Do you want to switch careers but have no idea where to start? This blog will help you identify when to switch careers and how to know if you've chosen the right career for yourself.
When you’re eighteen, you believe you have life all figured out which means you know which career you’d like to go for. You know why you’re going to college and what kind of job you would be looking for once your degree is completed.
Hence, you know which companies to interview with right from the get go. You have mapped out your career path and you will follow it.
Right?
If only real life was this linear. Chances are you will land a good job and you will be happy for a while. Maybe you’ll be comfortable for the rest of your life. But sometimes…just sometimes…you might catch yourself daydreaming about what kind of life you would be leading if you decided to switch careers.
"Opportunities don't happen, you create them." - Chris Grosser
5 Signs You Need to Switch to a New Career
Despite everything looking amazing on paper, there is a chance that if you’re in the same job for too long and you might be longing for change. So watch out for the following 5 signs that would tell you when you might look towards changing your career.
1. Lack Of Excitement Regarding Work
If you’re doing the same thing over and over again, chances are that you’re bored of going into work. You feel apathetic towards the tasks assigned to you. You’ve grown quite complacent in your current role too. There’s also the dreadful feeling that you’re adding any value to your current career. There’s always a feeling of lacking energy and never being excited about anything. Your brain at work is always bored with the jobs asked of you.
2. Sunday Night Blues
When you dread going into work so much, you actually start worrying about the next morning during Sunday Night. You think about worst case scenarios, you fantasise about things going wrong at work - and you physically dread going into the office/logging into work on Monday morning.
3. It’s Not About the Money
Your current job role might be paying you well but you’re still unsatisfied by the work. You believe that if it wasn’t for the fact it’s a comfortable paycheck, you would be out there looking for a career change. If you have always felt that you talents are not being utilised properly, or you feel haunted by the fact that there is a much better career opportunity out there for you - it’s definitely a sign for you to change your career.
Related Article: Would you change your career for the same money?
4. There’s No Work-Life Balance
When the job begins to affect your personal life that is when most people know it’s time to call it quits. There’s no point staying at a company in a career you’re deeply unhappy with. A majority of people look into switching careers because they’re looking for a work-life balance.
5. You’re Reading This Blog
You might have come across this blog post by chance. But if you’re reading it and you’re here it means you’ve constantly daydreamed and thought about changing your career. Other factors would also support this view.
There is nothing wrong with realising at age 30, 35, 40, or at even 50 that you would like to try doing something else with your life. That is the right step towards changing your career.
When You're Sure You Want To Switch Your Career, What Should You Do Next?
One of the best advice that we can give you is don’t quit your job the minute you realize that isn’t what you want. Unless you have the savings for the next six months, it is unwise to let go of a stable source of income.
Instead, do this -
1. Get Specific About What's Not Working
When you pinpoint why something isn’t working for you, you’ll know what you would like to change. That becomes your guiding point towards figuring out where you would like to go next. If you like your current role but not the company, maybe it’s time to change the company. Not your entire role. It’s your life and your career choice - you should be confident of the choice you want to make.
2. Consider Your Core Values
In order to thrive somewhere, your core values need to be aligned. You will never be happy working in a company where you’re pretending to be someone other than yourself. Get clear about what you will allow and what you want to tolerate. Then find an industry/company that believes in the same thing you do.
3. Assess Your Strengths & Upskill Yourself
If you would like to move to a new career altogether, see if you have necessary skills for it. In case there is a skill gap, use the time to learn and then apply for the new job. Never dismiss the opportunity to enroll yourself in a new course because it might take too long. The time will pass, anyway. But at least this way once the time passes you’d have the skills that you need.
4. Grow Your Network
Once you’ve identified the career path you’d like to explore, increase your network. LinkedIn is a great place for that. Reach out to people in the industry you’re interested in and ask if you can have an informational interview with them. This way you’ll know if you’re a good fit or not.
5. Develop And Execute Your Plan
And finally, we all know no career plan ever works unless you develop it and assign a timeline to it. When you’ve identified what your next steps would be, pick an end date, work backwards and identify the milestones for your career switch plan.
In case you were still wondering if a career change is right for you, we hope this article helped.
One of the biggest signs of knowing that a career switch is indeed what you need is the feeling you have once you’ve made your decision. If you feel relieved and happy - you’ll know you’ve made the right call!
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