Career Changing Versus Industry Changing: Do You Know the Difference?

Bob Weinstein is a journalist who covers technology, project management, the workplace and career development.

  Career Development   Manufacturing  

No one knows for sure how many people change careers every year, but it's safe to assume the number has skyrocketed over the past three years. The reasons are obvious. But way too much is written extolling the virtues of career changing. Read a couple of career-changing books and you'll think it's as easy as bopping down to the local Baskin Robbins for a double dip chocolate cone--with sprinkles.

Hate to burst your bubble, but your chances of making a successful career change are slim. A career change is like a mirage in the desert. You envision it, fantasize about it and see yourself achieving it, but it's never achieved. Often you don't even get close. And if you're lucky enough to pull off the change, you discover it's not what you expected. That's the worst downer yet.

More likely, a career change never happens because of unanticipated barriers. A few of the biggies: underfinanced; competition in an overcrowded field; lack of a of well-thought-out strategy; and brutal hours that often impair your family or personal life.

If those aren't bad enough, once underway you can already hear the death knell sounding. Profitability is so far into the future, you may have to abort or face bankruptcy and a homeless shelter, or both. Salvation might mean relocating the fledgling business to another state, which will probably be rejected because it …

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