Dan Jones's avatar
Dan Jones
@[email protected]

I'm looking for some advice, maybe just a sharing of experiences. I'm thinking about changing careers, but not sure how to do it.

Let me give some background.

I'm finding lately that I'm not very happy with my career. I never intended to become a web developer. It just kind of happened. I do enjoy programming, but it's something I enjoy more as a hobby than a job. Nevertheless, I've been doing it full time for close to twenty years now. I'm also good at it, and am regularly praised by my coworkers for my work. And I make good money doing it. (And that's important to me.)

But I have a degree in theater. I thought I might be an actor when I was younger. I'm also good at that, but haven't done it for years. I miss doing things that are more creative. I miss acting.

I thought I might be able to find time to do other things in my non-work time, but honestly, I don't really have much time in my non-work time. My wife says she'd support me doing community theater or something like that. But, we've got four kids under the age of 15 (3 of whom are under 10), and three of them have ADHD, so they're a handful. If I were spending several hours a few days a week for a couple months at a time away from my family, I'd feel guilty, and wouldn't enjoy it.

So, I've thought maybe I could consider an actual career change.

But, I don't really know how I'd do it. I feel like if I tried to change careers, I'd have to take a huge pay cut (not an option at all), and who knows if I'd actually be any happier. I'm not even sure what I would do yet. I just know that I'd really like a change.

Has anybody on here tried a career change? Did it work out? Were you able to maintain close to your same salary? Any advice or thoughts on the process?