Your job sucks. Every weekend is consumed by the Sunday scaries. Every morning, the work dread hits you like a ton of boulders. You spend your working hours unengaged, resentful and in pointless meetings that make you want to scream. Every night, you head home and think: I need to quit. 

But you’re plagued by a big question: is it this specific job that’s the problem? Or do you need a total career change? 

In other words, is your port of call to ditch this job and find another one like it – maybe a slightly more senior role – or is it to do a major pivot and change industries and professions entirely? 

When these questions come up, it can feel incredibly overwhelming. How are you supposed to even begin to untangle the mess and find the correct way forward? We recruited some career coaches to help out. Here’s how to figure out your path. 

Do you aspire to become your line manager or boss?

Think about progression in your current industry. Is that what you really want? “If not, then more of change may be required,” career change coach Alice Stapleton tells Stylist. “Being in a career you don’t want to grow in can be a soul-destroying place to be.”

What aspects of your current job do you really enjoy? And which bits do you hate?

“Identify the specific tasks, responsibilities or skills that bring you satisfaction and fulfilment,” recommends life and career change coach Amy Cohen. “Reflect on the aspects that cause dissatisfaction, boredom or frustration.” Getting into the specifics can help you work out if the issues are specific to this role or indicative of a need for a bigger switch. 

When you’re 95, will you be proud of the career path you’ve had if you stay in what you’re doing? 

It’s a big question, we know, but one Stapleton strongly recommends asking. 

What are your long-term goals and dreams?

Along the same lines as the previous question, it’s a good idea to think about the future. Cohen says: “Consider your desired future and whether your current job or career aligns with those goals.”

What are your values and priorities?

Cohen suggests: “Consider your personal values and what matters most to you in a job or career, such as work-life balance, salary, growth opportunities or making a positive impact.” If the industry you’re in doesn’t feel personally fulfilling or is unable to deliver on the stuff that really matters, it’s probably time to move into a different career path. If the work feels meaningful, but the smaller practicalities are driving you round the bend, a job change could be the answer. 

What are your strengths and weaknesses and where would you like to improve? 

Evaluate your skills, abilities and areas for improvement to determine if they align with your current job or desired career path.

Are you willing to invest time, effort and resources into acquiring new skills or qualifications? 

We do have to think about the practicalities of doing a massive career overhaul. “Consider the commitment required to transition into a new job or career and whether you are prepared to undertake the necessary steps,” Cohen notes.

What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

“Sit with this for a while. Journal around it and be curious about what lies beneath,” suggests transformation coach Emmy Brunner. “So many of us are so controlled and restrained by the stories we’ve told ourselves that we can’t see or develop our full potential. Fear holds us back and keeps us in a place of limitation. Fear is always about the future, about what could happen… it’s about something that doesn’t exist. Giving yourself permission to release fear invites creative potential and massive opportunity.”

If you read the above questions and were left with yet more questions, don’t panic. This is a big decision, and it’ll take some time to work through it. Ahead are some techniques and tools that career coaches use when helping clients, and that might make things a little clearer.

Create a mind map

Stapleton recommends: “Create a career ‘mind map’ that details your thoughts on the following topics: your values, what purpose you want your career to have, your work motivators, desired skill set, your strengths and your interests. 

“How many of these items does your current role and career path tick off? In order to improve the alignment, is just a simple job change required or a complete change of career? Would a change of industry suffice? Does the skill set need to change but the industry stay the same? Or perhaps both need to change – suggesting the need for a complete change.” 

Try journaling 

Sometimes all you need is to write it out. “Set aside regular time for reflective journaling,” Cohen suggests. “Write about your thoughts, feelings and insights regarding your job or career dilemma. This exercise can help you gain clarity and uncover patterns or recurring themes.”

Make a pro and con list

Now’s a great time for the classic pros and cons list to make an appearance. Create a list of the pros and cons of staying in your current career versus making a bigger change. This exercise can help you feel a bit more objective and get honest about the effects of your choice. Tune into how you feel at the end. Are you pleased that the pros outweigh the cons, or vice versa? 

