Signs of Trouble: 7 Hints That It's High Time To Change Your Career

Introduction
One day you may question your professional identity and realize that you hate your job. But is this hatred caused by temporary stress or by systematic dissatisfaction with your occupation and lifestyle? Today, we will help you find out. Check these seven warning signs that you may need to change your career immediately.



1. You Feel Tired All the Time
Being tired is okay, especially after an exhausting workday or a stressful week at the end of the month. After having enough rest, you are fine unleashing your energy to leap buildings in a single bound. But what if rest does not help? What if, despite a sea vacation, you still feel as exhausted as though you worked for your entire life without a break?

It means that your body does not want to work anymore. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines this condition as occupational burnout. Here is a checklist of symptoms:

- You feel like you are dying in the morning. Even if you sleep eight or more hours per day, you still feel exhausted. It takes a lot of effort to wake up and get out of bed.
- You cannot manage the workload you typically handled before because of the never-ending tiredness.
- You force yourself to start working.
- You struggle to concentrate.
- You suffer often from headaches.
- You blame yourself for working less productively, but you have no energy to change it.

If you have at least three of these symptoms, your job is likely to bring you more stress than benefit, and it is time for a career change. It is worth mentioning that you should not blame yourself for these conditions since about 77% of employees have experienced workplace burnout at least once.

2. Your Enthusiasm Vanished
Do you feel that your job has stopped satisfying you? Accomplishing monthly plans and implementing technologies does not excite you anymore. Engineers drive you crazy, and the end of a working day is the only thing you dream of. In the beginning, you felt so valuable and wished to make this world better, but now you hate your workplace, colleagues, and boss.

A job has to bring something more besides a monetary benefit. If your career does not motivate you anymore, it is high time to change it. Otherwise, you will feel more depressed over time and eventually turn into a barely noticeable shadow of your former self.

3. You See No Future
When an HR manager asked you where you saw yourself in several years, you were sure you would climb up the corporate ladder and become a department manager, or even establish a startup. But when you learned the ropes, you realized that all your plans were hardly achievable. Now you see no future in your career. You have realized that promotion only brings you more stress, and your salary does not allow you to make any significant savings for the dream business. On top of that, the continual pressure drains all that remains of your vital energy.

4. Your Salary Upsets You
If you feel that you make ends meet, and your current position does not seem to promise any higher earnings, it is never too late to change your career. It sounds like obvious advice, but many people struggle to quit low-paid occupations for various reasons. If you are searching for other jobs in your spare time, you should start taking steps towards new opportunities.

5. You Lack Work-Life Balance
Many people engaged in technology may experience the opposite difficulties. Have you ever felt that your salary does not compensate for the lack of work-life balance? Have you thought that you earn enough but still feel depressed or even jealous of people who make less money but seem to be much happier than you?
The main thing is to work to live, not vice versa. If you wake up in the morning and drag your body to work and then back home to repeat the ritual over and over again, you should stop. What is the point of earning $100,000+ if you have no time to benefit from this money? If this situation seems familiar to you, it is a real sign that you need career changes.

6. You Have a Hobby You Want To Monetize
Many technologists have hobbies that can potentially bring them many more benefits than their job. Do you bake mouth-watering pies or maintain a greenhouse with some wonderfully beautiful flowers and dream of earning a living with it? It may be a real sign that your current job does not fit your nature.

7. You Would Quit the Job If You Could
Ask yourself, "If I could leave my workplace right now once and for all, would I do it without thinking?" If your answer is yes, you are ready for a career change. Many employees subconsciously want to get fired because they cannot make the necessary shift on their own.

How To Change Your Career?
Indeed, switching occupations may be incredibly challenging. Changing careers at 45 may even seem impossible. But if you are determined to get to a new industry or a completely different profession, you should start right now. Check these tips on changing your career successfully:

- Determine your values. Passion for something is just one aspect of choosing a new career. You had probably been passionate about your current job, but it eventually became unbearable. Therefore, determine your needs and values first. Do you want more growth opportunities and challenges, or flexibility and leisure?
- Get new skills fast. Secondary education may take too much time and money, so you need to apply for different courses to develop the required skills more quickly and more efficiently.
- Write a compelling career change cover letter to support your CV/resume when applying for a new job. It is vital to explain why you want to switch your occupation and what transferable skills you have.
- Apply for new positions without hesitation. How often do you tell yourself that you lack the experience or skills to fit this particular vacancy that pays twice as much as your current job? It does not hurt to ask, so open new horizons.

Conclusion
If our career-change signs reflect your situation, you should act immediately. Recognizing your problem is the crucial thing in getting out of the job dissatisfaction swamp. It is better to start right now rather than wait until you get fired because of decreased performance and continuously failed projects.

Author Bio
James Baxter is a professional essay writer, ghostwriter, and blogger. He is passionate about self-development, marketing trends, and career advancement opportunities. James is always happy to visit different places and meet new people there.

Opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of WITI.