How many times have you or someone you know said, “I hate my job. I wish I was doing something else instead,“? Probably a lot. But change is hard. Taking the first step towards change can be the hardest and a lot of people just don't know where to begin even if they're miserable. If you find yourself in this boat, what's nice is there are a lot of free resources out there that can help if you simply start looking.
My site is one example. Capital One is another example. They sponsored me to attend one of their free career workshops in San Francisco the other day. Before diving into the key points of the workshop below, I wanted to share a story of a friend who took a risk everybody thought was absurd at the time.
Andrea had been in institutional equity sales for 10 years and grew tired of it. She was a Vice President who made a healthy $200,000 a year salary and a bonus that ranged from $0 – $200,000. She lived in a modest one bedroom apartment in a nice part of town and took the bus to work. Most people in their early 30s would never risk leaving so much money on the table. But Andrea did.
Andrea came into the office one day and told her manager that she was leaving. Everybody was shocked since she was a lovely person who was well-liked by her clients and by her colleagues. When asked whether she planned to go to a competitor, like so many have before her, she said, “Nope! I plan to go to baking school!”
Everybody was shocked! Baking school? What the heck? Even I was thinking what a curiously strange move to make when she could just practice at home after work and on the weekends.
Andrea was determined. For years, she had been dreaming of digging her hands into bowls of dough and watching her own scrumptious delights turn golden brown. If she was going to be a baker, she wanted to be the best baker possible by learning all the culinary secrets at a top school.
Surely a career doing what she loved would be less stressful and provide much more meaning to her day-to-day life. Even with the $8,000 cost to attend baking school, and the subsequent much lower salary, she believed this dramatic change would be worth it.
But once she finished school and got her first real baking job, reality hit hard. Being a baker wasn't anywhere near as stress free as she imagined. She regularly had to work the graveyard shift in order for all her baked goods to be fresh the same day. When she worked dinner hours, she was constantly berated by the head chef, just like how Gordon Ramsey would yell at all the contestants on Hell's Kitchen. “Hurry up you slackers!”, “Do you want me to fire you? Or are you going to fire the créme brulée because it surely isn't going to fire itself!” It was non stop pressure in the kitchen.
After several months of work, Andrea said something I'll never forget, “Sam I can't take it anymore. If I'm going to get yelled at every day at work I might as well make six-figures getting yelled at every day instead of a lousy $15/hour!”
Andrea ended up giving up her dream as a master baker and going back into banking the following year. Years later she told me, “I have no regrets because I went after what I thought I wanted. I'm a much better baker now than before. And although I still don't love my job, I have a much greater appreciation. The greatest regret would have been to never try.”
Related: Do You Want To Be Rich Or Do You Want To Be Free?
Career Change Workshop Recap
If you're thinking about changing your career, make sure you really think through all of the risks before taking a leap. A lot of time and money is at stake! Here's a summary of some helpful tips that were covered in the career change workshop I attended that you may find helpful.
The career workshop was hosted by Gwen Lane, an ex-marketer who decided to focus on building her own website and earn money as a product ambassador and Megan Lathrop, a money coach who used to work in investment management.
The most salient notes from the workshop:
- 77% of us take jobs not aligned with our values. Sound familiar?
- Personal branding is key – who you are, what are your values, what are your interests.
- Identify people you respect and look to emulate their brand, but also create your own.
- Ask yourself what you want others to think when they speak your name.
- Create your mission statement.
- Identify your values and find a career that's in alignment once you've developed a financial base.
The 1.5 hour session was one part coaching one part therapy. We broke into groups to give and get feedback about our personal branding and values. I met one woman looking to get into social media marketing, but felt stuck because she didn't have the three year common prerequisite. Another woman was looking to become a COO for a startup after 20 years of running a 100 person office. It was time for her to finally take some risks, she told me.
It's really good to meet working folks or folks looking to do something new because I've been living in my solopreneur bubble for five years now. Despite a booming Bay Area economy, competition is still stiff to land a coveted job.
Your Brand Is Your Secret Weapon
Branding is vital to everyone's career and business success. In a sea of homogeneity, you must develop some type of personal trademark that makes you stand out from the crowd. Be known for something.
