Career Change: why would you?

As career coaches we spend quite a lot of our time working with people who are making or at least thinking about making a career change. I've just been reading about  Carless and Arnup's longitudinal study on what makes people change career, and what happens to them afterwards.

First it's quite interesting to note that not many studies have been conducted on what makes people change career. There is quite a lot on what makes people change jobs - the HR and Occupational Psychology brigade are particularly interested in that from an organisational perspective. Then there are several studies that look at what factors lead to the intention to change career, but curiously (perhaps?) the intention to change career is only moderately correlated to actual career change (ie most people who say that they intend to change career don't actually do so). So it's nice to read about a study that looks at people who have actually taken the plunge, and to examine what's gone on.

Encouragingly, the study suggests that people who change career are overwhelmingly pleased that they did it. They tend to report higher levels of job satisfaction and work engagement (how 'into' your work you are), more job security and shorter working hours.

The factors that lead to a job change are partly to do with the work place itself and partly to do with the individual. The study suggests that those high on extraversion and openness to experience are more likely to make a change. Extraverts tend to be more positive and optimistic, and tend to have wider networks, which all make getting a new job easier. Those open to experience tend to like change - they find the familiar boring, and are curious to try new things, so are more likely to want to change.
Demographics come into play too. Older workers are less likely to change career, as they have more invested in a particular arena and are less willing to start at the bottom again. High levels of education increase your chances of change as you tend to be more able to learn new skills and the skills you've got are more transferable.

Finally, there are a few, fairly predictable, work reasons for change. Those with low satisfaction, those being bullied and those who feel their jobs are not secure tend to be more likely to be looking around for something new.

I'm not sure that this research is particularly helpful for career coaches. The evidence that most people end up happier after a change could be a useful one to share with a client who is struggling to decide. Beyond that though I think it's just interesting. I hope you do too!