For some of us, it hits as you’re preparing for your 20th board meeting in as many days. For others, it’s gradual but inevitable conclusion: you’re no longer happy in your current job or career path.
If you’re considering switching careers, think long and hard about just what it is that’s making you unhappy. There is a profound difference between being unhappy in your current job and being unhappy with your career overall. If you confuse them, you may wind up regretting your decision to switch careers.
If you’re sure it’s your career that you dislike, start moving towards a switch by talking to people in the field you want to move to. If you’ve worked in one field all your life, you may not be prepared for the different hiring practices and office environment that are characteristic of the field you want to move to. Making as many contacts in the field as possible before you start interviewing is crucial to smooth the transition both for you and your new employer.
As you begin interviewing, it is important to realize that you cannot expect to step in at the same institutional level you left in your old career. If you’re used to being the boss, taking orders from someone else for the first time in years can be a tough pill to swallow. If you truly want start over in your career, you must accept also having to start over on the corporate ladder.
Although switching careers is a giant step, it is almost universally considered a good one by people who have done it. It won’t be easy from a practical standpoint, but from a personal one you can’t go wrong in chasing your dreams.
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One job that is always in demand is cooking. Everyone has to eat, and most people love to do it. In this fast paced world, meals aren’t lovingly prepared at home like they used to be. People eat on the run, anaesthetized to the food they fill themselves up with. But everyone, in reflective moments, wants to eat a meal that is made with loving, nurturing energy.
Being unemployed can make you feel hopeless and miserable, but the most productive course of action is to look at your unemployment as a chance to reinvent yourself.
Has it been a while since you had to button up that smart white shirt and knot one of your slick silk ties? Can you remember the last time you took that cashmere blazer out of the garment bag and slipped into it, feeling the rush that comes of being a well-dressed man on his way to work? When was the last time you polished those two hundred dollar shoes? If you’re drawing a blank, you might do well to shift your intention and expectations.