Millions of people have left their jobs this year. According to McKinsey’s Great Attrition report, this isn’t just a passing trend, or a pandemic-related change to the labour market.  There’s been a fundamental shift in workers’ mentality, and their willingness to prioritise other things in their life beyond whatever job they hold.  People want success on their own terms, the way they define it.

For some, being successful on their own terms means leaving their current organisation for one with a culture more aligned with their values or leaving their full-time role to join the gig economy. For others, it means stepping away from their career path entirely. Whilst making any change can be scary, stepping away from a worn and comfortable career path can be downright terrifying.

Questions that quite often arise when considering a career change are: “will stepping away from your career path damage your reputation or negatively impact your ability to get a job (in the short or long-term) or simply make you “look bad.”  People often say that they’re unhappy in their career but feel an obligation to forge ahead because of the time and money they have invested or because “it’s too late for me to make a change.”

The reality is that a linear career path is not as common as one might think. Just 27% of  University Graduates have a job closely related to their major, and more than 53% of those who quit their job in 2021 changed their field or occupation. For those concerned that it’s too late or that they’re too old to make a change — a survey of people who attempted a career change after age 45 found that not only were 82% of career changes successful, but also that 87% were happy or very happy that they had made the change.

These statistics can be comforting, but you might still think, “Can I, really?” Examples of people who have made career changes may help assuage your fears. Pope Francis, for example, was a bouncer and a technician in a food science laboratory before changing his path and becoming head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. Ina Garten is another example. In an interview with Time, “The Barefoot Contessa” shared that when she was in her 20s, she was working in nuclear energy policy and management and budget for the White House. At the time she thought, “There’s got to be something more fun than this.” Sometime later, she saw a New York Times ad for a specialty-food store for sale.   “I’d never run a business before, never even had employees working for me. But when I saw the store, I thought, ‘This is what I want to do.’”

For many people, making such a drastic change can be terrifying but they often realise the most scary thing is what others would think. There are no rules that say you have to stay on the same path forever and you should think about going with what feels good and go with it!

Life is an evolution. What makes sense for 20-year-old you is not necessarily what makes sense for 30-year-old you, and may not make sense for the 60-year-old you. We experience new things as we are exposed to them. We meet new people. Our lives change. We change. It’s ok to change our jobs and careers in response to these changes in and to our lives.

If you are considering changing your career path, be intentional and here are some things you may want to consider:

Take the time to understand why you want to make the change and what you want to be able to gain (and leave behind) by making the change.

Talk to as many people as you can in the field or industry you want to move into. Learn what the work, the opportunities, and the challenges are really like. If possible, dip your toe in before making the jump.

Finally, when you look back over your career, no matter how many pivots you make, it’s possible to connect the dots and draw a path. You bring to each new role, to each new organisation, and to each new career, what you have learned and experienced, and you build on this, and you define your path.

Kate Lee

Dec 2022 HBR