With Financial Samurai, I've purposefully chosen a red, black, and silver color scheme. The colors are meant to convey a level of ferocity when it comes to tackling all of money's mysteries. The mask is a universal mask that represents all of us, not just me, in our quest for achieving financial independence sooner, rather than later. My objective is for people to come away from my site feeling smarter and with more perspective than before they came.
Really take some time to think about what your personal brand says about you today and what you'd like for it to say about you in the future. The career workshop was a good reminder for participants to stay on brand. I often go off the rails with my posts because I'm bored or feel a little spicy. This workshop helped me focus on my site's core values.
Related: How To Build A Stronger Brand For Your Career, Website, Or Business
Other Career Change Tips
From a financial perspective, map out all the costs associated with doing a career change. For example, one common path many young folks take is to go back to business school full-time for two years. But I'm not exactly sure how many attendees actually add up the total cost of business school + the forgone salary + lost time and compare the total cost to the potential income + happiness increase.
The worst financial decision is when someone goes to graduate school and then ends up not working shortly after graduation. The cost is guaranteed. The income and happiness are not.
More often than not, you'll have to take a step down in pay if you transition to a new career. Therefore, it's best to thoroughly sit down with a veteran in the space you want to join first and talk about all the pros and cons. If Andrea got to know more restaurant bakers, she might not have been so shocked by her treatment.
I knew about the pitfalls of the online media world before I left my full-time job because I had been moonlighting for a couple years already. Try as much as possible before you buy.
It is very common to be disappointed after a career change if you don't have proper expectations. The more you can align your values with your work, the happier you will be.
My New Co-Working Space!
What I realized from my latest visit is that a Capital One Café is a great free co-working space whenever I start getting cabin fever. Downtown SF is a mad house nowadays, so being able to have a place to host business development meetings, go to the restroom, charge my devices, relax, stuff my face with pastries, do some banking or just chat up with random hustlers is great.
Further, all the workshops have catered food and drinks as well, which is great for all those frugal folks out there! When our workshop ended, the caterers started setting up dinner food and beverages for the 5pm – 6:30pm entrepreneurship workshop.
For more expert insight on Mapping Your Own Career Path, you can also check out Capital One’s recent #CapXTalk panel discussion to hear how executives from companies like LinkedIn, Zappos Insights, The LA Girl, and Times 10 tapped into their personal values to achieve their career goals, and what advice they have for others who are looking to make a change.
Here's a snapshot example of some free upcoming events in SF.
Thanks again Capital One 360 for helping keep the lights on here at Financial Samurai. It's always fun to get out of the house once in a while and meet new folks and learn new things.
Recommendation If You Want To Move On
If you want to leave a job you no longer enjoy, I recommend you negotiate a severance instead of quit. If you negotiate a severance like I did back in 2012, you not only get a severance check, but potentially subsidized healthcare, deferred compensation, and worker training.
When you get laid off, you're also eligible for up to roughly 27 weeks of unemployment benefits. Having a financial runway is huge during your transition period.
Conversely, if you quit your job you get nothing. Check out How To Engineer Your Layoff: Make A Small Fortune By Saying Goodbye.
It's the only book that teaches you how to negotiate a severance. In addition, it was recently updated and expanded thanks to tremendous reader feedback and successful case studies.
Updated for 2020 and beyond.
I’m in the same position and if you asked me a year ago, I would’ve said keep at it, make yourself coping mechanisms; I’ve got a subtle countdown timer on my desktop and whenever things get too much at work, I look at it or get the work done with tears of frustration.
But now I’ve been diagnosed with an adenoma and I don’t know. I’m dependent on my job for my healthcare. I wonder if my stubbornness to keep going at work for FI cause my adenoma which has now made me dependent on the healthcare provided by my employer? Was it worth it?
My husband is in a high stress job that leaves him little to no time to explore other jobs or career options. He still has student loans for law school and his current job is helping us pay these down, but it’s become an endless spiral of stress and no sleep in addition to his values not aligning with the company he works for.
Would you recommend keeping this job for a few more years to pay down debt or attempt to explore other jobs while working or quit and dedicate his full attention to a job search. We realize that a new job might mean a lower salary for him, but at what point is the stress not worth it?
It’s worth seeing what else is out there ASAP while he still has a job. Much easier to find a job when you still have a job.
