It’s Never Too Late: 6 Inspiring Stories of People Who Changed Careers

What is the right career path? Why risk your livelihood for something that might not work? Questions like these can strike fear even in the most experienced individuals who have held on to a position for 10 years.

But the truth is, many people who have had great careers don’t get immediate success right away. The great thing is that all these unique experiences are often what lead them to excel in the career they were meant to be in.

In fact, the average person has more than five jobs during their lifetime according to a recent poll carried out on The Edge Partnership LinkedIn page. Here are six interesting people, some from The Edge Partnership and Reddit who have had non-linear career paths and why they took risks in their careers that brought them to where they are today.

l. From an Auditor to an Executive Search Partner

“I was offered an employment contract from a Big 4 prior to graduation and conveniently started my career in external audit. I really enjoyed the training, support and friendship built during those days. That said, I didn’t enjoy the work that much. Working more than 12 hours during the peak period (that could last for months) was also common and I felt that it wasn’t that sustainable in the long run too.

I fell into executive search by chance and even after over 15 years in this field, I am still really enjoying it! The skills that I picked up from audit, such as interviewing audit clients to perform business process walkthroughs were very portable skills and it made it very easy for me to understand the businesses that my client was in, what their uniqueness’ and pain points maybe, for me to propose the right hires to them. What I picked up from my “previous life” really differentiated me from the others (recruiters).

And am not the only such. Some of my senior industry peers have moved from industries such as Advertising, Sales, Insurance, hospitality and so on to build an extremely successful and fulfilling careers in Recruitment. When making career switches, it is important to take what you have learned and apply it to the new role. They are all interlinked and if applied well, they will be key to your success! Let nothing (no years) go to waste!” – Michelle Koh, Managing Director, The Edge Partnership, Singapore

2. From a Respiratory Therapist to UX Designer

“I was a Respiratory Therapist for about 8 years. I primarily took care of patients on life support and who had tracheostomies. It was a lot of long hours, very physical, and depressing (as you can imagine). It’s weird now in my 30s to think of how many dead bodies I’ve seen in my life, not to be morbid, but it just has an effect on you.

Now I’m a UX Designer. I made the switch about 4-5 years ago. I’ve managed to grow my salary by $10k/year since starting out. I went to one of those tech boot camps, it was $10k and only took 3 months.

I love having the flexibility of working from home. When I was an RRT I never actually received healthcare benefits (ironically), now I have all kinds of perks and benefits. It’s great. Having the perspective from my previous career helps a lot, nothing seems impossible because of the kinds of things I’ve already faced.” – u/jackjackj8ck

3. From Sound Designer to Accounting

“I switched from being a Sound Designer in the video game industry to Accounting.

I worked for five years in video games and actually quite loved the work itself, it was what I always wanted to do since I was a kid and it was very fulfilling, but the game industry is cruel and the stability was just god awful.

During my five years, I either lived or died through countless layoffs and cancelled projects. I even made some great wages, higher than I have yet to make as an established Accounting/Finance professional currently, but when you might only work for a year and then need to spend the next year laid off looking for work… well, the wages weren’t so great in the long run after all.

So why Accounting? I pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, and it did end up being quite easy for me. I chose Accounting for the doors it would open and the stability and availability of positions that career would bring me. I got what I was looking for in regards to both. I didn’t love the work necessarily, but it brought me what was most important to me, and ultimately lead to a very satisfying position I would have never found if not pursuing this field.” – u/gamemaker14

4. From Professional Musician to Tech Specialist

“I used to be a professional musician. I played for a couple of low-to-mid-tier death metal and hardcore bands touring regularly. I enjoyed it immensely, but the money just isn’t there unless you’re a top act and working with musicians can be pretty exhausting.

I loved working with computers so ultimately decided to work at a web hosting company. I worked my way up there pretty quickly and moved to bigger companies from there. The money is infinitely better, but the passion/drive diminished more quickly over time.

If you truly know that what you’re currently doing is not the right path for you – do what you can to pursue a change. Change is a luxury and it should be treated that way. If you have the capability, use it, because not a lot of people do. It’s scary at first, but humans thrive under change. It’s also a pretty badass feeling to surprise yourself with how well you can adapt.” u/blighttm

5. From Network Engineer to Project Management

“I was a network engineer. Starting out, I loved the work, but it’s a challenging field and it can be daunting (I mean, what career can’t be, though, right?).

When the pandemic hit I realised the only thing I had actually been enjoying about my career was the co-workers I got to spend time with. Sitting at home and being pigeon-holed with work and little collaboration was draining the life out of me.

I had been thinking of getting into project management but I knew I couldn’t do it without taking a bit of a decrease in pay so I tightened my budget, paid off all my debt, and when I was living on less than a paycheck a month I made the career jump into project management. I have never been happier. I LOVE my career. I love my company. I love my peers. Do I still have my bad days? For sure! But I love my job 85% of the time. This is the career I was meant to have and exactly what my personality was made for. I took a $40K hit in salary, but I’m completely unphased because I can live very comfortably within my means and my career is so fulfilling. 10/10 would absolutely make this decision again!” – u/Str1ving4PM.

6. From Equities Trading to Corp Dev at a large tech firm

“Outside of normal job change obstacles, I’d say culture and hours are huge differences. Everyone has to be thorough in their emails, but I’m very used to throwing something together and sending it out.

I decided to change because of the culture and hours. At the end of the day, my lifestyle doesn’t change too much in terms of spending. I was living comfortably making ~$4-500K/yr and that hasn’t changed after getting sliced in half. Plus equity comp makes up for a bit of it as well.

At the end of the day, I’ve saved enough in my first 10 years of working. The tech culture and my new team has been nothing short of awesome and fun. Everyone is a high performer and I don’t have to worry about competing against another team or losing hundreds of thousands on trading a swap at an incorrect rate. There’s much less I have to worry about but I guess that risk is the exchange you make for compensation.” – u/asianinciti

The Bottom Line
Before thinking of a career switch, it would be advisable to think long and hard about exactly what aspects of the job you despise vs. what’s enjoyable on the day-to-day level.

Are you working as part of a team or want to work alone? Perhaps you need to pursue something project or contract-based where there’s less repetition of tasks. Would you actually prefer more challenging, fast-paced or stressful work?

Sometimes it’s possible to make a job switch without entirely switching industries and getting more satisfaction out of your career. You can always make a set of side moves that ultimately land you in a position of your liking rather than a sudden break in what you’re doing.

Has your job search not been everything you’d hoped for? Get in touch with our team for a chat on the various opportunities available in Asia or explore our job boards.