What Is The Best Career Path For You

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Are You Showing Signs of Job Dissatisfaction?

Did you bounce out of bed this morning excited to face the day ahead? Or did the thought of getting up and going to work make you wish you could stay snug in your bed?

If Monday mornings are a low point in your week, it may be a sign that it's time for a new career.

Often you know what you want subconsciously before you know it consciously. While you may still be debating whether or not to stay at your job, your subconscious mind may have already decided it's time for you to move on.

Most people who want to quit behave in ways that are noticeably different than employees who are satisfied with their jobs. Try the following quiz to see how many of these "quitting signs" are true for you. For each statement, note whether it is something you Often, Sometimes, or Never experience. (If a statement doesn't fit, feel free to adapt it to your situation or skip it.)

1. I find it hard to get out of bed in the morning.
2. I'm late for work.
3. Once I arrive at work, it takes me a while to actually get started working.
4. I sit at my desk and daydream.
5. I have less patience with customers or co-workers than I used to.
6. I spend time at work doing personal tasks.
7. I look at job websites on the Internet when I'm at work.
8. I get impatient with rules and red tape at work.
9. I take longer breaks than I should.
10. When I have to phone people as part of my job I spend more time chatting than I need to.
11. I feel tired during the workday.
12. I don't bother mentioning concerns to the boss because it's usually a waste of time.
13. If I leave the office during the day, I take my time getting back to work.
14. I do the minimum amount of work required.
15. I check the time throughout the day to see how close to quitting time it is.
16. I feel bored at work.
17. I "kill time" during the day by chatting with co-workers or doing other non-essential tasks.
18. I schedule medical and other personal appointments during working hours.
19. I start getting ready to leave work before quitting time.
20. I am out the door as soon as it is quitting time.
21. On the weekends I look at the job classifieds or surf job sites on the Internet.
22. I have called in sick when I could actually have worked.
23. I complain to my friends about my job.
24. I have trouble sleeping on Sunday nights because I'm thinking about having to go back to work.
25. When I'm on holidays I dread going back to work.

Give yourself 0 points for each Never answer, 1 point for each Sometimes answer and 2 points for each Often answer then using the following scores as a starting point to measure your level of job satisfaction.

0 to 10 points - Very satisfied

11-20 points - Somewhat satisfied

21-30 points - Somewhat dissatisfied

31-40 points - Very dissatisfied

41-50 points - Why are you still working there?

While a score over 40 is a clear sign of dissatisfaction, even the most satisfied worker is likely to score some points on this quiz. For example, night owls who prefer to sleep late might score a 2 on "I find it hard to get out of bed in the morning" even if they like their job.

Only you can decide whether you are satisfied with your current job -- or whether you'd rather find a new job that makes you look forward to Mondays almost as much as you look forward to the weekend.

Are You Clueless About What Job Is Right For You

Sometimes we just drifted into our current jobs or have been unemployed for some length of time and seem to be spinning our wheels. Nothing about going to work excites you because you don't have a clue as to what interests you and the things that might be interesting are things you may not be qualified to do.

If this is the case, it is time to do some soul searaching. Try this site, Tests, tests, tests and take as many of the free tests as possible to find out what excites you. They even have career compatibility tests. If you find out the field that interests you, the next step will be easier.

If you like a certain field, what you can do in it may be limited because of your education and experience. If you dropped out of school as a teenager, you will have a harder time than most finding a good job that pays well, but that disadvantage can always be overcome.

Most career paths always have a bottom level that require no professional degree or licence. It could be something as simple as janitorial work or secretarial work, but it would expose you to those in that field while you are working towards qualifying for a better position.

If you are at a lower level, take classes until you get the required education you need to work the job you want. While you are earning the education, offer to volunteer with a worker who is doing exactly what you want to eventually do. If they see you are hard working and sincere while getting an education, most of the time they will offer you a better position in the company with better pay. Just keep working and learning. It may even take years to get where you want, but don't lose heart.

If you have barely passed school as a teenager, but really want to become a nurse, you could enroll in school to get a degree while you offer to work in a hospital on some level such as a volunteer caregiver, cafeteria worker, or therapy assistant. If you work hard in the hospital, the staff may be willing to give you more support by getting you into a better paying position with more on the job training. If you kept up with your studies while working, by the time you got a degree you would already be in the place you wanted to be with experience and can work up from there.

Perhaps you would like to become an electrician. Go to a job site where construction is taking place and find the person installing the electrical structure and ask if they could use your help in any manner. Without the proper degree or licence, you may be lucky to help with clean up and assisting with some of the projects. Learn as much as you can and work really hard while you work towards your proper qualifications to do what it is you want.

The point is life is too short to just go through the motions of working any job. You should find something fulfilling, a career that makes you feel important. The sooner you find that path, the better you will feel.

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