The scary leap of changing careers

I once read that 73% of US adults will change their careers at least once. I also once read that 73% of US adults are unhappy in their careers. I’m not sure that both of these statistics are accurate. It turns out that Bureau of Labor and Statistics doesn’t track career changes because these are too difficult to define, but the average adult will have between 10–15 jobs in their lifetime, with the average being 11.7.

In 2010, on my 35th birthday, a good friend suggested that my skills as a software engineer are much more valuable (financially-speaking, at least in the US) than my skills as a college professor and scientist. I decided then to change careers.

The decision to change careers isn’t an easy one for most of us – it is a terrifying leap of faith that things will be better on the other side. I kept reminding myself that people seldom regret the leaps they take…

I also told myself that one day, when I am wealthy, I can retire and go back to teaching (a bit ironic since I now teach coding and I am far from retired).

What is quite interesting is that in tech, as a software engineer, I am surrounded by people who come from other careers. The two instructors that teach with me at Boca Code, both also came from different careers.

The most exciting part of my job, in truth, is guiding other people to take that leap. One recent student came from retail and is now interviewing at her top choice for a software engineering position. She was terrified at time, but now is reaching out to friends to help them make the transition.

Once you leap and things look much nicer on the other side, you want all of your friends to join you.