, and (be) with her,” she says.

Her new role also allows her to learn new tools, technologies and methodologies, and collaborate with talented engineers from diverse backgrounds – which is everything she enjoys doing. Plus, she gets to see the direct impact of her work on millions of gamers worldwide!

If you are thinking about making a career switch yourself, Nelly’s advice is: “If you really want to change your job and if you have the opportunity to, then just go for it! Don’t feel that you are too old for anything. My classmate who was over 50 also managed to get a job (after completing the course). There is still a chance if you really want to try. Don’t keep thinking, because if you keep contemplating over it, you’ll never start, and life will (always) be the same.”

Sponsored content by Ministry of Digital Development and Information, in support of Forward Singapore.

The game is always changing, so it is up to us to stay in it! If you are a Singaporean aged 40 and above and would like to pursue upskilling or reskilling courses to enhance your current skills or pivot to a new career, you can use the SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up of $4,000 to make that happen! The top-up can be used to offset out-of-pocket fees for more than 7,000 courses with better employability outcomes. This is on top of the Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy which covers up to 90% of course fees for programmes funded by SkillsFuture Singapore and Ministry of Education.

Mid-careerists who wish to upskill can learn more about the financial support options here.