The Dos and Don’ts of Adjusting Your Career Path

Feel miserable and unfulfilled at work? Think that you don’t get enough recognition? You’re not alone: as it turns out, nearly three-fourths of Americans are unhappy with their current job and in search of a new one. So if you catch yourself thinking about a change of direction, but don’t know where to start and what steps to take (and what to avoid), here are several tips.

Restore your emotional balance

If your current job has drained you to the point where you find yourself on the edge of mental breakdown, taking a deep breath and getting back on the right track should be the first task on your to-do list. You’ve got to climb out of the emotional pit before making any life-changing decisions, otherwise things can get even worse (as if they weren’t complicated enough already). Therapists, meditation, exhaustive workouts — everybody has their own way of coping with stress, so resort to something that suits you best.

Immediate resignation is never a good idea

Another important thing: even though pop-culture might teach the opposite, recklessly leaving your current job before working out a plan of further actions is a stupid, hot-headed move that rarely does anyone any good. Unless you happen to be the founder of some strange sort of men-only institution with a dissociative identity disorder, take your time to think everything through. And don’t burn bridges.

Ask yourself the important questions

You can’t do a successful career switch if you don’t know what you want. Do you consider a new job in the same industry or would you rather explore an entirely different career? What are your best skills? What are your values? What kind of thing do you really want to spend your time doing? Answering these questions will allow you to narrow down the list of professions you would like to try — the only thing you’ll need to do is to make the right choice. Just conduct an honest self-analysis.

Build your career roadmap

Finally, once you figure out what is that what you want to do, there’s one last step: hammering out a thorough plan. Say you want to transition from banking to ballet — how are you going to get there, what steps should you take (apart from purchasing a pair of tights)? Map out where you want to go, define concrete milestones — this way you’ll have a yardstick for measuring your progress. Just don’t stick to it too hard: things rarely turn out the way you plan them. Don’t be afraid to improvise.