These are the types of questions today’s workers encounter when career planning. That’s where the second career comes in. The backup career is not your preferred choice of career; it is the career that is pretty much recession-proof and not affected by the changes in global economy. It is the career that can provide money to live on while you advance in your five-year plan. Hopefully, if you’ve prepared for the eventuality of a poor market, you won’t be one of the people facing dead-end jobs at retail stores. It should be a career that requires little training and that you enjoy, which can keep you going when everything else fails.

Your backup career planning can help your five-year plan, if you’ve thought about it carefully enough. For instance, if your career choice is to practice medicine, then you will want a backup career in the area of health service. You can become a home health aide, take a few health and general care classes, and always have a way to make a living. The job cannot be outsourced and will give you income. It can also be put on your resume as experience in caring for patients. When career planning, remember that the backup career can also be used as a second job while you are working full-time. It can be a way to generate income when times are tough.

If you pick the right career field and get the training required to maintain that position, it will be a small blip in your career aspirations that might eventually help you network into your dream job. These are careers that don’t require a lot of training or long hours in the classroom, but can provide a means of support. If you find yourself lost and not moving, then you will automatically be moving backwards. Life has a tendency to take you backwards, if you don’t make a conscious effort when career planning to stay focused and persist in your ambitions. Always keep your feet moving and you will eventually get to where you want to be.

In today’s unstable economy, people can suddenly lose their jobs, even after many years with the same company, leaving them with the need to find a job whether it is in the same field or not. For others, it is a personal decision. While it isn’t always the most profitable decision you can make, there are some good reasons for voluntarily making a change in your career.

1. You have advanced as far as you can, and have no way of being promoted. There may simply be no higher position that you can reach at the company where you are working. This is especially true of smaller companies who rarely lose people in higher positions. You shouldn’t have to be limited by the shortcomings of your company.

2. You have achieved a higher level of education. Sometimes people work hard to get addition college credits by taking evening, weekend, or online college courses, while working fulltime. If you have worked to obtain a higher level of education, you don’t want to stay in the same position you were in before. If there is no opportunity for proper advancement in your company, look for a position that is more in line with your new qualifications.

3. Something has changed that make your current job a bad choice. If you were single and carefree when you started your career but now have a spouse and kids, the same hours or benefits may not be appropriate. You don’t want to work long hours, travel, or do without the insurance benefits that you need for your family. You will need to make a career move to a company that works with your new lifestyle.

4. The future doesn’t look bright. If your company is in a field that is already diminishing, the time to make a change is before the company goes under. Don’t wait to “see what happens” only to find yourself without a job and nowhere to go.

5. You need to make more money. If you have the qualifications for more than one type of work, then why stay with the one that offers the lowest pay? Some people do prefer to enjoy the work they want to do as opposed to making more money. However, it is up to your individual circumstances to decide if you need to move on.

Most people will tell you that if you have a good paying job with benefits and hope of advancement that you would be crazy to go through a career change. That isn’t necessarily true. If you don’t enjoy your work, or are bored or stressed, then it may be worthwhile to find a different type of work. Most of us spend more time at our jobs than we do with our families or anything else that we do. In order to be happier with everything, it is a good idea to be happy with your work.