Who Has Changed Careers?

[cschin4]

Did you change careers? Why? Are you glad you did? Did you take a financial hit or did it improve your finances in the long run?

[vishenda]

I did. It's due to location issues, its safer here than my first job location. Yes Im glad I did, my current job made me learn and unlearn things. It's not really my ideal job--so un"vishenda", but oh yeah the real world can be harsh and ironic. Compensation-wise, the first pays far better.......now the need to save becomes a pressure.....oh world

[FrugalTexan75]

I did. I was an elementary teacher for eight years. I am now working in the Oil & Gas industry as an Engineering Tech Assistant.

Pros about my career change: A whole lot stress, less hours, no weekends or evenings, no parents of kids to deal with.

Cons: Significantly less money, significantly less vacation/sick time, miss working with kids.

Would I do it again? Yes, in a heartbeat.

Would I ever consider going back to teaching? Probably not - unless it was teaching my own hypothetical children.

[sarah]

I did I was a certified nursing assistant for over a decade then I went back to school and became a college professor. I would do it again but it was stressful.

[usnavy_233]

I kind of changed careers. I left a particular community within the Navy and went into the regular fleet. I did it to spend more time with my family instead of being away 300+ days out of a year.

It was a financial hit at first because of all the speciality pay I lost (about $625/mo) but it was well worth it and since I've been working in my rate, I've advance very quickly which has made up for the loss of speciality pay.

Am I glad I did? ABSOLUTELY! My wife and kids are my greatest investment.

[tinapbeana]

sometimes it feels like my whole life is one giant career change...

most recently i went from being a customer service trainer for a major nat'l phone company to a technical support administrator and developer. didn't have a choice, they closed our call center.

making the change was scary b/c i was very good at what i used to do, whereas the new job was new territory for me and involved a lot of things i hadn't done before. it was definitely a good move, though, both financially and for my personal/professional growth.

[crow67]

I changed also after 18 yrs working for a distribution company on the lines, got a new position as a phone operator in Nov. Pay's much better, my body doesn't ache all the time and it's with a company that has a much brighter future. The only downfalls are the hours (now have to work weekends) and I left behind a lot of good friends (but I'm working on new friendships)