Something to doChanging jobs
Test a direction before you commit
A small experiment to find out whether a new direction suits you, before you bet anything big on it
Why it’s worth your time
You learn more about a direction by trying a small piece of it than by thinking about it for months. A shadow day, a short course or a weekend project shows you how the work actually feels, the dull parts included, at a cost you can afford to lose. Whatever you find, you get to decide with evidence instead of a daydream.
How to test a new career direction
You’ll come away with a first-hand feel for one direction and a clear next step, whether that's more or stop.
We’ll send one calendar invite per step.
- Pick the day you'll try it.
The dates below are counted from your try-it date.
Set the date and every step below gets a real day.
- About three weeks before · 10 minWrite down the one question this experiment should answer.
- A few days later · 10 minChoose the smallest real version that could answer it: a shadow day, a short course, a volunteer shift, a small paid project or a weekend build.
- About two weeks before · 10 minAsk whoever can make it happen: the person you'd shadow, the organizer or the instructor.
- The day itself · 10 minDo it, and pay attention to how it feels, not only how it goes.
- The day after · 15 minWrite down what you noticed while it's fresh: what you liked, what surprised you and what you'd dread.
- When you're ready to decide · 5 minChoose your next step: go bigger, try a different version, or stop.
We’ll send one calendar invite per step.
Keep going with Truest
Small actions add up. Truest helps you find the next thing worth doing, make the space to do it, and keep a record of your progress. It’s a private place to work on your career, and it’s yours, not your employer’s.
- It actually happensWe’ll put it on your calendar and remind you before it starts.
- You know what’s nextTruest suggests the next small thing to try, based on what you’re working on.
- It’s yours to keepEach thing you do is saved to your private record, there when your next review or job search comes around.
Anything else we can help you with this week?
Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
If you know you'd like the subject but not the daily pace, find a version that shows you the pace. The most useful experiment goes straight at your biggest doubt.
What might make this harder
Look for its nearest cousin: a volunteer role that uses the same skills, a hobby version, or a short freelance job. A conversation with someone who does it is a smaller first step.
Questions people ask
How do I know if a career change is right for me?
Try a small real version of the work before committing: shadow someone for a day, take a short course, volunteer, or do a small project. How it feels in practice tends to tell you more than months of thinking.
What is career prototyping?
An idea from Bill Burnett and Dave Evans's book Designing Your Life: you test a possible path with small, low-cost experiments, like conversations or short experiences, before making a big commitment.
How can I try a new career without quitting my job?
Pick something small you can do on evenings, weekends or a day off: a short course, a volunteer shift, a side project, or a day shadowing someone in the field.
Why this works, and where it comes from
Big career questions tend to get worked on in our heads, and heads are unreliable about work we haven't done. We picture the interesting parts and skip the rest. Doing the work for a day shows you the parts you'd never think to imagine. An afternoon shadowing a nurse, a weekend building a small app, a shift at a food bank: each shows you the pace, the people and the dull parts, which is where most of your days would be spent.
Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, in their book Designing Your Life, call these prototypes: quick, cheap experiments, either conversations with people who do the work or short experiences of it, built to ask one question and get real information back. In their framing, a prototype is about asking a good question and surfacing your assumptions, not proving the idea right.
That's why the question matters so much. An experiment built to answer “should I change careers?” can't answer anything; one built to answer “would I enjoy explaining things to a room of strangers?” can. Writing notes the day after, while the feeling is fresh, protects you from the tidier story you'll tell yourself a month later. And stopping is a perfectly good result. People who try a small version and walk away have learned the lesson at a fraction of the price.
If you don't yet know which direction to test, this comes too early. Start with what draws you, what you'd love more of, or what you'd do if a few constraints disappeared, and come back once there's a direction in mind. Some paths look like they can only be taken as a leap. A full-time degree can't be tried for a day, but a single evening class in the same subject can.
Other simple things to consider
More in Changing jobs
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Written by Truest, based on Designing Your Life (Bill Burnett and Dave Evans). Last updated October 2, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.