Is It The Job Or The Workplace? How To Know If It Is The Wrong Career?

Jun 11, 2025

Image exploring whether the job or workplace is the problem, highlighting feelings of being in the wrong career.

You wake up already tired. You open your laptop and your whole body feels heavy. And the question loops in your mind: “Is it this job I hate, or is it just the place where I’m doing it?”

If that’s been circling in your head lately, you're not alone.

As a career coach, I hear this all the time—and trust me, it’s not a silly question. It’s actually the spark that changes everything.

Because once you finally get clarity on what’s really not working, you can start moving toward work that actually does

This blog will help you untangle the frustration, identify the root of the problem, and figure out whether it’s time for a new role, a new environment… or a whole new path.

And once that clarity clicks into place? We’ll talk about what to do with it.

Prefer to Listen? Career Clarity for Burnout Professionals

How Do You Know If You’re in the Wrong Career?

Before you decide whether to burn it all down or stick it out and hope things magically feel better… let’s take a breath.

Because what most people don’t realize is this: feeling “off” in your career doesn’t always mean you’re in the wrong career. Sometimes, it means you’re doing the right work… in the wrong context.

The tricky part? Your brain craves certainty. It’ll scream, “This whole career path was a mistake,” when really, the issue might be a mismatched culture, a misaligned manager, or expectations that no longer reflect your values.

This next section will help you start separating the noise so you can get to the truth underneath the “I don’t think I can do this anymore” feeling.

**Step 1: Understand the Difference Between “What You Do” and “Where You Do It”**

This is where things start to click for a lot of people.

What you do is the role or function itself—your responsibilities, your skill set, and how you spend your time each day. For example: Are you writing code, counseling clients, creating content, or managing logistics?
Where you do it is the environment or organization you're in—including workplace culture, team dynamics, leadership, values, expectations, and support systems.

Sometimes you love the what but the where makes you want to scream into a pillow. Other times, the where is actually fine... you just can’t shake the feeling that the work itself isn’t lighting you up anymore.

Knowing the difference? That’s clarity.

And it’s the first step to building a career that actually fits you now.

Need a little help sorting it out? Book a free clarity call. Let’s talk it through together.

Step 2: Reflect on Energizing Career Moments

Sometimes we forget we’ve had good moments, especially when everything feels kind of gray.

But if you pause and think about it… there were times you felt proud. Capable. Even excited to get started on something.

What were you doing then?
Who were you working with?
What about that moment felt… right?

One of my clients, for instance, worked in social services for years and often felt drained and overwhelmed. But when she revisited specific moments in her career, she realized she loved the client conversations, especially when she could offer support, listen deeply, and help people see a brighter path forward.

What she didn’t love? The mountain of documentation, the pressure to get diagnoses exactly right, the lack of real support.

She didn’t need to leave the field. She needed better conditions.

You might find something similar if you look closely.

Step 3: Track Your Daily Energy to Spot Career Misalignment

Energy is information. And most of us ignore it.

For the next 7–10 workdays, pay attention. Not just to what you do, but how it feels.

Start a simple log. Note:

What parts of your day give you energy?
What drains you the most?
When do you feel "in flow," and when do you feel resistance or dread?

This data is gold. After a week or two, patterns emerge:

Maybe you love problem-solving with colleagues but dread writing performance reports.
Maybe you thrive in one-on-one client interactions but struggle with back-to-back meetings or bureaucratic red tape.
Maybe you actually enjoy the work itself but feel demoralized by leadership or company values that clash with yours.

Use this real-world evidence to evaluate what’s truly misaligned.

→ Need help spotting the difference between burnout and misalignment? Read this

Step 4: Evaluate the Workplace Culture

Even if your work aligns with your natural strengths, a toxic or misaligned culture can drain the life out of you.

Ask yourself honestly:

Do I feel psychologically safe here?
Are my contributions recognized and valued?
Do the company’s values align with my personal ones?
Is the workload sustainable?
Are boundaries respected?
Is there opportunity for growth and development?

If the answer to most of these is "no," it may not be the work you dislike, it may be the environment that's weighing you down.

Step 5: Revisit Your Core Career Drivers

Your core drivers are the things that light you up and give your work purpose.

Ask yourself:

Do I value creativity, stability, autonomy, purpose, connection, or learning?
Which of these are present in my current job?
Which are absent?

If your job lacks your top values, even if the work is technically a good fit, it will always feel a bit off. Your inner compass needs those drivers.

If you’re not sure of your career drivers, assessments like Sparketype Assessment can be incredibly illuminating.

For example, someone with the Primary Sparketype, the Advisor, thrives when they’re mentoring and guiding others. If that’s taken away or drowned in admin work, they’ll feel depleted, even if they're still technically working in their field.

