You have one life and sometimes your interests may be too diverse for you to stay in one career stream forever. With plenty of tempting opportunities available and the flexibility to change specializations, career shifts are today becoming more common than in the past.

However, if you are planning to change career paths after a long stint in any particular industry, take a deep breath. Before you take the plunge, consider the pros and cons.

This is particularly important for entrepreneurs – there’s no need to hang onto a business that doesn’t interest you any more just because you started it. However, before you shut shop or sell out, take time to ponder about your afterlife and those of your dependents and employees.

Be sure
Make sure your decision to change career streams is a well thought-out one. For instance, assess your position and be absolutely certain that only a move will do you good. If your reason for moving careers is your boss, your office location or your company policy, what you need is a change of job perhaps, not a change of career. Identify your passion and tune in to what energizes and motivates you. Next, research those areas thoroughly in relation to your own strengths and weaknesses. If you think they are a good fit, go ahead.

The best time to change
Oddly enough, the best time to change streams is when things are going really well. Your confidence levels are high, you are willing to take risks, and the industry is more likely to take your credentials and success record seriously. On the other hand, bad times or challenging circumstances may sometimes mandate a career change. For instance, employees who were laid off during the recent recession found that changing their career path offered them access to jobs which were scarce in their previous field.

Update your skills
If necessary, update your skills and ascertain if they are indeed transferable to your new career choice. Enroll yourself for a part-time or distance-learning course, or consider acquiring a certification to boost your credentials for the road ahead.

Revisit that résumé
Trash your old résumé along with your old career. When you are bracing to enter a new industry or a new job role, revisit your résumé. Rewrite it to suit the new opportunities that you are looking for.

Network assiduously
Changing career also means stepping out of a comfort zone. Whatever be your position in your current industry, you will have to retrace some of your steps in order to cut a fresh career path in the new line that you have chosen. For this, you will have to forge ties with new people or invest more time into professional relationships that had been relegated to the backburner. Identify new people who are likely to impact your chosen career, and interact with them with the aim of furthering your career ambitions.

Watch your wallet
Very often, changing career streams hits the wallet hard. This is particularly applicable to entrepreneurs, who must shore up resources to see their ventures through until they start making money. Be realistic about the impending financial situation and make your decision after careful thought and planning.

In November 2008, Harish met the same fate as many software engineers. His employer, a technology giant based in Bangalore, handed him the pink slip.

For two weeks Harish stayed at home, unable to come to terms with his misfortune. He had no back-up plans and little in terms of savings. The outlook seemed bleak, as calls to job consultants didn’t get past the receptionist. To shore up for the uncertainty looming ahead, Harish sold his three-month-old Zen Estilo and moved to a smaller home. He sold his LCD TV and his iPhone on eBay.

One afternoon he picked up his digital SLR camera, which he had hardly used, and sat down to compose another ‘for sale’ classified ad. It was painful to write it, because Harish had been extremely attached to this camera.

And then, suddenly, an idea struck him.

Harish slapped his laptop shut, picked up his camera, hurriedly packed a rucksack and caught an overnight bus to Hampi. Arriving in Hampi in the morning, he checked into a cheap hotel and freshened up. After breakfast, he stepped out for a stroll through the town and towards the temples and monuments. It was an overcast day, and the light was perfect. He spent the day photographing the monuments and the breathtaking rocky landscapes as well as some market scenes. He took a night bus back to Bangalore the same evening.

He downloaded his photographs to his laptop the next morning and uploaded them to his Flickr account. For the next few days, he continued his job search and forgot all about his photos.

Three days later, he received a comment on one of his pictures. It was from the editor of a travel magazine who wanted to buy the picture for use on his magazine cover.

Harish was pleasantly surprised. Though he had received praise for his photographs earlier, he had never considered the possibility that anyone would have a commercial interest in them. His heart in his mouth, Harish wrote back to the editor, asking him what he would pay.

There was no reply. Harish thought he had offended the editor by asking to be paid for his amateurish photos. Two days later, the editor wrote back apologizing for the delay in responding. He expressed interest in buying three more photographs and offered Rs 3,000 apiece.

Harish couldn’t believe his luck – a trip to Hampi that cost him no more than a thousand rupees had fetched him Rs 12,000! On a friend’s advice, he enrolled for a photography workshop to polish his skills. It was a therapeutic way to spend six harrowing weeks that would have otherwise been spent in a fruitless chase after headhunters.

By the end of the course, Harish’s confidence had grown immeasurably. He set up a website and mustered the courage to offer his photographs to publishers. At first, eight out of ten turned him away, but he soldiered on. Within six months, he was selling about ten pictures a month for anything ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 apiece.

If he had not lost his job, Harish reflected, he would never have found his true calling!

Harish is not alone in being a “lucky victim” of the recession.

MySunnyBalcony, an innovative business engaged in designing and creating innovative garden themes in small enclosed spaces such as apartment balconies, was started by four Bangaloreans in the midst of the recession. They followed their hobby – gardening – with passion and zeal when the economy was looking down.

Similarly, many risk-takers have taken advantage of the recession to exit the boredom of corporate life and focus on their hobbies and interests, eventually turning them into successful careers. Not surprisingly, the recession has engendered unusual careers such as bartending, DJing, floristry, jewelry designing, sports coaching, teaching swimming or music, coffee/wine/tea tasting, freelance writing and web designing.

Smart, determined people see an opportunity in anything – even a recession. For them, crisis is just another avenue to chase their dreams. Making the shift takes guts, drive and an extra helping of self-belief but it is possible to make the most of your recession if you look within to find your calling. Your hobby can be your passport to an unusual, satisfying and rewarding career. When the economy springs back, you will find yourself happier and wealthier in more ways than one.

Do you have a similar success story to relate? Share it with us by posting it as a comment.