Right from the start I was very enthusiastic about from career and wanted to achieve something big. I wanted to go out of the box step into something which wasn’t a prevalent profession in my city. Coming from a small town, doing something different from usual wasn’t an easy task, and I was forced into going for a profession that is much more recognized. Eventually, I had to settle for Computer Science for my Bachelor’s degree. I was annoyed about it at first, but after a wise thought and researching about its positives, I settled for it peacefully.

After finishing school, many of my school batchmates were struggling to select a field for their further studies. On the contrary, I was lucky enough to already know my field of choice. I went with Engineering in electronics. I also had a profound interest in aeronautics but feared my future as job market being very niche.

I started my education in my home country, India, from a decent University, which promised me a blooming career ahead. Years passed by, and I kept washing my exams. Engineering in India is a 4-year course which consists of 8 semesters, 2 in each year and by the end of the course, in-campus placements happen where many organisations come in to recruit students. In these years of study, I had made many close friends whom I admired dearly, some from a stream as mine and others different. Most of us sat in interviews with various organisations, mostly the Information Technology sector. It was a trend those days to get a job in IT irrespective of your field of study, and also the job market was promising. Though I was sceptical, had my insecurities. Still, because almost everyone around me was taking a job in the IT sector, I also decided to go for it. However, I tried to look for information online but couldn’t find much so went in trust of my friends.

Moving into my Bachelor’s degree, I was sure about pursuing B.Tech as my course of study. Still, I wasn’t confident about the specialization within the course, as it has a wide range of disciplines to choose from. After some thorough research, consulting, and personal interest, I was able to narrow it down to 2 streams. One being Electronics & Communication and second, being Computer Science.

With recommendations from seniors and industry people, I went with the former stream. I was happy jumping into the stream with a fully motivated attitude and a bright future ahead. Less did I knew what was in store for me. In the last year of my 4 years long course, a job opportunity came within the Computer Science field, which was different to my course of study. Giving it a second thought, I jumped onto that opportunity. I was able to secure an offer with a leading multi-national organization. Due to my personal interest in computers, I started the job with great enthusiasm. Little I knew how much more is there to computers apart from some basic programming concepts that we were introduced to earlier in our course. It was altogether a new world to me though somehow, I managed to complete my training in first class. Training is a part of the onboarding process. It lasts for 5 months and you are introduced to different programming languages, one of which you will be using in real-time projects. Training is marked and passing it with 50% is a must else you have to reappear. Failing to pass in the third attempt, you are handed over your termination letter.

It’s the low hum in your mind late at night, keeping you awake. It’s the distress beacon that permeates your thoughts. It’s the fear that drifts in and out of your thoughts every Monday morning without fail. You can’t ignore it any longer: you’re not just in the wrong job, you’re in the wrong field altogether. You took a serious wrong turn somewhere in your career, yet starting fresh seems even more terrifying than staying the course. Now what?

A career misstep this big isn’t easy to face. For many of us, accepting it is a slow, arduous process. Denial, repression, fear and a host of other factors can come into play, and it may take years to accept the truth. In my own life, it took me a full decade to leave the finance sector to pursue a career in psychology. Ten years is a long time to think about changing jobs. It’s a long time to listen to the same, unrelenting hum.

I majored in economics as an undergraduate, and when it came time to begin my first job search, I picked my field in the same way that so many of us do—I did what was “expected.” I soon landed an entry-level job at a solid company, where I stuffed myself neatly into expectation’s box. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I entered investment banking mainly because I wanted to impress my friends and make my family proud. At 22 years old, validation from those around me mattered a lot. Too much, maybe.

Initially, I believed I’d made the right choice, and I entered the workforce with all the fervor of an emerging adult. Soon, though, the novelty of finance wore off and was replaced by the very first whispers of that low hum. Little by little it grew, its volume creeping up slowly.

About five years later, I was facing the complicated reality of my own unhappiness: I wanted—maybe even needed—to do something entirely different with my life. Was I absolutely miserable? No, but that’s what made the situation even more difficult. I was moderately unhappy—and you don’t leave a good job if you’re “moderately unhappy.” Or do you?

After another five years, and after much soul searching, journaling, silent lamenting and deeply contemplating what I wanted to accomplish, I accepted my authentic career truth: psychology was my calling. Thoughts of becoming a therapist had peppered my years in finance, even as my own fear had been pushing them away. That’s the funny thing about uncovering an authentic truth: once you embrace it, you suddenly understand it was there all along.

When I told my managing director of my grand plans to pursue a master’s degree in psychology, she was far from impressed. Was she upset that she would soon have to fill my position, adding more work to her desk? Probably. But much more than that, she was worried for me, personally. “Erika, people don’t leave this company,” she counseled. “You’re risking a lot. Have you thought about how this will impact your future?”

She was right to worry. I was about to leave the safety of the only field I’d ever known. I was turning my back on steady paychecks, a robust benefits package and annual bonuses. Worse still, unlike finance, psychology has a historically tumultuous reputation, to put it mildly. I was also staring down the barrel of two or three years of grad school and the hefty price tag they carried. To top it all off, since my goal was to enter private practice as a couple’s counselor, I would be stepping onto the rickety bridge of small business ownership, with all the associated risks. A career shift this immense almost seemed irrational when I added up the pros and cons. Save for that incessant hum.

Jumping from finance to psychology was especially radical, yet any number of us will change fields in some form or another. So what causes us to make that leap? For the lucky few, the signs are clear—the skies practically part, and the choice doesn’t seem like much of a choice at all. For the rest of us, it’s much more complicated. If you too are hearing the low hum of career discontent, here are four signs to pay attention to as you navigate through this complex decision: