Many college students will ask themselves, during their college years, “Have I made the right decision as far as my career is concerned?” This doubt comes up when you are studying for exams, applying for internships, or seeing friends succeed in their real careers.
Many students try to avoid this question or are uncomfortable with it. You might feel like there’s an immense amount of pressure from your peers not to even ask yourself this question.
If you wait too long before addressing your unsureness with your career path, you are going to feel more pressure, stress, and will become increasingly frustrated. Becoming aware of misalignment in your career path early is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of being self-aware! The sooner you identify that you may be headed down the wrong path for your career, the easier it will be for you to fix it before you apply for graduation or before you get to your job long enough to feel “stuck.”
Your career impacts your life greatly in many ways – your mental health, salary, and ultimate happiness regarding your entire life – so it’s important that the process of exploring your errors in career path alignment is a personal exploration with an honest look at yourself and your choices.
Why Students End Up Choosing the Wrong Career
When students make choices about their careers, they typically are very young, probably 17 or 18 years old. At that age, they are expected to determine what streams/degrees they will pursue, and in some cases, even what profession they will have for their entire working lives. Career choices will often be based on marks, parental influence, societal trends, and peer choices, as opposed to a great deal of deep self-understanding.
In some cases, students make their decision regarding what to study solely by looking at salary trends or job security without contemplating whether or not the work itself is consistent with the type of work they enjoy or are suited for as individuals. Others will follow the decision of what appears to be a prestigious, popular career. Ultimately, as time goes by, they typically discover that although a career may appear to be good from an external perspective, it may not be internally satisfying to them.
In most cases, the problem is not that a person is not smart or doesn’t have the ability to succeed. In most cases, the issue is simply that there is no alignment of interest.
The Difference Between Temporary Stress and True Misalignment
Before deciding if you are on the right course for your future, you should learn about the distinction between working hard (yet not enjoying it) versus wanting to be happy and satisfied in life. No matter what type of job or industry you are working in, there will be hard times; exams can put a lot of pressure on you and you will have to practice a lot; and everyone will have those days where they are feeling fed up even if they originally loved their job.
If you have been at your current job for a considerable period of time and have felt that your daily discomfort or exasperation has lasted longer than just being tested, you need to stop and think about what this means to you now. If you are thinking about 10 years from now and your current profession is no longer a source of energy and fulfillment and instead creates anxiety, it’s time to revisit your current profession.
The feeling of misalignment is like trying to present yourself as a person that you know you are not.
Emotional Signs You May Be on the Wrong Path
Being exhausted is one of the best signs that something is off. When you’re doing well and working very hard, the work may be physically tiring, but emotionally it usually feels good. When you’re doing badly or are off-track, even when a small amount of work is done you generally feel drained and have no purpose with what you are doing.
Another sign of being off track is that you are not motivated from within. If your motivation comes from fear, competition, or outside pressure, it will be hard to be satisfied for a long time. While outside pressure can help motivate you to study for an exam or do well in a job interview, it will not provide you with motivation for your career in the long run.
Thinking about changing careers while you’re working is frequent; it’s normal to have a passing and brief thought about wanting to take another route. However, if you spend lots of your day dreaming about changing your job/career, then it could indicate that you are not happy with your current situation and it is unresolved.
When Your Strengths Don’t Match Your Career
Students may find it hard to perform well even when they put forth tremendous effort. Many times, this is not a reflection of their effort level; rather it is due to the mismatch between their strengths and the requirements of their profession.
For instance, an imaginative student who is able to create original ideas may have difficulty working in an office with a lot of rules that require them to do the same thing day after day. Likewise, someone who is primarily analytical may not enjoy working in a job that requires him/her to be highly social and have to persuade others to do things. When one’s natural way of interacting with the world is contrary to how you are required to operate in your job, then progress occurs slowly and with great difficulty.
By using structured assessments to identify your personality, aptitude and interests you will have a clearer picture of whether you have a mismatch or not.
The Psychological Impact of Staying on the Wrong Path
Career misalignment will lead to poor mental health over a period of time. Students may begin developing lower self-esteem, anxiety over their career choice and comparing themselves to their peers. They may feel they have little opportunity to move forward yet cannot change direction.
As a result of this internal conflict, their performance will diminish over time, as will satisfaction. Many students continue to move forward on automatic pilot, hoping that upon graduation their situation will improve, but without clarity, they are usually met with the same confusion in the working world or continuing education.
The problem of being unhappy with one’s career choice will typically not fix itself, and will require active thought and consideration.
Important Reflection Questions
When you are uncertain of your career direction, take some time to reflect and ask yourself whether you dislike the discipline in its entirety or just certain areas within that discipline. Reflect on whether you’ve had any first-hand experience in the field through internships, co-ops or projects, or whether your opinion is purely based on theory.
Some students are simply disliking a discipline because they have only viewed the theoretical, without seeing the practical side of the field. In other cases, through more thorough exploration (and therefore) reflection is an important part of avoiding rash decisions and making better informed changes in your next step.
What To Do If You Suspect You’re on the Wrong Career Path
If any of the signs resonate with you, don’t panic! There are steps you can take to structure your decision-making process. Start by analyzing your interests and strengths. Look for opportunities to gain experience in other fields through internships, projects on the Internet, or networking with professional contacts. Have discussions with mentors or trusted advisors about your concerns. Finally, consider using a career counselor to help you gain an impartial assessment of the situation.
Using a science-based psychometric assessment helps identify the type of work you enjoy, characteristics of your personality, and whether your interests align with your career. This is a quantitative and factual way to remove the emotional component of your decision-making, as well as allowing you to analyze multiple realistic alternatives. By using the psychometric assessment, you may find that by just shifting from your current area of practice to becoming more specialized or shifting your skills will provide you with a much-easier solution to your dilemma than changing your entire career.
The path to clarity comes through structured action, not through excessive contemplation on all of the possibilities.
It Is Not Failure to Change Direction
Many successful professionals adjust their trajectory during their schooling and/or early career stages. If you’re contemplating making a change in your direction prior to committing to years of unhappiness, consider doing so sooner than later, as the smoother the transition, the sooner that alignment will occur in your career.
A successful career doesn’t have to be a straight line but must be in alignment.
Quick Warning Indicators
If you’re experiencing the following issues on a regular basis, consider taking time to evaluate your options:
- Persistent dissatisfaction despite consistent effort
- Anxiety when imagining long-term commitment to the field
- Strong attraction toward entirely different careers
- Lack of genuine interest in learning more about your current domain
These signs should encourage reflection, not fear.
Conclusion
If you have a lack of knowledge about yourself resulting in career confusion, you may find yourself unhappy for many years. If you are open to resolving the confusion early, then your ability to overcome that doubt and develop confidence and clarity will help you later on in life.
When you have career uncertainty, reflect on what you want, be thoughtful in your choice of a profession (or job), and seek out those who can provide you with guidance and encouragement.
Be careful to take time to make a reasonable decision about your career. Do not allow yourself to be pressured into immediate decision-making. It will ultimately benefit both you and the employer for you to have made an informed choice.