Now this article hit home, but not in the way you may think. I was never able to pursue what I wentto college for because the Recession was in full swing when I graduated. At the time I was desperate to get a job – any job- that would help me repay my student loan debt. I was homeless in college and due to my skin color received a crappy Pell grant ONLY when I was sleeping in my car. College is worthless to most people now because the ROI isn’t there.
Living in poverty after working so hard to fulfill something you’re passionate about and good at can crush you. I saw the entire industry change that I worked so hard to be a part of and found out that STEM jobs aren’t anywhere near as ‘safe’ as people assume they are. Other classmates who made it were replaced by foreign workers (immigrants) and wages were slashed. This was ssuming that the jobs weren’t just moved overseas for cheaper labor since Americans overpay for an education that just isn’t worth it.
I was forced to start over four times. With each job I thought I’d be able to build a career around it but that’s a all out lie when you have to rely on an incompetent business owner for a paycheck. After taking intiative and learning key fundamental skills on my own to prove my worth (women are generally hated in male dominated industries) I was still told that they just don’t hire women because it’s “men’s work”. I was refused work in machine shops even when I could demonstrate G-code and understood the processes. Automotive companies laughed at me, welding specialists were pissed I could even MIG and arc weld. Factories refused to offer more than $8/hr for foundry work that I learned and even showed the shift supervisor my sprue networks on my own projects. I know rejection in the most intimate way and how constant rejection can make you doubt your self worth as a person.
Imagine how horrible it is to live in a country where immigrants rip your work from you, where you can be legally discriminated against, you’re paid less as a woman (I’m underpaid now at – $1.06/hr compared to men at my job with no experience or certifications), have been denied training and opportunities, and am considered a freak as I don’t conform to the typical woman in the town. The area I live in (and will be leaving next year) is a dump where 67 – 69% of the residents are on some kind of welfare. I have a degree. I don’t have kids with different fathers, I work harder than everyone at my job, I’m not married, and I try to leave every place I’ve worked at in a better way/condition than when I got there. I also don’t take shit from anyone. Talk down to me and I return the favor.
Yet when I stand up for myself I’M PUNISHED. I stood up to a coworker creating a hostile work envrionment and wouldn’t you know it that men in their 20’s and 30’s can’t stand it when a woman is right. Threatening to beat a coworker is wrong but my manager didn’t care. The guy is incompetent, never on time, loud, sexist, curses all the time and more. He can steal MY food but when something of his goes missing then everyone gets interrogated. It’s insane and why I’m leaving that pew jumper’s paradise for a larger city with actual opportunities. After literally exhuasting all of the options where I’m scraping by, that eureka moment finally hit me. I have exhausted every possibility and dealt with death threats from members of the local Chamber of Commerce when trying to create a competitive company.
It hit me hard. Why throw away my skillset on morons who will never pay me what I’m worth? Why not pivot those skills into my own brand, build a business aroud it, and pursue my obsession where I can actually live and be treated like the human being I am? If horrible crazy people who openly discriminate against women can make it I know I can definitely run a business. After taking a class in a larger city hours away, I’ve been working on my business plan, have created the sitemap for my website, the color schemes, and have my own logo finished. While many people may give up entirely take the time to learn a skill, no matter what you are doing, and improve on it. If that skill translates into something else that will help you pursue your main goal then you’ve just made yourself more valuable and brought yourself one step closer to acheiving that long term goal.
As a result I’m at the point where I found the best place to move to, but need a bit more experience and certifications in order to ensure my move is successful. There’s no point in moving to a city if you can’t afford the rent.
During my class I met people that I was at ease talking to and actually had SEVERAL things in common! I felt at home with them and realized it was where I belonged. There wasn’t a nasty snide remark those two entire days, no threats, no yelling, no hostile behavior. We can either be dissapointed when we learn how those careers we fantasized about as kids really work or you can pivot and exploit what you see. Either way I’d rather be doing what I actually enjoy and do the work I currently do as a backup of sorts as it compliments my true end goal to be financially independent. During that time I took off work I realized it was also the first vacation in my life. The area I travelled to has amazing work spaces, tool libraries, and communities (plural) where people actually want you to excel!
No matter how bad it is focus on what you can do, what you can actually change (even if it’s just you), and give yourself realistic goals with acheivable deadlines. Don’t overload yourself with so much work that you can’t finish anything (personal experience). This has helped me tremendously and I wrote it not to be just another online rant, but to let people know that if you walk away from bad experiences make sure you take away something useful from each of those experiences. Don’t walk away from anything empty-handed if you can help it.
