A Career Transition - From Finance to Teaching

Reduce living expenses

The first thing Matt did was to lower his living expenses. He had been paying $1600/month rent in San Francisco. He had heard that a friend had an extra bedroom available at half that amount. He quickly jumped on this opportunity and moved.

Savings as a cushion

Matt also had $15,000 in savings that he was able to tap into during this time when he wasn’t working full time and attending the teaching certificate program. This provided $2500/month of living expenses (after his six month severance ran out) during this transition. Matt says that if he hadn’t had this emergency fund, he would have been unable to make the career change.

Part time consulting another resource

Matt consulted part time during this transition as well, providing some much needed cash to pay bills. He says that it is important to take part time consulting opportunities that will help pay bills...to get you through the transition even if the focus of the position is routine or menial. The part time consulting provided Matt about 20% of what he needed for monthly living expenses.

Career Change Success

After Matt successfully completed the teaching certificate program, he accepted a teaching position at a high school in the Central Valley of California. While he had preferred to be in northern California, he knew that he needed experience and, despite the location of the position, he took the opportunity.

Positive Attitude Important

Matt says that it is important to have a positive attitude during any career change….”keep your eyes focused on the goal.” Reduce your living expenses, stay flexible and achieve your dream.

Categories: Changing Jobs or Careers, Career Management & Transition, Finance, Things You Need to Know, Layoff, Job Search Help