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You Picked The Wrong Major, You’re In The Wong Career – Now What?
Did you pick the wrong major in college? Are you unhappy in your current career because you feel like it’s not the right fit for you? You’re not alone. There are countless people who have done this, and will do it in the future. It’s nothing to beat yourself up over; it’s part of life and part of the process of finding out what you like and don’t like. Although it sometimes feels like you’ve made a mistake that can’t be fixed (especially after particularly bad days at the office), I assure you there are practical steps you can take to transition into the career of your dreams.
Knowing what you don’t want is equally as valuable as knowing what you do want. If you are certain a particular career path is not right for you, give yourself a pat on the back. It means you’re getting to know yourself better, something that most people never take the time to do.
It’s Not Easy and It’s Not as Hard as You May Think
Before we go further, let me say that transitioning into the career of your dreams is not easy. It takes hard work and persistence. It take hustle mixed with patience. It takes dedication, discipline, and effort. It takes networking, a proactive mindset, and massive action. With that said, here’s a key insight to remember:
At the end of the day, doing the hard work necessary to transition into the career of your dreams is infinitely better than being stuck in a job and career that makes you miserable.
Here’s the good news: while this process is not easy, once you get the ball rolling and build momentum it’s not as hard as you may think either. But you can’t sit around waiting for things to happen. You need to make them happen. Creating, implementing, and maintaining a proactive mindset is essential to your ongoing career success.
Don’t give your power away by waiting on other people. While you are never to blame for how someone else acts, you are completely and totally responsible for your own mindset, habits, and actions.
Take an Inventory of Your Skills, Hobbies, Talents, and Interests
After reminding yourself that you’re not alone, after taking a deep breath, and after taking responsibly by deciding to be proactive, the first thing I encourage you to do is to take an inventory of your skills, hobbies, talents, and interests.
- Your skills are the things you’re qualified to do. While the skills you have right now may not be the skills you most enjoy doing, some of them may be transferable into a career you’re better suited for. At the very least, your skills can show a potential employer what you’re capable of learning. Consider previous job experiences you’ve had, no matter how briefly you had the job for.
- Your hobbies are the things you love doing, but don’t get paid to do. This can include, but certainly is not limited to, things like reading, writing, traveling, knitting, hanging out with friends, watching movies, doing research online, etc. Don’t discount your hobbies just because you think there’s no way to make money with them. You may be surprised of the kinds of things that can benefit you in your career transition.
- Your talents are the things you’re naturally good at, but may not have put a ton of time into developing. For example, perhaps you have a talent for networking and meeting people. You may not have realized it before, but things that come easily to you in certain areas are incredibly difficult for others. Here’s where you need to be careful not to undervalue yourself. Don’t discount your talents and don’t dismiss them just because you haven’t indulged in them in many years. Perhaps as a kid your teachers told you that you were good at writing, but you never did anything with it. Write it down.
- Your interests are the things you don’t necessarily have a ton of knowledge about and experience with, but they’re things you’d like to learn more about and eventually become an expert in. Again, don’t limit yourself here and write down anything/everything that comes to mind.
It’s essential to be creative here and think outside-the-box. The knee-jerk human tendency is to discount our own talents. Perhaps you like talking with friends, or you’re a good listener – write these things down. They can be applied to lots of jobs and careers.
Next, circle the top one or two items from each category that most stand out to you as something you’d truly like to pursue. This may take some time to figure out, so give yourself space and time. Reflect in a journal. Meditate. Spend time in solitude. Probe the inner depths of your psyche. Once you’ve made your decisions, you have a good foundation and indicator as you head into the next steps.
Look on Jobs Search Sites to See Where Your Skills, Hobbies, Talents, and Interests Intersect With the Market
In this stage of the process, you aren’t actively applying to jobs. You are simply looking to see what types of jobs are out there, as related to the inventory you took.
I realize that not all of your skills, hobbies, talents, and interests are going to turn into an available dream job. But there are more potential job categories out there than you may have realized. This step is crucial to increasing your awareness, optionality, and overall scope of choices.
This is also where you can build a bridge from where you are to where you eventually want to be. As an example, perhaps you are interested in turning public speaking into a career. It might be unrealistic to say that you are going to be a full-time entrepreneur running your own speaking business by next week. But there may be jobs out there such as corporate trainer, college recruiter, and/or organizational consulting where you’re frequently speaking to groups of people. This would be invaluable experience as you continue building your business on the side.
One of the most important themes of this post is that you don’t have to jump from where you are straight to the Mountaintop. The goal is to transition from where you are to something better. Great is better than bad, no doubt. But you’d agree that good is better than bad too, wouldn’t you? For that matter, would you agree that neutral is better than bad?
