Anyone ever make a huge career change?

[smithld]

Hi everyone! I am back after falling off the wagon in October. I never really posted here before but have read many of your posts for inspiration. I started No S'ing May of last year & lost nearly 30 pounds in 6 mos. Now I have gained most of that weight back & just restarted no S habits yesterday.
I am curious if anyone has made a huge career change...if so, was it worth it? I am in the midst of that right now and am so scared of stepping out into the unknown. I keep thinking about backing out and staying in my old career. I have been stressing over this & I'm sure it's part of the reason I gained weight back due to stress eating. Curious how others have handled a change in career. Thanks!

[ironchef]

I am curious if anyone has made a huge career change...if so, was it worth it? I am in the midst of that right now and am so scared of stepping out into the unknown.

I haven't, but my husband did. He was an engineer until 2009, then retrained as a teacher.

It's been up and down. Initially he was very excited. Later he found out there were a lot of things about the new career that weren't that great, and some stuff about the previous career that hadn't actually been that bad. He even went back to engineering for a while (we needed the money). He's back to teaching now and is somewhat enjoying it.

I don't want to put you off, in hindsight now 6 years later my husband is glad he retrained. He is happier in his work, even though financially we are worse off. But do manage your expectations. Don't be too surprised if the grass isn't as green as it looked. And give it time - mr. chef's first year teaching was really hard, and it has gotten easier.

My mother also changed careers - she was a child psychologist and is now a landscape architect. In her case it has been an unalloyed success and she is much happier and more fulfilled in her new career.

Good luck!

[bonnieUK]

I did.

I had been an Office Manager for several years and a Personal Assistant prior to that. A career I enjoyed and felt well suited to. After 10 years in the office rat race though, the stressful daily commute, the office politics, the difficult clients and constant "firefighting" really burned me out!

In 2012 my DH and I bought a "fixer upper" house and decided that I could work full time on that as a way out of the rat race - we had moved to a cheaper area so could afford to live on 1 income, and fixing up the house had the potential of bringing us more money later on (either by selling or equity release) which made it seem worthwhile.

At first, it was amazing, no more commute, no boss to answer too, no ringing phones and demanding clients, no having to pick a smart outfit every day and put on makeup etc.

However, the house renovation is the hardest and most stressful work I have ever done in my life! We lived in it so there was no getting away from the work to be done, not to mention the unexpected problems that came up. My office job was so easy in comparison. That said, I don't regret it, I needed a change and now we have a great modernised house to live in which is now valued much more highly.

After 1 year of house renovating, I returned to doing some part time office work from home and enjoyed/appreciated it more than before now that I had something to compare it with.

The grass indeed isn't always greener, just different! Good luck!

[wxwoman]

I did.

I started out in human services, and worked with developmentally disabled adults for many years. In my mid 30s, I went back to school for a Master's degree in meteorology.

I have been working with the National Weather Service for 13 years now. Changing careers was a great decision and ended up being everything I thought it would be. I love my job, and have absolutely no regrets. I only wonder how I did it, but I was younger then.

[oolala53]

I went to a testing organization called the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation in my mid-30's. They actually recommended against the eventual work I chose, public school teaching, and foresaw that I would not be happy in it. I'm not. Boy, did they call it! I won't go in to the particulars of how and why I went ahead against their advice and remained, but even though the testing is expensive, I would highly recommend it to anyone before s/he spends money and time on alternate schooling and gets too locked in. They've been at it since the 1920's and really have an incredible bead on the elements of different kinds of work and how those elements in individuals. It goes way beyond interest surveys or other aptitude tests.

I've recommended it to friends that they do the testing. No one has taken me up on it. Some of have done okay; others have been very disappointed in their choices and have remained frustrated. I could have predicted it, but who wants to listen to that?

I bet the JC test could have foretold that ironchef's mother would be much happier in her new career as a landscape architect. They probably could have told that she had an aptitude for design memory and the ability to see in three dimensions, among other things, abilities that would not be used in child psychology so that she would always feel something was missing. They are both careers that require that the individual become an expert that others come to for "help," but they use quite different talents. Same with knowing why going from engineering to teaching may have rough spots and why someone would so much more fulfilled by meteorology rather than working with disabled adults. Very different aptitude profiles!

I don't know if you know who Richard Nelson Bolles is but he is one of the granddaddies of the career search world. The JC test is the ONLY standardized test he says is worth it, as he usually recommends a much more involved process.

In retrospect, the satisfaction I've gotten from years and thousands of posts on this forum and another "diet" one was predicted by them very well. I haven't been able to figure out how to use them to make money at this point in my life. Some careers are easier to see the path on.

Good luck reflecting and making your decision.

[catservant]

I did...I spent 25 years as a hotel manager and actually never really liked it. As I approached 50 I thought how sad it would be to have spent my whole life doing something that I didn't enjoy, so one day I announced to my husband that I was quitting my job and going to dog grooming school. He thought I'd lost my mind, but I loved every minute of that school!! After graduation I opened a small business which I still operate. I had a few lean days at the beginning, but I am happy every day and I love what I'm doing! It was worth the giant leap of faith!!

[Mustloseweight]

Hi! I have had a crazy work life. Did a law degree then Masters and trained as a Solicitor then decided not to go into law when I was a victim of an armed robbery and the guy got away with it. Trained as a teacher - HUGE MISTAKE - hated the discipline side of teaching teenagers. Had a breakdown 100% due to hating work. Tried teacher recruitment - not for me - tried working in a call centre for a distance learning provider but it got boring - now I quit. I am a full time stay at home Mum and I cook, clean and bring my daughter up the best I can. Happier than ever despite health problems teaching bestowed upon me.