I' ve just completed a six-year effort to change my career.  I' d like to describe my experience and conclusions, and see what comments and suggestions other have.

My experience is going to be short on detail because I don' t want to write my autobiography here (and I doubt many people would want to read it).  I' ll add add more detail if the discussion warrants it.

I' ve worked as a computer programmer and technical writer since I finished college in the early 1970' s.   In 2001 I lost my last full-time job; the dot-com crash was in full swing, and I couldn' t find another one.  A few months later I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome, and was advised to find a new line of work that did not involve a lot of typing.

I pursued several possibilities that did not work out.  In 2003 I decided to jump start a new career by getting an advanced degree.

My BA was not in a computer-related field, so I was not inclined to pursue computer science; I would have had to start with at least a year' s worth of make-up undergrad work.  I was fed up with the computer business by then, anyway.

On the other hand, I already had a law degree which I had never used.  I reasoned that an advanced law degree would give me current skills and credibility, and after a couple of years of part-time study I could get a job as an attorney.

I got the degree in 2005, but I never got the job.  I discovered that middle-aged attorneys without work experience do not get hired, anywhere, ever.

I spent the next two years trying to find a job as an attorney, then trying to find a job doing anything in a professional capacity.  I had the same problem in every field I tried: regardless of education, demonstrated ability, willingness to start at the bottom, and any other inducement I could think of offering, no one would hire me to do something I had not done before.

I finally decided to go back to technical writing.  Once I made the decision, it took me about six months to find work. I' ve been on the job for a few weeks now.  It' s a short-term contract, but the client seems pleased with me, and I' m given to understand that the contract will probably be extended.  So far my hands aren' t hurting too much.

Here' s what I' ve learned.

Direct cut-across career changes are virtually impossible, at least for middle-aged people in technical fields.

Education does not help.  Hiring managers don' t care about your degree; they only care about whether you have done a similar job before.

Shaping your resume does not help.  You can write about transferable job skills ' til you' re blue in the face; if you haven' t actually done the job, you' re not going to get the job.

Networking does not help.  A perfect stranger who got your name from someone you know is still a perfect stranger, and you really don' t want to give him the names of three professional associates, or twenty minutes of your time for an informational interview.  You just want him to go away.

What will work?  I think the following things will, at least until experience proves me wrong:

-- Accepting a new position from someone who is already employing you.

-- Starting your own business, if you have the skills and personality to succeed (and enough safety margin to be able to risk failure).

-- Looking for your first job out of school, at an age where somone looking for their first job excites no suspicion.

I' m not sure what my next move is going to be.  Having just spent six years getting back to where I started, I' m inclined to be conservative.  I' m going to look for ways to expand my skills and opportunities, but from here on I think I' m going to devote all of my attention to incremental change.