How to Recognize its Time for a Career Change
Take a minute to visualize your dream job when you were a kid. What was it? Is it still your dream job? Or has it changed? Chances are, what you thought would be your career for the rest of your life is quite different now. The thought of staying in the same career for your entire life is unfathomable these days. However, the fact that more and more people are changing careers than in past generations, doesn’t make taking the leap any less intimidating.
Changing careers feels like taking a blow to your ego…and your pocketbook. But I can assure you it's worth the effort. That doesn't mean it's easy to let go of the amount of time, effort, and money it took to get where you are. Not to mention the rewards, including a decent paycheck and job security.
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Mary Oliver, said: Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?. If your job doesn't light your fire, it's time to take the leap.
Here are some surefire signs you're ready to move on:
You have a bad case of the Sunday scaries…every Sunday. A LinkedIn survey of 3,000 workers found that 80% of them experience the Sunday scaries—they dread going back to work the next day. Some have physical symptoms like headaches, stomach aches, and depression. This dread can come from being overwhelmed at work, overworked, lack of sleep, or other stressors. If it's your career that's causing stress, it might be time to make a change.
You can't picture it. If you don't see yourself in your current career when you envision your future self, that's cause for a career move. We're human. Our likes and dislikes change over time as we change. You may have had an amazing career up until now. But it's no longer working, and that's OK.
You ask yourself: Is this it? Does your gut sink just a little when you think you've hit your potential? Your career is not what you thought it would be, and you feel like you're at a dead end. Well, you might be. If the results of your hard work are not what you envisioned and you believe you can do more or that there's so much more out there for you, explore that. Say "see ya" to your dead-end job.
You feel underutilized. This is probably one of the most frustrating feelings. You know what your talents are, yet they're not being utilized to their full potential. You may feel pigeonholed or underappreciated. Changing jobs might help, but don’t rule out changing careers.
Your priorities shifted. Proving yourself at the office is no longer igniting the fire in your belly. The stress of your career and your schedule is no longer sustainable. If there's one thing the pandemic did, it shifted our priorities. Statistics show that 87% of employees consider health and wellness benefits before accepting a job offer. But well-being is not the only reason your priorities may have shifted. Whatever the reason, if you find work less and less pleasurable, it might be because what you valued when you started your career is different now.
So, what will you do with your wild and precious life? Stay stuck? I'm reminded of a story I heard about a man who was trying to talk his friend into skydiving with him. His friend was letting fear hold him back. Finally, the man said to his friend, “You should just try it. You might like it.”
Don't let fear hold you back. Find the courage to jump (with all the safety equipment, please!). You just might like where you land.