You’re correct. Right now I work in healthcare compliance and I’m looking to transition either into law practice or into financial advising. Ideally there is something in between. The problem is that all my professional experiences is in healthcare compliance and operations...as is my masters degree.
I put in my notice because my boss is a micromanager and I have zero passion for what I do anymore. I also feel I’m being discriminated against by things she’s said and done related to my taking days off when my kids have been sick, etc. Today one of my coworkers told me that our work environment is “toxic” and that I’m just the first to leave. I’ve decided to put my family, happiness, and mental health ahead of this job.
I was just looking for some help from anyone who has done a career change. Very much not a joke.
I know this advice is really boring, but in my experience it really is the key ...
build. and. use. your. network.
Here's my career-change story:
Out of law school, I was delighted to be offered a well-paying job doing insurance coverage litigation and counseling, but after only a matter of months I could see that it wasn't gonna work out for me, for essentially the same reasons you've cited: toxic work environment that wouldn't permit me to spend time with family and lack of passion for the work.
What really sealed it was getting to know the junior partner who (totally micro)managed me. He was about 15 years older than me, had been with this firm his whole career, and at first he seemed like a great guy; in fact, his example was exactly what had induced me to take this job. But I gradually began to see how the job had sapped his soul. He worked late all the time, rarely saw his kids, would get in fights with his wife (a pediatrician) on the phone about when he was coming home that night, and generally seemed pretty unhappy. You've heard that old adage: if you don't want your boss's job, then you aren't in the right place. That was me. (And apparently, it was him too: a couple years after I left, he up and quit the firm to make his own career change! He had no idea what he wanted to do; just didn't want to work there any more. If your BOSS doesn't want your boss's job, then you KNOW you need to get the fuck out of there.)
I had a law-school buddy who was doing a state court trial-level clerkship at the local criminal courthouse. Shitty job for shitty pay, but I was interested in criminal law and constitutional rights, and I could swing it financially because my wife had just gotten her first big-girl job, so I asked my buddy if he thought I could get one of the staff attorney positions there. He said he knew of a spot opening up and he would pass my resume to the presiding judge, who interviewed me, and we hit it off, and I got the job.
After a year, I was beginning to feel like I'd made a mistake because I wasn't sure how I was going to transition to the next thing. But judges around the courthouse were starting to notice that I was a far better legal writer than the average staff attorney there, and when one of the judges I worked with was nominated to the federal district court in our area, he asked me to come clerk for him. After two years, he asked me to stay indefinitely as his career clerk. I now have pretty much the perfect legal job for me right now, given my personal interests (I was always kind of a law and legal writing nerd) and my family situation, which requires me to make a decent six-figure salary but, because of my wife's demanding career and small children, makes regular travel or after-hours work kind of out of the question (although I have to do it occasionally ... I am in the office right now ... that's just modern legal life).
So BOTTOM LINE: work your connections, follow your interests, work hard to impress people, and you'll end up finding yourself in the right place at the right time. And don't be afraid to take a leap of faith! I know that's easier said than done when you have a family to think about, but if dad's not happy, the family won't be happy. Be responsible, but also believe in yourself and in your ability to turn a risk into an opportunity to take a step toward prosperity.
Tangential note: I haven't been on the site that much the past couple years (except for the soccer thread from time to time) due to the craziness that comes with being in a two-career household with a bunch of small children at home, but I'm delighted to see that things haven't changed on IE and I still get some of the inside jokes. Love and miss you guys. Wish lawyering with small kids at home didn't take up like ALL of my TIME these days.
