What Factors Tell You It’s Time for a Career Change?
What Factors Tell You It’s Time for a Career Change?
Feel stuck in your current job? Bored? Under-challenged? Dread Mondays? Think you are not doing what you meant to do with your career? If this sounds a bit like you, you can do something about it. If your professional life is bordering on the miserable, then it is time to start exploring your career options … After all, you have only one life, and you are in control of it. Or not. That’s your choice.
We have compiled five factors which will indicate whether or not you should seriously consider a change in your job or career track.
Too much roteness in your work.
We nearly all face occasional boredom at work – but that feeling should be temporary. If you are bored more than a few days a week, if you find the work to often is challenging yet somehow tedious and mundane, you need to think about making a change. If you are bored now, it doesn’t get better over time! The more you master your craft, the more you are put in a silo, the more boring it becomes. This depletes your creativity and energy so that when you finally do get home, you feel exhausted and struggle every morning to get out of bed to get ready to go to office. Success Story: One of our clients went from being a litigator to being the Chief of Staff for an international firm. “I love it,” he told us. “No two days are ever the same.”
Work is challenging but unfulfilling.
You may be good at your job … maybe even gifted … but at the end of each day you don’t feel connected to the outcomes you have produced. Your work is lacking meaningfulness. Deep inside, you know that you are not living a life of purpose, and you job is not really reflecting who you are or what you want from life. Your family and friends may think you have it made … but you don’t! When you feel your work isn’t accomplishing things you feel are worthwhile, it’s a sign you should start exploring making a change. Success Story: One of our clients went from being a partner in a law firm to becoming the Executive Director of a non-profit agency dedicated to a cause about which he feels deeply.
You catch yourself wishing you had a different job.
If you find yourself envying the jobs that other people have, or if you sometimes browse through Indeeed.com just to see what else is “out there,” then you seriously need to start thinking about what interests you. You often feel jealous when you come across an article or mention of a person in a different kind of job, wishing the article should have been about you. Success Story: We had a client who really loved computers and technology. She transitioned from being an intellectual property attorney to doing computer programming and system development.
You work only for money but aren’t having any fun.
Let’s face it. Money is important. But so, too, is quality of life, working with people in a collegial atmosphere, being engaged by your work, feeling good about what you are doing, and pretty much being happy most days about your career. Unfortunately, many lawyers mistakenly believe that they can’t make as much money doing something else, so they endure their days just to get that big paycheck. But the reality is our clients nearly always transition into jobs paying more money than they were making as lawyers. Success Story: Our client, an unhappy, unappreciated associate at an international law firm, increased her already good salary by $40,000 when she transitioned into a new role in professional development.
Your self-esteem is dwindling.
Self-esteem is something that propels us forward, personally and professionally. If you don’t believe in yourself, it is hard to get others to believe in you. Clients. Bosses. Girlfriends. Spouses. Potential employers. Law is not a “nice” profession: Bosses second-guess you or give good assignments to others. Clients complain behind your back. Partners look at you sideways when your billings are down. You lose one lousy case and it wipes out all of your past victories. I have had many lawyer clients whose self-confidence was in the toilet. If you find yourself in the middle of nowhere regarding making decisions at the work, are second-guessing yourself, worried about how you are being seen by your colleagues, and are negative about any growth possibilities, then it’s time to move on to something new that will rekindle your inner strength and restore your self-confidence. Success Story: We had a client who was in the self-esteem basement after having been beaten up by her partners when a case went bad. She was held to blame even though she had told them at the very beginning the case was doomed and they shouldn’t take it. She is now with a new law firm, in a brand new practice area, and is excited about applying her past skills in this new direction. She’s back!
How we help.
We take a crawl-walk-run approach at Career Strategies Group. Taking the first step with us does not commit you to making a career or job change; it only commits you to looking at some of the possibilities. We start by applying a structured system to help identify your realistic career options. By realistic, we mean jobs that –, based on our assessment tools — you will like, have the transferrable skills to do, can get hired to do, and can get paid what you need to be paid. We will come up with a short list and talk through the possibilities with you. We almost always identify jobs that our clients didn’t know existed, or that they knew about but didn’t think they were qualified to do.
If one of the options really strikes a chord with a client, then they can move forward and have a resume prepared. If none of the options are appealing, or if the timing isn’t right, they can elect to stay where they are. There’s no pressure.
Going for a career change is not easy … but it’s not all that hard, either, if you are willing to face your fears, roll up your sleeves, and keep moving forward. We’ve helped several thousand people just like you find career paths they enjoy and feel good about. Call today for a free initial discussion about your career and job goals. We will let you know if we can help you.