IT vs Electrician Please Help Me Choose

Lwmic on 22/09/2025 - 12:45
Last edited 22/09/2025 - 15:20

41, should I go back into IT or start fresh as an Electrician?

Torn in a midlife career debate. I’ve got about 8 years of IT experience (MSP, computer repair, some web design) plus a Cert IV in Cyber, but not much hands-on in that area. I left IT about 5 years ago due to stress, health issues, and the constant upskilling grind. I’m mostly recovered now (physically and mentally),
but currently unemployed and have applied for multiple IT jobs without hearing back.

Part of me wants a fresh start as an electrician — hands-on work, clear path to a license, chance to run my own business, and strong demand in Australia. But that means 4 years as an apprentice on lower wages, working alongside younger guys, and physical strain I might feel more at this age.

I really love IT and Sticking with IT also makes sense. With certs in cybersecurity or cloud, I could build on my existing skills, earn more in a few years, and have flexible/remote options. Downside: I’d still be back in the cycle of endless upskilling.

Has anyone made a big career shift after 40? Did it pay off, or do you wish you built on what you already had?

TLDR: 41, 8 years IT, currently unemployed; Debating between returning to IT (cyber/cloud) or starting from scratch as an electrician.
Which is the smarter move this late?

Your response is much appreciated - Thanks

Thank you, thank you all for your reply and the perspective. I’ve decided it makes more sense to stick with IT and focus on Cloud / Azure certifications, since that’s where I left and already have the most familiarity. You’re guys are right, at my age the physical side of trades would probably take its toll sooner rather than later. Appreciate the advice, it really helped me make the decision.

Poll Options Tue, 23/09/2025 - 00:00

  • 36
    IT (Cloud/Cyber)
  • 19
    Apprentice Electrician
Education & Work

Comments

  • jv on 22/09/2025 - 12:47
    +5

    IT

    Your knees only have about another 10 years left in them…

  • sumyungguy on 22/09/2025 - 12:51
    +8

    Crawling around in roofs during summer doing smoke detectors is arguably a younger person's caper.

  • Fredfloresjr on 22/09/2025 - 12:53
    +1

    IT + 5090 work station with RGB = Dream Job

  • RotundPolarBear on 22/09/2025 - 12:53

    I think pushing 40 implies that you are almost 40. If you are 40+ you can't really say you are 'pushing 40'. Sorry for being pedantic.

    • wmic on 22/09/2025 - 12:56

      Appreciated mate, I'm 41. Fixed

  • SnowDragon on 22/09/2025 - 13:15
    +3

    Do you know any tradies? Could you do some labouring for a few days to see if you'd enjoy doing it for the next 25 years until you retire?

    • wmic on 22/09/2025 - 13:21

      Fair point, I spoke to someone friends and they prefer IT over Electrician.

  • MS Paint on 22/09/2025 - 13:42
    +4

    Based on your history in IT I would recommend you become a sparky.

  • Hybroid on 22/09/2025 - 13:51

    The reality is this is probably less of a personal choice, and more of what actual employment opportunities exist. Can you actually realistically get a job in high competition IT at that age and relatively limited experience? If so, that's your safe bet.

    You may find the opposite nowadays though, and you can be replaced with someone half your age for, probably, half the salary.

  • JIMB0 on 22/09/2025 - 14:02
    +3

    If you get into industrial/commercial you could leverage your existing skills. All modern factories have a great deal of automation and the associated networking/programming that goes with it. It's quite an in depth and interesting field to work in. The work is not that physically demanding and many people work well into old age.

    Domestic electrical work is mostly grunt work crawling through ceilings running cables, replacing powerpoints, chasing people up for money. I've worked with several who made the switch to industrial and only do the odd domestic cashie on the side.

    • wmic on 22/09/2025 - 14:51
      +1

      Thanks for pointing out the difference, that's actually really helpful. The automation and hands on networking sounds right up my alley.

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 22/09/2025 - 14:55
      +1

      To op, leveraging off this reply - look at getting into DALI and Casambi commissioning. You don’t need to have an electrical license for it and there is surprisingly not many that offer it as a service in house.

      • wmic on 22/09/2025 - 15:04

        Appreciated mate, I never even thought about that. Honestly I thought you do need Electrical license, I'll definitely dig into this further.

