How to gracefully change jobs...and to what??

I am currently employed in specialty retail, and manage the sales floor, the mobile sales, as well as the ecommerce site. LOTS TO DO!! I like my current job, but am getting bored. There is no more room for advancement, and certainly no increase in my tiny salary. And, I'm friends with my boss, coworkers, etc. If %26amp; when I do leave, it will leave a giant hole, as I have many responsibilities - it would honestly take 3 more people to do what I do.



Like I said - pay is low (20K), no room to grow, and no retirement. I really do need to leave - cannot afford to work here! But, how to leave without breaking relationships?



And, although I'm good a many things, I don't really excel in any... I'm still looking for ';what I want to be when I grow up!'; and I'm 32!!! I'm either overqualified, or don't have the necessary experience for a new career, other than entry-level. Any ideas? Especially from the Cleveland crowd?How to gracefully change jobs...and to what??
I hear ya... I';m kind of going thru the same thing!



Best thing is to get your resume cleaned up %26amp; look on Monster or other local job boards (you'r newspaper should have some!), and get it out there!



Especially on Monster, you'll never know who looks at the resumes, and what call's you'll get. Possibly a cool relocation for a job you never thought of!!



If guarding your relationship with coworkers - have a lunch with your boss, and explain things - you don't want to give 2 weeks notice %26amp; leave them high %26amp; dry! Discuss working from home, or on a PT basis while you look, or while they find a new person %26amp; have you train them. If you are really friends, you're boss will understand, and will want what's best for you, not just the Co.



Good luck!How to gracefully change jobs...and to what??
I was 35 when I made a complete career change. I actually make less money, but I have time to do some of the things I enjoy. First you need to ask yourself, what do you like to do. If you do what you enjoy, you will do much better as opposed to something you do just for the money. Do you like to work with people? What kind of people? Grown-ups. Kids. Teenagers. Do you like to work with tools or computers. You sound energetic, so you may want to pursue a career where you get paid by the amount of results, you may do very well. It does require some serious thought, and look hard into all of your possible choices and see what is involved to get you where you want to eventually end up. Hope this helps.
I left my former job gracefully. I loved the job and the people, but I hated the location (Podunk, DE). I told my boss that I was going to look for a job in another state, and I told him why. He appreciated the honesty.



A recent job, I hated the boss, people, politics, etc. I told them that I was leaving because I was changing career fields (which I didn't). I gave 2 weeks notice and it was very friendly.
Hi,



Sounds like you need to go to a career counselor. I was very skeptical at first also, afraid that they would tell me I would be the best couch potato or something. But they really helped me.



I also checked out this website my career counselor told me about: http://www.jobpodge.com



It's a site of people's real life job experiences. It gave me an idea of what people do without having to go through hard to find informational interviews. Maybe it will work for you too. Good luck!