Have you ever made a decision that seemed fitting at the time? What happens when the non-refundable decision is actually your career choice? We spend most of our lives developing the skills necessary to land a job that makes us feel fulfilled and supported. When it doesn’t happen, it can be shocking and disheartening. Your own stubborn conviction may tempt you to “stick it out” rather than make the necessary moves. We have the right to change whatever doesn’t feel right in our lives. Often, the problem is determining when to let it go and change course.

What is a “Wrong” Career?

A wrong career fails to meet the criteria and qualities of your ideal career. Your ideal career is unique to your wants and needs. These include your workplace preferences, skills, education, values, salary, and financial needs, and the overall enjoyment of the work that you do.

Your ideal career—or the things you want and need the most from your career—will change throughout your life. Why? Because you will change.

What you value most from work at 25 will likely look different at 35, 45, 55, and more. As you navigate life, some of your core values might change. 

A career that feels “right” can become the wrong career as you adapt and grow in your career. And the reality is that all career choices require some tradeoffs between your ideal and actual work circumstances. However, it’s important to consider if these tradeoffs get you closer or further away from your long-term career goals. 

If you’re making more tradeoffs than is acceptable to you, there’s a good chance you’re in the wrong career. 

To find a fulfilling or “right” career, focus on jobs that offer the following:

• Engaging work that includes clear tasks, autonomy, variety, and feedback.
• Work that helps others such as helping others achieve a goal, helping a community, and work that you know is making a positive difference
• Work you’re good at, which gives you a sense of accomplishment and motivation
• Having good relationships with colleagues, having mentors give you guidance, etc. is also a major predictor of job satisfaction
• Work-life balance so you can have other things in your life that give you joy
• Lack of major negatives such as job insecurity, a long commute, stressful/intimidating work, unequal pay, etc
• Supportive working conditions including all of the above plus psychological, mental, emotional, and physical safety

Why it’s Easy to Pick the Wrong Career

The simple answer is that you don’t know what you don’t know. Most of us make career decisions using the information we have in front of us, the problem is we never have ALL the information. 

So, the sad reality is that almost all of us will pick the wrong career at some point. Consider this: how many of us are truly equipped with enough life experience, education, self-knowledge, and information about suitable careers in our twenties? Or, even in our thirties and forties?

Ask anyone who has gotten a college degree in one field, only to realize a few years later they don’t want to be doing that anymore. It’s more common than you may think!

Also, there are an endless number of career options today—many of which didn’t exist five years ago—along with a workplace that is changing quickly. 

Therefore, if you haven’t been getting consistent career coaching or spending time each week developing your career through goals and self-reflection, you’ve likely made career choices you regret.

The result? Feeling like you stumbled into your career path instead of being in control of it.

12 Signs You’re in the Wrong Career

1. You Hate Your Work And You’re Disengaged

Perhaps the most obvious sign that you’ve picked the wrong career is that you absolutely hate the work that you do. You’re disengaged and unmotivated. Even if you’re not stressed about the work, you’re not learning anything new. The whole thing is a bad cycle. 

Take some time to reflect on why you think the work isn’t engaging and what would help you feel a greater sense of purpose? When you are given a work task that energizes you, what is it about that task that excites you?

2. You Can’t Relate To Your Coworkers.

This could just be the office work environment, which is unfortunate but not a deal-breaker. But think hard: when you network with others in your field, do you find it unreasonably challenging to make sense of what they’re saying, or find yourself tuning them out completely?   

If so, it’s probably not your industry and you’re in the wrong field. To gain some clarity and find out what is, actively seek out people outside of your network and ask for informational interviews. This is the ideal way to talk to someone about an industry that you may have an interest in.

3. You Spend Your Workday Daydreaming About Other Jobs 

We all have a little career envy every once in a while—who wouldn’t love working with celebs every day or working on a beach in a tropical oasis?—but if you find yourself wanting to be anywhere other than your desk, especially another desk, you should start looking at your options.

4. You Find Yourself Wishing You Could Go Back, Not Forward 

We all wish we could go back in time and do certain things differently. If you realize you probably should have majored in something else, or that you should never have headed down this career path, that’s okay—don’t panic or beat yourself up.

If the thought of starting at ground zero is more exciting to you than continuing your present career, you should probably start looking into a new role or company that will challenge you. If that thought is terrifying… that might not be a bad thing either. Insanity is repeating the same actions over and over again while expecting different results. 

