The Benefits of Changing Careers: Is it for You?

April 22, 2014


Many factors feed into the decision to choose a particular career path. Millennials have grown up in a culture that tells them, generally, to follow their passion, while previous generations put more of an emphasis on finding financial stability with or without any correlation to personal passions or goals. It's hard to get a good statistical picture of how many people are changing careers in their lifetime, and how often they do it, but estimates show that by their mid-forties most people have held between ten and twelve jobs. While this doesn't tell us how many times people change careers, it does paint a picture of a workforce that stays on the move and, one can assume, sees shifts in responsibilities from one job to the next.
In a more traditional tale of career changes, user G.E. Miller's wife on 20somethingfinance.com explains her journey into the field of nursing. Laid off from her job as a landscape architect, she knew that she didn't want another desk job. Her motivation to help other people, problem solve, be more socially engaged, and be on her feet more at work led her to explore healthcare. With research into the industry and her school options, she was able to make the most financially sound decisions; she discovered that job security in healthcare is high because of the retiring baby boomer population, and that she could start with the same base pay with an associate degree in nursing as she could with a 4-year degree in nursing. Before beginning the most rigorous element of her program, she was also able to still maintain a job while taking classes.







You have choices to navigate in life. Which directions are you choosing?


Pixabay / CC0

A career change gives you the opportunity to explore your passions and values and re-connect them to your professional life. When paired with a higher level of education, or if it's a shift to a more lucrative field, it can also mean a raise in pay and job benefits. Going back to college or going to college for the first time is a difficult process, but planning can make the transition manageable if you stay goal-oriented and mindful.

Career Change Success Stories

In an article on themuse's advice blog, Nicole Varvisiotes describes the beginning of an internal career transition, avoiding the need to go back to school for another degree. She connects her ability to make the transition from Social Media to a creative role with the way she carefully re-crafted her online image. She was, essentially, able to market herself as a writer and creator by focusing on that passion and past-time and making herself known for it, as opposed to having her many distinct passions without really letting any one specifically shine out.







Nontraditional students face their own challenges in the classroom, but they also have their own strengths.


David Maiolo / wikimedia / CC BY-SA

You can change your career at any age. Gwen Morgan, writing for PBS' next avenue, catalogs three stories of older adults who have changed their career pursuits to match their passion. A couple in their fifties became brand ambassadors for their favorite charitable nonprofit, eventually to become salaried employees and go on larger-scale tours of the US, all after their youngest child went away to college. Their prior careers had nothing to do with their new vision. Another man, who had lost his first business, went on to open Sky Zone, an (incredibly awesome) indoor trampoline park, which has grown into a set of parks across the nation.

Morgan's final story covers Andie Cohen-Healy, who decided to leave her position as an MTV satellite executive and open a business designing fashion - specifically feathered headpieces and accessories. What these stories have in common are a sense of conviction, as well as good planning and implementation from the men and women with the courage and privilege to follow their passion.