Go unemployed for few months to transition career?

[monkey00]

In a nutshell I've been at my job for the past 8 years and I think it's time for me to move on. While I don't necessarily hate it or love it, it's ok and so is my salary. I think the main reason why I never left is because when I was younger I wanted a stable job and also had a mortgage on a place I was paying for myself. Sadly I got too comfortable at my job and company. I already stopped growing a few years ago. I currently see no future in my current career, and I'm so over it at this point.

 

While I still do want a stable job, I want to go after something I'm passionate about and love doing. I've talked to my wife about it a year ago, about going unemployed for a few months and getting certified in a different field. Neither one of us took it seriously, so a year just flew by.

 

Things are changing and happening very quickly now as we just bought a house together and will be expecting our first child in the summer. My wife has a very stable well paying job and we have a nice cushion of savings, so we are not worried about me not working for a few months. However she is pushing me strongly that if I want to do this, to do it now before the baby comes. Otherwise neither of us and especially me will have time for anything else after birth.

 

My plan is to quit my job and get certified in another field in 4 months time, and hopefully around then I will have found a job somewhere else. My wife is perfectly fine if I have a lower salary as I switch careers. The catch is that we will have to tell all our family and friends what I'm doing. And also when I leave my job obviously some people will expect me to tell them.

 

I guess it's a little embarrassing for me to be in this predicament with a baby on the way and a mortgage for people to hear about me quitting a job and not having something lined up? Surely there are a lot of people that do this (not necessarily baby/mortgage party) ?

 

Has anyone done something similar to pursue a dream and want to share their experience? I know there are no rewards without risk and I see this as being one of them.

[d0nnivain]

Why can't you work at something while you are getting certified in your new field? I would not risk no income unless you have a full year's worth of living expenses socked away in a bank on top of your regular emergency fund. Just because you get certified in this new field is no guarantee you will get a job immediately because you will have no relevant experience.