When considering a career change, there are various factors to think through. Money is not the only consideration that you should think of. Better opportunities could be opportunities that afford you growth or learning opportunities, that enable better work-life balance and flexibility, that help you achieve a sense of meaning and personal well-being or that afford you mentoring opportunities from an experienced mentor.
Also, remember that better opportunities could at times put you in a worse place if it is not aligned to your
personal career goals and strategies. So, always make sure that you measure opportunities against your ultimate career destination, so that you don’t wander off into greener pastures that take you further and further away from your ideal career objective.
The first thing your should do is to start with your end destination. Alice in Wonderland got it right when she said “if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there”. Know where you’re going. What would your ideal job and lifestyle look like at the peak of your career? What type of work will you be doing? What type of organisation would you be involved with? Think about your goals regarding flexibility, leadership, influence, financial security, purpose, passion, challenge and stimulation, specialization and so on. Once you have defined your end destination it makes it much easier to evaluate the steps required to get you there and to strategically craft your next steps.
