When you think about it, we choose our careers at an incredibly young age. Before the time when we’re able to drink in the vast majority of states, most of us will have chosen a course that will dictate how we live the rest of our lives. So we’re old enough to make a life-defining decision, but not enough to have a drink to celebrate it. Put like that, it’s almost madness, isn’t it?
The fact is that what you wanted to do when you were 18 and choosing your degree subject might not be what you want to do five, 10, or even 30 years later. You can find yourself immersed in a career that does nothing for you. The dreams you had of what it would be like to work in your chosen industry evaporate, and you find yourself struggling with a reality that is nothing like you imagined.
The problem is that most people assume… well, tough. You made your choices; it’s the career version of making your own bed and having to lie in it. Conventional wisdom would tell you – along with an enthusiastic “hooray” for you making your own choices – to just change your career. As if it’s that simple; as if most careers don’t require years of work to enter into them.
Then there is the purely practical problem, too. Few of us reach a stage where we don’t need to earn a paycheck. How can you continue to earn with your chosen job, while training to do another on a full-time basis? It’s nigh-on impossible, especially if you have dependants such as children that you are responsible for.
However…
There’s no doubt that the idea of just being stuck with your job isn’t an attractive one. Even if you have your realization when you’re 50, you’re still looking at another 15 years of work before you can leave. When we are constantly told that life is too short and we have to seize the moment, the idea of working in an occupation that leaves you so totally cold can seem impossible.
So what can you do – that doesn’t involve abandoning your life as you know it and going without money entirely?
Let’s set up a few case studies, the lessons from which you can extrapolate to your own experience based on which circumstance suits you best.
Mark – Mark is a healthcare worker, which he enjoys, but he doesn’t feel challenged or tested anymore. He wants something different; something new; something he is going to be excited to get up in the morning to do. He is married but has no children.
Michelle – is a lawyer, earning good money, but absolutely hates her job. She is married with children, and she and her husband both need to be earning a good salary to allow them to afford their existing lifestyle.
Greg – works for a production company, in a role he doesn’t much like and isn’t as exciting as he hoped. He and his partner hope to have children within the next 12 months, but don’t feel they can currently afford it.
So, let’s examine the options in more detail.
- Quit Work And Go Back To School
Change your life entirely, or so the inspirational posters and quotes go. Do what you love. So what would happen if our three examples did just that?
Mark – with no dependants, he’s more able to make this decision, but he still needs to fund it. He could saddle himself with a student debt for full-time study, only to find he hates that career too.
Michelle – this simply isn’t an option for Michelle. She and her husband could cut back from their lifestyle, but they only enjoy a moderate middle-class life, so it would feel like a backward step. Besides, she already has an education and it’s not brought her much joy.
Greg – Greg, with no children and in a competitive industry, is best suited to this choice. If his partner can help to support him – or he can do part-time work on the side – then he’d be best totally retraining. He’d be best to pick something very specific; a niche he can specialize in rather than something generic that might not lead to job opportunities. He might need to work for six months and save hard to fund the education, but this is the best choice for him.
- Improve Your Current Career
For Mark, this is a viable option. Rather than remaining in generic healthcare, he could look to specialize without having to go back to education on a full-time basis. He could look for BLS certification if he would like to work more with emergency cases, or even try CBT training for a move into mental health. He has plenty of options to improve his current role to something that he finds more palatable on a daily basis, so this is his best choice.
Michelle – this is tougher for Michelle, who already has the qualifications she needs. With some careers – such as law – there isn’t much change possible unless you move into another area. This, however, tends to require full retraining which as discussed is not an option in this circumstance.
Greg – Sometimes, the only way to improve your current career is to train further to develop it. As Greg has been working in a more general role, he could specialize, but there might not be much he can do without a return to full education.
- Change Where You Work
Sometimes, the suggestion is very simple: keep your job largely the same, but do it in a new place.
Mark – he might find this difficult. Healthcare work is much the same the world over, which means after the initial novelty has worn off he’s going to find himself in much the same situation as he did before. Unless he was moving for a promotion or to take on more responsibilities, it’s probably best for the sake of job security that he stays where he is.
For Michelle however, this might be the best route. When you work in a high-impact career that has a tendency to bleed into all areas of your life, sometimes a change of scenery is just what you need to help improve your circumstances. You might find that though the work is similar, there are new clients, new experiences, new colleagues, and a new working environment to adapt to. This could be by far the best choice for her, especially as she won’t have to take a gap in her wages for such a move. It would still be a career in a similar field, but even just a change in the clients she interacts with could be enough to reinvigorate her. There’s also the chance that another role in another company might lead to further opportunities to investigate different areas, so given her life and experience circumstance, this is likely to be the best choice for her.
Greg – may not fare so well in this situation. Production is a difficult industry, and is notorious for jobs not being particularly reliable – this is true for many careers. There’s also a shortage of jobs for qualified people; you may find the same in your career path. If there’s a sense that anyone having a job in that industry is a good thing, then it’s usually going to be best to hang on to it for as long as possible. While you can look for other roles, you have to ask yourself if there is going to be enough fundamental change in the job itself to make it worthwhile.
There Is Always An Option
As the above is meant to demonstrate, you always have an option. It might not be the total career change that you want, but this is usually constrained by choices and the need to provide for others. If you’re in this situation, just livening things up by working for someone different could be just what you need.
There’s also the fact that your choices are dictated by the industry you’re in terms of availability. For some industries – such as productive, the arts, and anything creative – you’re not necessarily going to be able to find another role. If you’re truly miserable in these fields, then retraining is probably the best decision for you.
Finally, remember that some jobs do offer a chance for progression that can give you the boost of excitement you need. You might be able to work with your current employer to achieve a bet
ter certification or move sideways into a different field by qualifying for something new alongside your existing work.
So you chose the wrong career – so what? There’s no need to just grit your teeth and hope the future is going to be bearable. If the motivational posters have got anything right, it’s that life genuinely is too short for that. Don’t force yourself to do something you abhor when there’s always something you can do to improve your circumstance.
