One day you find yourself sitting at your desk, staring at the computer, realizing just how miserable you truly are. You can hear your co-worker cackling like a hyena from her cube, and from across the room you smell your other co-worker’s fresh microwaved fish wafting through the air. You might be asking yourself, am I truly happy in my current job and what can I do to change it?

Are You Passionate About Your Job?

When my clients come to me for resume writing, often they want to change careers as well. While I most definitely can NOT tell you what you should do with your life, I can tell you that if you are not passionate about your job, you might not be reaching your full potential. The issue though, is to decide how much of a risk you want to take and how practical changing careers might be.

Questions to Ask Yourself About Changing Careers

One of the questions to consider is, “Am I financially able to just quit my job?” The answer for most of us is probably no.  Another question might be, what do I really want to do? Is it the thing I think I should be doing or the thing that sets my mind and soul on fire? There is a huge difference between the two.

You have to ask yourself, is what you do every day just a job, or a career?

Case in point: Me. I have wanted to go to medical school for years, but I just can’t seem to sit myself down and take the MCAT. Would I make a good physician? Probably. But something is stopping me from taking that silly test. I’ve been running my business for a few years now, and something interesting has happened.

Once upon a time, before I wanted to pursue medicine, I wanted to be a freelance writer…And, ladies and gentleman, look what has happened? By developing my business and taking action instead of banging my head against the wall going, “What should I do? What should I do?” (Can you hear Goofy’s voice?)…Well, I am doing what makes me happy and not what my brain thinks I should be doing.

What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?

But I digress…What did you want to be when you were 10 years old? A concert pianist? A teacher? Do you still think about it? What steps do you need to take to make it happen? I often work with clients who have the skills listed on their resumes to do something else, but they need to sit down, make a list of their skills, experiences, etc. and match those things up with what their dream job is.  Often, it’s a lightbulb moment.  Oooo THAT? I never thought of that!

Take a look at your current resume. What skills do you have? There are probably things you do every day that you don’t even realize you are doing.

Take Inventory of the Job Skills You Already Have

When I wrote my own resume, I forgot about how much goes into running a business. For example, look at all the skills that go into marketing: designing ads for Google, leveraging social media such as Facebook ads or posts, knowing what days of the week to run ads, or paying attention to when people are visiting my website. While I have no interest in marketing, these skills might lay the groundwork for another career if I wanted to pursue it.

That is why reviewing your daily job duties is so important. If you are interested in changing jobs or reinventing yourself, it is important to understand what skills you have that might make you, say, an excellent river rafting guide. Maybe you love public speaking, the outdoors, and teaching others new skills. Those skills might be your ticket to finding your new passion. ~J.O.