Your next step is not your end destination. It’s a stepping stone, just like the step you are currently on.
Before you can run, you have to walk. Before you walk, you crawl. While I’m all for going straight to your ultimate dream job (and it’s not out of the question to do that), I also want to keep this guide extremely realistic and practical. I know what it’s like to be in the trenches, miserable and struggling, despising your job and for that matter your very existence. While going straight to your dream job looks good on paper, the reality of the situation is that you may need to transition into a good or neutral job before you end up reaching your Mountaintop, your own version of success.
A neutral job is far from perfect, but it’s much better than being in a job you absolutely hate.
Here are some of my favorite job search sites:
- Indeed
- Monster
- Career Builder
- Simply Hired
This list is far from complete, but these are some of the big players in the job search industry. Look for jobs and see what kinds of careers are out there. You can do this!
Conduct Informational Interviewing
Informational interviewing is where you meet with people in a certain career and field and you ask them all about their work. You are not interviewing for a job – you are simply gathering information about their day-to-day work lives. This is a great step especially when you’re not sure if a certain career is right for you or not.
You might experience rejection along the way, but in my experience there are people out there who are willing to meet with you. Tell them you’d like to buy them coffee and pick their mind about their success for ten to fifteen minutes. Perhaps you can speak with them on their lunch break or briefly before/after work.
Politely ask them to be completely honest with you, as if they were speaking with their best friend. Ask them about the good, the bad, and the ugly in their careers. Tell them to hold nothing back. You want to know about the reality of their job, not the idealized fantasy that hiring managers often brainwash you with.
How do you get in touch with people to conduct informational interviews? Start with your network and people you know. Look at your contacts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Think about the people you’ve known in various stages and experiences of your life. Who lives near you and could spare a few minutes to chat? If they live farther away or don’t have time to meet in person, who can you call? Most people can spare 5 to 10 minutes in their day if you ask them respectfully while being upfront about the purpose of your request.
To expand your reach of potential people to conduct informational interviews with you can also join civic organizations, something we’ll talk more about in a later step.
What Do You Care About?
Still struggling to think of a potential next step for your career? I understand – I’ve been there many times. Ask yourself: what do you care about?
While this isn’t the case 100% of the time, sometimes our frustration stems from feeling that our work doesn’t matter and doesn’t make a real difference in the world. When you approach your career from the perspective of what you really care about, it allows you to think about how you can integrate meaning and purpose into your work life.
Strike the balance between knowing that anything is possible while also being extremely practical. At the end of the day, you need to pay the bills. For starters, the goal here is to pay your bills without having to be miserable on a daily basis. I’m not saying this will happen to you, but worst case scenario is: if you’re really feeling stuck you can do the same job you’re doing now at a different organization. At a new company, with new company values, in a different industry, with a different boss, you may end up liking your job function more. At least it will be a more pleasant stepping stone as you continue searching for something else. Also, getting your foot in the door in a good organization could allow you to eventually transition to a different job in that same organization.
Actively searching for a new job doesn’t mean you’re a job hopper – it means you are looking for somewhere you can build your career while being happy.
Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile to Highlight the Kind of Job You’re Looking For
While I use my LinkedIn profile to optimize my speaking and writing business, I would advise against that if you’re in a job you really hate. Consider optimizing your LinkedIn profile to showcase your talents and where you’d like to go next with your career. (As a word of caution, double-check that your employer doesn’t have any weird rules in regards to your LinkedIn profile. The majority of companies I’ve worked for have let me do my own thing with my LinkedIn profile, but I once had a friend tell me that her company had strict rules around this, so be careful.)
While I frequently share things on LinkedIn and have a lot of experience with the platform, I’m not an expert when it comes to optimizing your profile for your job search. The good news is that there are plenty of articles, books, and LinkedIn experts out there to guide you. This doesn’t have to be extremely urgent, but when you get a chance spend some time updating your LinkedIn profile.
Get to Know Yourself and Ask Others What They See In You
Take the time to get to know yourself and your core values. Most know the value of doing this, but never take the time to actually do it in reality. This process includes reflecting in a journal, talking to others, and engaging with the community at large. Bestselling author Jeff Goins said to me, “In one light, yes, people will tell you to do this or that, and it may not be relevant to you. But in another light, you won’t find your true self alone. It happens in community, when others see something in us.”
Join Civic Organizations
This is a big part of the process and ties into some of the earlier steps – for example, finding people you can sit down with and conduct informational interviews.
Nothing beats talking with people face-to-face. You can only get so far with emails, calls, and even video conferencing. Talking with someone in-person allows you to read people, understand the nuances of body language, and really get to know someone.
