Taking A Salary Cut To Change Careers By Nick Corcodilos

"You have to take a salary cut, but it will pay off in the long run."

Have you ever heard that before? Do you believe it? Taking a salary cut to change careers may seem a very undesirable proposition. It's similar to climbing a tree only to find the branch you're navigating is rotten. You have no real choice but to move down before you can start back up the tree in a better direction.

Career change is inevitable.
As the US economy spins ever more quickly into a critical mass of e-commerce, new media and Internet-related businesses, it's unlikely that you will be able to continue in the same career. New businesses comprise new job functions and that means you'll need new skills to tackle new opportunities. It's likely your career will change more than once in the next ten years. There's a price associated with that, and it's worth thinking about how you'll pay it.

We're talking about discontinuous career change. That is, the learning curve you're riding doesn't just get steeper. It comes to an end and you're forced to hop onto a different curve. The discontinuity won't be evident just in your career. It will also hit your pocketbook as you gear up to learn new skills and to understand new work requirements. Don't let that panic you. Remember that you're not just changing jobs, you're investing in a new career.

Take one step down to move two steps up.
This is more easily understood through an analogy. You're climbing a tree, following a particular branch (your career) upward. Just as you start making good time, you look around only to realize you're going up the wrong branch. The branch is leading you in the wrong direction (or it's rotten), and you need to get off.

The only way to change direction is to move back down so you can start up the right branch (a new career in a better direction). The backtracking represents the cut in your pay and position. There are no two ways about it: it's going to slow your progress, but only for a while. As you start up the right branch and gain momentum, you'll surpass the level you were at on the old branch, and you should be fine.

Cut your losses, increase your profits.
Here's where this analogy packs punch. The farther up the wrong branch you go and the higher you rise in status and salary, the farther down you will have to go (in status and salary) to get an entry-level position in the new career you want. It will also take longer before you can ascend to the heights that represent your goal.

The message: If you recognize that change is necessary, don't delay the shift in careers. Take a step down to gain two steps up. The longer you wait, the more costly the shift is likely to be. I frequently hear from executives in dying industries who avoided computers and the Internet for years. Now they're forced to take the plunge, and the drop is precipitous. The sooner you make the decision to change, the more manageable the cost will be.

But, who wants to focus on a tree-climbing analogy when talking about success in today's hot business climate? Let's talk stock market. Maybe that will make you feel a little better about a tough decision. When you take a salary cut to move into a better career, you're not losing money. You're investing in change. When you invest in a stock, you're out short-term cash. But if you invest wisely, the returns will more than pay you back.

Don't worry too much about the dip you'll take in salary. Focus instead on doing so well at your new job that your value becomes quickly reflected in those first and second dividends that we call raises.

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