Did you know that the average American changes their career 7 times in their lifetime? When you really think about it, that’s a lot of different job fields. So what causes this change?
Overall in the US, there are 71% of worker who feel they are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” from their work. Sometimes job satisfaction just isn’t what it should be. America’s workers are mainly dissatisfied with their jobs because they feel they are underpaid, they have a lack of growth opportunities within the company, there are no career advancement opportunities and they feel they are trapped within the job. Not to mention, 45.8% of physicians reported experiencing emotional exhaustion, depersonalization or low sense of personal accomplishment within workers.
So what do you do when you’re dissatisfied with the job you’re “stuck” in? One out of two respondents are satisfied in their current jobs. However, nearly 3 out of 4 respondents have no plans to leave their current companies. Therefore, employees just deal with their positions. And in 2008, the typical American worker’s tenure with his or her current employer was 4.1 years, which is .6 more years than in 2000.
The main reason people decide to make a change in their career choice is due to downsizing or restructuring in the company. Also, workers sought new challenges or opportunities and had ineffective leadership. More reasons for career changes were poor relationships with the manager, to improve work/life balance, better compensation and benefits, company or job relocation, and the company was financially unstable.
Make the most of your major and go back to grad school. Think you’re too old to go back to school? There are 200,000 students between the ages of 50-64 that were enrolled in a graduate study program in 2009. There are also 8,200 students age 65 and over enrolled in a graduate study program in 2009.
If you’re having a midlife crisis with your career, embrace it. There are 14.6 million jobs that are projected to be created by the year 2018. And if you’re seeking a new start, don’t lose hope; between 2010 and 2020 the healthcare industry will get an expected 3 million jobs added and 600,000 computer jobs are expected to be created as well.
