What to do when your career isn't panning out Create a plan of action for when your current career just isn’t cutting it.

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You’ve chosen your career path. You’ve been networking, attending interviews, and may have even landed a position. You can have a career in your industry and still believe that it isn’t working for you. There are a variety of reasons to decide that your career path isn’t working out. The very first thing you need to decide is why it isn’t working. From there you can decide on the best course of action, whether that be to stick to the path you are currently on or to try to switch to another career.

There’s no growth opportunities at your current position.

You may feel like your career isn’t working out because there is no opportunity for advancement. You may have been working at this job for several years and have not been promoted, received a raise, etc. You need to find out if this is a common trend for the entire industry or just your current positon. If it’s the latter, then it’s time to find a new job. Start putting out applications for new positions, continue networking, and prepare for interviews. If you know now that your current employer is a dead-end, then get out. 

You can’t find a job.

You’ve finished school, gotten a degree, and have continued getting as much training as possible. But when it comes to finding a job, you are out of luck. This is the time to look at the statistics for the industry you’re trying to break into. Are there many job openings at the moment? What qualifications do you need to land a job? It could be that you don’t have what employers are looking for. A good way to continue to gain experience is by volunteering at relevant positions. If you’re trying to break into a dying industry and simply can’t find open positions, then it may be time to switch career paths. 

You feel unfulfilled.

Many people simply fall into a career path. Maybe you were offered a job and just never left. You followed a family member in their footsteps. Whatever the reason, you never got the chance to explore different careers to figure out what you want out of a job. Because of this, your current career path may not feel fulfilling or enjoyable. You can look at your current career and see if there are projects or assignments you can take on that would make the job worthwhile. However, if you are set on wanting a different career, then look at the steps necessary to make a career change. 

Your degree isn’t good enough.

Sometimes, just having a degree isn’t good enough. Certain employers look at the type of degree you have, where you got your degree from, what your educational accomplishments were, etc. If your degree is what is blocking you from getting into your chosen career path, then you have a few options. Try to get some experience—the more experience you have related to the industry, the less your degree matters. You can get more experience through volunteer work or getting an internship. You can try to pad your degree with added qualifications. Take certification programs, attend workshops, and go to seminars. If you really think your outlook is bleak, you can consider returning to school to get a more appropriate degree.

Your current field is drying up.

In today’s economy, a lot of industries are shrinking. Business are closing, employment is being outsourced, and current employees are being laid off. If you are one of those current employees, you may be seeing your working days at your current company coming to an end. In this case, you have to work quickly. You can try to move to a company that is steadier and likely to survive the shrinkage without letting go of employees. To do this you want to start networking and attempt to make connections within that company. If you think it would be best to remove yourself from the industry, you can try to find a career that closely relates to your current skills—one where your skills can transfer over. This will be easier than switching to a career path that is vastly different.

Source: The Ladders

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