Making a career change at 32 was the best decision I ever made

Good morning Dinks.  Are you happy with your job or do you want to change career paths?  If you are like me then you just kind of stumbled into your career at a young age and just sort of stuck with it.  I started working in retail sales when I was 16 and continued with it until college when I started working in financial sales at the bank.  I have always worked in sales, up until very recently.

Let’s go back for a moment so I can exactly how I made the transition from retail sales to working in a bank.  I moved away for college to study languages and enrolled in an economics class just for my personal information.  To make a long story short I fell in love with money.

I needed a job and working for a bank had flexible hours and good benefits.  I discovered that my employer had an education program where they refund the tuition fees for any employees who take courses related to the industry.  Well as a student living away from home and working full time I have to say that I jumped on that train as fast as I could.  The bank paid for the remainder of my Bachelor’s degree as well as the entire two years of study to become a certified financial planner.  Perfect right?

Not so perfect.  After over 13 years of working in banking I decided that I wanted to go back to doing what I really loved…writing and creating.  When I started applying for jobs people kept telling me that I had the financial experience, knowledge and education but not the writing experience.  So what did I do? I went back to school and got the education that I needed.

I am living proof that it’s never too late to make a career change, especially if you aren’t happy at your current job and want to be doing something else.  So let me ask you a question Dinks…are you happy at your job?   If not, what do you really want to do in life?

3 steps to make a career change

1. Find out what you need to know. Then go and get it.  Having passion for a particular field is a good start but it’s not good enough.  If you really want to make a career change then you need to research and find out what skills, education and background you need to get the job.

2. Prepare financially.  Most people don’t leave one job until they have found another, but if you really want to leave your job maybe you can’t wait for the next one to come along.  Being unemployed while looking for a new job can be very stressful if you are worried about money, but if you are financially prepared for the lull then being unemployed for a few weeks can be the long awaited break that you need from your daily routine.

3. Don’t quit your day job. Actually use your day job to your advantage. If they have an education program use it to go back to school and get the education or skills that you need for your new job.  When creating your new resume think about the skills you already have, maybe you aren’t as far off from the new job as you may think.

Photo by kheelcenter

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.