        • Jimothy Wongingtons on 22/09/2025 - 15:11

          It’s just a bit harder in the way you won’t be legally allowed to touch anything not classed as ELV - but of the main groups I know of, they only do the commissioning (addressing , setting up scenes etc)

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 22/09/2025 - 14:07
    +2

    hands-on work, clear path to a license, chance to run my own business, and strong demand in Australia. But that means 4 years as an apprentice on lower wages, working alongside younger guys, and physical strain I might feel more at this age.

    I work almost daily with sparkies and spend a LOT of time talking to them about the ups and downs of the game - im not saying its impossible…but running your own business as a 1 man band (or 1 man + a apprentice) is a bloody hard slog and pretty hard to scale.

    It looks like the age thing has already been covered but you will be expected to do a LOT of the dirty/ hard/ borderline dangerous work - please consider accordingly being insured correctly with good extras cover. Also please tell me you have a manual license and not scared of heights. I met an apprentice the other day that could only drive auto (not a HUGE deal breaker) - but was afraid of heights…

    • JIMB0 on 22/09/2025 - 14:12
      +2

      The hardest thing with scaling a business like this is finding good reliable tradies and putting up the working capital for the long payment terms big companies demand. There's plenty of work out there if you can get past these hurdles.

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 22/09/2025 - 14:37

        You hit the nail on the head there - all the good ones mainly get poached -

        It will be a hard slog and if not ready to put the work in they may be better off on wages

    • MS Paint on 22/09/2025 - 14:30
      +2

      Wait! What? The boss has a manual Raptor that the apprentice is allowed to drive? Where do I sign up?

      • Jimothy Wongingtons on 22/09/2025 - 14:50

        Best he can do is a beat up workmate

        (Also I may be wrong but I’m almost sure I remember reading the raptor gen 2s were all auto when I was looking for which Ute to upgrade to…)

  • 7ekn00 on 22/09/2025 - 14:09

    Downside: I’d still be back in the cycle of endless upskilling.

    What makes you think a sparky does not need to upskill?!?

    • mboy on 22/09/2025 - 15:06
      +4

      You've taken it in the wrong way. The tech industry moves at a much faster pace than other industries, which means staying relevant in the job market requires staying ahead of the curve.

      Obviously that's not to say you can get away with being a sparky and never having to learn anything new, but the pace is nowhere near the same.

  • Far Cough on 22/09/2025 - 15:08
    -2

    become a cop or firey

  • suchan on 22/09/2025 - 15:08
    +2

    Being on a relatively same age as you i'm half in awe with your decision and half concerned.
    Commenting just so I can closely follow where this takes you.
    Good luck, seriously :)

  • tenpercent on 22/09/2025 - 15:10
    +2

    I left IT about 5 years ago due to stress, health issues, and the constant upskilling grind. I’m mostly recovered now (physically and mentally),
    but currently unemployed and have applied for multiple IT jobs without hearing back.

    Unless you're adequately addressing the time off and demonstrating growth / acquired new skills / did something productive / etc in that period they are going to mentally (subconsciously or consciously) try to fill in the blanks on your behalf; as unfair as that may be. It's possible that's why you're not hearing back. May not be relevant in your situation and you have already have covered it.

    FWIW it sounds like you're not wedded to the idea of having a dream career that you must do or else your life will be unfulfilled, and therefore I would assume these two alternative job pathways are just a means to an end. So what is that end? Do you know? And do these two options really represent all your realistic choices to achieve that end?

    Also run the numbers as a high level sense check; will a little more sacrifice now (ie. 4 years of electrician apprenticeship wages) followed by relatively good job prospects for another X working years (X doesn't have to be pension age minus current age) less the cost of good income protection insurance be better than uncertain job prospects by continuing to pursue IT (for which you may need to sacrifice some time anyway to upskill to get current and have a better chance of call backs from job applications)? Is there a third option you haven't considered? Something that incorporates both?

    • wmic on 22/09/2025 - 15:52
      +1

      Appreciated your response mate, you’re right, my health knocked me around for a while. Did some small contract stuff like web design but had no clear long-term plan, especially with AI coming up fast. Thanks to the OzBargain community though, I’ve got a much clearer direction now.

