According to Statista 2017, close to 490,000 students were enrolled in career training programs in Canada in the academic year 2014/15. In the same period, 1.016 million students enrolled in an undergraduate program in the country.
These statistics suggest that many recent high school graduates, as well as people who have been in their career for years, are increasingly realizing the benefits of career-focused training. These programs have been shown to provide accelerated training in certain career fields, allowing students to complete their respective programs and join the job market in less than one year.
This has made it easier for people to change their careers sooner, especially since their obligations—family and financial—don’t allow them to dedicate four years to low or no-income while attending college. But how do you know that it’s the right time to make such a bold move?
Five Signs That It’s Time for a Career Change
- Loss of Passion – There are many indicators that you no longer love your job. Perhaps the most obvious one is disinterest in sharing details about your work life. When you love your job, it occupies your mind, such that it is always a key topic of discussion when you’re with your friends. If you are not constantly reminding yourself to ‘leave work at work,’ you probably don’t find your job as intriguing as you once did. The same applies if you can’t wait for the weekend to leave the office, and if you are not interested in making your presence felt in the workplace.
- Professional Growth Stunted – With many roles becoming obsolete as technology replaces common human tasks, you might find yourself in a position where you cannot advance any further professionally. If you feel like you can be easily replaced, and your skills are not competitive enough to challenge your boss, you should consider improving your skills and getting a new job.
- Unable to Cooperate with the Workplace Culture – Even if you don’t like your job that much, you can usually get through with a supportive work culture. Friendly co-workers can help to boost your morale and keep you productive. But if your colleagues act strangely when you’re around, by refusing to maintain eye contact, not smiling when you’re around, avoiding conversations with you, and generally giving off a negative vibe, you need to leave that toxic environment.
- Boss Doesn’t Trust Your Potential – It feels good to work with a manager who respects you, your ideas and your time. But if your boss never asks for your opinions, ignores or shuts down your ideas, micromanages you, asks you to handle only the menial tasks, assigns you different responsibilities, doesn’t keep you in the loop, and generally treats you differently from your colleagues, you may need to clean up your CV and go job hunting.
- You Don’t Get a Raise in Salary – Your compensation should be equivalent to your skills and value at your company. When you are doing what you’ve always loved, you may not be that interested in prompt salary increases. But if you feel like you can earn significantly more doing what you do, you should consider changing your employer in two years for a pay hike. If you stay too long, the salary hike may not be that significant.
Conclusion
Although it seems scary to leave a secure job with many benefits for a career change in an increasingly competitive economy, there are actually many benefits of changing things up. From unleashed passion to higher salaries to greater job satisfaction, if you’re truly dissatisfied with your current job, a career change can help make your professional journey more joyous.
