45-year-old quits corporate life for nursing after long job search: ‘I should’ve done this sooner’

After more than a year of searching for a new job, Kry Layden was ready for a change. The 45-year-old had spent years working in corporate roles, but repeated applications brought little success. Eventually, she decided to leave the corporate world behind and return to school to become a nurse.Woman starts nursing school after a year-long job search. (CNBC Make It)Layden, from Frisco, Texas, lost her job as a senior manager in e-commerce and fulfilment at a large retailer in early 2025. She spent more than a year looking for another role, but the prolonged search left her exhausted. “It was becoming a recurring theme,” she told CNBC Make It, referring to seeing people in her professional network announcing layoffs.More than 250 job applicationsLayden initially looked for roles in product management, before widening her search to project and programme management. She estimates that she submitted more than 250 applications over the course of a year, progressing to the next stage in roughly 25 of them.“I remember in the beginning thinking, if I don’t have a job in six months, something is wrong,” she said. “And then six months came.”(Also Read: ‘I fired my mom in 2 weeks’: Woman explains why she let her mother go as manager)She even tried two services that used AI to apply for jobs on her behalf, but found that they sometimes applied for positions that required technical experience she did not have or jobs she would not have considered herself.As the months went , the search began to affect her motivation and confidence. “I can’t do this anymore,” she recalled thinking. “But I have to do this.”To manage financially, Layden says she relied on support from her parents, sold jewellery and handbags and cashed out her 401(k).Why she chose nursingThe prolonged job search eventually pushed Layden to consider a completely different career. Nursing had already been on her mind, and she felt healthcare offered greater stability than corporate work.“I wasn’t allowed to be who I am,” she said of her previous corporate environment, explaining that being direct and questioning decisions were sometimes frowned upon.She also believes nursing could offer protection from some of the changes affecting corporate jobs. Employment of regered nurses is projected to grow 5% between 2024 and 2034, according to the US Bureau of Labour Statics.Layden told CNBC Make It that she is particularly interested in becoming a nurse anaesthet or working as a nurse injector in aesthetics.“I’m pretty sure what I’m thinking of doing is not going to be replaced,” she said.Starting again at 45Layden has now started an accelerated online nursing programme and expects to spend around two years completing her studies. She is taking out loans, receiving some financial help from her family and looking for remote part-time work to cover her expenses.The decision has not been easy, but she wishes she had made the change earlier.(Also Read: ‘SF and Bangalore are not comparable’: Techie critiques India’s startup capital, internet reacts)“I’m starting from scratch essentially, and I’m not young,” Layden said, according to CNBC Make It. “It’s going to be a pretty long road.”Despite the challenges ahead, she hopes to build a career in nursing and continue working in the field until retirement.