Are you on the Right Career Path?

People spend many years studying and working in order to develop their chosen careers. However, for some people, things might not pan out as they had hoped and they may begin to wonder if they are on the right career path. After long years of study and hard work, the prospect that you may not be suited to the path you have chosen can be a frightening one to consider.

To begin with, you may need to ask yourself a few questions to determine if you are on the right career path. As a general rule, if you have chosen the right track, you will know because:

You enjoy and love your work
You are proud of what you do and will gladly tell other people when asked
You have stuck with the same company or occupation for many years and have let other opportunities pass because you are currently happy in your position
The thought of doing anything else is unimaginable to you
Even if you have had a tough day, you look back at it with satisfaction as you would have achieved something important.

The scenarios above may help you see if you are happy with your job and are pursuing the right career. If your answer is yes to most of these, then it’s pretty safe to say you are on the right path.

However, if the following applies to you, then a rethink might be on the cards:

Waking up every morning to go to work is always difficult
The thought of doing this same job ten years from now is terrifying
When interrupted during work, you gladly pay attention to the distraction
You have never had the same job for longer than a few months or years
You only completed a degree in a certain field and have a job there just to fulfil family obligations

If the above scenarios apply to you, then you may need to come up with a plan to help you get on the right path. This may not always be easy, but in order for you to live a happier life, it may be crucial.

To begin your journey towards the right career path, you need to acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses as well as what your long term goals are. Knowing what you enjoy doing or are passionate about and transferring this love into a paying job would be the ideal. However, it’s important to remain realistic about this. If you already know the answers to these questions, then the way forward could be easier. You could consider the following:

Go back to school: This will help you get the qualifications needed for you to achieve your career goals.
Do some research: Finding out the options available to you based on your years of working experience and educational background can help you find short-cuts towards your desired career path. It might be that your change needs to be made very gradually due to commitments that rely on your current income.
Quit your current job: This may be a difficult move, but it might be the only way to force you to get out of the rut of an unhappy career and begin working towards achieving your goals.

For those who are unhappy with their career path, it is not the end of the world. It happens to a surprisingly large number of people. In fact I have changed career path 4 times. After all, people change, and along with this, priorities, tastes and interests too. However, with the right plan on the table, you can change careers and follow your dreams. the key is the path you take to doing it.

We hope you find this post useful and if you want to see more like this, or posts on any area of job-search, contact us on info@dolmenrecruitment.ie