  • ReaperX22 on 22/09/2025 - 15:16
    +3

    Am 36 in an IT Role, been doing computers/IT since high school - mostly for fun/making upgrades, troubleshooting windows, etc. Got a retail IT job in 2014, 2.5 years then into IT Service Desk / analyst role and IT Support. Then moved to where I am in IT (Consulting, because of course), doing mostly operations/Infrastructure support and managing a small team. (Last bit is last ~2-3 years only).

    I've been thinkin bout a pivot as well, electrician was one I was interested in too! (Heck I'd consider nursing as well.. something that actually helps people, not just makes some big corpo money)

    Ultimately it comes down to:
    - Time: Do you have the time to invest in re-learning a new skill/are you also quick enough at adapting to a new trade? Old habits die hard is a saying for a reason
    - Money: Do you have the financial ability to invest into learning something new/get paid WAY less than you probably would in IT, at least to start..
    - Health: are you relatively fit/no major back or knee problems? Do you stretch regularly/remain mobile? Electricians end up in weird spaces sometimes, and contorting can be a thing. A bad neck/back/ankles/knees can make this a lot harder
    - Flexibility: I WFH full-time. I'm okay doing hybrid (2 days in office ideally, max 3) but WFH has just been super convenient. Electrician is a job that has no option of WFH, and in fact can also lead into long hours, emergency callouts, etc. You mentioned mental stress so consider if you want to be an electrician that you may be required to work non-standard hours/weekends etc fairly regularly!

    I'm pretty unfulfilled in IT myself, but it pays decently, WFH is convenient. But yeah you hit a roadblock of either a technical boundary - requiring hours on hours (months really) to upskill technically, OR in a higher/senior consulting management role, that seniority training/position etc - this is harder to train for and is more about the individual/inherent ability to lead teams and talk the talk in meetings even if you don't know the deep technical stuff.

    But even without massive up-skilling you can get a decent pay. Depends what your long-term goal is.

    • wmic on 22/09/2025 - 15:26
      +1

      Appreciated your reply mate. I wanted the same but I dropped the ball somehow because of unforeseen circumstances and now AI is catching up made me nervous. I still love IT and the hands on excitement it provides. I hope to keep my mind sane and move with Cloud. Thanks

      • ReaperX22 on 22/09/2025 - 16:05
        +1

        There's certainly a case to be made that AI is covering a number of things people simply can't, at speed at least (algorithmic stuff, predictive models, etc) - but we're a LONG while off AI covering any/all facets of IT. In its current capacity in the Consulting space, it's more used as a tool to assist. There's some cool stuff it can do (predictive stuff using cameras/movement recognition, etc) but yeah if you want to get back into IT, and you DON'T currently have any experience with the Cloud (AWS/GCP/Azure), as an FYI Azure is probably the 'easiest' to get a job with - this is because of the massive push of old/legacy companies (think government) moving off old DCs/self hosted racks in offices, and into the Azure/Microsoft cloud space. GCP is massive, but I've found it the hardest to learn/navigate.

        AWS is, IMO, the easiest to learn intuitively, especially in terms of UI/Console stuff, but naming conventions in AWS make you scratch your head. GCP is like 'BigData!' - obviously has to do with… big data! AWS? Hey you can pull your Cloudwatch logs through a lamba function transformation and spit it out to athena to analyse as you would in SQL. None of those names have anything to do with what it does. Hahaha. (it's not always the case, but it can be harder to learn in that sense).

        Alternatively, companies like Atlassian kind of have their own niche, similar to Salesforce, but they tend to require other specialised skills too.

        • wmic on 22/09/2025 - 16:15
          +1

          I am familiar with Az/o365, but no Certification. I worked on hybrid - Cloud/ On-Prem/o365 and I still remember a lot of stuff. I do really appreciate your time explaining things and making my goals clearer. Thank you

          • ReaperX22 on 22/09/2025 - 18:44

            @wmic: You can get entry level az-900 qualifications super easy and the exam is a joke. But if you've got more than 6 months experience of it regardless it's probably not worth the time unless you go for something more mid tier cert wise

  • ihbh on 22/09/2025 - 15:33
    +2

    Here's a contrarian suggestion - if the majority are suggesting IT, then there's going to be a big supply.

  • mboy on 22/09/2025 - 15:34
    +2

    Hey OP. I'm in IT too, in a tech data & analytics role, been at it for over 12 years, and what you've said regarding stress and upskilling grind and has resonated with me.

