Are You In The Wrong Career Path? Here’s How You Can Find Out
Artur Meyster
Founder of Career Karma
https://www.linkedin.com/in/meyster
The fact that you work in the career you studied does not necessarily mean you’ll feel comfortable or happy. People who are in a career they don’t enjoy often struggle with dissatisfaction. In the professional environment, many elements directly affect the performance and mental stability of workers.
This article will look at what you can do to identify if you are in the wrong career with five easy examples.
- Being Depressed
Working in the career you studied, in theory, should be an activity that fills you with passion. When someone chooses their career, they are inspired by their passion and motivation. However, if you get disappointed once you spend some time with your career, then it might be time to change it. There are many personal difficulties when you are in the wrong profession; one of them is depression.
According to a study by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), conditions such as depression not only interfere with the individual abilities of workers but also reduce their productivity by 20%, while their cognitive performance suffers a 35% reduction.
Solution: Do mental relaxation exercises, reading, and sports activities. You can also promote some workshops on mental health in your workspace. If you believe that the workplace is the source of your depression, then you may consider going to a new company.
- It’s Challenging to Perform the Tasks
Chances are, if you’re in the wrong career, even the simplest activities can seem incredibly difficult. Don’t worry. You may be in the wrong place, and many other people have gone through this. This is one of the most evident signs that your job is not for you.
There are various professional practices during college, but sometimes they are not the same as in the real world. Even if your passion is, for example, education, perhaps the daily activities of a teacher are not the easiest for you, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is a dose of reality that prevents you, on some occasions, from performing tasks even if they seem very easy.
Solution: Try talking to your boss to move you to a different area, where you can do another activity. That could not only help you work more comfortably but also expand your career skills. If you don’t feel good even after performing different tasks, then it’s time to consider a career change
3. There Is a Lot of Competition and Jealousy
Your job might not be the wrong one, but sometimes the work environment can be responsible for poor individual results. When there is unhealthy competition and jealousy at work, your performance may decline. The consequences of this work environment can lead to dismissal. Never underestimate relationships with co-workers.
Sometimes the bad environment at work can go beyond just bad comments. In many cases, these situations can reach drastic limits: harassment, teasing, violence, boycott, robbery, and fighting. It is a very complicated landscape when we realize that workdays can be up to 12 hours. It is a constant coexistence in negative environments. Little by little your patience and self-control may deteriorate.
One of the worst consequences of having a terrible work environment is having the feeling that your career has not been worth it. In a job with negative employees, you can’t focus, you can’t have peace of mind. On the contrary, your brain accumulates twice the stress: the combination of all the responsibilities that work entails and also living with toxic people.
Solution: Go to someone you trust in the company. Talk about everything that is happening so that everyone looks for an answer. Communication is the most important part of this situation. This will also help the company to keep the team focused on corporate goals. However, if the problems in your company start with your boss, then the best thing to do is to look for another job.
4. You Lack Ambition
Your expectations in college were possibly to find a perfect job. When you are a student and you finish your degree, you imagine that your workplace will be very successful and you will be able to achieve great goals. However, when you are in a place without ambitious goals, you likely feel that your career has not been worth it.
One of the main problems in this situation is that people lose their professional motivation. In this scenario, many believe that their years of study were in vain, as they do not put into practice everything they learned in the classroom.
Solution: Don’t worry, you may be in the wrong place. It is best to acquire more knowledge and start looking for work in a larger company, which has more optimistic goals. Always think about where you see yourself in the future.
5. Your Salary is Lower Than You Expected
Salary expectations can sometimes be very optimistic. Many professionals charge less than they expected. Money is always a motivation, however, some companies tend to pay less when the worker has no prior experience, even if they have a good academic degree.
If you think that your company is not paying you enough, little by little you lose interest and motivation. This reduces your passion and can make you think you have chosen the wrong career path.
Solution: You can talk to your boss about your salary. Also, if you have been working for the same company for many years, you can request a salary increase or request a promotion. When the company is not that big, a salary increase can be complicated for them. For that reason, you can look for a workplace that has greater economic potential and relevance to your goals.
Conclusion
Don’t let the feeling of being in the wrong place make you give up on your career. Analyze these points and think about all the solutions that exist to have better performance at work. Remember that each person should be in the place where they feel most comfortable. This will improve your performance in any area of your life. Don’t forget: your years of study were not in vain.