Here are some civic organizations to consider joining and/or visiting:
- Toastmasters
- Lions Clubs
- Kiwanis
- BNI (Business Network International)
- Chamber of Commerce
- Countless groups on Meetup.com
The price to join will vary per group. Toastmasters is as cheap as $30 to $50 every six months, and it’s a group that will help build your public speaking and leadership skills in addition to expanding your network. BNI and Chamber of Commerce groups can get a little more expensive. The good news is that you can visit most or even all of these groups several times without having to spend a dime.
I visited a BNI group twice where I made some great connections and then never ended up joining; this was completely acceptable to the members and they even invited me back for a third time as a guest. If you’re broke, as I’ve been many times in my life, don’t worry – you can still attend these groups and get to know people. While some of these groups will eventually ask you to pay, you can still get value without hurting your bank account. As you start making more money, joining these groups is a good option to help you deepen your relationships with the people you’re meeting – but don’t feel like you have to do that right away.
As far as meetup.com, there are countless groups that cater to just about any kind of interest you can think of. This is where your inventory of interests comes in handy – you can join groups that cater to things you love doing. I’ve joined groups that focus on entrepreneurship, meditation, and all sorts of interests. In addition to meetup.com, you can also consider joining local sports teams that compete at a friendly intramural level. This will allow you to have fun while expanding your network.
One more thought to drive home how important ongoing network is: many jobs are discovered through word-of-mouth and are not available through online search engines. Meeting other people through these groups not only diversify your life, expand your network, and open up the possibility of more informational interviewing, but these connections can also literally lead to job opportunities.
Take Massive Action and Apply to Jobs
Now it’s time to apply to as many jobs as you can, within reason. I get that you’re tired and worn out. I get that your current job drains the heck out of you. But in order to solve this situation and get to the next level in your career, you need to put in the additional effort to apply to jobs.
Find pockets of time wherever you can. Wake up an hour earlier and apply to jobs in the morning. Go to a cafe or local coffee shop with WiFi on your lunch break and apply to a few jobs then. When you get home at night, apply to a few more jobs. Tedious? No doubt. Will it pay off? Yes, absolutely.
This is where you need to put in a sledgehammer of focus. Other than your day job, your main job is now finding a new job and career. Tell others and the new people you meet you are looking for jobs. Work with recruiters. Put in the effort and you will reap the rewards.
Please note: I’m not suggesting you use company time at your current job to apply to new jobs. Continue to do your job well, to the best of your ability, and get your paycheck. The job may suck, but at least you have income. Some people in the world have no income, no food, no home, and no hope, so life may suck in some ways but you can still choose to count your blessings.
Adjust Your Resume to Suit the Job You’re Applying To
When I say to adjust your resume to suit the job you’re applying to, I’m not suggesting for you to lie or be dishonest. Integrity is important and I encourage you to be honest and upfront about your degrees, experience, and background. What I’m saying here is to highlight certain aspects of your experience in a way that increases the possibility that you get selected for the job you’re applying to.
For example, out of college I worked for a Fortune 500 company as an accounting specialist. This was a unique role that combined account management, collections, finance, accounting, budgeting, and other miscellaneous tasks. Depending on the role I wanted to apply for next, I could highlight that aspect of the job.
This is also where joining civic organizations can pay huge dividends. I’ve been a member of Toastmasters for 5 years. Being a part of this organization also helped me to build the confidence necessary to deliver a well-polished TEDx talk. In the past, I’ve been offered jobs because of my experience as a speaker, even when the job didn’t directly deal with public speaking tasks. Highlight your civic organization experience on your resume and talk about it in the interview because it will help you to stand out.
Perhaps you don’t have experience for the job you’re applying for in your work history, but you can gain that experience as a member and/or leader of a civic organization. Do it. Networking and getting involved in the community can really pay off.
Build Your Business on the Side and Consider Going Back to School
Like everything else in life, there are lots of nuances and individual circumstances that apply to making a career transition. Perhaps in your particular situation you don’t love your job, but you don’t hate it either. Perhaps you know that getting a new job won’t significantly increase your happiness and peace of mind. Perhaps you know that you’ll never be fully satisfied working for someone else, and ultimately you’d like to start and grow your own business.
I applaud you and admire you. You can do it. With that said, be careful. I would suggest staying at your job until you can replace your current income with your side hustle income, or at least until your side hustle business has taken off enough to be bringing in some degree of income.
