There are many statistics available that show just how many people work in the legal field, their demographics, and how many times they have changed occupations (along with how many times other people in other industries have changed occupations). They are listed below in the following section.

• In 2016, 37,124 students graduated from law school in the United States.
• In the U.S. in 2016, 36% of people working in the legal field were women.
• According to the American Bar Association, there are over 1.1 million licensed attorneys in the United States.
• Today, the average person changes jobs 10 to 15 times during his or her career.
• According to 2015 and 2016 data from the Current Population Survey, about 6.2 million U.S. workers (4% of the total workforce) transferred from one occupational group to another.
• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2.3% of people in the legal field changed occupations between 2015 and 2016.
• Of those legal professionals who changed careers in 2015/2016, 16% went into business and financial operations.
• Employment of high school teachers is projected to grow 8% between 2016 and 2026.
• Employment of postsecondary teachers is projected to grow 15% between 2016 and 2026.

There are some different terms associated with the subject that is going to be perused in this article. They include attorney career change, business coach, career change to medicine, career directions, change careers, executive coach, executive counseling, executive management coaching, lawyer career change, life coaching, and more.

Most of these terms and most of those statistics signify the topic of this article or what will be perused: It is the career change. The career change is an altering moment in someone’s life, whether it is a good career change or bad career change. A career change can be amazing or be debilitating depending on the position taken.

Someone who is considering a career change is ready to leave their current job for any number of reasons. Perhaps they’ve become dissatisfied with the work or tired with the company culture and politics. Perhaps they are not being challenged in their current position. Perhaps they’ve had a falling out with their boss.

Someone who is considering a career change might also be suffering from what is called “burnout,” which is a series of symptoms generally associated with too much time at work or too little satisfaction at a job. Those symptoms can include a general feeling of tiredness, lack of enthusiasm, lack of motivation, and more.

Someone who is suffering from burnout may not be looking for a career change. Maybe all they need is a little bit of time off, to recover and to recuperate from the draining experience of being at a job. But sometimes a change is in the works if the person is not feeling up to going back to work at all.

In that event, someone might not be just dissatisfied with the job itself (the responsibilities, the company culture, the management, the politics) but may actually feel the need to leave that kind of work altogether. There are plenty of lawyers and doctors and other professionals who have left jobs due to burnout.

Some have even left their professions.

A career change to medicine is something that many people think about from time to time. A career change to medicine may involve some kind of training, such as going to school to be a CNA or studying to become a nurse. Someone who is looking to become a doctor has to go to medical school. A career change to medicine in that sense involves work.

A career change to medicine is possible if someone has the financial means, which they might if they’ve gotten out of their current job with a certain chunk of savings and a little amount of their salary. A career change to medicine could be satisfying if they enjoy the work and enjoy helping others.

There are many reasons to ponder a career change. Some of these include job dissatisfaction, burnout, frustration with company culture and politics, a drive and inspiration to do something else, or a complete lack of skill set with their current position. It can feel empowering to choose a different career track.

Many of those who have tried to switch careers end up succeeding. Some also likely suffer some setbacks. Having the right plan is important.