My Career Change Journey, No Regrets

By: Cheryl Wehde

A life lesson is to not have regrets, but to seek opportunities. Change can be exciting, challenging, and an opportunity to reinvent oneself. Change, even a positive change, however, is not easy.

It has been five years since I first decided to dive into a new career. I have no regrets about my decision to make a change. I also have no regrets about spending twenty years in my previous career … it was simply time for a change. While there are certainly sacrifices one makes along the way, when the process of change is a thoughtful one, the rewards cannot be matched.

My journey began after twenty years with a successful Fortune 500 company. I had some wonderful opportunities with this company. I reaped the rewards of outstanding compensation and benefits packages, worked with some extremely intelligent and wonderful people, and worked in an environment that was innovative, challenging, and ever changing. However, there was always something missing. That something was a sense of wanting to make a difference, give back to a community, etc.

My first career began as an administrative assistant in a marketing division. I soon moved into Human Resources as an HR Assistant. I obtained my undergraduate degree in business (tuition reimbursed by my company) and was fortunate to move into various roles in HR including payroll, benefits, and Compensation functions. I spent seven years telecommuting from home two days a week, with the other three in the office. I had a great career, a lot of flexibility, and a wonderful compensation and benefits package.

What happened? My priorities changed. I got married, had two children, and my family became my priority. My responsibilities increased, my compensation increased, my value as an integral part of a division increased, and time away from my family increased. In addition to my change in personal priorities, I still felt there was something else missing.

I probably began flirting with thoughts of making a change about ten years prior to the time I left. I was interested in an education and counseling career. The last five years I spent more time thinking seriously about a change. I knew the disparity of income was getting greater the longer I stayed, and the closer I would get to retirement, the harder it would be to make a change.

After a great deal of thought, reflection, and research, I left the company I had spent nineteen years with. I contracted with a spin-off company three days a week for one year while I obtained the classes I needed for a secondary teaching certification. I was hired as a business education instructor at a local high school at the end of that year. After my first year teaching, I began work on my Masters in Education Counseling. I received my Master of Science degree and am now the Career Counselor at a local high school.

I took a 60% pay cut when I began to teach.
My salary nor my benefits package will ever match what I had.
I have absolutely no regrets.
I love what I do.
I look forward to going to my job every day.
I am so completely grateful for the balance my new career has given me with my family. I am rewarded with making a difference in people's lives.

For my career change, I put together a three-step process.

1. BE THOUGHTFUL
   Change is hard. Change is significant. It should be a thoughtful process.
   Be honest and understand your motivations with why you want to make a change.
   Reflect on your personal interests/hobbies/subjects you enjoyed in high school
   
   Do a lot of self assessments
   - Note your personal reflections on hobbies/subjects you enjoyed in high school
   - There are several self-assessments available on-line, free of charge! Do more than one!
     o Interest Inventories
     o Skills Inventories
     o Work Values
    

2. RESEARCH
   Research the career you are interested in
   - What is the market?
   - What is the compensation?
   - What are the skills required and what classes/experiences might you need in order to be marketable in this career?
   - Recognize and note your transferable skills from previous career
    

3. PLAN
   Once you know yourself better by assessing your interests, skills, and values, Make a Plan.
   - Think of a "worst case scenario" for making a change and make sure you are able and willing to take that risk.
   - Determine your financial needs, be realistic and honest with what your needs are
   - Network
   - Obtain experiences if necessary (volunteer)
   - Obtain skills/classes for new career
   - Review income needs and make a financial cushion for your transition period
   - Plan to review your change after the first year