{"id":634745,"date":"2026-08-13T09:28:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T09:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/634745\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T09:28:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T09:28:24","slug":"how-to-change-career-advice-from-three-people-who-have-done-it-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/634745\/","title":{"rendered":"How to change career: Advice from three people who have done it \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s a daydream for some people can become a career<\/a> reality for others. If you\u2019ve ever fantasised about quitting your unfulfilling job and beginning a new, totally different adventure, you might be on the verge of a career pivot.<\/p>\n

This week, I spoke to three people who have taken unusual leaps of faith into different fields about what they learned and their advice for anyone who might be considering doing the same thing. <\/p>\n

Comedian to climate activist<\/p>\n

The career of stand-up comedian and actor Joe Rooney (62) took a hard turn during Covid<\/a> when he was no longer able to perform<\/a> in front of a live audience. Instead of facing the microphone and hot lights, he spent his time reading. That inspired him to obtain a bachelor\u2019s degree<\/a> in multimedia and then a masters in documentary practice at Dublin City University (DCU). <\/p>\n

After graduation, he never left. He was offered a job as a DCU research assistant on the Climate Talk project, funded by Research Ireland. Today, he helps transition year (TY) students become climate champions through environmental multimedia storytelling.<\/p>\n

Why the pivot from comedian to climate advocate? \u201cThere was nothing surprising about comedy for me any more. I\u2019d started for enjoyment and because it was rebellious, anti-establishment \u2018alternative comedy\u2019 but then suddenly I was making a living out of it and doing corporate gigs. It\u2019s hard to earn a living and do something that makes a difference; I was always trying to find that balance.\u201d <\/p>\n

College was about \u201ccuriosity and wanting to learn new skills. I didn\u2019t expect the job to come up but soon realised I like teaching, especially climate activism.\u201d He works with academics in the communications and physical sciences as well as an education design specialist. <\/p>\n

Bean counter to bead maker\"CorkCork woman Amy McCarthy transitioned from a career in finance and accountancy to setting up her own business making jewellery with beads. Photograph: iStock <\/p>\n

Amy McCarthy, founder of Mama is a Dreamer jewellery, worked in finance and accountancy for more than 10 years, with some travel in between. Her career was progressing well but, with a long commute, two young kids and a husband who often worked abroad, it wasn\u2019t an easy road. <\/p>\n

When her mum became ill she took carer\u2019s leave from work. After her mum passed away, McCarthy felt compelled to change her job pathway and life. <\/p>\n

She had a feeling in her gut that creativity was missing from her life but didn\u2019t have the words to verbalise it. After advice from a reiki practitioner, she decided to do something with her hands. <\/p>\n

\u201cI bought a set of beads from the internet, looked at a bangle I\u2019d just bought from a department store and thought I could make something like that. I made jewellery in the evenings, put them on Instagram as Mama is a Dreamer and people kept asking for more.\u201d<\/p>\n

She found a good supplier and, for nine months, made bracelets, necklaces and earrings before she started thinking: can I make an income out of it? Could I be my own boss?<\/p>\n

McCarthy found \u201cstarting your own business\u201d courses through her local enterprise centre and rural development agencies and found incredible business support and customers in her local north Cork community. \u201cRunning a business is no joke but I\u2019m three years in now and I love working for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senator to genealogist\"JillianJillian van Turnhout set up a genealogy business when she left the Seanad. Photograph: Sam Boal\/Collins Photos<\/p>\n

In 2016, Jillian Van Turnhout\u2019s term as an independent senator was coming to an end and she wasn\u2019t sure what to do next. So, she started not one but two businesses. The first was an obvious one, governance consultancy and boards but the second, unusually, was in genealogy. <\/p>\n

\u201cI see it like a scale: governance was quicker and busier initially but gradually things became more weighted towards the genealogy as I built my clients and credentials,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Changing careers: \u2018My job began to feel hollow … I felt I\u2019d lost myself somewhere\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Genealogy was something Van Turnhout did for family and friends but, after seeing her posting on social media about it, Damien Mulley of Mulley Communications offered her a new pathway. Years before he\u2019d purchased the domain name genealogy.ie<\/a> and he offered it to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gifted it to me for free on the condition that if I made, or sold it for millions, I had to buy him a Land Rover.\u201d <\/p>\n

If she was looking for a sign, she\u2019d found it. Why genealogy? \u201cI love uncovering stories and finding out more. It\u2019s the detective side of me. I really enjoy the search, the research and writing it up is a great discipline too.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s their advice?Money, money, money<\/p>\n

One of the biggest things that holds people back from the career leap is a lack of savings or a financial runway. It\u2019s nice to dream but you need a realistic safety net too. <\/p>\n

Figure out how many months you can live on your savings without any additional income. Chances are, even when you\u2019re making money, it won\u2019t get back to the same level for at least a couple of years \u2013 if at all.<\/p>\n

Playful experimentation<\/p>\n

Pivots that work are rarely clean breaks where you go from one career directly into another within a few days or months. Rooney says you should keep working, but try little experiments before you leap. <\/p>\n

\"JoeJoe Rooney: ‘At any age, I\u2019d advise people to make a career change’ <\/p>\n

\u201cCollege was a steep learning curve at the start and I was still working too. I\u2019d be over in the UK doing comedy gigs and then sitting in an Airbnb in Preston finishing an assignment by watching an old black and white film I\u2019d never seen. But what else would I have been doing? Scrolling on my phone probably.\u201d<\/p>\n

Small inexpensive experiments \u2013 a course, a credential, a market stall \u2013 help test the reality of your new life against the fantasy, all for very little money and without burning bridges. <\/p>\n

Strong foundations<\/p>\n

People rarely start again from zero in a new career. Think about what three transferable skills you\u2019re bringing with you? What problems are you solving for new clients using those skills? <\/p>\n

Self-discipline on time management and pricing are always a challenge, says Van Turnhout so get support early on. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have two accountability anchors: my husband and a good friend. Three times a year we look at the figures. How are things going? I need to make an honest assessment: am I covering expenses and paying myself? Or the good bit: do I deserve a bonus?<\/p>\n

Rebuild expertise<\/p>\n

When you go from one career type to another, you\u2019ll leave most of your contacts behind. Rebuilding your professional network from scratch will need to be a priority. <\/p>\n

Like Rooney, you may need to face down some fears too. \u201cI was very nervous about going into college \u2013 people in their 20s will know more than me about coding and editing and software packages \u2013 and [I was going] back to what scared the living daylights out of me. Reading at home, I didn\u2019t challenge myself. At university, it\u2019s different.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is so much richer as a result. Teaching young people is great, plus it\u2019s good to see how neurodiverse people are more catered to now than when I was in school.\u201d <\/p>\n

A career leap of faith is frightening and probably sounds dramatic when you say it out loud to friends and family. But, as Rooney says: \u201cAt any age, I\u2019d advise people to make a career change. Learning is a great thing to do. I feel so much more alive now.\u201d <\/p>\n

Margaret E Ward is chief executive of Clear Eye, a leadership consultancy. margaret@cleareye.ie<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What\u2019s a daydream for some people can become a career reality for others. If you\u2019ve ever fantasised about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,8531,18,2215,19,17,80],"class_list":["post-634745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-dcu","tag-eire","tag-for-you","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-work"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117087497771726712","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}