How to Fix or Change Your Career?

Does your career need repair?

Many people come to CareerPlanner to get help with their careers.  It's very common to find that your career has fallen off the tracks.  It's a natural process but it's up to you to put your career back on track.  We show you how.

Even if you were phenomenally successful at one time, you can find yourself wondering what happened to your career. 

Do you find your self saying:

"I used to enjoy my job, now I dread going in to work."

"I used to wake up excited about going to work.  Now I can barely drag myself out of bed."

"I think my job is toxic."

"I'm exhausted when I get home.  I have no time or energy to find a new career."

"I liked my job a few years ago.  What happened?"

"I can't seem to achieve the success I expected."

It sneaks up on you such that you don't recognize that your job satisfaction is in trouble.

Maybe there was a reorganization, a layoff, a change of bosses, a merger or a new person in the company. 

Somehow you went from enjoying your career to hating it.

We know this.  We see it all the time.

How To Troubleshoot Your Career

The problem is that you probably don't know what went wrong.  It's very hard to see things objectively.

Before you can fix your career, you must figure out what is wrong and what to change. 

You need to identify the "Root Cause."  This is the real reason for your career problem.

Once you identify the root cause, you can find out how big of a career change you need.

Maybe you only need to change projects or positions in the same company. That's easy.

Maybe just changing bosses will do it.  That's fairly easy also.

Perhaps you have to change companies. That is a bit harder and takes more time.

Maybe you have to change the type of work you do and the company where you do it.  That could take some serious time and effort. It might require some serious soul searching and introspection to figure out what you really want to do with the rest of your life.

How do you know what to do and where to start? 

Here is our troubleshooting guide.  It's logical.  It's easy to follow.  We at CareerPlanner.com have a very unusual ability to "see" what is wrong and then show you a way to fix it.  This is our talent.  We offer it to you.

Go through this career troubleshooting guide from top to bottom.  Do not skip steps or it will not work and you might misdiagnose the problem.

1) Determine if you are doing the right type of work

If you are doing the right type of work you have the greatest chance of success and job satisfaction. 

If you are bored with your work then it might be the wrong type of work.

The way to determine what is the right or best type of work for you is to take our Career Test. 

It will help you understand what types of work are right for you and which types to avoid.

Click here to read more about our Career Test.

Please do not go to step 2 until you know whether the problem is with the type of work you do.

2) Determine if it's your personal and family life

• Is your family life making it hard to concentrate and do your job?
• Is your family supportive of your job and your career?

3) Determine if the problem is between you and your boss

• How good is your relationship with the boss?
• Do you trust your boss?
• Do you respect your boss?
• Are you learning anything from your boss?
• Does your boss treat you fairly and professionally?
• Does your boss provide good leadership and direction?

4) Determine if your co-workers are causing you problems

• Are your coworkers generally cooperative and supportive?
• Do your co-workers frequently try to take over your job?
• Are your coworkers backstabbing you?

5) Determine if the problem is with the company or the company culture and atmosphere

• Is your company financially healthy or is it always desperate to make the quarter?
• Do your customers think highly of your companies' products and services?
• Is your company growing fast enough to provide challenges and opportunities for you?
• Is your company growing too fast so that employees can not keep up and customers are unhappy?
• Is the direction of your company well understood and do you feel you support it?
• Is your company innovative and moving forward or is it stuck?
• Is your company getting more bureaucratic?
• Is the environment too political?

6) Determine if it's the industry

• Is the industry you are in growing in a stable and predictable manner?
• Is your industry experiencing frequent downsizing or offshoring?
• Are there more competitors each year or are there more mergers and acquisitions?