I've done it. Very, very happy that I did.
Some thoughts:
1. Understand what you don't like about your job as it is? Is it just a bad boss, or bad team, are you in the wrong role, or is it something about the industry.
- In my case it was the culture of the industry, and I felt I just didn't fit. I felt like I had a fundamentally different take on life as well as how to get things done compared to almost everybody I met. For my situation, changing roles or companies wouldn't have solved my issue, so I had to consider changing industries. I already knew how much I liked working in tech, so I knew I could fit better in another industry.
2. I know a few 50-somethings that stuck in a job they didn't like because it paid them a lot of money. None of them were / are happy, and in fact most feel pretty bitter.
- The truth is that money doesn't buy happiness. On the flipside, there is no perfect job that will make you happy. It is intuitive that doing something you actively dislike for decade after decade is going to negatively impact you.
3. It's hard to switch industries. As others mentioned, as you progress in your career it's hard to switch jobs without a big paycut. Basically they say you can change 1 of the three: Location, Industry or role. I know some people that changed their role dramatically in their current industry as a means to move out of it in a few years. Others just took a similar job in a totally new industry.
- In my case I switched industry but kept city and similar role.
Overall, I did my big change over 5 years ago. Not once have I regretted it, and in fact I've probably told my wife hundreds of times how thankful I am I made the change. Gave up a lot of salary, but I enjoy almost every day and work with people I connect with, accomplishing things that are important to me.
I think I'm lucky in that I had worked in tech and felt pretty confident that I would have a lot more job satisfaction with the move.
Your results may vary. I'm sure there are people who move careers and hate it.
Good luck!
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