EVIL HR LADY
DILEMMA OF THE MONTH
Switching Careers Doesn ’ t Mean Starting Over
BY Suzanne Lucas
ILLUSTRATION : JOHN CHASE
When is it too late to change careers ? I ’ m 40 and hate my job . But with almost 20 years invested in my field , I really don ’ t want to start over with an entry-level position in a new area . How possible is it to switch careers without taking a massive pay cut ?
Many people reach a point where they feel like they ’ ve invested too much into their career to change , but you ’ re 40 . You may have worked for almost 20 years in your field , but you have at least 27 years until you ’ re eligible for full Social Security retirement benefits . So let ’ s figure out how to do this !
Can you change without a cut ?
There ’ s no one-size-fits-all answer . If you ’ re making $ 350,000 a year plus bonuses as a chief marketing officer for a large company and want to become an elementary school teacher , you will take a pay cut . But if you ’ re an elementary school teacher and want to become a doctor , you ’ ll eventually make more money , but you ’ ll take a pay cut while you go back to school .
However , if you want to switch from human resources to operations , you can probably do so at a similar salary . But , as a general rule , the more money you make now , the harder it will be to change careers and earn an equal amount .
How to change careers
This is a vague answer because I don ’ t know your current career , and I don ’ t know what you want to do . I just know you want to do something different , so let ’ s make a plan .
1 Figure out what you want to do . This may be hard or super easy . If you ’ ve always wanted to become X , you already know in your heart what you want to do . But if you just know you want to do something
16 comstocksmag . com | February 2021