Ask the expert: Get facts before you change

You have almost completed a commerce degree but find that you now want to be a doctor. Would it be wise to change horses in mid-stream? Dr MARIE WILSON, head of management and employment relations at the University of Auckland Business School and a veteran of 20 years in corporate management and small business, offers some helpful ideas.

Q: Help! Because my family are all accountants, I never considered that I wouldn't do the same. However, I'm just about to finish my accountancy qualifications and have just realised the thought of being a CA or an auditor for the rest of my life is a hideous prospect.

I'd much rather be a doctor - but know that means years of retraining and I will be a 30-something in the not-too-distant future. It's ages since I did biology and chemistry at school.

A: Sounds like out of the frying pan and into the fire. In both accounting and medicine, you don't have really practical information about what the practice is like, so you are thinking about going from being an accounting student to being a medical student.

I think you need to test your goals, in discussion and practice. You might contact the Institute of Chartered Accountants to see if you can meet other accountants and get a better feel for their actual work or try a starting position in a larger firm to get an overview.

Many accounting graduates work in other fields. You might do the same to get a better feel for what working in the medical field would be like.

Career counsellors, both private and those affiliated with universities, might also help you in assessing your suitability.

You should also check out what your options would be in the health field.

In some areas, your business skills would be a real plus.

When you have information about work environments and practices, training requirements and the range of options, you can begin to make a more informed choice.

You might also check on the age limits on study. Research suggests that most people graduating now will have five to seven careers during their working life and retrain several times, so it doesn't all have to happen now.

Q: I've been offered a new job which I'm really excited about. I haven't signed a contract yet, but feel guilty about deserting my colleagues and am a bit disconcerted at how I feel. I feel a bit of a plonker for admitting it, actually.

A: It's natural to feel that you are going to miss your colleagues. Departures are generally stressful, as is taking on a new job. Start by recalling why you decided to consider other employment in the first place. If those reasons still hold, then off you go.

* E-mail your questions for Dr Marie Wilson to answer.