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Why I have never decided to change jobs through an agent after turning 40

2026年5月20日 07:11

I occasionally post on Threads as well as X, and since many Threads users seem to believe in the '35-year-old career change limit' theory, I decided to organize the actual situation once again.

The reality of the 35-year-old career change limit theory

The '35-year-old career change limit' theory, which suggests that there are no jobs available after the age of 35, stems from labor practices that existed from the Showa era to the early Heisei era.

In the Showa era, it was common to join a company as a new graduate and work there until retirement.

There was an era when, after passing 35, fewer people were promoted or received raises before retirement, leading them to be viewed as difficult for organizations to utilize and being mechanically rejected during document screening.

However, the current labor market is significantly different from that time.

Mynavi Career Change Trends Survey 2025 Edition

In 2024, the regular employee job change rate decreased by 0.2 points for men in their 20s and 1.4 points for women in their 20s compared to the previous year, whereas it increased by 0.3 points for men in their 40s, 0.9 points for women in their 40s, and 0.5 points for women in their 50s.

Furthermore, the increase in annual income due to changing jobs was the highest among all age groups for men in their 40s at 344,000 yen, and Mynavi itself notes from these survey results that the traditional 35-year-old career change limit theory is gradually being resolved.

Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Survey on Employment Trends

38% of people who changed jobs between the ages of 35 and 39 saw their income increase, with 23.7% seeing an increase of 10% or more.

It has also become clear that over 70% of job changers aged 35 to 39 have secured an income equal to or higher than their previous job.

Data from Recruit Works Institute

There is a report stating that for men, a difference in job changing is seen around the age of 35, and a tendency for it to become more difficult to change jobs after 35 was detected.

However, for women, no difference was seen around the age of 35, and wage changes are also showing an improving trend, leading to the conclusion that the 35-year-old career change limit theory has collapsed, especially for women, and that high-quality labor mobility is occurring. The academic view is that it has not been determined why such a trend is seen on the men's side.

Structural tailwinds

The working-age population is expected to decrease by approximately 8 million between 2015 and 2030.

Additionally, the Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons was amended in April 2025, making it mandatory for companies to ensure employment up to the age of 65.

The share of placements for those aged 36 and over at the three major recruitment agencies was 18.8% in the first half of fiscal year 2012. Furthermore, in a questionnaire survey conducted by BizReach in 2018 targeting 400 people with experience in mid-career recruitment, the results showed that 95.8% of mid-career recruiters target people in their 30s, 79% target those in their 40s, and 39% target those in their 50s.

People who succeed and people who do not succeed in changing jobs after 35

However, this does not mean that anyone over 35 can change jobs unconditionally.

When attempting to enter a new field after the age of 35, there is the issue that companies find it difficult to bear the cost of training. Furthermore, since potential-based hiring, common for those in their 20s, ends around age 35, past achievements, skills, and practical experience become the direct subjects of evaluation.

Moreover, as people over 35 tend to have higher expectations regarding salary, working conditions, and stability, applicants often find that job openings do not meet their criteria.

Depending on the industry, there are still areas, such as general positions at some traditional large corporations, that are difficult for candidates over 35 to enter.

On the other hand, while changing jobs after 35 has become common, it is also pointed out that an increasing number of people are unable to succeed after joining a new company.

The cause is not a lack of personal skill, but rather bringing in the common practices of a previous job, delays in adapting to a new environment, or failures in managing one's pride. In other words, the problem has shifted from "Will I be hired?" to "Will I be able to fit in after being hired?"

In conclusion, the idea that "there is no work after 35" is based on old customs from 30 years ago. According to data, the volume zone for job changes has shifted to those 35 and older, and there is even a phenomenon where the salary increase for men in their 40s is the highest among all age groups.

However, it is a reality that barriers still exist in terms of entering a new industry after 35 and adapting after joining a company.

This point is considered to be less about people over 35 not being hired, and more about the possibility that they may not fit in due to other factors after being hired.

[References]

I, who changed jobs 10 times after the age of 35

After turning 35, I changed jobs about 10 times.

As I have written in other articles, I started studying English itself when I was 35, and I felt that I could actually use English in my work around the time I was 39 or 40.

While the survey results in the previous section are generally correct, I would like to conclude by stating my personal impressions regarding foreign-affiliated IT companies.

The job-changing landscape in foreign-affiliated IT

First, regarding the point of whether or not one can change jobs at a company after the age of 35, honestly, in foreign-affiliated IT, I have never once felt that changing jobs was difficult due to age. Many people around me have changed jobs after 35, and in fact, I frequently see people changing jobs even after they have passed 50.

Of course, this also varies depending on the role and job level.

For example, if it is a foreign-affiliated position known as an IC (Individual Contributor), which does not involve management duties, the possibility of changing jobs is quite high.

Also, in foreign-affiliated sales positions called ICs, it is easy to utilize the network that the salesperson originally possesses. For example, there are people who work as Account Executives in their 30s, and then, for the first time near their 50s, take on the role of Senior Account Executive or Strategic Account Executive, handling very large major corporations after turning 50.

Therefore, regarding foreign-affiliated companies, this rule often does not apply.

Furthermore, even at startups from Silicon Valley where the founders are young, it is understood that the strong networks and experience of middle and senior-level employees in their 40s and 50s are quite important for expansion in Japan. Therefore, there is a reality where it is very easy to change jobs even if you are older, as long as you have the experience. I think the reality of this point is quite different between foreign-affiliated companies and Japanese companies.

Also, for people who have management experience, patterns of further increasing their annual income are often seen.

In foreign-affiliated companies where you can become a manager if you have the ability in your 30s, it is common to see routes where someone who was a manager becomes a director, someone who was a director becomes a vice president, and someone who was a vice president serves as the country manager representing Japan.

Assuming that those who become managers early are in their mid-30s, those who are lucky enough to become directors are in their late 30s to 40s, and those who can become VPs from director positions are, in the case of early achievers, in their mid-40s, while generally speaking, many are around 50.

At that timing, in their 40s, some people go on to become country managers, and there are also people who become country managers for the first time after turning 50 and play an active role.

This may also be a job-changing style characteristic of foreign-affiliated companies, but I feel that the reality is that there are actually more opportunities for those over 35 to play an active role.

Job-changing agents for foreign-affiliated IT

And one more thing, commenting on changing jobs after 35 regarding foreign-affiliated companies, honestly, I have never once decided to change jobs through a job-changing agent after turning 40.

Since my 40s, all of my job changes have been finalized through direct scouting from company recruiters.

There are several reasons for this.

As for my experience, the fact that I have experience in handling the launch of smaller foreign-affiliated companies when they entered Japan is valued.
There are many cases where companies in a phase where they need to launch in the Japanese market from now on, or where they need to relaunch after a major organizational change, bring the conversation to me.

This is, in a sense, a part where I have been able to clarify my own area of expertise, so it is conceivable that the needs happened to match and the job was decided.

Also, regarding foreign-affiliated companies, there is a tendency that the larger the agent, the less likely they are to have good job openings, and it is extremely rare for agents who truly have good job openings to pitch themselves to you.

I have previously introduced my assessment of foreign-affiliated recruitment agents regarding this as well, but for companies that truly have job openings, they often have strong paths to, for example, American venture capital firms, angel investors, or major investment banks. Because they possess unique information and networks, there is a tendency for projects entering Japan for the first time to come to those agents first.

The agent I know likely has the best job openings in Japan, and since he is actually the agent who brought OpenAI into Japan, from that perspective, how you choose an agent becomes quite important.

First, regarding large agencies, it is better to keep in mind that they only have general jobs, and rare, confidential, or specialized positions rarely appear there.

If you want to seriously pursue a career change in a foreign-affiliated company, I think it is extremely important to enrich your profile on LinkedIn and ensure that you are approached by recruiters rather than agents.

This applies not only to startup roles like mine but also to general employees.

Especially recently, large companies have been contacting candidates directly through LinkedIn due to the prevalence of malicious agents and the fact that about 30% is taken as a margin when introduced through an agent.

In conclusion, if you want to pursue a career in a foreign-affiliated company, it is first important to thoroughly enrich your LinkedIn profile.

Regarding the use of agents, I recommend the following points:

Selection of introduction routes: It is better to talk to people who can be introduced through word-of-mouth rather than those who approach you directly. Since agents also have horizontal connections, you may be able to encounter even higher-quality agents through introductions from people you trust.
Dealing with large agencies: It is better not to pursue large agencies that send direct scouts on LinkedIn too deeply to minimize time and costs.

The reality is that in many cases, many agents just make introductions and then stop communicating altogether.

Personally, I believe there is no need to ever deal with such agents again.