Career Changing Column in Times

The New York Times has kicked off a new column on shifting careers, written by former-lawyer-now-writer Marci Alboher, who crafted one of the best leads I've ever seen:

When Ted Greenberg left the field of suicide research to become a stand-up comic, he sent out a mass e-mail that began with the following…

Suicide research and stand-up comedy in the same sentence. I love that!

I mean, I can completely understand why someone might make that kind of move. But specifics aside, Alboher uses the anecdote as a jumping off point for a broader discussion of career changing, an increasingly common phenomenon that she proposes to explore on a regular basis.

After doing hundreds of interviews with people who created their own slash careers by following and combining various interests, I’m convinced we all need to shift around until we find the mix that’s right.

Until it’s no longer right, when we need to start shifting again. Because the idea of what makes a satisfying career is shifting. What satisfied us in our 20s and 30s, might not be what jazzes us in our 40s and 50s.