What to Do if You’ve Chosen the Wrong Career

While there may or may not be any scientifically backed proof to support the theory that it takes a total of no less than 15,000 hours for one to be the master of any chosen craft, as far as the academic world goes, if one goes through formal schooling they’re at the very least guaranteed to gain the basic knowledge that will set them well on their way to mastering a chosen craft, career, etc. You spend pretty much your whole life shortly after infancy preparing for a professional career awaiting you one day, but unfortunately for many people you end up having to engage in some or other profession which is not of your own choosing.

In fact, that’s how it is for many people, even those who could never really tell you if you asked them what it is exactly they would have chosen to spend their lives doing to earn their living. Does a passion for teaching develop only after one has been exposed to the practice of teaching, for example? I pose this question in relation to what I would most definitely proclaim to be my personal passion of course, which is teaching…

Many of us eventually go on to find purpose in a professional area we never even thought of prior to it perhaps becoming the only option, but what about those who can state without a shadow of a doubt that they are neck-deep in the wrong career? No doubt a lot of investment has gone into getting you where you are, perhaps inclusive of a mountain of student debt along with a plethora of other sacrifices on the financial and personal fronts. Would simply changing careers not be a slap in the face of some sorts, both to yourself and everyone else who supported you along your journey?

Could you even afford going back to school to pursue a different academic qualification, both financially and in terms of your personal commitments to your family? Perhaps you even have some dependents – who’s going to bring home the bacon if you have to commit a huge chunk of your time to studying towards a freshly-minted degree?

The desire to change careers when you’re in the middle of one that’s entirely wrong for you is too strong to ignore, however, in which case all is not lost. You definitely have some options, even though it may seem difficult given how you might perhaps be in a specialist professional field. Despite the fact that you may feel torn, it is good to see what else is out there, and if you want to search down different avenues, e.g. hospitality jobs, content jobs, medical jobs, etc., then doing so will help you gauge what you need and how you can go about it.

The answer is simple and resides in taking advantage of the fact that every industry in this day and age is interlinked. No industry functions as an island and you just have to find a way to align your current skill set/qualifications with a career move that would be better suited to your interests.

For example, Groth & Associates is a law firm which amongst other areas of operation specialises in personal injury cases. It’s perhaps an extreme yet simplified example, but if perhaps you’re a qualified medical doctor and your passion actually lies in law, instead of starting law school from scratch you could perhaps partner up with such law firms so as to operate in the field of personal injury medical evaluation and reporting.

Find a way in with the qualification you currently have as there is always a way in.