I've switched careers from culinary to IT. I have about 4 years of prior IT experience before I went to culinary, but I found a position that was too good to pass up. I get to work from home or in-office whenever I want, it's salary compared to hourly, everything infrastructure wise is set up so neatly, the company pays for my medical and dental insurance, and I jumped about $11k a year by taking this position.
I learned yesterday that they actually hired two of us. The other person would be starting on the 16th. I was told they didn't really have the work load currently for two of us, but that he felt it would be better to hire both of us, give us that space to get comfortable and learn everything before it gets busier (the company is currently growing).
I couldn't be happier with this career change, and screw the manager at my last job who kept scheduling me on days that I told him I couldn't work due to commitments with my step-son.