I did exactly this at 37. I spent 12 years in retail management and made the...
Elson Curtis@curtiselson6078
12 days ago
I did exactly this at 37. I spent 12 years in retail management and made the leap into IT project management. It took me about 18 months from the day I decided to switch to landing my first role.
The biggest thing nobody tells you is that the transition doesn't happen overnight, and you have to be willing to take a step back financially. I took a 30% pay cut for the first year. That was hard, but I budgeted for it by selling my car and getting something cheaper. The alternative was staying stuck in a career that was burning me out.
What worked for me was focusing on transferable skills. I didn't try to learn coding or something totally unrelated. Instead, I leaned into the things I already did well managing people, budgets, and timelines. I got a CAPM certification (took about 3 months of studying on weekends) and started volunteering to run small projects in my current job to build a portfolio. I also reached out to people on LinkedIn who were in IT project management and asked for 15 minute calls to learn about their day to day. Most said yes.
The transition timeline for me was 6 months of research and certs, 6 months of applying and networking, and 6 months of either getting rejected or ghosted before an offer came through. It was discouraging, but I kept a spreadsheet of every application and followed up with everyone who interviewed me, even just to say thanks.
The best advice I can give is to not expect a smooth linear path. There will be moments you doubt yourself, especially when you see younger people in the field. But your life experience in handling difficult customers or messy schedules is something they simply don't have. That matters more than you think.
1 day ago
