Did I choose the Right Career? How to Find the Answer
The fact that you’re reading this article is already a sign you may have selected the wrong profession. However, you’re not done yet; you should check a couple of aspects before deciding to switch careers.
Choosing a career could be one of the most challenging decisions to make. It’ll affect your entire future. However, you don’t necessarily need to stay in your current career if it doesn’t make you feel happy or prosperous. Today we’re going to help you answer the question: “Did I choose the right career?”
Ask Yourself the Right Questions
Before deciding to switch your career as a nurse to become a software developer or sales manager, ask yourself the right questions. Make sure to make some introspection about your current career. Some people may dive into a particular career only for emotional impulses. However, when they need to face critical situations, they feel that they’ve chosen the wrong profession, but the truth is that they never analyzed everything that career involves.
When choosing a career or deciding to switch to a different one, you need to be thoughtful and analytical. Consider doing some self-reflection with these questions:
Do You Feel Motivated?
Motivation is one of the most important aspects of a successful career. If you no longer feel motivated, your field and productivity may descend. Therefore, your possibilities of having a successful career may be affected.
Motivation is also related to passion and happiness. If you no longer have reasons to go to work, whether it is career advancement recognition or the fact that you enjoy your job, it means you may be in the wrong career.
Yet, motivation could also be lost due to other external factors like having a bad job. For example, you may feel demotivated because you don’t feel compensated at your current job, or you have to sacrifice family time. In this case, it doesn’t mean you need to stop being a Data Scientist, for instance, you just need to find a better job.
Do You Feel Like Yourself in This Career?
Sometimes we could also choose a career only because it offers a good salary. Although having a high salary is important, you should also feel happy in your career. Choosing the right career means it should align with your values. If you can’t emphasize with your current career, you will never feel comfortable.
For example, some people don’t feel comfortable working as a Digital Marketer because they think they’d be convincing people to buy products they don’t even know. Or they don’t like to be a sales manager because they don’t feel happy by selling products or services.
These are great examples of people who don’t feel compatible with their careers. If this is something that happens to you, maybe you should consider switching careers.
Is This Something You’d Like to do Long-Term?
As we commented above, sometimes, we make decisions based on emotion instead of analytical thinking. Therefore, we could select a career where we don’t picture ourselves in the long-term. If you don’t see yourself in the long-term with your current career, then it’s time to look for something else.
What to do if Your Current Career Isn’t for You
If you have all the symptoms we’ve mentioned, then it’s time to switch careers. This is a challenging process and could be very difficult at first, but once you’ve found the right match, it may become the best decision you’ve ever made.
The first thing you should do is to evaluate different careers. Check each one and make sure to select one that makes you happy. If you don’t want to study for a bachelor’s degree, you could always try taking a bootcamp. Bootcamps are shorter and usually more up-to-date than most college degrees.
Conclusion
Realizing you’re in the wrong career could be hard and very challenging. However, it shouldn’t stop you from going after your dreams. If you ever feel you’re not in the right career, take a step back and make some introspection. This way, you’ll be able to move forward with the right decision.