For many individuals, there will come a point where their current career fails to satisfy their needs and wants. You may find yourself in this predicament. But, your fears of causing serious financial and lifestyle disruption is stopping you.
There are many who fear moving directions, and you know what happens? They continue to work in a field that they no longer hold passion for and it slowly chips away at their soul.
3 Reasons You Should Make A Career Shift
The signs will become apparent in time; it’s your choice to act on them that will allow you to move forward into a career that matches your desired lifestyle. Here are three reasons you should make a career shift:
1. You’re Underappreciated And Overworked
You provide a service to your company that makes them money; without you they can’t operate. This gives them no right to belittle your commitment and overwork you to the point of failure. They may want to cut corners and costs by loading additional work on you rather than hiring another to take over, but you shouldn’t have to deal with this, especially if you have the option to make a shift.
Things to keep in mind:
If your boss (or the company) begins pushing you beyond your moral boundaries
If the amount of work is making you physically sick
If you’re not being paid for the extra work
If they’re doing bait-and-switch (generally with promotions) and never delivering
Businesses launch each and every day; even in a shaky economy you will have the ability to find a new career if you have worked on building your skills. Sure, the new position may not pay as much at the last but at least you’re striving for a new goal with less stress and more satisfaction.
Choose the work that makes you happy, brings success, and makes you proud.
2. You Could Miss Your True Calling
Comfort is the path to stagnation; it’s when you come to a crawl (or full stop) that you no longer progress in your career because there is little to no incentive to learn new skills or put them to the test.
This is a possible outcome for ANYONE no matter how small the role or how powerful the position.
Take Yank Barry, for example. Barry got his start in the music industry, being part of the group The Kinsgmen and doing other projects, found his way into becoming the owner of a very successful soy product, and has teamed up with Muhammad Ali to create a remarkable charity; he’s even been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 and 2013.
Anyone in this type of situation would have been tempted to stay in place because it showed success but to people like Barry, that understand that you have to always move forward, it was clear that there was something more out there – a true calling.
The true calling that you seek can be any type of interest; it could be a beloved hobby, branch-off of an existing skill, or something completely opposite which you’ve always found intriguing.
The point is that we change (a lot) with each passing year and if we stick to what we do then we’ll never know what it could have been.
That’s not to say that we won’t see them stick around in some form or another but everything is changing at such a rapid rate that many individuals are being blind-sided by these dynamic changes to the point where they are left without a job thanks to the dying industry.
When you realize that there are technologies that are going to replace your work it’s time to consider going on the next leg of the journey. Robotics development and information automation have already brought industries down in flames and it will continue to be the case as long as these technologies advance. Likewise, a growing demand for instant satisfaction and delivery by consumers has reshaped how we do business.
The time to make the shift is the moment you realize you can be replaced; get the jump on others bailing from the industry by developing your skills to the fullest and finding ways to diverge from the work.
Your choice to change your career may be met with resistance from within; everything about your decision will have your mind screaming to go back because it’s trying to convince you that it won’t work out but more often than not… it does.
A shift in a career will happen for those that truly want to make it happen and no amount of mental blocks will stop the progress. Keep an eye out for the clear signs because they’re calling to you; missing them could be one of your biggest mistakes.
Want to learn more? Here are some related articles:
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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