Could it be time for a career change? What’s happening? It doesn’t feel good. Where am I? Why do I have to do these things? It’s a nightmare. Let me out! Should I change careers? Unfortunately, it’s not a bad dream from which you wake up when the alarm clock rings it’s your harsh reality that hits you every day. This is the crisis phase…but it can be avoided by recognising the signs that you need a career change early. We’ve all been there. Why do we stay in roles that aren’t for us? Maybe it’s the security, or maybe it’s just easier than starting over. Either way, since you spend a large majority of your life working shouldn’t you be in a role you enjoy? It’s rare to get to do what you absolutely love all of the time, but if you’re not happy a majority of the time—it may be time for a change. Do any of the following resonate? You’ve lost your passion. Once you lose your passion for the work you do, you start making mistakes and settle for mediocrity. If you no longer have the passion to do quality work—do yourself and your employer a favour and opt out gracefully. You constantly feel a sense of apathy, boredom, exhaustion or resentment. If you’re experiencing exhaustion and stress, you should probably already be looking at whether your job is right for you. When most of your time is spent working, or resting in an effort to be fresh for work, you get very little chance to escape the cycle. Your body is sending you a message: it’s time for a career change. Your salary won’t compensate for your unhappiness. Perhaps you’ve been saying you would leave the job that’s making you so unhappy if it wasn’t for the money it pays. When you find yourself doing just enough to not get fired is when you need to ask yourself is it really worth it and should I change careers? There isn’t any room for growth. If you find yourself sitting at your desk, staring at a computer screen and thinking, “there’s got to be more than this,” then without a doubt, there is more for you. If you enter a company without much growth opportunity, this can be career suicide. We’ve seen how cruel the market can be, so protect yourself by constantly evolving. Your skills don’t match your personal interests. Sometimes people get hired for things they’re really good at but don’t necessarily especially like doing. You’re not appreciated or recognized for your work. It’s in our nature to want to be rewarded and recognized for our work. Why do you think people set out to achieve goals or targets? Because they want the recognition for a job well done. If you’re still not recognized for your hard work—it’s time to get it elsewhere. Once you’ve recognized that there’s a problem, the next step is to do something about it.