Seven Tips if Your Career Isn't For You

Many people think about changing careers, but they don’t know where to start. They let fear and other people’s opinion made them stay in a career that isn’t for them. If you are in this group of people, here is some advice for you.

1. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

Everyone is different, and the time it takes to reach each stage in life varies from person to person. Maybe you have friends that are happy with their career and already reached their career goals, but that doesn’t mean that you are less successful or accomplished because you haven’t. So, don’t compare yourself to others when trying to make a decision.

Changing careers is something that will possibly change the rest of your life. And when making the decision, you cannot rely on what others have done. You could end up taking the advice of someone happy with their career and realize later that that profession isn’t for you either.

You have to base this decision on your own feeling, likes, dislikes, and passion. Only then will you own the change and probably be successful at the end.

2. Do Some Soul searching

The following advice is on par with the first one—focus on yourself instead of others. You have to know precisely what you want to make this decision. You probably have the wrong career because you didn’t know what you wanted then, or simply your taste has changed in the last few years, and now you have different priorities.

So, the first thing you should identify is what your priorities in life are. If your most important focus is to make more money, spend more time with your family, help others with your work, or do anything else you want, this will be the primary objective when choosing your next career.

If you want to devote more time to family, you may choose a flexible career or even a remote one to make this happen. Second, you have to identify what your passion is. What are you passionate about doing and will love to make into a career? At least, you should know what things you like to do and which you hate.

Knowing these things will guide you in making the right decision. If you don’t know where to begin, you can start with a career quiz that gives you insight into your strengths, weaknesses, and personality traits, and to which career you will adapt better.

3. Let Go of Fear

Another thing that you have to hear if you haven’t already is to let go of the fear. Maybe, you’ve been thinking about changing careers for some time now and haven’t done it because you are scared of failure. But staying in a job you hate will only bring negative consequences in your life.

You will have poor performance at work for starters because your heart isn’t in it. You will have extra stress because you don’t like what you are doing, and you will be in a bad mood, which will affect other parts of your life. The extra stress could also cause different health issues.

So, let go of fear and embrace the change instead. You can start the process while still in your old career and leave it when you already have a good opportunity waiting. You could do it with a part-time online course and acquire the necessary skills for the new profession.

4. Which Skills You Can Benefit from

Another advice will be to take into account the skills you already have. When you are a career changer, you don’t have to start from zero like a regular entry-level professional that hasn’t had their first experience in the corporate world. Instead, you already have some experience that gives you skills like collaboration, teamwork, communication, and more.

These abilities are transferable, and you can use them in your new career. You can highlight them when applying for your next job and mention how you learned them in your previous employment. An employer will consider them even if you don’t have experience in the industry.

5. Everything Can Be Learned

Another thing that may be stopping you from making the change is that you don’t want to go back to university to start a new career. The reality is that nowadays, not all trades require bachelor’s degrees. Some don’t even need a certification, but if they do, going back to study isn’t the only option.

You can choose to learn by yourself and gain experience by finding freelance projects. If you don’t mind going back to school, then you can get a professional certification that will get you the necessary skills in a few months instead of the years you have to put into a bachelor’s degree. Coding bootcamps, for example, offer courses to learn tech skills in four to eight months, depending on the skill and your availability.

6. Plan Ahead

Before quitting your current job, you should plan how you will do your career transition. You have to determine which career you want, how you will acquire the skills, and how you will support yourself until you find a new job. Developing your new career skills could be expensive, depending on your choices, but even the cheapest options cost a few thousand dollars.

So, think about how you will pay for this before quitting. You will also need to dedicate some time to study, and this will take time from work. Plan ahead, so you have everything covered and can make the change go smoothly.

7. Explore Different Options

When considering a new career, you could also explore other less conventional options. Maybe you don’t want to work for others; instead, you want to follow your dream of being an artist. Take advantage of this change to explore the possibility of following your dream. Maybe creating your own business is possible, so explore these options before choosing a new career path.

In Summary

Changing careers is an individual decision that everyone should make on their own. You can’t let other people influence you on a different path; instead, own your choices and do it for yourself. Know what you love and hate, plan, let go of fear, and start learning what you need. By next year, you could be in the career of your dreams.