5 Steps to Change your Career Destination

I work with many clients who are very dissatisfied in their career. My job as their clinical therapist is to help the client identify some of the reasons they are unhappy in their job. After assessing some of these reasons with my clients, we then work together on how he or she can cope with these particular reasons they are unhappy in their job. For some clients, that takes on an entirely new challenge in which they realize that for them, they don’t even want to find coping strategies for their current job, instead they are wishing to find an entirely new career. I then can help by career coaching by implementing different reflective exercises in sessions to help them get one step closer to their dream job.

I recently read an article that touched on this very topic of individuals looking to make a career change from Forbes, “The Very First Step To Take To Change your Unhappy Career” by author Kathy Caprino. Caprino breaks it down in 5 simple steps of what to do if you are indeed thinking of an entirely new career.

Below are the 5 steps Carprino outlines in her article.

• Take a Step Back. Before diving in head first into a new career, take a step back to really get to know yourself again. Maybe you lost a bit of yourself in your previous job. This can look like journaling all of your past jobs and identify things you liked and didn’t like about those jobs. Through doing this, you will likely identify different themes in your values whether the job you liked so much was about the location, how much you made, or that you had the right amount of work/life balance.
• Let It Go. After you have identified your values from step 1, let go of some of the core negative beliefs about yourself that likely started in your childhood. For example, maybe you were told at a young age that your self-worth was equated to how much money you made in your job. Let go of all of those negative thought patterns that are blocking you from the career that aligns closer to your passions and values.
• Yes! Let yourself say “yes” to what you believe will concretely bring you both success and happiness in your career specific to your life. Some people may even like making a vision board of what their dream job is. When doing this, break it down to what steps you need in order to accomplish that. For example, if you want to be vlogger, make that first clip of your vlog today!
• Exploration. Now that you have identified what your dream job is, start researching ways you can connect with other like-minded people who have that same type of job and allow yourself to experience it. For example, if you wish to be a doctor, attempt to do some networking and find a way to have a shadow day with a doctor. For others, it could be setting up an informational interview with the type of job you are interested in. Lastly, you could also look into internships or volunteer positions.
• SMART Goals. Attempt to break down this exploration process by using the SMART goals acronym which stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time bound goals. Remind yourself that this job exploration takes time and that is okay. Using the SMART model will help you break down this life transition in a way you can meet your goals more effectively.

If you are currently struggling with job dissatisfaction, it may be a good idea to connect with one of our skilled counselors at Symmetry Counseling today. You can contact them at 312-578-9990 to set up an appointment.