Some jobs just aren’t meant to last forever. You might have chosen your current position based purely on pragmatism, and after you’ve spent years grinding away, you probably discovered that your career isn’t nearly as fulfilling as you’d hope. You deserve a change. It’s hard to see real success in a career path that you don’t find engaging. Make the most of yourself and your skills by choosing a career path that will give you the room you need to learn and grow.
Think About What You Don’t Want
What lead you to explore other career paths? There were probably elements of your past jobs (as well as elements in your current job) that made the whole ordeal unappealing. A career path that eliminates the things that you saw as professional obstacles will be an improvement over your current career path. You don’t want to idealize a career path that will lead you to more of the same – the goal is to solve problems when you make the big switch.
Take a Career Test
You might have ideas about what you’d like to do, but you also may not understand how your potential paths may be relevant to your skillset. There are dozens of free career tests on the internet. You might be surprised by some of the results you find, so it helps to opt for a test that can offer you dozens of possibilities. The best place to start looking is where your ambitions overlap with your career matches. It’s the best of both worlds.
Look Outside of What’s Normal
If you really liked certain parts of a career you had before, but you felt that there were restrictions, rules, or red tape that prevented you from being able to innovate and become a stronger professional, look outside of the box. There are variants of all kinds of careers. If you worked at a restaurant but couldn’t stand the complicated menu and slow hours during the day, you might do better as a chef in a food truck. If being a corporate accountant felt grueling, you might have more fun connecting entrepreneurs with investors.
Ask Around
If you want to know a little more about what the inside of a prospective career path looks like, ask someone who’s already doing it for a living. Through professional social media networks, niche blogs, and message boards, you can probably find most of the information you’re looking for. If you have questions you can’t find answers to, you can always reach out. People who love their jobs are often happy to talk about them, and they’re even happier if their advice can help someone.
Break it Down into Bite Sized Pieces
If you’re looking to go from office clerk to CEO of a multinational corporation, it’s not as easy as sending out your resume and hoping for the best. Your end goal may be a while off, and you might need further education and diversity in your work experience along the way. Work down every aspect into small and manageable components. Are you interested in achieving each of the goals you’ll need to achieve to land the position of your dreams? Do you have the capability to do it? The best career path is one with a fulfilling journey.
While you may not land your dream job overnight, you won’t land it at all if you don’t carefully consider what it will take to get there and commit yourself to making progress. Even if it takes you a while to decide, it will be worth it in the end to have a job you truly love.
