If you are bored with your job, you are not alone. People get stuck in stale positions with no prospects or monotonous dead-end roles with no aspirations for further progression or excitement. However, instead of putting up with a job you detest, there are various steps you can take to liven it up and ensure that you soon feel passionate about your work and excited to get to the office each day.
If you want to take action and rejuvenate your job, or perhaps even start an entirely new career altogether, here is a guide to some of the stepping stones you should take when you are fed up with your career and ready for change.
Study an Online Degree
If you are tired of your job and believe you cannot move on because you do not have the relevant qualifications you need, you should consider taking an online degree. An online degree can be a much more convenient and flexible way to get the qualifications you need to progress as you will be able to complete all of your studying, classes, assignments, and examinations from the comfort of your own home – and there are also many part-time study options to choose from that can make the process even easier, allowing to fit your study into your schedule.
Whether you want to progress in your field or change your career entirely, there are many options that you can consider. For instance, if you work in healthcare but want to take on a more hands-on senior admin role, which you might want to do as you get older or if you are experiencing , you could consider program. What’s more, online qualifications are starting to become more valued by employers, and they can also restore your passion for your job by allowing you to learn more about your field, grow your skills, and apply this knowledge and these skills to your career.
Look for a New Role in Your Industry
Before diving straight toward a career change, you should consider looking for a new role within your industry, especially if you are reluctant to leave the field you currently work in. Most industries have various careers that you can choose from, and each suits different skill sets and lifestyles. By looking at these different routes and roles and choosing one that suits you, you will get a different perspective of your industry and its many different responsibilities – some that you might like better than others.
Learning about and seeking out new roles and career paths in this way can enable you to find joy in your job again and allow you to learn and hone new skills that you might not have had any reason to learn before. This can keep your mind working and stimulated and ensure that you spend less time procrastinating and dreaming of being elsewhere. If this sounds like a good idea, you should first conduct ample research into the other positions available in your field and what you can do to work toward one of these.
Change Career Entirely
Sometimes, staying in your sector just isn’t enough, and you need to take a larger step to be satisfied with your work. Instead of staying in a job that you detest just because you feel comfortable there and it offers you stability, you should consider entirely and looking at getting a job in another field. You do not even have to take time out of work to do this or quit before you are ready, with job search apps making it easy to look for positions from anywhere and online courses enabling you to get qualifications in your spare time.
You should carefully think about what you need to change careers completely, whether this is education, skills, experience, or all three. You should also not be put off by your age, with many people changing careers in middle age or beyond. All you need to do is utilize your contacts, network with others, improve your skills and qualifications if necessary, and have the confidence and commitment to push yourself forward and keep going if you get rejected at first.
Whatever job you have done in the past, it is also reassuring to know that you will that can help you in the next job you wish to undertake, and you should make a list of these skills and analyze any gaps that you need to fill in to succeed in your dream career.
Set a Goal
Many people get bored with their jobs because they believe they are not progressing and are stuck in a rut. If that is the case, you should not give up on your job entirely just yet; you should consider whether for yourself may help motivate you and ensure that you can maintain focus at work again. If your work has a focus with clearly set goals, you will likely be able to concentrate on these goals more and feel as if you want to produce high-quality work to achieve them.
Also, it would help if you thought about what you want out of your life and your job, as well as any previous career goals that you have abandoned and given up on because you thought that they were not possible. If you are struggling to imagine yourself ever being able to reach these goals, you should consider who may be able to guide you with the steps that you need to take and ensure that you are on the right path toward your goals and success.
Talk to Your Manager
Instead of immediately when you hate it, you should consider talking to your manager about your work and the ways that you might be able to progress. Managers usually run annual appraisals where you will get the opportunity to discuss your position in the business and where you want to be, as well as factors such as your salary, which can influence how much effort you put into your work.
When the time is right, you should consider talking to your manager about what you want out of your job and how you may be able to get to where you want to be. They will often have the best insight into what steps you need to take to ensure that you are successful and can reach your goals. For instance, you might need to develop a few more skills, earn a qualification, or even do something as simple as avoiding being late.
Aim for a Leadership Position
Sometimes, you may feel bored at work because you do not have enough responsibility, and you may feel as if you are not valued at work or as if your workplace could run without you. If this is the case and you are desperate for career progression, you should consider looking at leadership opportunities within your company.
Even if these leadership opportunities do not come up in your company often, you can start preparing for them now by building up your confidence, getting the right skills, and getting leadership experience in other areas – not necessarily within your company but perhaps in your local community, which bodes well on a resume and can be extremely rewarding emotionally, too.
In terms of getting leadership experience, you can do this by offering to lead projects and even by leading a group outside the workplace, such as a community group. This will then ensure that your resume looks great and that you are ready for the interview when you come to apply for the position in question. You should also try to connect with your manager professionally and socially, as it is unlikely that they will promote you to work with them if you do not get along.
Connect With Your Colleagues
If you do not get along with your colleagues, it can make your working day miserable. Although sometimes you may not get along for a specific reason or because of , if you have not yet found the opportunity to connect with them, it is time to create this opportunity. This will then ensure that your workplace feels less like work, has reduced tension and stress, and will enable you to enjoy your work day much more.
Plus, having good relationships with your coworkers is even more important if your workplace is open plan, as you will have to speak to and collaborate with your teammates every day – and you may be unable to shut yourself off from them. To help boost relationships, you should also make sure that you attend office and workplace events, such as summer parties and other social events, team building days and exercises, and group training.
Also, you will need to learn to speak up in group conversations at work, which can help you become more involved with your coworkers on a social level on a day-to-day basis. You should also try to work out what you have in common and always try to be friendly and respectful when working to ensure that issues do not develop within the workplace.
Final Thoughts
If you are bored with your job, all is not lost, and there is hope. But instead of quitting right away, there are many steps you can take to get you to fall in love with your work again and look forward to going into the workplace each day – or at least make it something that you do not despise waking up for every day.
From connecting with your coworkers and superiors to taking an online degree and developing skills, there are many options that could allow you to become engaged and interested in the job that you do, just as you might have been when you first started your career.