Great Careers to Pursue If You’re Looking For a Change

Sadly, when it comes to Americans and job satisfaction the outlook is not particularly good. When it comes down to it, many employees are not happy or engaged in their work. An alarming 70% of workers confess that they are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged,” according to a report by Gallup. What can we do to remedy this problem?

Several studies show the key is to find work with meaning. “Researchers have found that workers who feel a higher calling to their jobs are among the most content,” the American Psychological Association (APA) writes.

That means there is scientific evidence backing the claim that we will be happiest paying off mortgage loans only when we are able to pay them off doing something we love — or at least something that feels meaningful to us. That often begins with changing your career.

What careers are best for creating this meaning? The answers might surprise you.

Become An Artist

Unfortunately, “people working blue-collar jobs report lower levels of overall happiness in every region around the world,” according to The Havard Business Review (HBR). If you have the savings and determination to do it, consider leaving your blue-collar job for something that will make you happier and potentially even add years to your life. To accomplish that with a career move, one of your best bets is to become an artist.

So is it time to pack your bags and head off to art school? Research shows it may be more than worth your while. Psychology Today, for instance, reveals that even the act of looking at art goes a long way to boost our happiness. Viewing art releases the stress-relieving hormone dopamine and kick starts activity in the brain’s frontal cortex, the same region of the brain where we feel love. Art therapy, a therapy focused on creating art (drawing, painting, photography, and sculpting), reduces anxiety and depression and can even help lessen the symptoms of chronic illnesses.

With such an overwhelming amount of evidence about the benefits of changing your career and of being a professional artist, you might as well give it a shot. A reputable art school will teach you technique and refine your skills — and teach you all the nuances of being self-employed or running your own business.

Make Your Hobby Your Career: Try Your Hand At Professional Fencing

Another angle is to turn an existing hobby into a career. For example, if you take fencing lessons on the side, why not find out what it takes to be counted among the top fencing professionals or what it takes to get paid for what you already enjoy doing?

According to Entrepreneur.com, some of the top reasons people change jobs are to learn new skills or to find a better work-life balance. By turning your hobby into your source of income, you can do both at the same time. Fencing, in particular, is an excellent form of anaerobic exercise. It boosts circulation, releases endorphins, eases stress, and improves focus. Swap out fencing for your preferred physical activity, and find out what it takes to make it as a paid professional.

If you are more of a behind-the-scenes person, but still love sports, there are plenty of avenues for you to explore. For example, sports and entertainment lawyers regularly work with athletes and have the perfect excuse to catch every game. Sports and entertainment lawyers may handle contract disputes, conflict resolution, licensing negotiations, intellectual property rights, and more. It will also be advantageous to live in cities that revolve around sports, like New York City, Los Angeles, and Nashville.

Surround Yourself With Beauty: Become A Florist

How do flowers and plants relate to mental health, meaning, and job satisfaction? The consensus is in: changing your career to one that entails working with plants, flowers, or nature can have a tremendously positive effect on your mood and overall well-being. “Regardless of age or culture, humans find nature pleasing. In one study cited in the book Healing Gardens, researchers found that more than two-thirds of people choose a natural setting to retreat to when stressed,” the University of Minnesota (UMN) writes.

Retreating to nature during stressful times is not a random act. Science explains why we head outdoors or surround ourselves with plants and flowers when we are upset or distressed. Nature heals. Spending time in or near plants, flowers, and nature calms us. Handling flowers or walking barefoot in the grass grounds us, shifts our focus to the present moment, and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression. Gardening, caring for plants, and arranging flowers keeps us away from anxiety-inducing technology, improves focus, and simply makes us happier. In a study cited by Resources to Recover (ROTC), 63% of study participants experienced positive moods when taking part in these activities.

Devote changing your career to working in nature or to regularly working with flowers and plants. One option is to take the necessary steps to become a florist. What does that involve? The particulars can vary, but to increase your chances of getting hired as a florist, start by putting your time in. Learn how to take care of a variety of flowers and plants. You can learn in school or get firsthand experience while working at a nursery. Start out with part-time work or with lower pay if necessary.

If you want to open your own flower shop one day and be your own boss, it is wise to take business courses, complete an MBA, or otherwise learn the ropes and learn what it takes to manage your own business.

Coin Dealers: Deal In What Makes You Happy

Changing your career can take you in a completely different direction than you might think. So far, we have discussed the merits of changing careers to pursue the arts, sharpen your skills while taking part in your favorite physical activity, or switching jobs to be more hands-on with nature. Another option is to explore the possibility of making a hobby or pastime into a career — one that may not involve sports or physical activity of any kind. That may include things like antiquing or becoming a coin dealer.

