Time for a Career Change?

Like a lot of people working in the corporatesphere, Pamela Skillings hated the work she did. As she says in a piece for The New York Times this past June, she had even begun to adopt a cruel piece of hamster-wheel logic in order to keep herself going into the office every day:

Like many of my co-workers, I thought I could eventually earn enough money to make up for the fact that I dreaded going to work every day. Then I would be happy, I told myself. The funny thing was that I already had a very happy life outside the office that had nothing to do with my salary. I had a loving husband and great friends who didn’t care how much bacon I brought home.

But in fact, my high-paying but soul-draining job was beginning to take a toll on my personal life. Nobody enjoys hanging out with a perpetually tired and cranky middle manager.

To be honest, I wasn’t even taking pleasure in my disposable income. Most of my extra cash went toward medicating my work stress. Because I wasn’t getting satisfaction from my job, I distracted myself with overpriced restaurants, tropical vacations and retail therapy. I traded up to a bigger, nicer apartment, but I didn’t spend much time in it because I was always at the office justifying my paycheck.

Eventually, I realized that my salary wasn’t worth the emotional price I was paying for it. My compensation package was standing in the way of true success, which for me meant doing work that was meaningful and made me happy.

So, she quit. If what you’ve just read sounds familiar, maybe you should, too.

Pamela Skillings is a communications consultant who blogs on how to get out from under the corporate grind. She’s also author of the new book, Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams.

Pamela’s the guest, today, on my WBAI-NY / 99.5 FM radio show, NONFICTION, this afternoon, Friday, September 5, 2 pm ET.

You can hear her talk about how she made her great escape by tuning in at 2 pm. Then, during the second half of the program, we’ll take your calls.

If you’re outside of the New York tri-state, you can check out our stream on the web. If you miss the live show, check out our archive for up to two weeks after broadcast.