How do I find a career I love?

[Tigger03]

For background, I’ve always done well academically (think all A*, Russell group uni) and since graduating I’ve done well at work - training contract, now management level.

However, I strongly do not care for it! I have no engagement, no passion, I don’t care about what I do and I am literally only working for the salary. I do a fine job but not at my full potential. I struggle to get engaged or excited about sales, or winning new work, or the latest corporate talking point, but everyone on my team seems to love it.

I keep reading on here how people love their jobs, and couldn’t give up a fulfilling career but I could literally walk away and never look back if I had the financial security to do so.

Does anyone else feel this way? Would I be different in a different role, or do some people just not get fulfilment out of working?

I’m worried about throwing it all away and retraining only to discover I dislike the new job also. If you love your job, have you always felt that way about working in general?

(Note, I will obviously continue working, but wonder if I’m missing something).

There was quite a similar thread on here a few weeks ago

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/work/4010150-How-do-you-know-which-is-the-right-career

I put quite a long post on that thread on all my thoughts on 'love what you do, do what you love' so won't repeat myself but in summary I think more people than you think don't feel a true 'calling' or passion for their jobs, and that's fine, indeed necessary for society to function. If you are able to do something you love to do as your job, you are usually either very privileged or very lucky, or both.

I think you probably would feel different in a different job, but it's not necessarily realistic to expect to love every minute, never have an urgh day where you just can't be bothered, or to be able to truly say that you'd do the job even if it was unpaid (maybe some lucky souls feel that way but the vast majority not). There's nothing wrong (whatever social media/cultural expectation) may tell you with your favourite thing about your job being the salary .

That being said I do think it's possible to overall find your job interesting and worthwhile, it sounds like you need a change, but not necessarily a drastic change? Sometimes it's as simple as changing companies, or doing the same job in a different industry or sector which is more in line with your interests and values. Or you can look at a sideways step into a related but different type of job, so if you have a sales job can you move into operations, business management, project management or a different corporate role, quality, health and safety, IT, finance, HR? If you can say a bit more about what you do and your preferences (e.g. are you a 'people person' or more of an introvert, are you analytic/finance minded, do you enjoy detailed work or prefer strategy etc etc) people here may have really good suggestions. Of course you could completely retrain as you say but it does tend to be a gamble if you have financial responsibilities to meet as usually it means losing a big chunk of income going back to the bottom of the ladder, plus potentially paying fees for qualifications, plus a lot of 'dream' jobs in creative or caring type industries are not well paid at all, or certainly not for many years, so a big decision really and certainly not something to do on a whim (unless you are lucky enough to have such solid financial backing you are able to risk it, or massive connections in your preferred industry to give you a huge headstart).

If you do have ideas for alternative careers usually (unless it's something very niche/outing) you can get really good input from people on here about what the job is really like. Could you look into doing some volunteering or shadowing in your preferred field to get more of a feel for whether you'd really enjoy it?

Career coaching/counselling is a thing as well, you could look into it to give you a bit of time/space to think through your options although I have to say when I tried it at a bit of a moment of career crisis it didn't really solve things for me, certainly he didn't tell me what to do which is what I hoped for!

Good luck!

I feel exactly the same as you OP and I'm trying to work out what I can do instead. It's frustrating.

There’s an Mumsnet AMA running with a woman who advises people (mainly women) on career changes - she has good advice.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/AMA/3964756-i-m-a-career-coach-ama

I could have written this OP. I work within IT consulting in a large global corporation. There you are meant to be so passionate and full of drive and super excited about technology and projects and whatnot. Honestly, I don't care about any of that. I do my work without passion and really just for the salary. Im approaching 40 and feel like I'm really in a turning point where I need to make the final decision whether to settle for this career or still retrain.

I've been dreaming of retraining for years, but somehow haven't managed to do it. In a way I feel stuck because as a family we are used to our current level of income and if I was to become a student for years it would mean big changes and impact my DH's life too. It isn't an easy decision to make. I do like the life where money isn't a concern and we can basically do whatever we like from that point of view (within reasonable limits obviously).

Additionally I am unsure what my passion could be. It would have to be something very different. I have considered to become a nurse, a counselor or a social worker. All of which would mean years of retraining. I just dont know. What if the new profession isn't right for me either? I'll be in another unsatisfactory career but with much lower pay.

Will be following this thread for wise thoughts on the topic :)

Thank you everyone, so nice to hear I’m not alone in this! I work in Big 4 and whilst the work itself is ok (I don’t love it but it’s fine) there’s a constant pressure to be winning work, progressing to the next level and I kind of just want to do my work and go home!

I’ve thought maybe rather than retraining I might try in-house, but would probably entail a salary cut. I’m only early thirties so could carry on for a few more years, but the thought of doing it for about her thirty years is terrible! And I’m not sure if the longer i wait to retrain the harder it might be....

In terms of retraining I have no concrete plan, other than I couldn’t afford another full degree - so could do teaching, surveyor, NHS jobs (as I believe the degree is funded). I have science A levels but humanities degree, so a bit stuck.