    What I've found personally is that the mental toll that comes with your average tech role often scales proportionally with salary. And in an industry where remuneration is seemingly limitless, it's easy to bite off more than you can chew. So that's just something to keep in mind. This might not be germane to your immediate situation, but might possibly say something about how you got here. Or possibly not - just my own experience, I don't mean to assume.

    The only other thing I'd say is that the IT industry is massive. Rather than pivoting to another industry altogether, have you considered whether any other specialisations or disciplines interest you, or that you're passionate about? If so, while it might take some training or certifications to get your foot in the door, a lot of your skills will transfer and could give you a renewed interest in your work.

    Good luck!

    • wmic on 22/09/2025 - 16:04
      +1

      Appreciate the reply and the solid advice, it really helps put things in perspective. I think cloud specialisation makes more sense for me at this stage, especially since I don’t have much hands-on experience in cyber sec.

    • ReaperX22 on 22/09/2025 - 16:08
      +1

      This is great advice.

      Honestly if I could make the same money I'm doing now in IT Consulting and just physically build machines/gaming computers etc all day I'd do that ha! Setup a massive testing lab etc. It's still 'IT'!

      And agree absolutely, there's like.. this weird plateau. Starting entry-level you bust your ass to prove yourself/learn what you can. Get to Consulting level/senior consultant and you end up in a weird space (at least for me) where I can cruise where I am, but not really make any meaningful gains in salary/position, or get back to ass-busting to get that extra 20%/title. But then that title comes with more than 20% extra work/dedication required so it's all a balancing act…

  • beltdrive on 22/09/2025 - 15:41

    Electrician. Try something new, see if you like it.

  • geekcohen on 22/09/2025 - 16:16

    Rather than going full electrical, maybe getting your cabling ticket? There are lots of opportunities there. Whilst electrical is handy, age could be an issue for doing the groundwork.

    I am 31 and often find myself crawling through roof spaces to run data cabling, which isn't great at times, especially in the heat and tight spaces. I only do the physical stuff about 50% of the week and there are some days I am sore. I know my knees are going to give me grief one day.

    I run my own business, which includes IT work and other services like CCTV, Starlink and other networking installations. Its taken me 2.5 years to build up the business and the work is starting to flow in on a bit more of a regular basis. It takes a while to build it up and I think you need to do multiple things, not just 1 thing. The IT knowledge and experience really helps and is an advantage to win jobs, plus ongoing work.

    Just my 2 cents.

  • c64 on 22/09/2025 - 16:44
    +1

    getting an electrician apprenticeship at your age is going to be an uphill battle. you are competing with 16-20 year olds

    • Jimothy Wongingtons on 22/09/2025 - 17:01
      +1

      It’s true but sometimes it’s worth paying slightly more for mature age as they will generally be more reliable

      • c64 on 22/09/2025 - 17:04

        i usually get the impression that companies just want cheap labour and government subsidies

        • Jimothy Wongingtons on 22/09/2025 - 17:20
          +1

          It’s true - they are great do cable running and other dirty work… as long as they actually show up, or do the work and not just checking out tik tok while up in the roof space.

    • JIMB0 on 22/09/2025 - 19:05
      +1

      Big companies put on adult apprentices all the time, it generally helps if you're already at the company in some capacity though. They're seen as grounded (kids, mortgage etc) and will often stick around when they finish, unlike a lot of younger ones who are off to the mines chasing the big dollars once they finish.

  • ECE on 22/09/2025 - 18:48

    You will be extremely luck to get an apprenticeship at that age.

  • BiotBargin on 22/09/2025 - 19:16

    Tag Testing

  • Kongzi on 22/09/2025 - 19:48

    Be a car mechanic

  • lainey13 on 22/09/2025 - 20:01

    Do you actually WANT to do electrician work though? Nothing in your post screams for a love of sparks and cables.
    I have a friend who had to ditch IT for medical reasons (eyes and screens) and became an apprentice in his late thirties. I believe after it it becomes a choice of running your own business, trying to drum up work, in small businesses and houses and its more difficult than you think. Apparently corporate big builds pay more and is easier. Are either of those options appealing to you?
    So it is possible but one thing he told me is that who you work with in IT versus electrician work is COMPLETELY different. Polar opposites. If you don't fit in, get along with the 'boys', hold your own, then its going to be very difficult and different compared to fitting into an office.

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