Should I change careers?

By No Rush · Updated October 20, 2026

The short answer

Change careers if your work has stopped fitting and a small test of the new work feels right. Run that test before you quit anything. Keep your job for now, talk to two people who do the work you're thinking of, and try a small piece of it, like one project or a short course. What you notice then tells you whether to switch.

Try it before you decide

Many people try to settle this in their head first, with lists, tests and a lot of thinking. Organisational researcher Herminia Ibarra studied professionals who were moving into a bigger role at work. They looked at people who already did that work and tried out small versions of how they might do it themselves. Then they checked what fit, by their own feel and by what others told them.

When you're thinking about other work, you can do the same.

Talk to someone who does it

Find two people who do the work you're curious about, and ask for twenty minutes. Ask what a normal Tuesday looks like, and what they wish they had known before they started. In two experiments from 2009, people predicted how much they would enjoy something better from how another person had felt about it than from a description of the thing itself.

Try a small piece

A weekend shift, a short course, one project for a friend, or a day helping out somewhere. Keep it small enough that you can stop if it doesn't fit.

Notice how it went

After each try, write down what gave you energy and what wore you out. If you worked with someone, ask what they saw you do well.

Keep your job for now

Keep your current work or study while you try things out. Then a test that doesn't work out costs you little.

Something to move toward

Quitting work that doesn't fit goes better with something new to aim for. In three studies, psychologist Carsten Wrosch and colleagues found that people who could let go of a goal they couldn't reach, and take up a new one, felt better on average.

A 2020 review of 31 groups of people pointed the same way. Taking up a new goal went with a better quality of life. Only letting go of the old goal mattered much less.

So before you quit, choose one thing to try next, like an evening course or a talk with someone in that line of work.

What happens after a switch

In a study that followed people over time, those who changed careers were more satisfied with their work a year later. They felt more secure in their job and worked fewer hours. That's an average across many people, so it can't tell you how it will go for you.

Money counts too. Before you quit, work out how long you could get by, and what you would cut back on.

In the No Rush app

In the Steps tab, two of the seven parts are about this. They're called Explore possible directions and Test them in real life. On Home, What's next? sometimes sets up a talk with someone who does the work, or a small step you can still undo.

Directions shows things people do when they feel stuck, like other work or a change inside your current job. Each one comes with its downside and a first step.

No Rush app

An iPhone app for people who feel stuck. It sets out one small next step at a time and tells you why that one. It is not therapy.

Sign up free Take the test For iPhone. Coming soon to the App Store. The first seven days are free in the app. After that, you choose whether to subscribe. Sign up now and the app stays free for you, for life.

Sources

Ibarra (1999). Provisional selves: experimenting with image and identity in professional adaptation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44(4), 764-791. doi.org/10.2307/2667055
Gilbert, Killingsworth, Eyre & Wilson (2009). The surprising power of neighborly advice. Science, 323(5921), 1617-1619. doi.org/10.1126/science.1166632
Wrosch, Scheier, Miller, Schulz & Carver (2003). Adaptive self-regulation of unattainable goals: goal disengagement, goal reengagement, and subjective well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(12), 1494-1508. doi.org/10.1177/0146167203256921
Barlow, Wrosch & McGrath (2020). Goal adjustment capacities and quality of life: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Personality, 88(2), 307-323. doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12492
Carless & Arnup (2011). A longitudinal study of the determinants and outcomes of career change. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78(1), 80-91. doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.09.002