Mid-Career Professional: Answering 'What Should I Do Next?'

By vicmariki

Dec 13, 2016 05:58 AM EST

So many people go through various stages of development in their professional careers. Some get stuck; some do feel unhappy on their working field while others can get confused. The person experiencing this is said to be going through a mid-career crisis.

Reported by Chron, this phenomenon is statistically a U-shaped curve according to a group studying job satisfaction in the U.K. This means that we all have high interest in our career at the beginning and at the end of our career but this interest often goes down in the middle.

Mid-career crisis study has some levels defined with it the first level being the entry-level characterised by a person's first job afresh from College or University. The second level is the Mid-career crisis which is characterised by wanting to change into another career and getting tired with the current one. The third one is the near-retirement level in which a person get to see his/her achievements and wishes to keep working.

A mid-career professional can find himself or herself trying to reach new working places with different working custom or wishing to get promoted at the same working area. Seeking and fighting for uniformity in the work place or field and in the people he or she works with.

While other people see it as problem there are some who see this situation as their turning point to a better life. To them it is an opportunity to find out the working areas with new opportunities, more challenging work and new responsibilities.

According to Forbes, with many people ending up quitting their Jobs/career in an effort to re-discover themselves, many end up regretting having taken fast decision based merely on the feelings of un-satisfaction. Therefore, it is important that we make careful and well planned decisions when facing the thoughts and emotion that the Mid-life crisis brings.

One way of doing this is by surrounding yourself with the right people who will support you and cheer you on as you move ahead and fulfil your goals. Also, this might be a good time to get to the leadership side in your career since you should have had a lot of experience in the field. If you decide that it's time to peruse a new career path, speak to someone you trust for their opinion and plan ahead before quitting.