New Year New Career? How to Tell When You've Put Yourself in a Mismatched Career

This article written by Artur Meyster of Career Karma.

Being in the wrong career is a fate that falls on many employees. For a number of reasons, we may believe that the jobs we hold are the perfect choice for us. A large number of people joined their current career simply because it was an opportunity that presented itself after college, and who can blame them? However, they never moved on from this first path and chose to stay in the field of work that the first job led them to.

Unfortunately, most people do not land themselves in the correct career on their first try and spend years wallowing in a mismatched career that leads them to feel stressed, both mentally and physically. Given the New Year coming up, and the added stress brought on by the pandemic, you may have a voice telling you it’s time to find a more fulfilling calling.

For the sake of your health, it’s important to get out of a mismatched career as soon as possible. Keep an eye out for some of the top signs that indicate you have put yourself on the wrong path.

You Complain About Work Constantly

If, after work, you are the friend who is always complaining about their day, it’s very possible that the career you’re in is a bad match for you. However, it’s important that you identify what specifically is causing you to complain and if it has anything to do with your career at all. Sometimes, a bad boss or string of bad assignments make us complain about our job, but we are actually quite happy with what we do.

Looking at the common reasons for leaving a job, make sure the reason you want to leave your job isn’t that one employee, in particular, is annoying you. To properly justify switching careers, you need a reason that can be explained in a theoretical job interview, and disagreeances with workers don’t look good for anyone. 

Complaining about work with your friends is a relatively normal thing to do, after all, everyone has those days. Just keep an eye out for the reasons of your complaints and see if they could be resolved by simply switching jobs, or if more drastic measures, such as a career switch, are necessary.

You Hate What You Do

In short, a strong dislike for what you do is the biggest sign that you’re in the wrong career. People who suffer from this option typically write their sentiments off by saying things such as “that’s just work”. In reality, consistently being unhappy with the work you are doing is a sign that it’s time to change careers.

Reports show that the average person changes careers somewhere between five to seven times in their life. Don’t be afraid to leave a job that isn’t satisfying you when you could be spending your time pursuing something that will actually interest you. Consider learning how to write a resignation letter and begin looking at new job postings online.

No matter the career you have now, technology has made it possible to switch to virtually any career. Even if you are in a starkly traditional job, online degrees in a tech-based field are becoming more and more accepted among employers who are looking for new talent. Try not to settle for a job that doesn’t ignite a passion in your heart and make you excited to come into work.

Your Skills Don’t Match Your Career

Sometimes, we don’t necessarily feel one way or the other about our job. Your skills may not be a match for what you are doing, though, and this can lead you to eventually feel negative about your career as a whole. Studying your whole life to enter a job, only to choose a different path can make you feel as if you wasted years of your life.

While this isn’t exactly true, you may feel the sentiments nonetheless. To that end, try to describe yourself as if you were talking to an interviewer. What unique skills or traits do you have and what career paths could they be applicable to? After answering, focus on entering that general field as it is likely a better path than the one you are on now.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, being in a career that is a bad match for your interests and skills can lead you to feel as if you wasted years of your life. This can be a disheartening and even distressing experience, but remember that millions of people are in the same exact situation as you. Focus on the fact that you can still switch careers, and point your effort towards finding a career that better aligns with both your skills and interests. Doing so may lead you to a happier and more fulfilled lifestyle as you find what you love to do.

Author: Artur Meyster is the CTO of Career Karma (YC W19), an online marketplace that matches career switchers with coding bootcamps. He is also the host of the Breaking Into Startups podcast, which features people with non-traditional backgrounds who broke into tech.
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