Are You Ready for a Career Change?

You don’t have to be in a dead-end job to feel that you’re in a career sleeper-hold.  Do you show any of these signs of being in a career rut?

  • Are you losing skills (for example writing, speaking to groups or using math) because you don’t use them on the job?
  • Have you lost ambition or motivation because there doesn’t seem to be an outlet for it?
  • Do you have great ideas but are not in a position to implement, or even communicate them?
  • Could you do your job blindfolded with one hand tied behind your back?

close up woman at copier

If your career progress is veering off course, or going nowhere at all, it may be time to review your career vision and examine your options.

Are your old goals the best goals?

If you are still in the job that you pursued when you were younger, it may be time to think about why you wanted this position in the first place. Even if your requirements haven’t changed, their order of importance may have.

Perhaps earlier you wanted a job that provided security – a decent paycheck and good benefits in a stable organization. As you mature, is the idea of more independence, self-management, even owning your own business gaining ground on the stability priority?

Maybe you craved the excitement and constant change of a busy newsroom, a police beat or college athletic office, but now you’re missing the satisfaction of seeing a project through from start to finish or want to work with fewer interruptions and emergencies.

You may have set career goals relative to what you wanted to be doing in one year, five years or more. Maybe it is time to review them, redefine them, or set new ones. Learn more about setting career goals with Idaho’s Career Information System (CIS).

Investigate your options

Education and training are still the best paths to attaining the job you want – whether it’s with your present employer or at a new company. And there are so many ways to get the training or education you need to make the right career move.

Your company may offer free or discounted training that could help you move up the career ladder, or to a different job in the company. Training can be as informal as job-shadowing a coworker to formal software classes from an outside provider.  Consider taking advantage of any incentives for training offered by your employer – you’ll learn new skills while letting the boss know you take your career seriously.

Before you decide to go back to (or start) college, consider how marketable your new degree will be.  Use CIS to find out both the employment outlook and hiring practices for the occupation you have in mind.

– Terry Mocettini, technical & support materials coordinator, Career Information System