What's the riskiest career decision you've made?

[Anonymous]

Left biglaw to clerk with my eyes on USAO.

Same. Worked out for me. (Landed at USAO). Last day of biglaw was August 2008. I still am in shock about side stepping the mess of that downturn. Too many good people were screwed. I was just lucky.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Went overseas to do volunteer work for two years in my late 30s. It was a great experience and it remains with me each day.

Careerwise and financially, it was awful. My employer was bought out while I was away and I've never gotten my career on track and never made that kind of money ($90k) again.

I would do it again, though perhaps when I was 15 years younger or 15 years older.

What field are you in? With two years overseas experience you should be able to get a GS-13 in the gov

Most of my work was social services work with a church - we didn't have any grand program to point to. I'm an engineer and applied for a number of federal jobs when I got back but never was able to score a job. I never quite figured out the USAJOBs game. I wasn't able to make myself stand out as something other than what I was: another over-40 non-veteran white guy looking for a job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Left biglaw to clerk with my eyes on USAO.

Same. Worked out for me. (Landed at USAO). Last day of biglaw was August 2008. I still am in shock about side stepping the mess of that downturn. Too many good people were screwed. I was just lucky.

Pp here...it worked out for me, as well. Got to live out the dream of putting bad guys away for a living. Also, who doesn't love clerking? It was my second rodeo, because I clerked out of law school, too, so I knew I was in for a good time.

[Anonymous]

Becoming a SAHM. I've been out of the loop for 5 years and am about to rejoin. It's tough because it feels like I'm starting all over again. I'm wiser this time though since I've been here before.

[Anonymous]

Telling my boss what I was unhappy with and why. Funny thing was they saw my points, and (seem) to be fixing it. The issue was the feeling of isolation because of my work environment -- I am working mostly at home to keep the cost down to the customer, but it is impacting my productivity.

Stupidest thing was telling my boss (who was/remains a friend) that I was talking to another company as he was deciding on bonuses...cost me my bonus

[Anonymous]

Leaving my career to become a stay at home mom. I was at home for about 10 years, then got divorced. The courts give you no credit for staying home. So I am divorced, 50, and having no luck finding any jobs.

If you leave your career to become a SAHM, get your spouse to sign a post-nup agreement. You need to be compensated in terms of alimony to get back on your feet.

[Anonymous]

The biggest risk was quitting my job to stay home with my firstborn. I had just been offered a great promotion but it couldn't compete with my desire to be home. I now have 3 kids and 10 years have passed. I can't find a job that will be at nearly the same level as I explore my options. On an emotional and life satisfaction level, I know I made the right choice and I don't regret it. Financially is a different story.

[Anonymous]

Took a promotion/new position a few months after coming back from maternity leave. Best decision ever. My old boss was nice, but I ended up having more control over my schedule.

[Anonymous]

Quitting to stay home when I had my first baby. I was 33. It worked out well for me. I was able to do occasional freelance work and after 7 years at home i pretty quickly found a full-time, flexible job at a company I love paying a slightly higher salary than I made when I left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quitting to stay home when I had my first baby. I was 33. It worked out well for me. I was able to do occasional freelance work and after 7 years at home i pretty quickly found a full-time, flexible job at a company I love paying a slightly higher salary than I made when I left.

What field are you in?

[Anonymous]

I was 31 and very bored at the NIH. I was under-used and got promoted twice in as many years. I knew that i'd stay forever if I didn't get out.

My now husband was going to B-school so I packed up and moved with him. I have a doctorate so I did research for a few professors as a "job" while I was there but frankly, I had a LOT of fun.

Came back to DC, job searched, and now am the #2 at a DC NGO. All that in one decade. (we married, purchased a house and had two kids; we lost one cat but still have the other).

it worked out great.Sometimes you hav eto shake things up.'

[Anonymous]

Working for someone who was sued for being a racist. I knew it, but needed the job. Turns out the manager was awful and clearly treated me worse than others (I'm a minority). Made my life miserable for two years until I quit. It took me 9 months to find another job, but now I work for a great manager.

[Anonymous]

Left a corporate job to work at a nonprofit at a significant salary cut. Have gotten a raise, tons of flexibility, and have a pretty much ideal job situation for my current lifestyle (2 very small kids). Lots of it was luck - who stayed, who left etc - but I'm very grateful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quitting to stay home when I had my first baby. I was 33. It worked out well for me. I was able to do occasional freelance work and after 7 years at home i pretty quickly found a full-time, flexible job at a company I love paying a slightly higher salary than I made when I left.

What field are you in?

Marketing research

[Anonymous]

Taking a 2 year resume hit to live abroad with DH. I also plan on leaving my current (VERY low paying job) when DC #2 is born and starting the job search up again when he/she is 5 months. I don't care if some think I am crazy, I am staying positive and I know how to hustle, so I'm confident I'll end up in a better job than this one eventually