# Making a career change, advice? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 16, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-career-change-advice/834084 "2019-05-16T22:43:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-career-change-advice/834084/1 "2019-05-16T22:43:13Z")
I haven’t really looked for a job since 2006. In 2008, I joined a rival company but basically doing the same job. In 2012, I took an internal promotion. My problem is that I don’t know what I want to do, but I know I don’t want to work in another brokerage firm. How might I decide what I want to do? How hard is it to find another job in a different city? When I got my job in 2008, it was in a different city, with two phone interviews. However, as I mentioned, it was almost an identical job so I think they were comfortable hiring me sight unseen. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-career-change-advice/834084/2 "2019-05-20T16:42:55Z")
Monday morning bump ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-career-change-advice/834084/3 "2019-05-20T16:49:11Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I haven’t really looked for a job since 2006. In 2008, I joined a rival company but basically doing the same job. In 2012, I took an internal promotion. > > My problem is that I don’t know what I want to do, but I know I don’t want to work in another brokerage firm. > > How might I decide what I want to do? How hard is it to find another job in a different city? When I got my job in 2008, it was in a different city, with two phone interviews. However, as I mentioned, it was almost an identical job so I think they were comfortable hiring me sight unseen. It’s hard to advise without knowing more about you and your situation, tbh. However, my suggestion is this: Plot out where you would financially be @ retirement if you kept the current position until then. Then, once you have a bit more direction in the “what do I want to do” area, do the same for the new position. Happiness matters, no doubt about it. But if you trade a million $ of future financial earnings away for $500k + less stress, you’re really could be merely reducing your current stress levels, only to find them getting higher during the latter parts of your life. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-career-change-advice/834084/4 "2019-05-20T17:03:56Z")
> [@](#): > > My problem is that I don’t know what I want to do, but I know I don’t want to work in another brokerage firm. That is a problem because, until you figure that part out, you can’t put together a game plan. I don’t know your economic situation, so I’m going to assume that you need to work. In my case, I knew exactly what I wanted to do, so I was able to lay the groundwork for my career change while I was still working in my first career. I literally finished all the groundwork which, in my case, was getting my A+ certification as an IT technician, four days before I resigned my position as a teacher. That made the transition as seamless as humanly possible. Even then, I had a to build up a resume in my new profession, and it took me three years before I had a permanent job with benefits. Having gone through that, I would have to say it’s simply something you can’t do right now unless you can financially afford to sit around and try to figure out the next step while you are unemployed. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-career-change-advice/834084/5 "2019-05-20T19:41:45Z")
Read _[What Color is your Parachute](https://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2019/dp/0399581685)_ and go from there. > [@Amazon](#): > > In today’s complex job-market, the time-tested advice of What Color Is Your Parachute? is needed more than ever. Recent grads facing a changing economic landscape, workers laid off mid-career, and people searching for an inspiring work-life change all look to career guru Richard N. Bolles for support, encouragement, and advice on which job-hunt strategies work—and which don’t. This revised edition combines classic elements like the famed Flower Exercise with updated tips on social media and search tactics. Bolles demystifies the entire job-search process, from writing resumes to interviewing to networking, expertly guiding job-hunters toward their dream job. $12.99 Kindle version It’s not difficult to change your career, but it does require you to be committed to making the change and all that goes with it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-a-career-change-advice/834084/6 "2019-05-20T21:20:11Z")
As someone currently going through an unplanned job search, I would say that the more you can figure out what specifically you want to do, the better. I also remember a long time ago, a friend of mine suggested that when changing careers, you should change industry or functional area (IT/HR/Marketing/etc) but not both at once. You said you worked in a brokerage. What did you do there? Would you want to do that for another industry (assuming it’s not finance specific…like being a broker)? Or is something else you would rather do, but can do that within your industry? Once you know what you want to do, then it becomes a whole lot easier to target companies and find potential contacts in your target city.