by Jeff Gulley

Created on: January 16, 2009   Last Updated: January 27, 2009

Making a career change is a decision surrounded by apprehension, nervousness, and anxiety. In addition, a number of variable factors can increase the uncertainty, such as the number of years you have served in your present company, the current economical situation, and your own personal family situation. Yet, career changes happen everyday: some people are forced into new careers, having lost their previous jobs; others voluntarily decide to change their career paths. Regardless of how someone arrives at the decision, there are several considerations, Five "S"es, that should be examined when changing careers.

1) Success: have you had success in your current career? What is your projected success in your new field? Will your new company set you up for future success? Anybody considering a career change should ask these questions. If you are already a successful salesperson, there is no guarantee that you will make a good technical support analyst. Everybody has a particular skill set which is mainly established through their formative years in the education system. In considering a new career, ask yourself if it properly complements your skill set. This is not to suggest that new skills cannot be learned for a new career, but your previous and projected levels of success shouldn't be ignored. Also, if you have a job offer in hand, inquire about their training program. Will your new employer provide the necessary training and motivation for you to be successful, or will you be left floundering on your own?

2) Security: how secure will your new career be? How strong is your prospective employer? Are they well-established in their market, or are they an upstart enterprise? Leaving an established company for a lesser-established one can be the largest source of anxiety in career change considerations. Imagine leaving your employer of ten years to move to another company who ultimately goes belly-up within two years! Leaving the "known" for the "unknown" is a risky venture, but not necessarily a bad one. You also have to take a critical look at the future goals of both companies: times are always changing, and employers who don't adapt can be adversely affected, no matter how well-established they have been in the past.

3) Structure: how is your prospective company structured? Are their clear roles and targets within the organization? Don't just look at the size of the company, but consider the ways the company carries itself with the size it does have. A large company

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