No matter how hard life gets you can train yourself to see a realistic opportunity in what you are dealt. I refuse to give up and really enjoyed this article. Don’t let other people define who you are and make sure you take time to invest in yourself.
I had a career transition that required grad school. Even with the significant debt I took on, it was absolute worth it. My earning potential is much higher and I am more satisfied in my field. I also was able to start my own business within a niche in it. My branding narrowly targets a subset within a subset and I am starting to become nationally known as an expert.
I studied computer engineering all through high school and then college, but didn’t feel like a career in Informatics would suit me. So I ended up majoring in Social Work.
Total career makeover!
However, after graduation.. I went back to working in front of a computer. (Just like Andrea)
I’m not sorry though, I’m really glad I took a chance on studying something I actually enjoyed.
Yea, it’s time to make a change. What’s the point of making money without happiness or drive? Risks need to be taken in life if you want to get anywhere! Also, long time reader and love your work, but please do me a favor, get an SSL cert! That’s why I don’t comment on more things!
I don’t sell anything (except for the occasional book sale), so I’ve decided to let technology work out it’s kinks on SSL first. I’ll be the last adapter because so many things go wrong in the meantime.
See: https://yakezie.com/207060/featured/why-you-should-delay-upgrading-to-https-ssl/
I’m thinking about doing it over the next several months, but I anticipate a lot of pages to break.
No career change for me as I am one of the lucky ones to be in a job that I love, that pays adequately for me to live a simple life. It is not without its pitfalls and the salary I get paid is nowhere in proportion to what I put in, but the love and the mental rewards I gain from my job greatly plays a role.
I’m with Andrea. At least she gave it a go, rather than forever wondering “what if?” Of course, more research and asking within the industry would have brought to light the reality of graveyard shifts and low salaries, but until you are in that position would you truly know if you can or cannot handle something?
If Happiness = Expectations – Reality , then that would explain why Andrea was not happy as a baker. If she knew about the yelling and the hours going in, but she accepted that as temporary and that it would get better once she has her own business, then she might’ve stuck with it.
It seems like a lot times people follow their dreams, not knowing about all the pitfalls that come with it, and get blind-sighted. It always makes me wonder, if they knew what they were getting into, had a strategic plan for the end goal, and accepted the fact that they’d have to go through this pitfalls to get to the end goal, would they have stuck to it. Or maybe they could’ve diversified like you did, by working at a career that pays well, and working on their passion on the side.
When I read this quote from Andrea “although I still don’t love my job, I have a much greater appreciation. The greatest regret would have been to never try”, I’m happy that she’s no longer thinking “what if”, but I’m wondering if the fact that she still doesn’t love her job will continue to haunt her. You can’t run away from something, you can only run towards something better. Sooner or later, she may try to run again, but hopefully expectations will meet reality next time and it will be towards something better.
Just a quick comment and question for those on the board since it seems relevant to the subject (remotely)…
I’ve led a pretty successful life. I have enough that I could probably quit now and be fine. I have a job that puts me in the top 2% in terms of income. Good wife that I love, great kids.
I don’t feel grateful all the time. I’ve always been a risk taker and pushed myself. I don’t find that I can do that every day anymore…I think about my kids and what I need to do for them and now bite my tongue or go with the flow all the time. But sometimes, usually once a year I take insane risk. Like life ending risk, or marriage ending risk, or sitting in my house waiting for the cops to show up risk. I don’t enjoy the things I do to get in these situations but I do enjoy the feeling of gratitude after, the realization that I have great fortune and could have lost it all. It floods me and I can keep it together for a long time after that, then I start to slide back and pretty soon I’m doing something really stupid and with the intent of facing what is almost complete loss.
I’ve looked for this on the internet and can’t find anything, I can’t discuss what I’ve done with friends and feel no desire to boast or brag about it (probably why I’ve slipped by so far) so I don’t know if they have the same thing going on. But I know the numbers will catch up with me one day.
Is anybody else familiar with this or feel a bit the same? I’m not cutting my wrists or literally playing Russian roulette and I have no desire to actually pay the consequences of my action but just to feel the sense of being on the edge of disaster to really feel what I have.
