Should I take up a 1 year contract job in a different industry for education to gain new skills or move to a similar role within my current industry?

It depends on your beliefs and how you want to live your life.

If learning and personal growth is more important than salary, and if you want to “future-proof” your job and skillset, then choose the option which will expose you to new skills.

I listened to a podcast, where the guest speaker was sharing how careers are not linear. Think of your job as a place to pick up different super powers, and the more super powers you collect, the better you become.

It’s not only the hard skills you pick up, but also the soft skills like promoting yourself, leadership skills, managing upwards etc.

The monetary compensation will then follow.

Of course, above advice also depends on which stage of life you’re at. If you have dependents and cannot take a pay cut (even for just a year), then you may have to find different ways to learn.

Good luck!