Everyone wants a job that is personally satisfying and improves the world. Few career paths offer as many different ways to achieve both objectives as geoscience.

Your dream job may — or may not — be on the other end of a move

You’ve been on your current career path for a few years — or maybe it’s only a few months — and you suspect this isn’t where you want to be long term. Maybe you don’t find the work rewarding, or you aren’t making the meaningful connections you expected. If the nagging dissatisfaction is persistent and growing, it may be time to consider switching careers. Especially if you’re looking for more personal satisfaction, a career change to teaching is something to consider.

Wren Walker Robbins earned a PhD in cell biology, then switched careers to teaching more than a decade ago. Now the director of the Secondary Science Education program at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, Mont., she says making the decision to switch careers should entail careful thought — and the result should reflect who you are as a person.