Why Career Change isn’t always the answer

I have a lot of women who come to me who are unhappy at work and don’t enjoy their job but it doesn’t mean that they hate the career they trained for. Career change is one option in helping you move forward in your own journey but it’s not the only answer. I have worked with many clients who fall out of love with their job but not the dreams and progression they had for their industry.

Career change isn’t for everyone

When I say career, change isn’t for everyone I mean this in the kindest possible way. When you change your career there are lots of elements at play. Money, training, realism and our future. This doesn’t mean changing your career is a pipe dream but what it does mean is that if you really want to change your career it needs to be because you don’t feel any love or passion for what you currently do.

I trained as a Career adviser over ten years ago now and I hit my first career road block when I went through redundancy. This made me question a lot about my abilities and my role overall as a Career adviser. I have seen a similar scenario play out with my clients. They train for a job they love but something happens to them to make them think that they don’t enjoy it anymore.

Sometimes a restructure can play in this. Life events like becoming a mum for the first time. Or your managers who don’t support you or even working in a toxic workplace culture. Many things can go against our idea of why we went into a particular career in the first place and make us question what we were so in love with it in the first place.

Career change in a way is an escape route for some but if you have no idea what careers you like or what to change into it can be hard to imagine it.

One of the main reasons that career change isn’t for everyone isn’t just about money. Sometimes it’s about the fact that you remember the reasons why you trained in a particular profession. This why is something you are emotionally attached to and hence still feel some level of passion for.  Some of my clients haven’t changed because they realised, they still love the career of a scientist, marketing consultant etc but they didn’t have good relationships with their colleagues and this is stopping them enjoying their career. Or that they are not valued for their skills or given respect or a space to thrive in a way they wanted to.

Don’t give up on your dreams

As we evolve in our lives we change as people and this means we want different things. The dreams you had when you trained as a doctor, lawyer or teacher etc. May not be what you envisioned and this disillusionment at work might be making you feel unhappy with your job rather then your overall career.

A lot of the time we need to feel valued at work and have a sense of recognition for the work we do. You have all trained for a particular profession and when you don’t feel valued at work you may give up on your career dreams. That dream could have been as simple as reaching a certain goal post or qualification but because you have been so busy working you feel overwhelmed and underappreciated and so haven’t done it.

An example of this could be you always wanted to study project management or do an MBA so you can reach a certain level in your industry and you haven’t had the time, space or respect at work to achieve such a goal. Your managers and colleagues on some level haven’t supported you or have felt too shy or too busy to ask for such opportunities.

If you want a young family or already have one you may feel the idea of you having a side business or changing your career is unrealistic and to a certain extent that may be true. However, are you letting others expectations of you stop your overall ambitions?

If you have been through a personal loss or illness and this means you need to take time off work. The emotional support you get from your friends and family will be important. It’s also crucial that your team, supervisor or manager also gives you emotional support. A lack of empathy for something that’s outside of your control may leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth turning into resentment. If others don’t support your dreams you need to focus on what will drive you, so you will achieve what you want.

Sometimes you may encounter troubles at work and not only do you love your profession you are awesome at it but others aren’t helping you flourish in the way you want to. This is where building resilience and working towards a newer route where you are still in your profession albeit tough for while will help you work towards the dreams you always had.

Donald Super the psychologist said people change their perspectives about their career because as you are redefining your career. You start look at things differently whilst going through life. This is what Super’s occupational career choice theory refers to as the establishment phase of your career.  This is when we are exploring our career options and trying to establish our career. This tends to happen between the ages of 25-44.

Try and take some time to remind yourself why you started this profession in the fist place take some time to journal about the love you had for it and look at what has really changed is it the profession or is it circumstances within the profession.

Change your career because you have to

Changing your career isn’t a light-hearted decision it’s going to take time, money and a lot of perseverance. Yet as a careers adviser I always encourage my clients to think about what they truly want. Because 9 times out of 10 it isn’t always a career change.

A lot of the time they just need change in their current situation. This is because career change should be seen as last resort not the first one. The only time it should be seen as the only option is when you have exhausted everything else.

You need to really want to change your career because you have no passion, love or emotion towards your profession. Some of you reading this may have fallen into a profession and if you have, career change could be for you. Your career may of been created through environment, circumstances, family pressure etc. Which led you to being a good with certain skills or subjects and resulted in your current career. Meaning the career was chosen for you but you didn’t choose the career because you loved it. It was logical rather then from a place of passion and enjoying it.

If you really want to change your career it needs to be for the right reasons. I speak about this a bit more in Episode 46- 3 reasons to change your career you can listen to this episode here

I also want to share that it’s important the decisions you make, come from you and only you. I have had a variety of clients who aren’t fearful of career change they just aren’t very passionate about it. That’s usually when I know they secretly still love their actual profession but something has emotionally happened to them that is making them feel it’s not for them.

I know this because it happened to me too. I almost thought about being a therapist but when I was bullied at work, I also knew my appetite for careers advice had never gone. I was changing as a person and wanted to support more women like me. Especially those women who felt alone and isolated when they were bullied at work.

Career change needs to come from you if you know deep down inside that’s career that you want 101% go for it. If you are willing to make sacrifices put in the work then, stick with it. If you change your career for reasons beyond passion you may never be career happy.

Also, if you change your career and you still need to support a family if you have one. Who is the breadwinner? How will you survive? I am not saying you can’t do it. Of course, you can. I saw my mum change her career in her late 30s from an accountant to a teacher.  Her dream was always to become a teacher and that’s why changing your career needs to be your ultimate dream not just a pipe dream. If you are willing to jump through the hoops to get there then it’s what you really want. However, if you keep making excuses about career change it’s either because you don’t have enough fight in you to it or something deeper is going on like fear.

Remember getting support from family, and a careers adviser or career coach like me may benefit you too. We merely act as a facilitators but if you don’t take any action nothing will happen.

Re-evaluate what you want

If you are someone who has built their current profession over many years letting go of it may feel difficult. That’s why career change is something that you need to re-evaluate based on where you currently are and where you want to be.

If you know you will stick with it because it’s an ambition you have always craved, go for it. However, if you know you have invested blood, sweat and tears into your present occupation and still love it. Think about redefining your career not changing it.

Some of you may be pondering the idea of having a side business or working part-time later in life because you want to be there for your kids when you become a mum etc. Your career is linked to your present and future but remember why you choose the profession and why you wanted it. As cheesy as it may sound a career is a bit like a romantic relationship. You have ups and downs with it but you know in your heart if you love it. Why you choose it and not anything else.

Take time to think about what your wants, desires and dreams are for yourself. Many of the women I speak with forgot they can be a working mum or have a successful career that they can take charge of. The more you understand what you want and the changes you want, the better. For some of you this could be career change. For others it’s changing your situation to an environment and job that suits you better.

If you feel this post has resonated with you and you need some bespoke support why not consider looking at The Career Happiness program for professionals. This is a session based program where we can look at career change but you get to access careers software that can help you with this. To find out more please see link here https://www.somaghosh.com/career-happiness-program

If you have any questions about this post or the program please reach out by emailing me at soma@somaghosh.com.

Please note this post has been edited and changed since it’s original publication which was in March 2019.