Anyway, that’s it.
Sam the email etc is fake but didn’t want to put the real one on there so you can leave this out if you want but I’d really like to know if I’m the only one that does this.
What the heck, when you say life ending risk do you mean doing drugs or going on binges? Doesn’t sound normal dude. get some help. I mean you’re willing to throw it all away for a cheap high. Either that or this is a troll.
This article resonated with me because I’ve done several complete career switches, from: law –> management consulting –> private equity investing –> startup founder –> product management in the tech industry.
I would say these transitions have generally “worked out” (eventually) but they have definitely been very challenging to pull off, I’ve encountered plenty of bumps along the way, which has made me self-reflect intensely about career change strategies and how to systematically increase one’s probability of being successful at doing them.
I’ve also seen this from many others’ perspectives, too, because I have coached many peers and friends on how to do the same. (If you’re interested, I profiled some pretty amazing career switchers on my website before, including people who now work in entertainment, business, politics, tech startups, finance, and more…who transitioned from just about every walk of life; I don’t create these interview profiles anymore, but many readers still find value in them so I’ve left those posts up on my site.)
As for how I pulled off my own transitions, I did not attend any workshops or go back to school: instead, I sacrificed nights and weekends pretty continuously for 10 years (at this point) to learn new skills that I would need and to build connections to help make my transitions successful. Sometimes I have wondered if that much pain and sacrifice was worth it. And while it’s not possible to know what my alternative universe would have been like had I not sacrificed so much of my 20s and 30s doing this (e.g., would I have been happier by this point), the biggest psychological benefit I gained is being pretty darn recession-resistant, geography-unconstrained, and industry-unconstrained. In other words: peace of mind. That’s been huge: now, I feel truly confident that, if I want/need to, I can find meaningful, reasonably interesting work in nearly any industry, geographic location, up-or-down economy…and thrive economically (e.g., at least six-figure income). That is because, through hard work and self-sacrifice preparation, I have developed strong writing and communication skills, strategic / financial analysis skills (across multiple industries), strong technical chops related to software and tech, and team leadership / direct people management skills.
That means I’m not beholden to any job, company, location…and, most importantly, whims of any boss. I never feel stuck or forced to work for someone I can’t stand, or for a company I despise because, frankly, at this point I don’t have to.
My wife and I both work for Uncle Sam. In 2011, she changed careers leaving one federal agency to work at another. She was very unhappy in her job and was being prevented from leaving or getting details by her boss. Before she did, I mapped out the cost due to the salary decrease and where we should cut spending to limit the financial bleeding. It hurt and it took us six years but we have finally made up for the monetary loss and then some. The biggest gain however is that she likes her job and that is priceless. The key point I think is to map all the costs and potential benefits (financial and otherwise). Make sure you have enough information to make an informed choice.
I WANT TO GO TO THERE!!!
I don’t know if I’d say I did a TOTAL career change because it’s still relevant to my major. I started my career working as an auditor with one of the big four accounting firms. When in undergrad I never wanted to do it because of the horror stories, but I applied anyway and low and behold, I was offered a position and took it.
Burnout hit me hard. I last a little over a year before I began looking for another job. I decided to take a position as a financial analyst with a Fortune 100 company that was a 10 minute commute (my prior was over an hour combined with grueling hours), but due to a horrible boss I was even more miserable there.
This is when I decided I wanted to work in non-profit. The opposite stress level and hours of my previous two jobs. I’ve now been at my job for about 2 years and I’m really happy. Plenty of vacation time, school holidays, Fridays off in the summer, much shorter hours. Only caveat- I took a pay cut. After a year and a half of working there, I started making what I was making when I started at the Fortune 100 company.
My husband, on the other hand, is still at the big four firm we both started at together. Sometimes I get disappointed in myself/jealous that he’s making so much more because I know if I stayed I’d be making the same. But in the end, I think I made the right choice for myself. I was constantly sick (I have Ulcerative Colitis so you can imagine how stress affects my body). I know money isn’t worth the happiness or illness.
Good thing he’s your husband and what’s his income is your income! :P
I think you have the best of both worlds. A partner who makes good money, and you who ENJOY your work and aren’t dying quicker from stress! As you get older, you WILL appreciate less stress more. I promise!
