Career Change

From the time I completed university in June 2006, (its August 2011 as I write this Post), that is almost 5 years ago, I have been a coder – developing web based applications.

 I am and will always be a coder. I will always develop applications for my personal use. However, developing applications as a source of income has come to an end. I enjoyed writing code. I spent sleepless nights while debugging. Celebrating when an application behaved as expected. It was really great then. Not anymore though. I no longer find that excitement in code. It has gone flat for me. It has gone dry. 

I know many people have undergone through a career change for many reasons. I personally have just undergone a total career change. I am no longer a professional web developer. No. Never. But I will forever be a coder. Coding personal projects. So why  do people go through a career change??  Below is what I believe causes career change. 

1.       Boredom: To some people, being in the same job, doing the same thing and seeing the same people for too long is just a bore. I definitely fall into this category and believe that a total career change can lead to a satisfying life. I always like to learn something new. To be challenged. To have something to wake up too. Once I master that particular skill, I kind of find myself bored and need to move on. 

2.       Midlife Crisis:  You must have heard that phrase before. Mostly it refers to couples who have gotten married and after honeymoon they realize that the excitement has now ended and they again miss their olden days with the boys (for men) or with the girls (for the ladies). Other times, it occurs when couples get kids they have not prepared for well. The entire home becomes a mess. However, back to career change, some people realize that they are growing older and yet have done little. They decide to switch careers so as to do lots more.

3.       Dissatisfaction with current employer: This can be through recognition or pay. This is quite obvious. Most people change careers due to this.

4.       Lack of fulfillment: We all need to feel utilized and content. Whenever someone feels content, they tend to stay in their careers. Others feel something is missing. They need to be content and until they are, they keep changing careers.

I can give more reasons but the above are mainly the real ones. Others rotate around them. I needed a more challenging career. I needed a career that would blow off my mind. Humble me and keep me on my toes. I tried freelancing and it was great but it was still coding in a different fashion. 

Finally I landed on online forex trading. Oh my God. I was blown. I was hooked. I realized I had to learn. The tasks were huge. The stakes were extremely high. But that was not all. Forex trading is the riskiest investment and is never an option for many investors. I knew there and then that I was in for a treat. When I signed up for trading, in my mind, I knew I had crossed the point of no return. I made coding my part time job and have been trading since December 2010.

I have learnt a lot along the way. I have met great minds. Read books and realized that while trading, discipline is paramount.  I don’t believe I am going back soon. I am going to trade for some time – maybe until I get bored of it and then I will be on my way looking for another career. But I am content right now. Forex trading rocks.!!