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Shachar Meir

The Hidden Cost of Changing Career Direction

Published 29 days ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader,

Changing roles can cost you more than you realise.

I regularly meet people whose careers look like this:
​Data Analyst → Data Engineer → Data Scientist → Product Manager

Every move may have made sense at the time.
But together, they created a problem: each change forced them to partially start again.

They had to:

  • Learn new skills
  • Rebuild their credibility
  • Compete with people who had spent years developing expertise in that field

Compare that with someone whose career looks like this:
​Data Scientist → Senior Data Scientist → Data Science Manager → Data Science Director

Each role builds on the previous one.
Their knowledge, reputation and experience compound over time.

This doesn’t mean you should stay in a role you dislike, or continue down a path that clearly isn’t right for you.
A changing direction can sometimes be exactly the right decision.

But it always comes with a cost.

The problem isn’t changing roles.
It’s changing roles without a clear direction, and repeatedly resetting your progress.

You don’t need to know exactly where you want to be in ten years.

But your next move should ideally build on the last one.

I spoke more about the importance of choosing a career direction here 👇

Why Your Data Career Is Stuck (And How to Fix It) Why Your Data Career Is Stuck (And How to Fix It) [38:23]
How to choose your career direction and manage your career

Have a great weekend!

Regards,
Shachar

P.S. Are you serious about growing your data career? Check out my website.

♻️ Please share these links with 2 colleagues or friends to help them unblock their career:

Shachar Meir

Data Advisor

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