How often do you hear that the average worker changes careers 5 times? Or that high performers switch course every two. Couple that with the fear of corporate Groundhog Day, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a confused grad.

This is a common conundrum: do I settle, and commit to the path that seems best now, or do I explore, and try other paths with the hope of finding something better?

Many hope to find and commit to their career calling right away, but this is rarely possible because it’s hard to predict where you’ll succeed in the long term.

Most of us want some variety throughout our careers, so the question then becomes, how much should I explore, and how can I best balance the cost of exploration with its upsides?

Here’s what we think.

The Value of Exploration

It’s hard to leverage the luxury of exploration when you’ve got two kids, a mortgage, and a Weight Watchers subscription to pay for. So, if you’re one of the unburdened few, assessing your options is often time well spent.

Why?

Well, if exploring meant you could find a career path that’s twice as good as your current best guess, think pay, commute, colleagues, and opportunity, it would theoretically be worth spending up to half of your career searching for that path.

So many grads are tempted into roles like accounting or consulting, fully recognizing that they’ll leave them after a two-year stint for more exciting opportunities. Yes, these jobs grant valuable career capital, however, at best they’re seen as stepping stones to more exciting work.

So why not skip this and explore within the industry you intend on leapfrogging to? You’ll gain similarly valuable career capital, have extra experience in your desired field, and not have to spend two years hiding your tears behind your favorite PowerPoint animation.

And if the role isn’t what you hoped it would be, then you’ve eliminated a possible long-term career path, saving you years of wasted effort.

Tradeoffs of Career Exploration

Of course, quitting your job for a new adventure isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The Yellow Brock Road doesn’t lead to the Google lobby.

Career exploration can at times come with some unwanted drawbacks. A new career doesn’t happen overnight. It often takes years and the costs can seem higher than anticipated.

Some competitive careers have an ‘elevator’ structure that makes them harder to reenter once you’ve left, and if you do re-enter, it’s much harder to reach the top. This can make trying alternative paths riskier than usual, because in leaving, you may be saying goodbye to your chance of outsized success.

Further, if you want a career that does some good, exploring WILL delay your impact, which could be a significant cost especially if the opportunity you’re chasing mightn’t be around in the future.

Be More Willing to Quit

Here’s something to consider: if you’re on a path that’s only going so-so, you should probably try something else, provided it’s affordable.

Why?

We often continue on with our current path for too long, avoiding the short-term costs of switching to the unknown. More often than not, if our situation was slightly worse, say a shitty boss, less pay, or a longer commute, then we’d be galvanized into exploration, find a better opportunity, and be further ahead than if we had stayed.

Don’t get stuck in the comfortable chasm of complacency.

Bottom line: if you’re on the fence, be willing to quit.

How Much Should You Explore At Different Stages of Your Career?

It makes the most sense to explore while you’re younger. Here’s a few reasons why.

1. When you’re young, you have the most time to take advantage of the new options you discover. If you find a new career path at 60, how long can you realistically benefit from it?

2. You have the least information about what’s best since you haven’t tried many jobs. Why is this good? Because there’s less chance of analysis paralysis, meaning you’re more likely to try these opportunities.

3. The costs of exploring are lower: younger people are often expected, and in many cases encouraged, to change jobs more often. On top of this, there are low-cost opportunities to try things out, like internships, which aren’t typically always available to older people.

Career Exploration Strategies

There are two great ways to go about this.

1. Pursue ‘upside’ options.

Rank longer-term paths open to you in terms of upside — how much impact you would have in them if you performed unusually well compared to your best guess? Then, try one and assess how it’s going.

Is it going well? Then continue. Not so good? Then switch to the next best upside scenario.

This is attractive because there’s an asymmetry: in the good case, you’ve found an amazing new career path, which you can continue with for many years; if it doesn’t work out, you can switch to something else relatively quickly. The costs of spending a few months or even years trying out a path are often low relative to the huge benefits if it turns out well.

However, do make sure you’re in a robust enough position to try this: professionally, personally, and financially.

2. Explore within your job

Take a job that lets you try out several areas by:

• Enabling you to practice different skills. Jobs in small companies or early-stage startups are especially good on this front.

• Enabling you to work in a variety of industries, such as certain types of freelancing positions.

• Giving you the free time and energy to explore things outside of work.