Make a vision board

If you’re more visually minded, this is a great way to work out what your ideal future looks and feels like. Cohen says: “Create a visual representation of your ideal job or career using images, words and symbols. This exercise can help you clarify your aspirations and visualise what you want to achieve.”

Try a ‘skills and interests assessment’ 

“Make a list of your skills, strengths, passions and interests,” advises Cohen. “Reflect on how they align with your current job or desired career path. This exercise can help you identify areas where you excel and areas where you may need to develop new skills.”

Book in some job shadowing or volunteering

It’s incredibly daunting to decide you want to make a complete career change, especially if it’s a move into an industry in which you have no experience. See if you can arrange some job shadowing, volunteering or even just a chat about the realities of the job in an area you find interesting so you can suss out what it’s really like and if you’d find it enjoyable. 

OK, so you did all the above and the end result is that a job change just won’t scratch the undeniable itch you’ve been feeling. You want a total pivot. Now what? What are your next steps?

Brunner wants us to take a moment to celebrate this realisation and process the decision. “First, if that’s you… that’s an incredibly exciting place to be,” she says. “So much of the time when we have these realisations, we then become scared and overwhelmed. I always advise clients to slow down so that they can gain clarity on the future vision they want for themselves. Yes, this time can feel uncertain, but this is when we have the chance to become the heroes of our own lives. To be all that we are meant to be, we need to be brave, overcome adversity and follow our hearts.”

Brunner suggests another batch of journaling before you spring into action, with these three prompts as your starting point:

• What is my old identity?
• What is my new identity?
• What can I do in the next month, the next three months, the next six months and the next year to realise this vision for myself?

Then, it’s time to think about what your big pivot could actually be. “The first series of steps involves getting really clear about what you want from a career,” says Stapleton. “Reflect on what’s working now, what’s worked in the past and what hasn’t or doesn’t. Pull together your criteria for your career – what kind of working day do you want? What type of environment/organisation do you want to work in? What values does it need to align with? What gives you a sense of purpose? What are your strengths? What skills do you want to use? What motivates you? What interests do you have? A thorough analysis is required to create a clear picture of what you want going forward. Only then can you move to the next step…”

What’s the next step, you may ask? Building up an ‘ideas bank’, of course. “Being as creative as you can, using lots of relevant resources and asking lots of questions of those around you, pull together a long list of all the careers you love the sound of, no matter how unrealistic they sound,” suggests Stapleton. “Once your ideas bank feels really full, start to narrow down these options by assessing how well they match up against the criteria you pulled together in the first series of steps.”

After this, you can then get into the research portion of this project, figuring out what your shortlist of ideal jobs is like in reality (this is where job shadowing, volunteering and chatting with people in the industry comes in), then making an action plan of steps you need to take to make this move. 

Your action plan will need to include considerations of your finances, the skills you’ll need, how you’ll be able to get into your chosen industry, who you need to talk to and so on. You’ve done the big-picture work, so now it’s time to dig into the smaller steps. 

Stapleton says: “Using the above experiences and your gut instinct, decide which career you really want to make a reality. Once you’re committed to this option, create an action plan that breaks down all the steps you will need to take in order to transition from where you are now into this new career. If you’re not sure how to make it happen, speak to those doing the career you want to do and seek their advice. What does their LinkedIn profile say about their own journey? Where did they start? 

“Use this action plan to keep you on track on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Break the transition down into tiny steps that feel manageable and achievable, and watch as you get closer and closer to your dream career.”

In the midst of all this, remember to keep an open mind. “Be open to exploring different paths and be willing to adapt your plans as you gather more information and experience,” Cohen tells us. “Flexibility and a growth mindset will be valuable assets during this transition.”

And get excited! Yes, change is scary, but it can be absolutely brilliant, too. 

Images: Getty