Let’s say you have been collecting coins for a very long time — perhaps from a very young age — and you want to find out if there is money in it and/or if you are worth your salt as a professional coin dealer. Where do you start?

If you are passionate about collecting coins, consider becoming a wholesale coin dealer. The Spruce describes a wholesale coin dealer as follows: “The wholesaler aggressively seeks to bring new material into the marketplace, and often attends coin shows, local auctions, and runs advertising offering to buy coins.” A retail coin dealer, on the other hand, sources most of his or her coins from wholesalers. The job is less labor-intensive, but it is up to you to decide whether going to coin shows and auctions constitutes a chore or a labor of love.

After making that initial decision, it is time to figure out a reasonable valuation for your coins. If you are purchasing coins wholesale, you can refer to resources like the Coin Dealer Newsletter, also called the CDN or “Grey Sheet.” If you are buying coins at auction or from coin shows, pinpointing a valuation can be much trickier and may take some considerable research.

It may take some time to turn a profit as a coin dealer. The vast majority of coins, like Kennedy Halves, Washington Quarters, and Buffalo Nickels are worth relatively little. When you do make a profit, however, that profit can be substantial. As with your customers, it tends to be a risky business. The highest risks, however, are often the ones that pay off.

A word of caution: Dealers with a large, established business are often required to join the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) or American Numismatic Association (ANA). Both hold dealers to certain standards or an official Code of Ethics. It may not always be mandatory to sign up for one of these organizations when you are first starting out, but it’s not a bad idea. Consider membership in one of the previously mentioned organizations, or — at the very least — familiarize yourself with what is and what isn’t legal.

It is always possible (and advisable!) to hire a criminal defense attorney if you slip up without knowing it, but the easiest course of action is to prevent slip-ups and remain within legal bounds in the first place. Changing your career can be profitable, fun, and entirely within the law. Ask for a free consultation with an attorney if you need legal advice.

Make Good Money: Try Your Hand At Plumbing

Of course, when changing your career, you ought to do what is best for you. Only you know what creates meaning and purpose for you. Maybe you struggled to make ends meet for years on end, and what you want more than anything is a job that reliably puts food on the table. Maybe you worked tirelessly day-after-day in upper-level management. Everyone turned to you when something went wrong, and you were constantly under pressure. Maybe, for you, your dream job is something predictable, straightforward, and relatively stress-free.

“Meaningfulness is about the why, not just about what,” the APA continues. Create meaning by reliably providing for your family, or derive meaning from helping people fix important plumbing fixtures around their houses. However you slice it, if you believe your job is meaningful, you are more likely to keep doing it (absenteeism drops), you are less likely to feel depressed, and you are more likely to feel happier overall — not just at work.

If you can relate, consider changing your career to something reliable, like an emergency plumbing or a doctor. Once you master the skills, you can count on completing the same sort of hands-on jobs throughout your career and you can count on the money, too. Working in a trade pays relatively well, especially as fewer people work as tradesmen and tradeswomen. According to U.S. News, plumbers made an average of $53,910 in 2018. On the high end, some plumbers were bringing home as much as $71,140 annually.

How do you become a plumber? To become a plumber, many states will require you to pass a licensing test. Learn the necessary skills by enrolling in a technical school or completing an apprenticeship. Once you pass the test, you will have to take an assessment reevaluating your skills once per year, or once every three to five years — the exact requirements depend on your state. Completing these exams gives you the freedom to practice as a plumber on your own, start your own business, and work your own hours.

If you dread going to work, consider changing your career. Changing your career is not just a quick, temporary fix. Studies show that finding a career you enjoy and doing a job you find meaningful makes you a happier person. You will perform better at work, you are more likely to perform up to your boss’s — or your own! — standards, and you are more likely to be happy and content when you are not working.

Don’t settle for a job that just pays the bills. Jobs like working customer service or HR and dealing with onslaughts of complaints and potential legal issues are draining and often not worth the mental effort they take.

Right now, 30% of workers say they are working only to make a paycheck and many of those workers are working paycheck to paycheck. Dare to do something different. Dare to create meaning — and remember that what constitutes a meaningful and purposeful job is highly individual and may mean something very different to each person.

If you want to make the transition as cautiously as possible, that’s feasible, too. Changing your career doesn’t have to be a high-anxiety situation. Inc.com recommends squirreling away three to six months’ savings to give you a cushion — to give you room to try new things, make mistakes, and explore as you settle into your new career.