Contemplating a Total Career Change

For some of us, there comes a time when we seriously contemplate a total career change. This isn't just changing departments while staying at the same employer, or doing the same thing but for a different company.

We're talking about starting over in a completely different field.

Imagine going from IT to nursing, or dropping your career in law enforcement and becoming a farmer.

I once considered giving up my career in IT and software development and getting into massage therapy.

It turns out my profound discontent wasn't because of my job, it was because of a bad boss.

What happens if a career change really is in order?

When making a change that significant, you should be absolutely certain the new occupational path is right for you.

How did I get here?

Many of us sort of fall into our careers, either through chance or because the universe just seems to lead us in that direction. Sometimes we pursue an occupational track pushed on us by parental pressure.

Few of us are in our current career because of a planned, thoughtful, and deliberate effort, based on objective psychometric data.

The reasons behind your current career track are most likely complicated.

Are you happy? If not, do you know why? In my case, I was unhappy in my job because of a bad boss, but I didn't realize that until I changed jobs. I did the same work but at a different company and felt energized once again. It wasn't until then that I realized my career track was appropriate, I just needed to focus more on where and for whom, rather than what.

In your case, it makes sense to get better information about your current situation before contemplating big changes. How do you do this?

Take the Core Values Index psychometric profile at eRep.com, then complete a Happiness Index. This will help you narrow down the areas of your job where your duties align with your CVI psychometric profile and which areas do not.

The Happiness Index is calibrated with your specific CVI profile, so the information it provides is custom tailored to you. It takes about 10 minutes to complete a Happiness Index assessment, but the insight it provides can potentially save you a lot of time and money.

What if change is appropriate?

Assuming you took the CVI and completed a Happiness Index assessment, and you find out you really are unhappy in your current career, what is your next step?

When you complete the Core Values Index and get the Full Results Suite, you receive a 17-page report customized for your particular CVI profile. This report describes what makes you tick and yields valuable information about the kind of activities where you will live your optimal self.

Along with your full report, you also get The Core Values Handbook, a 173-page PDF ebook. This book, written by the creator of the CVI, Lynn Ellsworth Taylor, provides guidance and knowledge about the Core Values Index. With this amazing resource, you can learn how you see the world and navigate your way through it, as well as the psychometric profiles of others. Understanding the perspective of others is equally valuable to understanding ourselves.

Learn your own CVI profile by reading your full CVI report. Once you truly understand your own personality's DNA, you will develop a better sense for what kind of jobs will align with your way of operating. You will also understand what kind of jobs are not aligned with how you are hardwired. This can help you avoid pursuing a career track that may seem appealing but would turn out to be counter-productive.