Changing careers at 16 years into a job, is it realistic? (update)

My layoff made me rethink whether to stay in my field. I have a little time and a small budget for training. Did you take a pay cut?

You likely have more transferable skills than you think. Write down what you did, not what the job title said.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.