2 answers
Aisha
Student
Tempe, Arizona
36
Questions
Asked
1367 views
Is it possible to have more then one career ?
im a sophomore in high school. #jobs
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2 answers
Betty Yip, PMP, CSM
Senior Director, Technical Program Manager
73
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Betty’s Answer
Hi Aisha,
I think it's more common to switch careers now more than ever. There are many stories that I have heard over the years and I've also made many switches over the course of my professional life. I started as a temp at a brokerage firm, then became an English teacher in Japan, later worked at a consulting company, switched to a software engineer and now I'm a technical program manager. Yet again, I'm considering switching careers to sustainability management. I've also seen my coworkers switch from program manager to product manager or to real estate. My husband started as IT help desk, moved to Quality Assurance, then quit his job and ran his own company for a while, then got into sales. Now he works at a bank. So, there are plenty of opportunities to figure out your career path, but there are many paths and don't be afraid to pursue the ones you feel passionate about. It would be misleading if I didn't also tell you of the challenges and there were many challenges along the way. My friend chose to work for one government agency for 25-30 years and now she is retired and living off her pension. So depending on the type of person you are, you may go for the more stable route, but I personally could not stay happy having the same job for 25+ years.
I think it's more common to switch careers now more than ever. There are many stories that I have heard over the years and I've also made many switches over the course of my professional life. I started as a temp at a brokerage firm, then became an English teacher in Japan, later worked at a consulting company, switched to a software engineer and now I'm a technical program manager. Yet again, I'm considering switching careers to sustainability management. I've also seen my coworkers switch from program manager to product manager or to real estate. My husband started as IT help desk, moved to Quality Assurance, then quit his job and ran his own company for a while, then got into sales. Now he works at a bank. So, there are plenty of opportunities to figure out your career path, but there are many paths and don't be afraid to pursue the ones you feel passionate about. It would be misleading if I didn't also tell you of the challenges and there were many challenges along the way. My friend chose to work for one government agency for 25-30 years and now she is retired and living off her pension. So depending on the type of person you are, you may go for the more stable route, but I personally could not stay happy having the same job for 25+ years.
Jared Chung
CareerVillage.org TeamExecutive Director at CareerVillage.org
284
Answers
Palo Alto, California
Updated
Jared’s Answer, CareerVillage.org Team
It's not only possible, it's very common. However, usually those careers are done in sequence, not in parallel. As an example, I started my career in consulting, and then moved into education. On average Americans change their careers over a half dozen times in their lives. However, it's hard work to become a master of something. That's why it's incredibly rare for someone to successfully master two things at once.