The key, he said, is having skills that transfer from one industry to another and a willingness to keep learning new things. Changing jobs can bring some economic hardship, as Novato's Lins can attest. Lins said her decision to go back to college meant she wasn't earning money, and the family felt that pinch. After two years sharing teaching duties in a Santa Rosa district, Lins is shopping for part-time teaching work. She is happy with her career choice.
Some people find change within their current industry, and without financial turmoil.
Mill Valley's Scott Wilmore didn't leave the computer industry to find a new challenge. He joined the industry's growth area with an Internet company. Wilmore left the software business for Internet development about a year ago, becoming business development manager for the Internet service provider and web page design firm Microweb. His old job working with corporations to get software product lines in place required a lot of travel. Now Wilmore works with many different companies and says he is happy with the job change.