We’ve all, at some point been told that, “Education is a key to success.” Haven’t we? But how many people are embittered by that today? It would seem, for many, that something is rather a key to success.
Many who had hopeful careers, have had to watch them go down the drain. Many have seen their careers hit the dead end even before they began to flourish.
But the same goes for those, who were struck by luck and were employed. Not much is happening career-wise. People wake up every morning to do the things they hate just to get-by with life. Many are frustrated in their career paths. It would appear that, all we have is great majority of nowhere-goers as far as careers are concerned.
Some just work so that they do not get fired. But their careers have drowned somewhere along the way. Which is why, it is imperative that we figured out something. Something of how such regressions can be spotted and dealt with constructively.
Though many know they hate their jobs, fear of no-pay has kept the hostage. They don’t want to go back to being unemployed. So they just push themselves anyway. Some have opted for enrolling again in school. But even in that, they seem stuck in lifeless careers.
Eileen Chadnick in Help, my career is going nowhere highlights the following to consider:
Remember that careers are meant to be marathons, not sprints. Some miles will be tough, others smoother. Consider this a tougher part of your career run but if you plan wisely and learn from this leg of your career journey, you can leverage this experience into a better one ahead. Do not assume all was for naught! But you do need a plan and a healthy dose of resilience to stay the course and reach your goals.
Own your career. If you let one bad experience define your future, you will have lost your most valuable asset: your empowerment. Additionally, do not dismiss the entire experience as wasted; as you will find,there’s always value to be found in any experience. The worst thing you could do is try to “etch a sketch” or erase the past, because you may be over looking a gold mine of experience and knowledge that can be transferable to other jobs.
Take stock: your confidence has taken a beating so you are doubting yourself. Now is the time to take stock of all your accomplishments, skills and strengths because they are going to be your most important asset in whatever you choose to do next.
Retrain or retool? You may not need to go back to school for a complete “do-over” or career shift but it is important to be a life-long learner. There are always new skills- whether personal, technical or professional-to brush up on, so retooling is not a bad idea at all.
All in all, careers can and need to be revived.