The other day I was having a conversation with a 20-something about career switching and the fears around doing it. I found myself quoting some of my 40-something interviewee’s advice on the matter. First, they offer reassurance that if you are resourceful and skilled, there is no reason to fear you won’t be successful in a new field. Secondly, don’t fall prey to lifestyle handcuffs (getting stuck in a career because you get accustomed to the salary). The things you can afford because you are more years into a career and the salary it provides may not be worth a lifetime of feeling unfulfilled by your job. Here are a few of their comments:
“Do your career shifting in your 20’s before you start making a lot of money. Otherwise you may end up sticking with something that you don’t necessarily love. If you’re good at it you start making a decent amount of money and it’s harder to leave. It’s really hard to leave….even if you don’t love it. SO I would say leave sooner if you don’t love it. You can always come back to it if you are good at it. – 40-something, former 20-something career switcher, consultant, Stamford, CT
“I see very frequently in people is that they are just held back by their fear of not being successful in the new area they are considering getting into. I would say that is something to completely discount if you can rationally understand that there is a path to success and you have been successful in the past. Then why would you assume you would not be successful in this new path?” — 40-something, entrepreneur, NY
“Go with something you think you might love even if you make no money. There are ways to make it work. Pack your lunch. Get roommates. Drink less beer. I always chose money and never really found my true calling. I got a 13K offer in a field that I was really interested in and a 20K offer in a field I was neutral about. I took the money because I didn’t think I could live on the lower salary. That I still regret. — 40-something, Williamsport, PA
“Yes I’ve did it for 8 years but I one day I realized that every additional day I wasted from here on out would just make it worse. So stop the bleeding and start doing what you want to do with your time.” — 40-something, career switcher from medical to business
on Twitter
on Facebook
on Google+