Related: The Health Benefits Of Early Retirement Are Priceless
I attended social media week in Los Angeles and they said the exact same thing about brand. Even if you don’t have a tangible business or product, having a person brand is equally as important, and that can be a simple as just knowing what things you value most in life. As soon as you start trying to be someone you’re not, it leads to unhappiness, or in the case of a product or business, less success.
Funny I used to work with someone who wanted to be a baker as well. She was always bringing in cookies and cupcakes for us. She decided not to pursue it as a career though and just found a new office job that had more seniority and better pay when she left our company.
I’ve definitely thought of career changes as well. I’m not really enjoying my current role/political games of my current employer. It’s amazing sometimes how we get anything done when people are not will to work on problems that are barriers to the customer experience because we’re worried how it will break our reporting. Pretty sure reporting should follow what’s best for the customer and someone can change their excel document to figure out what the slight system tweak was that can shave a day off of an insurance claim, saving us on rental costs and improving the customer experience, but apparently that’s asking too much.
I think I have to wait a few more year s for the change though, it’s tough when you haven’t hit the financial freedom moment and have enough in your F-it fund to jump from a six figure income for some of us. I wouldn’t mind it if I was in your position, but I only started in the six figure income in the last few years so I’m playing catch up a bit in my mid 30s. Not that I’m struggling with a net worth over $500,000, but most of my investments are in retirement accounts and not accessible at this point in my life.
Perhaps set a target: $1,000,000 net worth, before making the leap. It’ll make you more motivated and focused. If you just started making six figures, definitely try to take advantage as long as possible. Starting in a new career earning six figures may be difficult.
Wow, that’s a great co-working space. Free? That’s even better. I don’t think we have anything like that here in Portland. Really neat.
I think Andrea did the right thing. You never know unless you try. It’s been 5 years since I quit engineering and became a SAHD/blogger. If it didn’t work out, I would have gone back in the first year or two. Fortunately, I love this lifestyle and we are doing well financially so it’s all good.
I am going through this now. 3 decades in mostly Chip HW Engineering/Program Management. Left my employer (single employer all this time) last year. I have not retired nor do I consider myself FIRE yet nor mentally ready to abandon my geek-brain productivity.
I am in the job market but my level of positions are more scarce. I am considering doing something for a living I always had a curiosity for; Software. I’d have to go back to school for an accelerated second BS. I have some limited knowledge of SW because Hi Tech requires Engineers to at least do some basic programming at some point in their life.
I’d have to fund this on my own, while not having a W2 income. At the other end of the rainbow, I could see myself either working as an entry level SW coder or as an SW Project Manager. Later on, when I am ready to cut wy back on work, I could do occasional contracting. I believe SW is so hot nowadays that it also gives you choices about where you really want to live.
What about going to a technical bootcamp school. There are a lot in SF, like HackReactor.com where you got for 3 months and they guarantee you a job in your area of study or your money back.
I’m not feeling too hot about you going back to get a second BS.
The thing about Coding Bootcamps is there seems to be a concern about the hire-ability. Good Coding Camps cost $10K or more. The BS I’m looking at ~$30k. I’d rather not move away from AZ to go to a Camp. I have read these schools are not strong on algorithms and data structures, which a BS in Computer Science will cover.
This Computer Science BS can be accomplished in either 1 yr, 2 yr, 3 yr, or 4 yr tracks depending on whether one is working and what the workload is. It is also Online. I could start it, then if in the meantime I get re-hired as a Program Manager or Eng Manager (previous line of work) I could slow it down and even check if the employer will pay for the rest of it. So I could go for the BS and still be looking for jobs. As far as work, for that, I will consider moving to California, and I am interviewing with California companies.
If you can do it online in 1-2 years, I guess that’s not bad, especially if you don’t have to miss work. When there is a guarantee or your money back, I’m not as concerned if I attend one of the coding bootcamps, but I never have.
It’s worth being flexible at a younger age for career opportunities. But it’s up to you at the end of the day.
I wish I moved one more time from SF to Asia for several years of work. That would be a great adventure that I can no longer experience now that I have a little one.
Just to be clear, I’m unemployed at the moment, first time ever.
That word age…. I’m a young 57. :)
Got it. You don’t sound like a day over 50! Glad you still have the fire inside you to change careers and do something new.
