Mrs Nelson said it was a double-edged sword as employers were currently less likely to take on people new to an industry.
"Companies are saying to us 'give us someone who can hit the ground running'. They have not got the means to spend time and resources re-educating people so now is not a good time. And it's an employers' market at the moment, they can pick and choose."
The advice for anyone considering a career change was to undertake a lot of preparatory work.
"If a candidate did come in to us wanting to change career, we would support them, but we would advise them to consider it very carefully first," said Mrs Nelson.
"Do your research, talk to a lot of people, perhaps do voluntary work experience, training in your own time; prepare thoroughly so that you're ready when you wanted to do it. It's about being realistic about the timing."
Simon Oldham, international and corporate business development manager at Tauranga's QJumpers, said he felt while the basis of the survey was correct, again the timing might not be.
"I think that's more of an indication of thinking rather than what people are actively doing right now. I don't know if seven out of 10 is accurate, but as for considering a career change throughout people's lives, yes definitely, a lot of people would and do."
Mr Oldham said tough economic times might even be forcing the issue rather than it being an active decision. "There are two aspects really. In hard times such as these, with employers cutting back and looking at costs, there are quite a number of people being made redundant. In that instance, you might not have any option other than to look at different industries.
"Secondly, even if you are one of the ones who still has a job, you might be in a greatly reduced team, so you are working longer hours with a greater workload and responsibility."
Andrew leaps from construction to websites
I'm enjoying it and know that this was the right move for me. One man who has made the move is Andrew Aitchison, formerly a construction sector project manager with Arrow International, and now a website developer at QJumpers.
The 38-year-old, who had been involved in the building of Hamilton's Te Awa Shopping Centre, said construction opportunities had slowed during the downturn.
It was that lack of work, and a desire to remain in Tauranga, which prompted the move.
Having previously worked in IT, Mr Aitchison proved that possessing a range of skills was advantageous in a slow job market.
"I had been involved in programming for eight years out of university, here and in the UK, but left that and moved to the construction industry for six years.
"At the time, I found the fast-paced nature of programming, where languages were constantly changing and you were having to update your skill sets every two or three months, was just a bit too much.
"But things have settled down and, actually, they are still using a lot of the same applications as when I left."
The transition back to programming was eased for Mr Aitchison, who joined QJumpers just two weeks ago, by his decision to undertake a graduate diploma in computing at the Bay of Plenty Polytechnic. He said he had not regretted his decision to change career paths.
"It certainly is a different environment but I'm enjoying it and know that this was the right move for me."
