4 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Changing Your Career Path

1. Are you feeling challenged?

Ideally, the right job challenges you in a good way. It is only through challenges that you grow both professionally and personally, and you want to make sure that your current gig has not stagnated your growth. If you are handling mundane, rote tasks with little to no opportunities for advancement, then you might want to think about searching for other opportunities. If, on the other hand, you see pockets where you can step up and show that you are capable of handling more, you may want to wait it out and see if you can be a right fit for the opportunity that may present itself to you in the future. It is a gamble that you will have to weigh, and hopefully, your supervisors/managers give you sufficient cues as to whether they think of you as being someone who is promotable. While you wait, make sure to hustle and stay focused to show those who you need to impress that you are accountable and can be trusted to take ownership of your current sphere of work.

2. Are you feeling supported?

Going along with cues from your supervisors/managers, there is nothing that is more important than the relationship you have with your bosses. If you find that they genuinely care for your professional development, and put in the time to mentor you, then by all means, stay. If, on the other hand, you find that they don’t appear to have any investment in you as a person, leave. In any ideal job situation, you need to be supported by those who manage you, or else the relationship will disintegrate into blame-shifting, backstabbing, and mistrust. Avoid toxic situations by leaving any workplace that has semblances of this, and land yourself in a situation where your colleagues are open, honest, and transparent.

3. Are you happy?

Are you doing what you love? Or are you just doing something to bide time? Do you even know what you love? Have you taken the time to discover your passions? If you don’t have any passions, and just generally are not a very passionate person, are you (at a minimum) doing what you like? Take the time to really self-reflect and think about what it is that makes you happy at the end of the day. What makes you happy might not be what society deems as “stable,” but try to care less about what others think and focus on finding a happy medium of blending your interests with your career prospects. If you are unable to find an opportunity that blends what makes you happy with making money, find a job that at least enables you to enjoy your pursuit of your hobbies to find that balance.

4. Do the pros outweigh the cons?

Have you sat down and thought about the pros and cons about staying with your current job and leaving? Having you listed them out? Is one side clearly outweighing the other? Once you take the time to bring clarity to you thoughts and write them down on paper, it should be evident which way to go. If they are evenly split (i.e., 5 cons and 5 pros), don’t make any sudden moves until you revisit this pros and cons list in about a month or so. Revisit this list regularly, perhaps every month, until it is crystal clear to you on what direction your life should go.