How to spot you're at a Career Crossroads

Back in 2010, I faced a crossroads situation. 

I’d been dating a girl for 6 months when she decided to move to London from Manchester. North to South, which was quite a big deal at 24. 

It was a bold move but I respected her bravery and ambition. She’d applied for internal promotion and got the job. Good for her. 

On the other hand, I’d recently graduated from my MA (which I had no interest in using for work) and worked in a bar. I lived with my parents and now faced the prospect of losing a girl I’d fallen in love with. 

What the hell do I do?

London frightened me. It was big, intimidating, and a long way from home. 

A crossroads presented itself: follow Sian to London and face the prospect of getting a ‘real job’ or staying at home, where I knew people. 

After a bit of thought, I just had to start applying for jobs in London. Almost anything would do in the big smoke. I had to follow my heart.

Direct consequence

Looking back, there was a direct consequence for not choosing to move to London: I’d lose Sian and she’d likely find someone else. I’d be stuck at home with no idea where to go next. I couldn't let this happen.

The crossroads in my story were glaringly obvious. It was blatant, pick one road and keep the relationship (but feel completely out of my comfort zone) or take the other route, heartbreak, and home-cooked meals to cry into. 

Career crossroads

On the other hand, CAREER CROSSROADS are not so clear. To start with, you may not realise you are at a crossroads in the first place.  

You might be standing in the middle of a path that leads in several directions. And because your options are varied, you end up doing nothing, stuck in procrastination. Stuck in the middle of a lonely roundabout. And no one wants that. 

How to spot you’re at a crossroads

Here are some key states or feelings that could signal you’re at a career crossroads: 

Burnout: 

• You get exhausted just by thinking of work
• Tasks drain you, requests from your boss are wearing thin
• Your great ideas have stopped and you’re feeling unenthusiastic

You lack purpose: 

• Your ‘why’ has become unclear, you don’t know what you’re working for anymore
• The company values don’t match your ambitions, making you feel uneasy
• There’s an itch to do something bigger, something greater with your life but you don’t know what 

Locked in comparison: 

• You seem to have endless questions at the moment
• Why is this person earning more than me? How come they seem happy and I don’t?
• Your partner gets the brunt of these questions and concerns

What options do you have if you’re at a career crossroads? 

To start with, this is a GOOD position to be in. You’re restless because you know you deserve better. Change is on the horizon. 

The real challenge comes when making sense of the situation you’re facing. We have this great feature in our brains known as a ‘critical voice’ or ‘inner critic’, you may know it.  

This voice will do all it can to put you off making progressive decisions:

“Don’t quit the job now, your awful boss may change in the next 10 years”, or “no-one wants your level of experience, and you won’t get the salary you want anyway”. 

TOTAL RUBBISH. This voice is often not right but can sometimes shout the loudest. 

Taking the path

If you’re seriously thinking about doing something different or you want to make sense of a challenging point in your career, all I can recommend is to start talking openly with people. And yourself, for that matter. 

Your husband, wife, friends. Try opening up a conversation about how you feel about work. Their response might not be what you want to hear, but be open. Remember, just because they don’t want to face a career move, doesn’t mean that’s what's best for you. 

And if this still doesn’t produce results? Then hiring a Career Coach may be the perfect next move for you. 

And if you do, you’ll leave the coaching relationship with: 

• Increased confidence and self-awareness
• Clarity on where you’re next move lies, with a defined goal to work towards
• Renewed focus and enthusiasm for your next chapter

If you’d like any more information on how coaching works, exclusive offers to work with me, and much more, subscribe to my mailing list below:

https://mailchi.mp/tompainelifecoaching/tplc-mailing-list

And remember, a crossroads situation is a good position to be in. It means positive change is on the horizon. 

Tom