Terrific article! For career changes, it seems wise to test out the waters by working nights and/or weekends shadowing or part-time work doing what you would actually be doing (like how Sam started Financial Samurai). If you are truly a good match for the change, it won’t feel too burdensome or tiring to take on the extra effort. This can be much lower risk than going all in with a switch — though, admittedly, at some point you have to take the leap of faith.
In my experience, colleagues with the most successful careers have tended to lock into a direction early on and pursue that track aggressively. While broad experiences are helpful, the earlier that you can decide on a track that is fulfilling enough, pays enough, and is interesting enough, the further you get sooner. Then just save and save to get your freedom back after 10-15 years! At that point, you can redirect in any direction you want.
Currently I am in the middle of an MBA in Europe because I decided it was time to try something new and foreign. It is a sacrifice to forego the income, but not often do you get to do something life-changing while you are young.
The brand I am trying to put out there is a data-centered businessman. Fortunately I love data and that seems to be a hot area in the economy these days.
Gotta love the Europe MBA experience! Is it 1 year instead of the standard 2 years in the US?
I wish you the best of luck in your new career!
Yes, only one year and less than half the price. I figure all said and done I’ll come out $170,000 better than if I had gone to a US program.
I have had three jobs but all in the engineering field. As far as jobs go I find it to be quite rewarding to create new things that help people. Sometimes my work involves putting people out of work (automation usually) but I have come to respect that as an overall good for society.
I have considered pursuing something that I’m more passionate about like opening a gym but I am always quick to talk myself out of it for all the common reasons/excuses. I plan to keep my head down and keep working my current job until I get some FU money then pursue some passionate work.
Big respect to anyone who is willing to go for it.
I went through this process about 3.5 years ago, although it was something that was on my mind many years prior.
I was 29 years old, working in commercial banking, living in Oklahoma and was earning $150k-$200k per year with extremely strong outlook to maintain and grow that income over time. Given my age and location, I “had it made”.
However, I had always desired to own and run my own business. So in late 2013 when my smaller bank was acquired by a much larger bank with out of state leadership, I decided it was time to get serious about jumping out and doing my own thing.
Ultimately, my analytical banker mind led me to do the following (one of which was fairly lucky):
1. Rather than going 100% out on my own, I sought advice from a mentor who so happened to be a successful business owner client. In seeking this advice, he shared an immediate opportunity he was looking at to purchase another business. I was given the opportunity to run this business (a turnaround situation) and become partners with a very experienced, financially strong partner. This was a bit lucky, but in hindsight, I created this luck by stepping up and talking to people who were much more experienced than I was, and who were doing what I wanted to be doing. This opened an important door for me.
2. I thoroughly analyzed my downside. In my particular case, I was not going all in with my capital base, so that felt good. Also, the career field that I was leaving is constantly in need of people who are experienced and can do the job well. I had developed a solid track record and developed very good relationships with many very senior people in the industry. Ultimately I decided if this new venture did not work out, I could likely back track to my former career track at a level of pay and responsibility that was similar to what I was leaving. At worst, this new venture would be a 2-5 year pause in my banking career. This seemed like a prudent risk to take in order to answer the burning question I had: “Do I have what it takes to run my own business and be successful”.
As a banker, the mistake I often saw people make was this. They made decisions on passion without also doing a thorough analysis. “I love to cook, so I am going to start a restaurant – without doing my homework to know for sure if it can really be successful”.
I believe that the current tech boom and the internet causes people to glorify risk taking, and to glaze over the fact that planning and analyzing is prudent. But those stories are not sexy, and don’t told very often.
From someone who spent 8 years working with owners of small businesses and saw why they succeeded or failed, and now as someone who owns and runs a fairly successful small business, please do this:
1. Quantify your downside and actively decide if you can accept it, if it comes to that.
2. Make a plan, poke holes in it, ask others to poke holes in it, refine it, etc.
3. If you complete 1 and 2 and still feel your plan is the right thing to do – please, do it. You will regret not doing it.
Leaving my comfort zone after careful planning and analysis made me who I am today, and I get terrified when I think about where I might be if I had not gone for it.
Such a great comment with great advice. I hope others read this! In fact, I may just republish your comment as a post or in my newsletter, it’s that good.
