Career Change Advice

Overcoming the Barriers to Changing Jobs

By
Relationship Advice Expert April Masini

At the end of last year, I decided that I was ready to pursue my dream job: teaching. I'm currently working in accounting and have been for five years, but I'm bored to tears and have always wanted to teach.

I was so determined in December, but here we are, a few months into the new year and I keep on avoiding the idea of making the switch. It will take a toll on my and my husband's finances, since teachers are paid less than accountants. I'm also a successful accountant, and I'm worried that I won't see the same success in teaching. Do I take the leap, or are these things my subconscious telling me it's a bad idea?

Sincerely,

Confused Career-Switcher

Dear Confused Career-Switcher,

It sounds like you are unsure as to how to proceed in changing your careers, and that's making you question your decision. It's a big step, obviously, but if it's something you're passionate about, then it's something you should seriously consider. Here are a few ideas to get your career change back on track:

1. Let go of plan A -- your accounting job. It didn’t work out. It’s dead. If you have any interest in reviving it, you won’t be able to give your all to plan B. Think of them as husband number one and husband number two. If you have any interest lingering in husband number one, you’re going to have a faulty marriage second time around. Bury plan A completely. Stop thinking about the money and the security and how good you were at it, unless any of that can be translated over to assets in your new job. Now. You can move on.

2. Take inventory. What went wrong the first time around. If you know more about yourself now, and you know where you failed on plan A, you’re more able to avoid the traps that plan B may hold. And yes — all plans are fallible, so know yourself inside and out, and know what it is you want to do this time — and what it is you don’t want to do. Be sure that teaching is your choice not because it is the furthest thing from accounting, but because it is something you can see yourself being engaged in and enriched by for years to come.

3. Make your partner in marriage or your long-term commitment partner aware and in the loop on what it is you’re doing. No surprises for your live in lover. If you’re going to be working different hours or having a different focus, you want your teammate on board.

4. Discipline. Making a plan work means using verbs in your life. You can’t just want a plan to work. You have to make it work. Consistently.

5. Keep planning. Once you land your teaching job, you might feel as though you're done and you've achieved everything you needed to. Just because you’re there doesn’t mean you should stop planning. Enjoy your success and keep an eye on the horizon and focus on keeping balance in your life so that you remain happy with it.

April Masini -- nicknamed "the new millennium's Dear Abby" by the media, is author of the best-selling books Date Out Of Your League and Think & Date Like A Man, the two (just released) step-by-step dating and relationship manuals, Ideas for a Fun Date and Romantic Date Ideas, and the critically acclaimed dating and relationship online magazine www.AskApril.com.

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