A few months ago, after I announced that I had quit my job to change my career path, I kept hearing the same comments from colleagues and friends: “Had I known it would be this way, I never would have chosen it,” “You’re lucky, you still have time, it’s too late for me,” “I wish I could also go back, I would’ve done it differently.” Their words made me wonder if career regret is really this widespread? To find out, I studied Lebanese professionals and discovered that 51% reported they would choose a different career if given the chance.

So I asked myself, why don’t people just change careers if they’re unhappy? The reality is that change is far harder than expected. Companies today demand highly specialized degrees and skills, making career mobility increasingly limited. In fact, 60% of those who managed to change careers had to update their skillset, often at significant cost, while 92% of those who failed to change believed a different degree would have set them on the right path.

Most career choices are made at age 17, when students have no exposure to the professional world. Without proper guidance, they make decisions based on perceptions rather than facts, which often leads to regret. To address this, I looked at the role of career counseling. Students who received counseling had career expectations that matched reality, while those without it faced unpleasant surprises. Yet more than 63% of students never received counseling simply because it was not offered.

We concluded that we need to make counseling systemic; it needs to be passed into law: all schools must provide this service, and all students must attend to graduate. 

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The change starts now.