Making $150,000 – $200,000 in Oklahoma at 29 is definitely making it! How did you get that job, what is your education background, and what was the upside? I am very impressed you walked away from that situation at that age. Is your income greater now? How about the fulfillment?
I just had TWO friends quit their multiple six figure jobs to team up and start their own business. Oh man….. I think they are each walking away from ~$300,000 – $400,000 a year in their early 30s. I wish them good luck! Startup life is brutally difficult to succeed.
Related Post: Joining A Startup? Sleep With One Eye Open
Sam,
I’ve been reading your site since the beginning, and rarely comment (used to use the moniker “Bogey”). Thanks for the compliment, it means a lot. Actually, my goal when I wrote the comment was to eventually turn the story into a very detailed guest post for you. I’ve got nothing to gain by doing that, but I do feel that I’ve learned some things that would be valuable to others, and some specific situations that I really have not seen talked about on the internet.
Let me answer your questions.
Education background was valedictorian of my high school in small town Oklahoma, undergraduate degree in Finance with minors in Accounting and Economics from Oklahoma State University (3.9 GPA – full disclosure, school was fairly easy for me).
The largest bank in our state had a rotational training program that I was aware of about 2 years prior to college graduation so I networked like crazy and my sole focus was to get into that program after graduation. And I did. Having formal credit analysis/banking sales training is pretty much the end all for people in this area who want a successful and fast tracked career in commercial banking (commercial loan officer).
I stayed with this large bank for 3 years and went to a smaller, more or less start up type bank for the last several years of my banking career. That bank was bought by an out of state publicly traded bank in 2013 and that set me in motion to leave.
My income is less now, mainly because we are aggressively growing the business (2 acquisitions since the original company purchase 2.5 years ago). Due to some financial engineering used on those acquisitions, our cash flow is fairly tight for the next 4 years or so. At that point, my income should basically match the previous level.
Ultimately my goal is to work around 20 hours a week in a big picture strategy and CFO type role and hire someone to replace me as the day to day GM of the business. I’m 33 now and I’d like to ultimately scale my time commitment to this business back by age 40, and fill that time with other business ventures, golf, or who knows.
My fulfillment is much greater now, even with much less income. In banking, especially in a large publicly traded bank based out of state, I was not free to make decisions. The people making decisions also did not know my customers (and in 99% of cases had not ever met them).
I knew that I was a smart, motivated and decisive person, so I wanted to be in a situation where I could see what needed to be done, and just do it without 5 layers of approval. I am also free to take care of my people in the way that I see fit. I can do anything that I deem necessary to win a new customer or take care of an existing customer. We can move at lightening speed.
To me this is heaven.
If you believe your readers could benefit, I’d love to share my full story. Thanks for the value that you provide through this blog.
Devin
A year ago I switched careers, went from working for federal government to construction. I gave up a comfortable position that would have yielded six figures in a few years, and I had great job security but the potential upside was extremely limited. I spent about 8 months going over pros/cons of going into construction. I found Tim Ferris’ example of imagining worst case scenario to be helpful because then you realize it’s not that bad.
A year in and the pay is not as good, the hours are longer and I’ve got more responsibilities but my job is much more fulfilling and I’ve got much more room to grow and expand. Additionally my confidence has greatly increased from surviving sink or swim situations. All in all I’m glad I did it and this will likely accelerate our ability to reach financial Independence in 5-10 years
Sounds like your new role has a lot more upside! Yes, it is very empowering to survive sink or swim situations. The biggest sink or swim situation is becoming an entrepreneur! Talk about being through into the middle of the ocean.
Career changes are scary. You’ve gone to school, invested money, trained, and thought about the job you’ve wanted for years. Even after doing it for a few years and realizing that it’s not what you wanted it’s hard to admit that changing could possibly make you happier.
I can relate to Andrea’s example. I’ve put alot of time and effort into the job I have and it’s incredibly scary to consider changing jobs. Ultimately I want to build a side income (rentals, online income, consulting income) so I can find my true passion for work.
I’m FIREd now, but I’ve done my share of career changes.
I always give the same advice to people that ask me about starting or changing a career. I tell them that you need to find a career that
1) You have an aptitude for.
2) You like doing.
3) You can make a decent living at.
Anything you can do to help validate your assumptions (like interviewing others already in your potential career or working part-time in your new potential career) helps.