Career Change: Is It Time To Upgrade Your
Career?
Also: Do You Have The Perfect Job?,
Career Change: Does A Job For Life Still Exist?,
Career Change: Tips to Making the Move
A need for a career change is obvious. Your
health breaks down. The industry dissipates. Your job is
undeniably miserable.
Sometimes the need for a change is not so obvious, which
is why so many people stuck in the wrong jobs stay in them
for years and years, sometimes until retirement.
I have a friend named Lisa who has worked as a bank
teller for the past five years. She enjoys the work, but
admits that during the past couple of years, she’s felt
restless and bored. At first she thought it was a phase. But
this feeling of disenchantment hasn’t gone away, and in
fact, it’s getting worse.
When I suggested that it might be time for a change, she
brushed off the suggestion. For one thing, Lisa wasn’t
particularly skilled at anything else. She was good at her
job, and didn’t want to go off and be mediocre at something
else. Besides, nothing else she could do would pay any
better. And finally, waltzing off the job in search of
another was immature and reckless. The mature, sensible
course of action was to stick it out. Maybe things would get
better.
Or would they?
Maybe it was time for Lisa to reconsider her
whole notion of herself and her worklife. For
Lisa, a job was just a fact of life, like having
to brush her teeth or pay her bills. Sure, it
would be a bonus if work were actually pleasant,
but that certainly wasn’t part of the criteria.
As long as she was treated fairly and the work
wasn’t harmful, Lisa felt it was just plain
foolishness to wish for anything better.
However, Lisa did confess that there were some facets of
her job that were starting to annoy her more and more. The
zero tolerance for error was tiresome, even though she
understood that it was necessary in her position. She was
also frustrated because she had brought some ideas to her
boss, ideas that would improve customer service and save all
of the tellers a good deal of time and energy, but her boss
had pretty much told her that they weren’t looking to the
tellers for ideas.
Perhaps you’re in the same situation as Lisa. Many people
are. I was, once. And it eventually wears a person out. It
takes energy to force a good attitude day in and day out
when your heart just isn’t in it. It’s even harder to sink
into a bad attitude and have to struggle every day just
getting out of bed, knowing that another tiresome day is in
front of you.
What makes it especially difficult is that you might
think you have no right to feel this way. After all, you
should be grateful you have a job, right? And wouldn’t it be
easier to just learn to accept your current place in life
than have to struggle for something better, especially when
that something better isn’t guaranteed?
To help address those questions, here are some signs that
it’s probably in your best interest to consider a career
change:
Finding
a job you love and enjoy can be tough if you are going
through the process alone. The answers you are seeking
can also be delayed (sometimes taking years) if you do not
have courage, clarity, and a plan of attack.
All
valid questions to ask, but what happens in many cases is we
can’t seem to answer these questions by ourselves so we
get overwhelmed and then stop looking for the answers. This
is a recipe for disaster. Your career will not get better
until you make it better, and making a job change involves
your participation. Hate
Your Job And Want To Get Out? 4 Weeks To Your Dream Job!
Find out more.
- Little annoyances at work are now, for you, big
annoyances. The annoyances themselves haven’t changed, but
you find them increasingly intolerable.
- You feel underpaid and undervalued.
- Your job is not in alignment with your personal values.
- You’re disappointed with yourself. You had much greater
dreams for yourself when you were younger.
Certainly you have a hundred and one reasons why a career
change, or even just a job change, isn’t practical or
possible. However, if any of the four points listed above
resonate with you, do yourself a favor and consider the
idea.
You might ask how on earth a career change is possible.
Perhaps you don’t even know what you’d rather be doing
instead of what you’re doing now. You may not have the time
or money to go back to school or investigate other career
options.
The resources are out there. Go to any search engine and
type “Career change” and a cornucopia of resources will
appear. Visit the library and check out the career section.
Assure yourself that you can take your time, do the
research, and not rush into anything foolhardy.
True foolhardiness would be to squander away the years
working in a job that doesn’t fulfill you.
By the way, Lisa is in her second year at university now.
She’s majoring in Social Work.
Holly Zenith is a professional woman by day and
a netpreneur by night. Her mission is to help
women move forward in their lives and make their
dreams come true. Please visit her at
http://hollyzenith.com/sq.html
