Have you found yourself just ‘drifting’ along in your career recently? Are the days blending into one, so it just seems like a never-ending streak of the same old nine-to-five? If you are feeling uninspired by your job, then it might be time for a career change. With careers continuing longer in the modern work space, lots of people switch jobs and careers much more regularly than in the past. But should you make the change? It’s important to ask yourself some key questions when considering a different career path…

Are there opportunities where you are?
This might be a reason to change to another company, rather than switching to a completely different career path, but it’s still a question worth asking yourself semi-regularly. Where is your job taking you, and do you like that direction? Think about what the top of your career path might look like, and then try and imagine yourself doing that job. Is that what you want? If the answer is no, or you can’t picture it, then perhaps it’s time to reconsider.

Do you dread going in?
No one wants to get out of bed on a Monday morning and drag themselves to the office. But there’s a difference between the usual Monday morning blues, and your place of work making you truly miserable. If that feeling of not wanting to go in continues throughout the week, and you never seem to truly settle into your work, then it probably isn’t making you very happy.

Are you resilient?
There’s the potential for a lot of rejection ahead if you change career path. You need to have confidence in yourself and your abilities. Can you sell yourself? If your experience doesn’t directly translate to what you want to pursue, then you will have to talk up the work you’ve already done – and be prepared for setbacks.

Do you know what you want to do?
Sometimes the easiest way of doing this is to first work out what you absolutely don’t want to do. Are there tasks in your current work that you hate? What about it makes you want to move on? Once you’ve worked out what isn’t right for you, then it’ll be much easier to figure out what career you do want to do. For music lovers, you can check the multiple careers in the music industry on this site.

Can you gain experience?
Once you are clear on what it is that you’re interested in pursuing, can you get some experience in it? Whether you’re looking at careers in marketing, to selling academic furniture, there’s probably a way that you can gain some insight into the business. Contact anyone you know who might be able to give you some advice or guidance on how to move forwards.

Changing career isn’t easy, which is why so many people remain stuck in the same job when it is no longer serving them. If you want to take control and grab your future with both hands and the time is right for you then start looking into changing your career today!

TDP x