Most people start a career determined to get ahead in their field. They often invest a lot of time and energy into a job path long before discovering it’s just not the right fit. Once they realize that they’re in the wrong line of work, many people make a professional pivot to embark on a new career path.
Switching occupations may seem drastic, but it’s not uncommon. A 2019 Indeed report revealed that about half of all people surveyed made a dramatic career shift at some point in their life.
Why do so many people change professions? Some find they aren’t using their strongest skills. Others discover that their co-workers don’t share the same values. Many employees want to do more meaningful work. Some just want to get “unstuck.” I often hear about people who never really “chose” a career but instead took a short-term job that somehow lasted for years.
Who Switches Careers?
The same 2019 Indeed survey noted that 39 is the average age for a switch. A more recent Indeed survey reported that many people now quit because they no longer feel challenged or satisfied.
Employees don’t make these decisions lightly. On average, they spend 11 months deliberating before making a move. Recent world events inspired a lot of people to make a change. 92% of career switchers said the pandemic made them realize that life is too short to stay in a job they weren’t passionate about.
Career switching is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. At CIS, many of our people come to us as entry-level employees. We pay for them to become trained, certified, and then (ta-da!) they start a new profession with us. In fact, most of our senior people worked their way up through our ranks. They joined us from other industries, including government, retail, and even the shipping industry.
Our current director of operations came to CIS from retail management at a high-end department store. She started with CIS as a direct support professional in our Spokane location, was promoted to program manager, then program director, and now oversees the entire company. I bet her 30-year-old self could not have imagined doing what she is doing now.
Another staff member is a retired ship captain who was looking for something rewarding for his next job. He joined CIS as a senior direct support professional and worked ten years in that role before retiring – again. He said his work with our clients was the most rewarding he had ever done and that he wished he had found such love-filled work much earlier in his life.
I made my own career shift about 25 years ago. I moved from victim counseling to working with perpetrators. While I remained in the social work realm, my perspective and goals changed completely. I care very deeply about victims, and I realized that if I could change the behavior of perpetrators, there would be fewer victims. The power of that idea hit me hard, and I knew that I needed to be doing that.
I began working with an organization that helped the victims by eliminating the threats by rehabilitating the perpetrators, neutralizing the danger, and reducing the number of victims by preventing the crime before it even happened. I soon partnered with Charles Morton to start our own community protection program, Community Integrated Services, or CIS.
The career I have today is much different from the one I started in my twenties. Yes, it’s still social work, but in a different capacity, from a different angle, using different skills.
Why Do People Switch to Social Services?
I’ve worked in social work for decades. Even though my career path has shifted a few times, I’ve never stopped thinking that I am right where I belong. And I know it’s a good place for a lot of other people as well.
One of the best aspects of social services is that the industry truly celebrates diversity. The people in this field enthusiastically welcome all kinds of people into our ranks. There are many places for people of all ages, ethnicities, and gender orientations. I am constantly surrounded by all sorts of people from a variety of backgrounds, who come to the job with a broad spectrum of personal experiences, and I really love that.
It’s also an industry with plenty of openings and continued growth. Not only will you be able to find a great entry position, but if this is your “forever career,” you’ll be in high demand for decades to come. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Overall employment of social workers is projected to grow 12 percent from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations. About 78,300 openings for social workers are projected each year, on average, over the decade.”
Training and Education
Social work is often monitored by government agencies, which requires a lot of training and certification. However, many positions (including those at CIS) offer paid training and even cover the cost of certification and exams. This means that people who have no prior experience can get on-the-job training. In fact, many of CIS’s best employees came to us from unrelated fields and took advantage of paid training to acquire the needed skills.
We often tell our applicants that this is an excellent job for people who are unsure of their exact career path. Becoming a direct support professional at CIS is a good first step in exploring the fields of caregiver, social work, psychology, healthcare, residential care, education, and working with special needs individuals.
People who want to move into more senior positions in social services often rely on on-the-job training. Many of our supervisors and senior staff have built their careers this way. For example, we have a Lead Manager that has been with CIS for nearly 20 years. He started as a direct support professional, was promoted to live-in, then program manager, and now oversees the managers in the Federal Way program. We had an employee who started with CIS nearly 15 years ago as a direct support professional; she was promoted to live-in, then she became the client financial administrator, then the trainer/recruiter, then the payroll administrator, finally the Director of Operations – to which she recently resigned to start her own business.
One of the CIS legacies I am most proud of is an employee’s ability to take what they learned here and use those skills to embark on a new career. We have folks that have gone on to become therapists, authors, run women’s shelters, run peer agencies, work with the state as case managers, and start their own businesses. I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard from ex-employees who reach out saying “thank you” for some seemingly mundane tidbit they learned when they worked for CIS and expressing how helpful it has been in their new role.
Don’t Be Afraid to Switch!
I know from experience that switching professions can be scary. And it can be hard to leave years of experience behind. But embracing a new direction, reaching new goals, and mapping out a career that fits your beliefs and lifestyle can be one of the most rewarding decisions of your life.
If you’re not happy in your field, look around. Think about what you need from your ideal job, reset your career goals, and make a plan. There’s never been a better time to reimagine the rest of your life.