Five Signs That Your Current Career Isn’t Right for You

When To Consider A Transition

Lift and Shift Foundation
Lift & Shift: The Bridge
4 min readMar 22, 2021

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Our friends at Career Karma had a few things to say about navigating career transitions. We were listening, and now we’re here to share their thoughts.

Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash

Having a full-time job can either be fulfilling or depressing, depending on your perspective. Most people want to chase their passion but not everyone is privileged enough to have a passion that can generate income. Some people have worked for years but aren’t sure if their job is the right fit for them. Since you’re reading this piece, you probably fall into one of these categories. There are many things you can do to find the right career path but you need to be sure that you’re making the right decision about your current job. Below are five signs that you’re in the wrong profession:

1. It Brings Out the Worst in You

You need to stay away from anything that brings out the worst in you. It doesn’t matter if it’s a friendship, a romantic relationship, or a job. You should feel completely secure and comfortable with your job. It should bring out the best in you rather than the worst. If you always freak out, feel stressed, angry, and anxious when you’re at work, you might be in the wrong profession. Find out why you feel this way about your job. If it’s the people you work with, you might only need to change the company. If it’s the job itself that brings out the negativity and not just the office, you might need to change careers entirely.

2. You Have No Opportunity for Advancement

If you’re going to chase a career, you should give it your all and lookout for opportunities for advancement. Every worker needs career advancement to feel accomplished. If your job doesn’t give you any real opportunity for this, you should consider doing something about it. If the only thing blocking your progress is the right qualification, you can fix that by getting certified in a relevant field. For example, a person who needs tech skills to make progress at work can enroll in an online bootcamp on Computersciencehero.com, take a relevant tech course, and use the knowledge to move forward. If you have all the required qualifications but you still can’t advance in your career, you might need to apply your skills somewhere else.

3. You’re Driven By Fear Instead of Passion

As stated above, most people want to follow their passion for a living but not everyone has the chance. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t attempt to follow your passion. You might not be doing your dream job but you need to have some passion for any career you decide to pursue long-term. No matter what happens, don’t maintain a career just because you’re afraid of taking the steps required to chase your passion. If you’re afraid to leave your job because you don’t think you can get a new one, you’re probably in the wrong career. Let passion drive you even when it’s not your dream job.

4. You’re Not Reaching Your Full Potential

Do you feel underutilized in your workplace? Do you spend hours each day picturing how much better your life would be if you had a job that lets you reach your full potential? If you don’t feel like your job allows you to use your most prominent gifts, you should consider taking a new career path. Using your skills and knowledge will make you feel valuable in the workplace. It also gives you the chance to always improve. You shouldn’t be satisfied with doing something that doesn’t make you feel valuable.

5. You Think it’s Time for a Change

If you’ve spent a lot of time in one career and you feel like it’s time for a change, you should consider taking the leap. If you still have many work years left, try and make the best use of these by mixing things up and trying something different. Just make sure that you have a solid financial plan before you make any rash decisions about your current employment status.

Bottomline

Your career is a big part of your life. So, when things aren’t going well at work, it’s going to affect every other aspect of your life, including your relationship with others. You might end up depressed and mentally strained if you continue with a job that isn’t right for you. Having a job shouldn’t just be about paying the bills or satisfying the needs of those around you. It should be about finding yourself.

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