Quote:
Originally Posted by TheIronStar  Where would I look to find high-quality career counseling? |
Try the National Career Development Association
NCDA
They maintain a list of Master Career Counselors and Master Career Development
I could have written your post about 3 years ago. During that time I worked with a C.C. talking about career changes.
It was somewhat helpful but ultimately only you can make a change.
The same goes with a mentor. I highly recommend finding one but again they wont have the answers for you. They can only guide you through their life experience.
Quick advise on finding a mentor; Anyone in your life can be a mentor. It might not be an official relationship, just someone you admire. I have several people I call my "mentor". One is an official relationship the others are indirect.
I'm not coding for a living anymore but still involved with technology. Like you taking a pay cut is hard to do.
Here are a couple of ideas:
Try volunteering with an industry that you think you might enjoy.
Ask for a temporary leave of absence from work. Use this time for some soul searching, maybe some traveling would help clear your mind
The sooner you make this journey the better off you will be. The older you get the harder it is to make this kind of change.
I'm 32 and looking back I wish I had experimented with different careers during my 20's. If I had seen a CC earlier in my career I might have made the switch.