Work Location: What Is Your Profession?

One reasonable result of starting a job search is deciding whether or not to stay in your current profession. A career isn’t anything more than what you’ve done, are currently doing, and what you want to try next. Therefore, from a career growth perspective, questions to consider are: what are you doing and learning now? What do you want to do and learn going forward? What behaviors do you want to change?

The responses to these questions will vary. There are no wrong answers. For example, some people may want to have a profession where they feel connected to a company’s mission. That’s important for some. For others, maybe they just want a good paying job with reasonable career growth. Their passion isn’t work related. That’s okay too! A profession is a work in progress, despite what certain stereotypes may point out. There is no one right way to put one together.

We’re going to talk about staying in your current line of work. Areas of discussion will include loving what you do, the problem with passion, the value of the familiar, and growing in your work.

Leaving your work location is a fairly normal thing these days. It can be because of layoffs, lack of career growth, a toxic work environment, or any number of reasons. At the same time people go to work for all sorts of reasons. It pays the bills, it provides a sense of fulfillment, it’s a stepping stone to further career growth. Passion doesn’t have to be one of those reasons. There’s nothing wrong with having your personal priorities be more important than your work ones.

Another thing to think about if you choose to stay in the same type of work you’ve done before is, “what’s the obvious next step forward?” In other words, where is the next opportunity for growth in your work? It may look like a promotion or something else. This also helps when it comes to learning opportunities. Think back to the exercise you did earlier where you discussed ways to improve your life. Understanding where the “edges” are can be helpful. This is the zone where you can be comfortable in your career growth while remaining curious about it.

There are many pros and cons when it comes to staying in your current line of work. Passion may (or may not) play a role in your career growth.

Read on for more ways to make your job search a success: Are you willing to change your work location?