5. You Don’t Feel Inspired, Challenged, Creative, Or, Frankly Good

Our careers are supposed to propel us forward. Fulfilling careers often make us curious and committed—and give us the desire to improve. If you find yourself lacking these qualities, perhaps consider picking up hobbies outside of work that can fill this void.

If anything, your extracurriculars will let you test out your passions, risk-free, potentially leading you to a new job or industry. 

6. Your Mental And Physical Health Are Suffering

When burnout, stress, anxiety, and physical symptoms are taking up more of your focus than anything else in life then you need to examine the source. 

Mental and physical health symptoms provide several insights into whether you’re in the wrong career. Chronic illness and side effects can be caused by the stress and demands of your career. A demanding career can also make it difficult to care for your wellbeing and create a wellness routine like sleep, regular exercise, a healthy diet, etc. 

7. Your Career Outlook is Negative And You Have No Interest In Improving

Feedback is ubiquitous in the career-oriented individual’s world. We all seek feedback to get better and learn about ourselves as working professionals. However, if you find that your boss is consistently nagging you about your poor performance it may mean you made the wrong career choice.

Sometimes, we genuinely don’t understand tasks, but if you’re finding you simply don’t care enough to improve, it’s time to get out of there.

8. You’re Underperforming And The Negative Reviews Are Piling Up

If you’re in the wrong career, you might find it easy for your work performance to be less than desirable. This means you might receive criticism and negative feedback on your work, or your lack of energy and effort results in individual errors constantly.

Even after 1:1 meetings, you’re still not meeting your manager’s expectations and your skills are not matching the job requirements. It’s bad and everyone can feel it.

The opposite of this is working in the right job which motivates your problem-solving skills and, has you taking the feedback from others and turning it into positive outcomes. These behaviors lead to you advancing your skills and abilities within the job that is a better choice for you. 

9. You’d Rather Be Anywhere—The Dentist, Climbing Everest, On a Stage Naked—Than At Work 

We can all agree sitting in the waiting area of the doctor’s office is fairly anxiety-inducing but if you find every excuse in the book to avoid work, you should consider what’s exactly fueling those “ditching desires.”

Are you putting things off until the last minute? Do you find it hard to manage stress? Do you genuinely dislike what you’re doing?

10. You Feel Undervalued And It’s Breeding Resentment

Working in the wrong career can be soul-sucking mostly because you feel like you’re wasting your time and skills. Even if you’re advancing in your role, if you feel like your professional skills are going unused, it might leave you dissatisfied or feeling undervalued and resentful.

Another impact of not using your talents is on your paycheck. For example, if you have great sales skills, you might thrive in business development, which compared to your current role in customer service would bring you more money and satisfaction.

11. You Find Yourself on Job Websites More Than Doing Actual Work

Looking at other potential jobs can feel a bit like cheating on your current one but we can all take a peek every once and a while to avoid a little career FOMO.

If your current job is lacking what you consider to be majorly important benefits, maybe your job isn’t what you once thought it was. Are you in a position to renegotiate some of your responsibilities, ask for a raise, or rework your job to your liking? Otherwise, it might be time to start submitting resumes. 

12. Your Heart Isn’t Filled With Passion, But Your Stomach Sure Hurts 

We hear again and again that we are supposed to be passionate about our careers. Of course, it’s important but let’s be honest, it won’t be rainbows and butterflies every day. Some days may cause so much stress, that you might want to pack everything up and go home (for the day or permanently).

But more often than not, your days should be filled with purpose and engagement, or at the very least not bring you more stress than satisfaction. You should feel like you’re making a difference in some way and growing as a professional. It can be confusing, but your heart will let you know if you made the right choice. 

3 Strategies For Picking The Right Career Next Time

1. Get Informed

Finding the right career is all about having the right information. More specifically you can research the following:

• Average salary and compensation
• Career paths
• Typical schedules
• Job growth outlook
• Education requirements
• Companies and employers you want to target
• Benefits offered
• Employee or job satisfaction stats

2. Tailor Your Job Application Materials

Once you know what jobs and companies you want to target and why they are a good fit for you, tailor your job application materials.

This means re-writing your resume and cover letter, optimizing your LinkedIn profile, filling skills gaps, and focusing your job search efforts only on a few specific places.

3. Ask Questions

The next time you land an interview, ask lots of questions! This is your opportunity to make sure you’re picking a job that aligns with what you want and a great company culture fit.

The bottom line? We shouldn’t beat ourselves up if we find ourselves in the wrong career. Life is a continual learning process and we should embrace our own unique stories.