Right now you are getting my mature and evolved input and perspective. Three or four years ago I would have advised you to jump off the cliff and grow wings on the way down. But after falling flat on my face several times in an epic attempt to be a full-time entrepreneur, I learned the hard way that you need income to sustain you while you chase your dreams. I made lots of progress and learned tons of valuable lessons, so I don’t regret what I did. What I’m saying is that when it comes to entrepreneurs society often glorifies the one-in-a-million unlikely success story, but you rarely if ever hear about the person who falls flat on their face.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for making leaps. If you have the funding, means, resources, and confidence to jump right into being your own boss full-time, more power to you. Just be careful and think through your decisions. My goal is to keep this advice as practical as possible.
As far as considering going back to school, the reality of the situation is that you may not be able to afford it. I get that completely – give yourself credit for being honest with yourself. The reason I mention it is because they are some careers, like being a doctor or lawyer, where education is fully required. In the business world there are ways to advance in your career without formal education and titles to your name, but in other careers it’s a whole new ballgame. If you’ve gone through the process outlined in this post and your heart is set on being a doctor, lawyer, or some other career that requires tons of formal education – good for you, I’m proud of you for being decisive and knowing what you want. Now be prepared to work a job while you go to school in the evenings and on weekends, and please be patient. It takes time. (I definitely don’t suggest turning into Leonardo DiCaprio’s character from Catch Me If You Can, as that would have serious legal repercussions while being bad for others.)
If money isn’t as much of an issue for you, you might have more wiggle room when it comes to deciding if going back to school is the right choice for you or not. With that said, don’t get a degree for the sake of getting a degree – only get a degree if you know doing so will specifically advance your career to your next desired level.
Look For Free and Cheap Ways to Learn
Looking for free ways to learn is a great way to continue being proactive. Employers love to see potential employees taking the initiative to learn new skills:
- w3schools.com offers you lots of free content to learn more about web design and computer programming
- Your local library has plenty of useful books
- Barnes & Noble and/or Amazon.com have seemingly unending options of books for you to buy to enhance both your soft and hard skills
- Udemy.com has a plethora of online courses
- With the World Wide Web at your fingertips, simple searches on search engines like Google, Bing, and YouTube gives you access to millions of free articles and videos
These options are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes free and cheap ways to learn – I share them to help you get the juices flowing. Be creative.
A Little Inspiration
Don’t get dejected. One of the contradictory elements of the job search and career transition process is that you need to simultaneously maintain a sense of urgency while being patient with yourself. Give yourself room to explore all options and don’t beat yourself up for making mistakes. Mistakes mean you are putting yourself out there and making progress.
Every no is one step closer to a yes. Rejection is part of the process of success and getting to your next stepping stone.
Briefly sharing my own story as an example to give you a little inspiration, after working at a Fortune 500 company and while working a contract role I ended up getting my Master’s degree in finance from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. While I learned a lot, deep into my Master’s degree program I realized it wasn’t my dream to work on Wall Street like the dreams of some of my friends. I finished the degree, but ended up transitioning into a fulfilling career in digital marketing, becoming an expert in Google Analytics, Google AdWords, SEO, PPC, SEM, and other forms of online advertising. While I had some experiencing working in the digital marketing field during college, these were skills I became fully certified in after getting my Master’s degree. I ended up working in a field that I didn’t even go to school for!
The end of your formal education marks the beginning of your self-education. You are not defined by your degree. If your degree applies to your desired career, that’s fantastic. But if it doesn’t, don’t think for one second that it will limit you. Having a degree shows an employer that you are able to learn, even when the degree doesn’t have anything to do with the job.
Bringing It All Together
There are different levels of career dreams and lots of gray area here. It’s important to take this process one step at a time. While you may not be able to immediately jump to your ultimate dream job, you can transition into a better job in the near future. There are all sorts of options, possibilities, permutations, and combinations. By thinking about what you enjoy doing and then taking massive action, you can make your next job the best job you’ve ever had.
This process is painful in the beginning, time-consuming in the middle, and both fun and rewarding in the end. Remind yourself that a job you somewhat like is better than a job you hate. Keep pushing forward and never give up. I believe in you.
Do you need more tips, insights, and one-on-one coaching to take your career transition and life to the next level? Contact Jeff Davis’s Executive Assistant Meg via meg@jeffdspeaks.com to learn more.
Jeff Davis is an award-winning author, most recently publishing The Power of Authentic Leadership: Activating the 13 Keys to Achieving Prosperity Through Authenticity. He’s also an authentic leadership keynote speaker and success coach. Connect with him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter. For three free books (The Power of Authentic Leadership, Reach Your Mountaintop, and Traveling Triumphs) in exchange for being added to his email list, email his Executive Assistant at meg@jeffdspeaks.com. Learn more about his story on his About page and feel free to check out his author page on Amazon.
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