Step 6: Identify What You Want to Keep, Shed, and Redesign

This is one of my favorite exercises.

Think of your past jobs as a buffet. Some things were nourishing. Some were… questionable. Some just needed a little salt.

Make three lists:

Keep: The tasks, responsibilities, people, and environments that energized you.
Shed: What consistently drained you or didn’t align with your values.
Redesign: What could be enjoyable with a few tweaks (e.g., counseling work without the documentation load).

These lists can help guide your next career move with clarity and intention.

Step 7: Consider Alternative Formats of the Same Work

This one surprises people.

You might actually still love the work. You just don’t love the current version of it.

Maybe you enjoy coaching, but the rigid structure of corporate life makes it feel heavy.
Maybe you like supporting others, but the volume of paperwork in your clinical role makes that nearly impossible.

Could you do similar work in a different setting? A school, a nonprofit, a more values-aligned company? Could the work be the same, just with better boundaries?

You don’t always need to pivot entirely. Sometimes, you just need to relocate the work to a healthier place.

Step 8: Changing Careers Doesn’t Mean Starting Over

So many people think that if they leave a job or a field, they’re starting over.

Let me say this clearly: You are never starting over.

Every role, every struggle, every success has equipped you with skills, wisdom, and resilience. If you decide it’s the work itself that needs to change, that doesn’t mean you wasted your time. It means you learned what fits you now.

Your next chapter builds on everything that came before.

Step 9: Test the Waters Before You Leap

Once you’ve narrowed down whether it’s the role or the environment that needs to shift, test out your assumptions:

Talk to people doing similar work in other organizations.
Shadow someone in a slightly different role.
Volunteer, consult, or freelance in a new context.

Sometimes, a small experiment is all it takes to reignite your confidence or refine your direction.

Step 10: Build a Career That Honors Both What and Where

The ultimate goal is to do work that aligns with both your strengths and your values—in an environment that supports and uplifts you.

For the client I mentioned earlier, the breakthrough was realizing she didn’t need to leave social services altogether. She just needed to move into a role that allowed her to counsel and connect without the documentation overload and high-stakes clinical decision-making.

She found roles like resident support specialist and community outreach advocate that let her do the work she loves in a more sustainable way.

And you can, too.

FAQs: Am I In The Wrong Career?

How do I know if I’m in the wrong career or just burned out?

Burnout is usually about how you’re working: long hours, poor leadership, lack of support. If things improve when you rest or change environments, it’s probably burnout.

But if you still feel drained in a calmer setting, or the work itself feels empty, it may be a sign that you’re no longer aligned with the career path, not just tired from the pace.

What are signs I’m in the wrong career?

If most of your tasks feel like a chore, your strengths go unused, or you often fantasize about doing something completely different, those are red flags. You might be competent, but the work feels flat, disconnected, or meaningless—and that’s a signal worth listening to.

Should I quit my job if I think I’m in the wrong career?

Not right away. First, figure out whether the issue is what you’re doing or where you’re doing it. Clarity should come before quitting. Once you know what’s really off, you can make a decision that’s strategic, not just reactive.

About Career Coach and Author

Theresa White, Career Clarity Expert, 5x Certified Career Coach, and the Founder of Career Bloom, is known for her expertise in guiding people to get unstuck and find the direction they need to move forward in their careers—fast. In a time when so many people are re-evaluating their work, Theresa offers actionable insights that empower clients to identify their true strengths and pursue work that genuinely aligns with their goals.

Theresa’s clients often call her sessions “epiphanies” and “transformational.” She brings immediate clarity to career goals, helping people unlock a deep understanding of what makes work fulfilling for them. Past participants consistently describe her approach as “spot on” and an “answer to questions they’d been asking for weeks.”

Theresa’s approach is empathetic yet practical, and she’s known for empowering clients with a clear direction in as little as 30 days, guaranteeing results.

Connect with Theresa on LinkedIn, listen to the Career Clarity Unlocked Podcast, or schedule your free 30-minute career clarity consultation.

Clarity Is Power

Feeling stuck doesn’t mean you're broken. It just means it's time to pause, reflect, and recalibrate.

So next time you catch yourself thinking, “I hate this job,” don’t rush to quit or push through blindly. Get curious. Ask the better questions.

Is it the work? The workplace? Or have I simply outgrown a version of myself I thought I had to be?

Because when you finally see what’s actually not working, you get to choose something that does.

And that choice? It changes everything.

You’re not lost. You’re evolving. And you are fully allowed to create a career that fits—not just on paper, but in your actual, lived, human experience.

You are not behind. You are right on time.

And you’re closer than you think.

Let’s build the version that feels like you.

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