Unhappy with Your Job? You Aren't Alone!

If you wake each weekday morning with a frown on your face -- not because you need another hour of shut-eye but because you really, really, really (did I say really?) dread your job -- you aren't alone! The January 5th Conference Board report shows that 55 percent of Americans dread going into work each day. This finding isn't unique, either: A report completed by Monster.com in October of 2009 also discovered people were not pleased with their employment, and that out of 89 percent of employees unhappy with jobs, more than half were actively looking to get out.

Vaughan Evans, author of Backing U! A Business-Oriented Guide to Backing Your Passion and Achieving Career Success, says now is the time to consider moving on if you are not happy. According to Evans, those who do not enjoy their jobs, who loack passion in their careers, are prime targets for being let go and replaced but others who would enjoy the position and the duties it entailed.

So what can you do? First, says Evans, assess your strengths. "Imagine you are a business and your managers are your 'customers.' What do they need most from service providers such as you? To what extent do you meet those needs? How would they rate you in relation to your competitors, that is, your fellow workers?" You have to know what you are strong in, and, of course, what you may be lacking.

Next, find a job in the area where your passion lies. For instance, if you enjoy photography, consider making it a career. Are you detailed and structured? Perhaps managerial work is for you. Do you enjoy talking to others? Human resources might just hold your passion.

Says Evans, "Make a long list of all those jobs and businesses done by friends, family, colleagues, fellow interest-sharers, people in newspapers or on TV, fictional people in books, movies etc. that you find exciting, and rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 by the amount of passion you would feel if you were doing them." Then, figure out which ones would hold your passions.

Interested in what you should do next? Join us later in the week for part two of this post to learn the next three steps for finding a career that brings you passion.

Have you recently changed careers in order to find one for which you are more passionate? How did it work out for you, and are you glad you made this change?